Ann Elsner

Ann Elsner is a Fellow of Optical (formerly Optical Society of America) and the 2018 Land Medal winner. In 2022, she won the Prentice Award from the American Academy of Optometry. She is a Distinguished Professor in Optometry at Indiana University and was awarded a Bicentennial Medal. Her laboratory develops retinal imaging and visual function techniques to combat vision loss. She received her B.A. degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. She left the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Carnegie-Mellon University in 1987, to start a laboratory at the Schepens Eye Research, Harvard University, which moved to Indiana University in 2005. At the same time, Elsner founded Aeon Imaging, LLC, to lower costs in healthcare and education.

Elsner’s research revolutionized retinal imaging by introducing novel laser sources into instruments with scanning designs, confocal properties, solid-state detectors, and specialized techniques for presenting visual stimuli. She produced the first images or biomedical application for a variety of lasers in under-utilized wavelength ranges, including Ti:Sapphire. New image processing techniques, including analysis for multiply scattered light and polarization, revealed structures previously unseen in living eyes This led to acceptance of near infrared imaging with a variety of modalities, now combatting eye disease and impacting research and healthcare worldwide.