Highlights from the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting

The Department of Ophthalmology was, once again, well represented at this year’s Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology (ARVO) Imaging in the Eye Conference and Annual Meeting, held April 28 through May 3 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

More than 145 faculty and trainees participated as course instructors, panelists, lecturers and more, with several Mass. Eye and Ear faculty and alumni receiving prestigious honors and awards. 

Dr. Reza Dana Presents Friedenwald Award Lecture

A global leader in corneal and transplantation, Reza Dana, MD, MSc, MPH, received the 2018 Friedenwald Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He has dramatically advanced our understanding of immunoregulation in the eye, and his groundbreaking work is accelerating the development of novel therapeutics for patients with autoimmune disorders, dry eye disease, and corneal transplants.

Dr. Janey Wiggs Receives the Epstein Award

Dr. Wiggsand her mentee, Ryan Collantes, MD (far left, Harvard Medical School), received the 2018 Dr. David L. Epstein Award from the ARVO Foundation. They are studying genetic mutations linked to early-onset glaucoma in Filipino families.

Pictured with them is Joel Schuman, MD, FACS (Mass. Eye and Ear glaucoma fellow, class of ‘90), Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at New York University Langone Medical Center and member of the ARVO Foundation Board.

Thaddeus Dryja Receives BrightFocus Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research

Ted Dryja,  MD, is one of four vision scientists selected to receive this year’s BrightFocus Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research. The prize, which is given in honor of scientific excellence, recognizes their research and subsequent discovery in the early 1990s of the first human cancer suppressor gene. Their discovery led to a revolution in our understanding of inherited retinal degenerations, and our ongoing development of targeted gene therapies for this blinding group of eye disorders.

Alumna Presents the Weisenfeld Lecture

Patricia D’Amore, PhD, MBA, introduced the 2018 ARVO Weisenfeld Lecturer, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, FACS—Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear alumna (class of '89)

 

Faculty in the Media

How will Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Affect Ophthalmology?

In this EyeTube video, John B. Miller (Mass. Eye and Ear) discusses how emerging technologies are likely to transform patient care. Telemedicine and big data have the potential to improve disease detection, increase access to eye care, and facilitate new areas of clinical research, including imaging biomarkers, he says.

Improving Outcomes for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

DRCR's anti-VEGF treatment algorithm improved outcomes for proliferative diabetic retinopathy at two years. Jennifer Sun (Joslin Diabetes Center) shares highlights from the Protocol S study with MD Magazine at the ARVO Annual meeting.

Deep-Learning Algorithm Predicts Future Diabetic Retinopathy Severity

A new automated computerized detection algorithm applied to ultrawide field images can identify the risk of diabetic retinopathy progression associated with predominantly peripheral hemorrhages and microaneurysms. Paolo Silva (Joslin Diabetes Center) shares his research at the ARVO Annual meeting.

Why Ophthalmologists Need Machine Learning

In MD Magazine, Jennifer Sun (Joslin Diabetes Center) discusses how automated algorithms and telemedicine can improve patient care.

 

Photo credit: Copyright Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2018. Used by permission.