Resident Retreat 2026

Deadline - Nominations for the 2026 Retreat are now being accepted from March 31 to April 28, 2026.

Nominations are reviewed and nominees are selected by the Society of Heed Fellows (SOHF) Trustees. Each year, the SOHF Trustees regret that many worthy nominees cannot be invited because of budgetary constraints. The budget allows for 30 to 35 residents from 30 – 35 different programs to be supported. A second resident from up to ten programs may be allowed to attend if their chairs agree to fund all travel-related, hotel, and meal expenses and if their evaluation scores are at a fundable level. For those programs nominating two residents, please indicate in the chair/program director’s recommendation letter the willingness to fund a second resident. Nominees and their chairs will be notified about the decision in early June. 

20th Annual Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Residents Retreat
September 26 – 27, 2026 | Chicago, Illinois
Deadline for Nominations: April 28, 2026

Submit Your Nominations!

The Society of Heed Fellows (SOHF) and the Heed Foundation are pleased to announce that resident nominations are open for an in-person 20th Annual Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Residents Retreat. Department chairs and residency program directors are requested to nominate one or two residents from their programs who have the talent and desire to pursue a career in academic ophthalmology. This retreat has been enormously popular and successful in preparing residents to pursue a career in academic ophthalmology. Please give thoughtful consideration to the selection of residents with this intended career path. 

Important Notes

• All documents must be uploaded as PDF files.
• Be sure to click Complete Task after each upload to save your work.
• Review the NIH Biosketch tips in the previous announcement and use the Fellowship Biosketch version provided in the application.
• Additional retreat details are available in the previous announcement and on the Heed website.

Nomination Steps

1. The nominator, who is the Department Chair and or Residency Program Director, creates a profile and logs in using the new credentials.
2. Start a nomination by entering the residency program name and the resident’s name and email address.
3. Upload the resident’s NIH Biosketch in NIH format only, not to exceed five pages. Use the Fellowship version provided in the application. 
4. Upload the resident’s personal statement describing their career goals. 
5. Upload one letter of recommendation from the Department Chair and or Residency Program Director. A combined letter is acceptable.
   1. The letter of recommendation is particularly important when nominating a resident who may not, for a variety of reasons, have had the opportunity or resources to develop a strong CV but, who in the opinion of the department chair and program director is strongly committed and capable of an academic career.
   2. If nominating two residents, you confirm willingness to fund a second resident if selected. Do not nominate more than two residents.
   3. To submit a second nomination, use the left navigation sidebar to return to Your Applications and complete a new submission.
6. Select Back to Application, then click Review and Submit, and finally Submit.

Tips for Completing the NIH Biosketch for the Heed Resident Retreat

1. Use the Fellowship version of the NIH Biosketch. Do not use the Pre- or Post-doctoral Fellowship Biosketch form. A link will be provided within the retreat application portal.
2. Personal Statements - use the Personal Statement portion of the NIH Biosketch form to concisely summarize/highlight scientific work and accomplishments. The Personal Statement section within the Resident Retreat application should be used to outline fellowship and career plans as well as any other elements of the candidate's background they would like the Board to take into consideration. 
3. Ignore the eRA commons username section of the NIH Biosketch form. 
4. Add "Heed Fellowship" in the Position Title field of the NIH Biosketch form.
5. The NIH Biosketch form instructions allow a maximum of 5 pages so the Heed Resident Retreat organizers will also allow up to 5 pages this year. Please note this change is not intended as encouragement to have 5 pages; 2 pages is preferred, but up to 5 pages will be accepted.

Troubleshooting Tip
If you experience issues saving your application or uploading documents, switch browsers, log in again, then visit https://retreat.heed.org/clean. Click Clear Selected Storage twice until the list shows “0,” then log in and continue your application.

The Heed Ophthalmic Foundation (HOF), in conjunction with the Society of Heed Fellows, the American Ophthalmological Society (AOS), and Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB)