Dr. Rajendra S. Apte is the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, where he serves as Vice Chair of Innovation and Translation in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and is a Professor in the Department of Developmental Biology and Medicine. Dr. Apte received his medical degree from the University of Bombay and joined Washington University School of Medicine after obtaining a Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, completing a residency at Parkland Hospital, and a retinal vascular and vitreo-retinal surgery fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Apte was recruited to Washington University in 2003 and became a tenured professor at the School of Medicine in less than ten years. Dr. Apte is a vitreoretinal surgeon and clinician scientist. His basic research is focused on inflammation, aging, neurodegeneration and angiogenesis. His clinical research spans the translational spectrum from drug discovery and development to clinical trials. Dr. Apte has published extensively in basic and clinical peer reviewed journals and has participated as a principal investigator in numerous clinical trials. He was appointed in 2020 to be a Permanent Member of the National Eye Institute Board of Scientific Counselors, the early career development committee of the American Society of Clinical Investigators and elected as a member of the Association of American Physicians and the National Academy of Inventors;
Dr. Apte has won numerous awards, honors, and educational scholarships. Some recent highlights include: 2025 ASRS Gertrude Pyron Award, 2025 WashU Outstanding Faculty and Staff Award for lasting impact on student experiences through mentorship, teaching and service, 2024 Roger H. Johnson AMD Award, 2024 RPB/ AMDF Catalyst Award, 2023 Ernst Bárány Prize from the International Society for Eye Research, 2022 UT Southwestern Medical Center Distinguished Alumnus, 2018 European Vision and Eye Research Certificate of Honour and Keynote Lecture; 2017 J. Wayne Streilein Distinguished Alumnus Award Lecture in Immunology; 2017 Macula Society W. Richard Green Award; 2017 Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging; 2016 Research to Prevent Blindness Nelson Trust Award; 2014 Research to Prevent Blindness Sybil B. Harrington Physician-Scientist Award for Age-Related Macular Degeneration; 2014 ASRS Presidents’ Award; 2013/2014 Carl Camras Translational Research Award, the Macula Society Young Investigator Award in 2013; Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research from AFAR in 2012; the Macula Society Retina Research Foundation Cox Research Award in 2010; the American Retina Foundation Research Award in 2008; and the Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award in 2004. These awards accompany his 185+ peer-reviewed publications. His entrepreneurial activities include starting four life sciences companies, patenting and licensing several technologies, many of which are in human clinical trials. His research has been published in several high impact journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Cell, Cell Metabolism, the JCI, Nature Communications, PLoS Medicine, PNAS, JAMA Ophthalmology, among others. He was appointed Global Professor at Keio University in Tokyo.
