New Ophthovation conference launches in May
The conference, a joint venture between the AAO and ASCRS, will take place right before the annual meetings of both groups.
By Robert Stoneback, associate editor
This year, AAO and ASCRS will launch a new series of meetings, Ophthovation, designed to showcase innovations in the ophthalmic field and speed the delivery of new treatments to patients. Ophthovation intends to cover a broad range of ophthalmic products, including drugs, devices and AI/digital ophthalmology.
Ophthovation Conference I will be held on Thursday, May 14, at the Sheraton Boston, prior to the start of the ASCRS’s meeting in the same city. Ophthovation Conference II will be held in Las Vegas, at the Venetian Hotel, on Thursday, Nov. 12, prior to AAO’s 2020 meeting.
According to the conference organizers, Ophthovation is “designed for all innovation stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, executives, investors and ophthalmologists.”
FOCUS ON INNOVATION
Ophthovation’s program director, Gil Kliman, MD, co-founded the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS), which he co-chaired from 2009 to 2018. Dr. Kliman says he wants Ophthovation to be a “fusion of business and clinical culture.”
As the name implies, Ophthovation aims to focus on innovation; to help accomplish that, says Dr. Kliman, the co-chairs for each meeting will regularly rotate in order to bring in new people and ideas. Ophthovation Conference I will be chaired by ASCRS leadership ophthalmologists Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, Edward J. Holland, MD, Thomas W. Samuelson, MD, and Elizabeth Yeu, MD. Chairs for Conference II have yet to be decided.
“We believe that will lead to faster and better innovation,” he says.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERACTION
Dr. Kliman says that Ophthovation started as both ASCRS and AAO realized they had natural synergies to operate a meeting on innovation. The two groups decided to organize a new conference emphasizing the new advances in ophthalmology.
As the Ophthovation meetings will be held right before the AAO and ASCRS conferences in the same cities, Ophthovation will “allow proximity and engagement with the societies’ leadership,” giving attendees the chance to interact with them more, Dr. Kliman says.
“My goal is to create a community that is very transparent and open to input,” he says.
Ophthovation has received a lot of early support as well, he adds — not just from ophthalmologists but big companies and investors as well. “There’s tremendous interest in the meeting and support from large sponsors,” Dr. Kliman says.
Ticket pricing for Ophthovation is $600 for individual attendees or $300 for AAO or ASCRS members. For more, visit ophthovation.com . OM
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CORRECTION
In the “Rx Perspective” article in the January 2020 issue, it was incorrectly stated that 1,489 adults with wet AMD were involved in the HAWK and HARRIER Phase 3 clinical trials for Novartis’ Beovu. The number of adults involved was 1,459. Ophthalmology Management regrets the error.
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