Yoshihiro Yonekawa
Mass Eye & Ear / Boston Children’s
RETINA Roundup Co-Editor
We hope everyone is gearing up for the 2018 American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting in Chicago. Lots will be happening, and we’re sure your schedules are filling quickly with exciting events, lectures, instruction courses, and alumni dinners. The AAO program book has become quite massive over the years, and it can be a challenge to distill the pertinent educational activities. In this post, we’ll look at the retina-related highlights of the meeting.
But first, let’s start with Chicago’s weather forecast for next week:
Pack your coats and umbrellas!
(1) Retina Subspecialty Day
The most exciting 2 days for many of us retina specialists are the Retina Subspecialty Days. The “subday” program is on Friday and Saturday October 26 – 27. It kicks off at 8:00AM on Friday with introductions from the co-chairs Rick Spaide and Mark Humayun. The detailed schedule can be found here. Here is the lineup of sessions with start times:
Friday:
Section I (8:05) The art of vitreoretinal surgery
Section II (8:30) Vitreoretinal surgery part I
Charles Schepens lecture (9:19)
Section III (10:29) The business of retina
Section IV (10:55) Medical retina cases
Section V (11:25) Medical retina part I
Section VI (12:00) Special lecture on machine interpretation
Section VII (1:37) Uveitis
Section VIII (2:25) Surgical videos
Section IX (2:52) Pediatric retina
Break with the experts (3:35)
Section X (4:20) Late breakers part I
Section XI (5:08) First-time results of clinical trials
Saturday:
Section XII (8:05) Imaging
Section XIII (9:08) Late breakers part II
Section XIV (9:38) Neovascular AMD
Section XV (11:00) Oncology
Section XVI (11:20) Diabetic retinopathy
Section XVII (1:39) Innovative retinal interventions
Section XVIII (2:21) Non-neovascular AMD
Section XIX (2:56) Vitreoretinal surgery part II
Section XX (4:15) Medical retina part II
Section XXI (4:58) Complications videos
A special mention regarding the “First-time results of clinical trials” session: In this session, the following first-time data will be presented, which will certainly be of interest to the entire retina community:
– Jeff Heier: 26-week results of RGX-314 gene therapy [REGENXBIO] for neovascular AMD
– Rahul Khurana: SEQUOIA and CEDAR (abicipar [Allergan] for neovascular AMD)
– Arshad Khanani: STAIRWAY (faricimab [Genentech] for neovascular AMD)
– William Freeman: BEACON (brimonidine [Allergan] implant for geographic atrophy)
(2) Named Lectures
Named lectures are one of my favorite parts of the program. Not only do they feature and celebrate the accomplishments of the lecturer, but they also pay homage to the ophthalmologists the lectures are named after. The lectures usually tell a story that is highly educational, and at times with personal touches. Here are the retina-related named lectures during AAO 2019:
Friday
9:19AM Schepens Lecture: Joan Miller on developing AMD therapeutics
Sunday
9:30AM Jackson Memorial Lecture: Phil Rosenfeld on Avastin and OCT
12:45AM Stephen and Frances Foster Lecture: Janet Davis on immune defense
Monday
12:45AM Michael Marmor Lecture: Howard Schatz on photography
2:00PM Zimmerman Lecture: Matthew Wilson on retinoblastoma
8:30AM Arnall Patz Lecture: Alexander Brucker on macular edema
(3) Laureate Award
Steve Charles, MD, is the 2018 recipient of the AAO Laureate Award, for his countless contributions to advancing our field. He will be awarded during the Opening Session on Sunday at 8:58AM.
(4) New AAO President
George Williams, MD, is our new fearless leader, as the new Academy president. The “Passing of the Gavel” will take place at 9:04AM, also during the Opening Session.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Chicago!
