Eyeing the Future of Vision Science

College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) students Zainab Faisal and Nancy O. Mahfouz, along with Assistant Professor of Psychology and Counseling Robert Alexander, Ph.D., traveled to Florida to present two research studies at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS).

The international conference, which took place May 15 through 19 in St. Pete Beach, Fla., draws vision scientists from around the world each year and gave students in Alexander’s Human Factors and Neuroscience (HFAN) lab an opportunity to connect with and learn from like-minded researchers. To support their journey and stay at the multi-day conference, Faisal and Mahfouz were each awarded National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Eye Institute Early Career Scientist Travel Grants.

For Faisal, a life sciences/osteopathic medicine (B.S./D.O.) student and the lead author on the research poster “Fixational Instability in Ophthalmic and Neurological Disease: A Comprehensive Review,” the event was a cause for celebration, as this marked her first national conference presentation experience.

“Being surrounded by researchers of all backgrounds and career stages, each studying different aspects of vision science, showed me how broad a single field can be,” says Faisal, whose presentation preparation paid off when she found herself feeling confident rather than nervous. “It felt more like a natural conversation than a formal presentation. As a student, experiences like this push you out of your comfort zone in ways that matter.”

In collaboration with osteopathic medicine student Mahfouz, computer science student Edrich Silva, health sciences student Angelina Joseph, Ayesha Mulla (B.S. ’26), Simrat Renu (B.S. ’26), and Alexander, Faisal’s work reviews fixational eye movement dynamics in ophthalmic and neurologic conditions. The study highlights how eye movement measurements may contribute to improved diagnostic tools and better methods for tracking disease progression and treatment effectiveness.

Faisal, an aspiring physician looking to improve diagnoses and treatments in underserved communities, led the charge in reading and synthesizing peer-reviewed research on fixational eye movements in neurological diseases and helped revise the study’s manuscript.

Mahfouz, lead author on the poster presentation “The Vision Science of Medical Monitor Characteristics,” worked with physics student Parker Flanagan, biology student Jana Radwan, and Alexander to examine the vision science behind technical standards for medical imaging monitors. This research explains how display calibration standards support radiologists in accurately diagnosing patients from medical images.

Together, these two posters reflect the HFAN lab’s primary research focus of using vision science to determine how human observers perceive, interpret, and act on complex visual information.

Mahfouz’s role across the two studies included data analysis, reviewing literature, and interpreting findings. With goals to become a physician who combines patient care, research, and education, she hopes to stay involved in academic medicine, research, and peer mentoring students while providing patient care.

“Attending conferences like VSS has been one of the most valuable parts of my medical education so far,” Mahfouz says. “Seeing the work of researchers and clinicians from around the world was incredibly motivating and inspired me to continue pursuing research throughout my career.”

Both studies displayed at the conference emerged from broader work made possible by a four-year NIH grant awarded to Alexander in 2025. This funding supports eye movement research examining how radiologists interact with data from artificial intelligence tools while also advancing the HFAN lab’s training environment for students engaged in research.

“I built the Human Factors and Neuroscience lab to help students move from learning about science to actively contributing as researchers themselves,” Alexander says. “Seeing students present in these major conference spaces is proof that our structured research training works. Nancy and Zainab are producing work that is viable at a national level.”