Carl Camras Translational Research Awards

 
This award for young investigators working in areas of translational research honors Dr. Carl Camras, who is highly respected for his work as a glaucoma specialist and a research scientist. He is most widely recognized for developing prostaglandin analogues for the treatment of elevated IOP in patients with glaucoma. During his distinguished career, he took a personal interest in developing the next generation of eye and vision researchers.

An award of $12,000 will be presented. This award, which was established in 2010, is supported through the ARVO Foundation.

Eligibility

Eligible nominees include young researchers who are 45 years of age or less at the time of nomination. Eligible nominees will have exhibited excellence in research and their fundamental scientific discoveries, concepts and novel technologies. Their discovery or observation must have led to, or have the promise of leading to, clinical application.

Other specific eligibility requirements for the nominee and the nominator include:

• Neither nominees nor nominators are required to be ARVO members.
• Foundation and ARVO Officers, Board members and Awards Committee members are not eligible to nominate or be nominated for an award during their terms, or to offer seconding letters of support.
• Nominators and seconders may only support one nomination and should not be from the same institution as the nominee.
• Previous recipients of the Carl Camras Translational Research Awards are not eligible.
  
  

Additional information:

• Nominations may be resubmitted for a future year if unsuccessful.

Nomination process

Nominations are accepted via online application. The online nomination form requires the following information, forms and documents:

• One letter of nomination from the nominator, describing in detail the contributions of the nominee and the impact of their translational research.

NOTE: Research that has possible translational implications at a later stage of development, such as snp polymorphisms associated with disease that have not yet lead to interventions, are not appropriate for this award.

• Three supporting letters
• A brief summary statement of nominee's significant achievements (maximum 75 words).
• The nominee's five most significant articles must be referenced individually in the nomination form.
• The nominee's current NIH biosketch or equivalent.
• Indication of nominee's translational research having relatively immediate practicality for clinical care. Such support might consist of the following, but is not limited to these examples:
• The research has led to an intervention-drug or device, for example- that is currently in Phase 1, 2 or 3 clinical trials
• The research has led to a finding, like smoking and risk of AMD, that is now generally accepted and could result in preventive strategies.
• The research provides strong, original evidence for change in clinical practice, such as overnight contact lens wear and risk of infection.

Review and selection process

Applications are reviewed by the ARVO Foundation Awards Committee comprised of internationally recognized experts. The deliberations of the Foundation Awards Committee are confidential and their decision is final.  

Timeline

Applications open on Aug. 1

Applications close on Oct. 1

Recipients notified in Dec.

2025 Recipient

Subrata Batabyal, PhD, is the director of nonclinical development at Nanoscope. He earned his PhD from Jadavpur University, India, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Texas in biophysics and biomedical optics. Batabyal is recognized for his involvement in the pioneering work on optogenetic vision restoration, particularly the development of Multi-Characteristic Opsin (MCO) technology. His key innovation, published in Nature-Gene Therapy and TVST, demonstrated the successful sensitization of the inner retina with ambient light-activatable MCO for restoring vision and attenuates retinal degeneration. Batabyal also played an instrumental role in developing a novel non-viral, laser-assisted gene delivery platform that enables targeted delivery of therapeutic genes into the eye, significantly advancing the safety and precision of optogenetic treatments while overcoming limitations of traditional methods. Batabyal has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, holds multiple patents in related technologies and is co-investigator for multiple NIH grants.

Batabyal’s interdisciplinary expertise spans optics, biophysics, gene therapy, electrophysiology and behavioral neuroscience. Along with his colleagues at Nanoscope, he continues to advance mutation-agnostic gene therapies for the treatments for various ocular disorders that previously had been limited to no therapeutic options.