Teresa Puthussery, OD, PhD, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, has been named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow. Awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the fellowship recognizes individuals for exceptional originality and dedication in their creative pursuits. Each fellow receives an $800,000 stipend to support their work.  

  “The 2025 MacArthur Fellows expand the boundaries of knowledge, artistry, and human understanding. They focus our attention on microbial worlds and distant stars, community vitality and timeless traditions, sacred and improvisational music, and shared histories of our time on Earth,” says Kristen Mack, vice president, communications, fellows, and partnerships, MacArthur Foundation. “With virtuosity, persistence, and courage, they chart new paths toward collaborative, creative, and flourishing futures.”

As described by the MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Puthussery studies how retinal neural circuits encode visual information for the primate brain, with a focus on retinal ganglion cells. She discovered direction-selective ganglion cells in primate retinas, showing that motion detection occurs in the retina itself rather than solely in the brain. Her work also investigates how retinal neurons are affected by photoreceptor degeneration and explores stem cell–based approaches to restore vision, offering new insights into human vision and potential treatments for retinal diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration.

According to UC Berkeley News, Dr. Puthussery is the first optometrist to receive the MacArthur Fellowship.

For a full list of the 2025 MacArthur Fellows, click here.