SAN ANTONIO—The American Academy of Optometry announced highlights of the education program scheduled to take place at Academy 2018 San Antonio, Nov. 7 to 10, 2018. The annual meeting offers a wide array of clinically relevant CE courses and cutting edge research in the clinical and vision sciences, the Academy stated. Attendees can choose from over 250 hours of lectures and workshops, Section and Special Interest Group (SIG) symposia, hundreds of scientific papers and posters, an expansive exhibit hall and several memorable social events.

This year’s Plenary Session taking place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7 is titled, “Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Practice: The Future of Health Care Delivery.” The Session will discuss the trends and concepts that will shape your future practice. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for Global Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania will discuss the future of health care delivery and how governments deliver health care to patients; Dr. Gordon Guyatt, professor at McMaster University (and the man who coined the term "evidence based medicine,”) will discuss how to deliver health care to your patients one on one; and Dr. Anthony Cavallerano, executive director, Clinical Training and Patient Care and adjunct professor at New England College of Optometry will discuss how telemedicine can be used to enhance patient care.

The Monroe J. Hirsch Research Symposium is titled, “Vision Restoration for Retinal Degenerative Disease.” The Symposium will bring together three leading researchers to highlight different approaches to save or restore sight in patients with degenerative disease: gene replacement therapy, stem cell repair, and optogenetics to restore vision in severely damaged retinas. Speakers will include Drs. Sheila Nirenburg, Tom Reh and Byron Lam.

Another event is the fourth joint symposium of the Academy and the American Academy of Ophthalmology titled, “Advances in Ocular Imaging.” This symposium will update attendees on the anterior segment, retinal and glaucoma applications of ocular imaging and their clinical implications. Speakers will include Drs. Austin Roorda, Joel Schuman, Don Miller, David Huang, Adrian Glasser, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Susana Chung and Phillip Rosenfield.

Ezell Fellows Present is a symposium where three investigators at different stages of their careers, supported early on through the Foundation’s Ezell Fellowships, will present their research. The symposium this year is titled, “Contact Lens Discomfort: More Than (Where the Lens) Meets the Eye.” This session will discuss factors related to the contact lens material and overall design, the ocular surface, and attributes and characteristics other than the contact lens and ocular surface which impact patient-reported CLD. Updates on new research, as well as treatments and possible future directions will be provided. Speakers are Drs. Maria Markoulli, Lakshman Subbaraman and Pete Kollbaum.

Academy 2018 San Antonio will take place at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Registration and housing opens on May 21, 2018. Click here for more information.