Lectures

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Presentations by

Haben Girma
2022 Dr. Alan R. Morse Lecture in Advocacy Recipient

Javier Pita Lozano
2022 Pisart Award in Technological Innovation Recipient

Sheila Nirenberg, PhD
2022 Bressler Prize in Vision Science Recipient

The Morse Lecture in Advocacy honors those who have demonstrated leadership, raised awareness of low vision, addressed barriers, and are working to make a world where no person is limited by their sensory capacity.

Noted human rights lawyer and disability justice advocate Haben Girma is the first recipient of The Dr. Alan R. Morse Lecture in Advocacy for People with Vision Impairment. The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma believes that disability is an opportunity for innovation, and she teaches organizations the importance of choosing inclusion. She speaks frequently about accessibility, diversity and leadership and is the author of the memoir Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, which has been featured in The New York Times, Oprah Magazine and the TODAY Show.

The Pisart Award in Technological Innovation recognizes an individual, group of individuals or organization that have made significant contributions to the field of vision science. The award also recognizes those whose technological innovations improve the lives of people with vision loss.

Javier Pita Lozano, CEO of NaviLens is the recipient of the 2022 Pisart Award for his work with NaviLens. NaviLens is a technology that marries labelling information with orientation guidance to increase accessibility of public spaces and transportation infrastructure for people with vision impairment.

The Bressler Prize in Vision Science is awarded to a person whose research has resulted in translation of medical or scientific knowledge into significant advancements in the treatment or rehabilitation of people with vision loss.

Sheila Nirenberg, PhD, is the recipient of the 2022 Bressler Prize for her outstanding advances in vision science, including deciphering the retina’s neural code which is the key to restoring meaningful vision in people who are blind from retinal degeneration. Dr. Nirenberg is the Nanette Laitman Professor in Neurology and Neuroscience and a professor of Computational Neuroscience at the Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University.