Officials at the White House have announced the postponement of Friday’s National Medal awards ceremony because of extreme weather forecast in the Washington, DC, area.

Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, was scheduled to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama. The ceremony will be rescheduled to spring, officials said.

Humayun, who holds joint appointments at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is the inaugural Cornelius Pings Professor of Biomedical Sciences and professor of ophthalmology, biomedical engineering, and cell and neurobiology.

He earned worldwide acclaim through his development of a retinal prosthesis system that helps individuals with a certain type of blindness to see. A recent iteration of that system, the Argus II, became the first retinal implant to receive FDA approval two years ago.

Awarded annually, the Medal of Science recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science, engineering, and mathematics. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation’s technological workforce.