The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology has recognized Linda Hazlett, Ph.D., vice dean of Research and Graduate Programs for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, with the 2022 Joanne G. Angle Award.

ARVO presents the annual award, its highest service honor,  to outstanding leaders who have made significant, continuous contributions to ARVO in support of its mission with personal involvement in and commitment to the organization, and contributions to the vision research community.

“Joanne Angle was a very capable lady and I admired her very much. She stood for all ARVO means to each of us, each in our own way. I am honored to receive this award and humbled by its significance,” said Dr. Hazlett, the Robert S. Jampel, M.D., Ph.D. Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology, and vice chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences.

Founded in 1928, ARVO supports research, education and outreach initiatives. The organization consists of about 11,000 clinical and basic research members.

A member for more than 40 years, Dr. Hazlett has served on a number of ARVO committees and initiatives, including the Annual Meeting Program Committee representing the Immunology/Microbiology Section, the Diversity Initiatives Committee, Women in Eye and Vision Research, and the editorial board of the ARVO journal, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. She also has organized symposia for the annual meetings of the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research/Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, an ARVO partner organization.

“Dr Hazlett embodies the attributes of the Angle Award,” said Mark Juzych, M.D., MSHA, the David Barsky, M.D., Endowed Chair, professor and chair of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences for WSU, and director of the Kresge Eye Institute. “Because of her 40 years of service to ARVO, the most prestigious international vision research organization, it is a much stronger and better organization.”

A widely published researcher, Dr. Hazlett’s research interests are ocular infection and pathogenesis, inflammation and innate immunity. She has written 200 peer-reviewed papers and 22 book chapters, and holds two provisional patents for treatment of bacterial keratitis. She has secured funding for one of WSU’s longest-running (36 years) grants related to vision research ― the P30 Core Vision Center from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.