Abraham Spector Prize Celebrates Scientific Discovery

The Columbia Department of Ophthalmology and the Columbia Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center hosted the Tenth Abraham Spector Prize Lecture and Symposium on October 9, 2025, honoring the legacy of Abraham Spector, PhD, an internationally-recognized leader in vision research.

A long-time ophthalmology faculty member at Columbia, Dr. Spector led a distinguished career recognized by the Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, the ARVO Proctor Medal, and numerous other honors.

This year’s symposium featured presentations from Rudolph L. Leibel, MD, Christopher J. Murphy Professor of Diabetes Research and chief of the Division of Molecular Genetics at Columbia; Elia J. Duh, MD, G. Edward and G. Britton Durell Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University; and Richard DiMarchi, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Indiana University.

The Abraham Spector Prize Lecture was delivered by Svetlana Mojsov, PhD, Lulu Chow Wang and Robin Chemers Neustein Research Associate Professor at Rockefeller University, whose discovery of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), a gut hormone that plays a key role in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism, has been translated into breakthrough treatments for diabetes and weight loss. Her talk traced the scientific journey behind one of the most transformative medical advances of the past generation.

“The story Dr. Mojsov shared is remarkable,” says Xin Zhang, PhD, Malcolm P. Aldrich Research Professor of Ophthalmic Science, Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology, and Vision Science Research Director at Columbia. “She began with what seemed like a very simple finding, identifying a peptide, and that became the foundation for a therapy now changing the lives of millions.”

The symposium also highlighted emerging research connecting metabolic pathways and eye disease.

“One of the most exciting presentations came from Dr. Elia Duh of Johns Hopkins, who showed how GLP-1 may also influence immune cells involved in diabetic retinopathy,” Dr. Zhang says. “It is fascinating to see how discoveries in one field can ripple outward and transform others, including ophthalmology. We all came away deeply inspired.”