Prince Kumar, PhD, wins Young Investigator Award

The Mizzou School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology was recently represented at the world’s largest eye and vision research organization, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

Prince Kumar, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Pawan Singh, PhD, assistant professor of Ophthalmology, received first place in the Dr. Raniyah Ramadan Foundation Young Investigator Award in Microbiology. The recognition is presented to the top two (first and second place) best papers or poster presentations in the immunology and microbiology category by a graduate student or a postdoctoral fellow.

Dr. Kumar also received the MIT Outstanding Poster Award for immunology and microbiology, which ARVO presents to one of the top poster presenters in each scientific category.

The annual ARVO meeting is one of the largest congregations of ophthalmology researchers, attended by more than 10,000 participants from more than 70 countries. Award winners will be formally presented at the 2026 ARVO annual meeting in Denver.

Dr. Kumar received these honors for his study titled, “Zika Virus Triggers Golgiphagy and Remodels the Golgi Apparatus to Facilitate Viral Replication in Human Trabecular Meshwork Cells.” His presentation was also designated as a “Hot Topic” by the ARVO, which is assigned to the top 2% of the abstracts.

“I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to present my research at the world's largest ophthalmology meeting alongside many accomplished peers in the field,” said Dr. Kumar. “I deeply appreciate Dr. Singh's exceptional mentorship and unwavering support throughout my research journey in his lab. He cultivates an environment of trust and motivation, giving us the freedom to innovate while encouraging us to push our boundaries.”

“I’m extremely proud of Prince’s achievement, and his hard work and dedication have resulted in these honors,” said Dr. Singh. “It reminds me of my past when I won the same award in 2013 as a postdoctoral fellow. I’m grateful to the Dr. Raniyah Ramadan Foundation and the ARVO for recognizing our work with these honors.”

Dr. Singh's laboratory research focuses on studying the role of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in congenital glaucoma and the role of immune components in glaucoma-associated neurodegeneration. ZIKV caused severe neurological and ocular manifestations during recent pandemics in the Americas. However, the mechanism of ocular disease pathogenesis and the remedies remain unknown.

His lab uses a ZIKV congenital infection model to understand the disease pathogenesis and to develop pathway-based therapies to treat or prevent vision-threatening conditions.