ARVO 2026: Cogan Award recipients reflect on career and award

Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, and Cecilia S. Lee, MD, MS, co-recipients of this year’s Cogan Award at ARVO took time to talk about the award and what it means to them. The 2 noted how important the organization and conference have been to their careers and the honor it brings.

The Cogan Award was established in 1988 and commemorates Dr David G. Cogan for his “outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing the understanding of the causes, mechanisms, and treatment of human eye disease.” According to the organization, the award is intended to recognize a young researcher who has made “important and worthwhile contributions to research in ophthalmology or visual science that are directly related to disorders of the human eye or visual system and who shows substantial promise for future contributions.”

Both recipients gave the Cogan Award Lecture at the ARVO Annual Meeting held in Denver, Colorado.