# António Champalimaud Vision Award recipients > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/antnio-champalimaud-vision-award-recipients > Updated: 2026-09-17T15:46:25.000Z. Sources: 5. Developments: 2. Botond Roska and José-Alain Sahel have been awarded the 2026 António Champalimaud Vision Award, a prize valued at EUR 1 million. The award recognizes more than twenty years of collaborative research into vision mechanisms and the development of therapies for vision loss. Their work has significantly advanced optogenetic therapies, which seek to restore visual function by making surviving retinal cells responsive to light after natural photoreceptors are lost to disease. A key milestone in their research was a 2021 study indicating that optogenetic methods could partially restore vision in patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa. Roska, the founding director of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), focuses on retinal function and cell-specific therapies. Sahel, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh and chair of the IOB Scientific Advisory Board, has pioneered work in neuroprotection, gene therapy, and vision restoration. ## Timeline ### 2026-09-17: Botond Roska and José-Alain Sahel receive António Champalimaud Vision Award Botond Roska and José-Alain Sahel received the one-million-euro António Champalimaud Vision Award for their pioneering research in optogenetic therapies to restore vision and prevent blindness. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/botond-roska-and-jos-alain-sahel-receive-antnio-champalimaud-vision-award-1 ### 2026-09-15: Botond Roska and José-Alain Sahel receive António Champalimaud Vision Award Botond Roska and José-Alain Sahel have received the EUR 1 million António Champalimaud Vision Award for their pioneering research in optogenetic therapies and vision restoration. 3 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/botond-roska-and-jos-alain-sahel-receive-antnio-champalimaud-vision-award --- Cite as: António Champalimaud Vision Award recipients. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/antnio-champalimaud-vision-award-recipients