Newswise — Rockville, Md.—The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Foundation announced today that Swathi Kaliki, MD, is the 2025 recipient of the Ludwig von Sallmann Clinician-Scientist Award.
Kaliki heads the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer, LV Prasad Eye Institute, India. She has delivered over 350 lectures in various national and international forums, published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, contributed 35 oncology book chapters, and holds editorial board positions in various international journals. Her career in ocular oncology includes noteworthy contributions in retinoblastoma — the most common pediatric eye cancer that is fatal when diagnosed late or left untreated. Also an entrepreneur, Kaliki is the brain behind Whitathon, an annual awareness and fundraiser run she kickstarted to improve community awareness about retinoblastoma and support the treatment of underprivileged children with retinoblastoma.
Despite numerous advances in the management of retinoblastoma in the past two decades, Kaliki notes there is a massive variation in treatment outcomes in the developed versus the developing world. "There is an unmet need for noninvasive screening strategies for the timely diagnosis of retinoblastoma and a dearth of early diagnostic markers and prognostic biomarkers that can tailor patient-specific management," she says. "With clinical experience managing thousands of patients with retinoblastoma at a world-renowned ocular oncology center in India, I focused on these differences in care and outcomes in children with retinoblastoma from 21 retinoblastoma treatment centers across five continents. This colossal work led me to identify and focus on these lacunae to optimize retinoblastoma care."
Kaliki's lab has worked on understanding retinoblastoma tumor biology through small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) — minuscule biological structures found in tissues just over the size of 1 millionth of a centimeter — and metabolomics. “In simple terms, we studied serum-derived sEVs and regulate processes that prevent or allow a cell to become cancerous," she explains. "We characterized these sEVs using nanoparticle tracking analysis, electron microscopy, immunoblotting, RNA sequencing, and polymerase chain reaction techniques and identified key players in retinoblastoma tumorigenesis.”
Taking their work from bench to bedside, Kaliki's team established differences in sEVs between patients with retinoblastoma who responded to treatment versus those who did not, identifying potential biomarkers of treatment resistance in retinoblastoma. They also explored the metabolomics arena to understand retinoblastoma tumor biology and progression. "Metabolites are small molecules that are made when the cells break down food, drugs, chemicals, or its own tissue, and metabolomics is the study of these molecules," shares Kaliki. "We showed that alterations in the serum metabolic profiles can be a noninvasive biomarker for detecting retinoblastoma and identified distinct metabolic signatures of unilateral and bilateral retinoblastoma." In addition, through nuclear magnetic resonance-based serum metabolomics, Kaliki's team was able to distinguish between retinoblastoma with and without high-risk histopathology features, a parameter that governs crucial decisions of whether to enucleate or preserve an eye with retinoblastoma. "Put together...these advances offer the ability to detect retinoblastoma early and predict treatment response, making them invaluable in clinical decision-making," says Kaliki.
She asserts that further advances to revolutionize eye cancer care and achieve optimal outcomes worldwide are possible only by strengthening global collaborations. "Scientific breakthroughs and advancements in clinical practice are rarely the result of individual work alone — they are born from the collective expertise, dedication, and passion of a diverse group of professionals…I hope to lead by example and shape the next era of ocular oncologists, just as Dr. Ludwig von Sallmann’s work has left a lasting legacy for generations of ophthalmologists.”
The Ludwig von Sallmann Clinician-Scientist Award honors the impact of Dr. Ludwig von Sallmann, a distinguished international ophthalmologist and ophthalmic investigator whose contributions greatly increased the basic and clinical understanding of vision and ophthalmology. Award recipients are selected from invited speakers of the ARVO Annual Meeting who hold an MD, MD/PhD or equivalent and are age 45 or younger at the time of presentation. The awardee presents a lecture at the Annual Meeting, receives an honorarium and is recognized with an inscribed award.
Kaliki says receiving this award is an immense honor that signifies a deep commitment to advancing the field of ophthalmology and integrating clinical practice with scientific inquiry. “I hope to focus on several challenges in ocular oncology, including understanding the multitude of factors that govern the survival in patients with eye cancer." She adds the award will catalyze her efforts to develop scalable, accessible cancer screening and early detection solutions, and provide personalized treatment approaches to enhance the lives of patients with eye cancer worldwide. "Above all, I am committed to disseminating knowledge of eye cancer to future generations who may not receive the global training and opportunities. I seek to expand the impact of my team’s work by integrating global networks, basic science research, and artificial intelligence to revolutionize global eye cancer outcomes. I hope to uphold the award’s legacy of excellence and dedication to clinical care and scientific discovery and continue to make groundbreaking contributions to the advancement of ophthalmology and ocular oncology."
For more information about the Ludwig von Sallmann Clinician-Scientist Award, visit ARVO’s website.
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The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include approximately 10,000 eye and vision researchers from over 75 countries. ARVO advances research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders. Learn more at ARVO.org.
Established in 2001, the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research raises funds through partnerships, grants and sponsorships to support ARVO’s world-class education and career development resources for eye and vision researchers of all stages of career and education. Learn more at ARVOFoundation.org.
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