Spotlight on members
Meet 2025-2026 ARVO President Sophie Deng, MD, PhD, FARVO
Sophie Deng, MD, PhD, FARVO, is the Walton Li Chair in Cornea and Uveitis, co-chief of the Cornea and Uveitis Division and Vice Chair for Inspiring Excellence at the Stein Eye Institute. She is also director of the Institute’s Cornea Biology Laboratory where her research focuses on developing regenerative therapies for corneal diseases.
Deng has been a member of ARVO for more than 20 years and is a Silver Fellow (FARVO) ― a recognition of her individual accomplishments, leadership and contributions to the Association. She was inducted as president of ARVO during the 2025 Annual Meeting in May. Deng sat down with ARVONews to talk about some of her research interests and the reason for her choice of theme for the 2026 ARVO Annual Meeting: Achieving precision ophthalmology through innovative vision research. She also shares her thoughts for the future of eye/vision research and why advocacy for funding is so important right now.