ASCRS News: Annual Meeting Preview
July 2021
Eric Donnenfeld, MD, EyeWorld chief medical editor, conducted a Q&A with Edward Holland, MD, ASCRS Program Committee chair, to highlight what’s coming at the 2021 ASCRS Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 23–27.
Dr. Donnenfeld: Ed, you’ve been the ASCRS Program Committee Chair now for 9 years. I think this is the most valuable meeting for anyone who has an interest in anterior segment surgery, and I’m not just talking about cataract and refractive surgery, I’m also talking about glaucoma and cornea. The first question I want to ask you is: A great deal has changed since the last in-person ASCRS Annual Meeting, so what are your thoughts about holding the first major meeting in person with ophthalmologists in almost 2 years?
Dr. Holland: I think this pandemic has impacted us in so many ways, personally and professionally. The pandemic has also affected the way we’ve been able to obtain our education. I think that virtual meetings were better than most people thought they would be, and we did receive some outstanding education.
But there’s a bit of virtual education fatigue now, and in talking to ophthalmologists across the country, they are very excited about a live, in-person meeting. There are many different ways to learn, but big meetings have never gone away and remain popular. Doctors like to talk to colleagues, meet friends, and interact with industry. The attendees of the ASCRS Annual Meeting learn from the general sessions, the instruction courses, the paper sessions, and they learn about new products when they go to the Exhibit Hall. Ophthalmologists have missed the big meeting experience, so there is a lot of excitement about the meeting in Las Vegas.
Dr. Donnenfeld: I agree with you. Virtual meetings were exciting when they first started and I think they’re here to stay, but there’s something extraordinarily important about being live, face to face, and interacting with people. I am very much looking forward to this meeting. However, there are still some questions about an in-person meeting. How is ASCRS and Las Vegas preparing for this meeting?
Dr. Holland: ASCRS is committed to the health of all attendees, exhibitors, and staff, and we’re going to do all we can in accordance with state and local regulations and follow guidelines of the CDC to create a safe and healthy environment. ASCRS encourages all eligible meeting participants to be vaccinated prior to coming to the meeting. We want to have participants engage in preventative actions. We’re also going to have onsite COVID-19 testing at the convention center.
Dr. Donnenfeld: I think the take-home message is that it’s time to get back to normal. We encourage all participants at this meeting to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and to be smart and use common sense. I think that this meeting will be successful, safe, and I can’t think of a better place to go than Las Vegas.
Dr. Holland: It’s one of those cities where everyone can find something that they like. We’ve got a beautiful convention center at Mandalay Bay with great hotels that are part of the convention complex. Las Vegas has something for everyone. There are fantastic restaurants, the shows will be back, and for those who like to gamble, they have that as well.
Dr. Donnenfeld: Let’s get back to the nitty gritty of the meeting. At the end of the day, it’s all about education. We’ve had some innovative programming at the ASCRS Annual Meeting. What programs are you excited about?
Dr. Holland: What starts the meeting is ASCRS Subspecialty Day. We have Cornea Day, Refractive Day, and Glaucoma Day, all on Friday from 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Attendees can go between the Subspecialty Day meetings, depending on which topic or speaker interests them.
On Saturday, we have the Opening General Session. The Binkhorst Lecture will be presented this year by Richard Lewis, MD, one of the outstanding glaucoma specialists of his era. We have a new award, the Educator Award, to highlight an individual who has spent their career educating future ophthalmologists, and that award goes to Thomas Oetting, MD. I can’t think of a better winner of the inaugural Educator Award. We will have the Hall of Fame presentation, with Jerry Shields, MD, a world-famous ophthalmic oncologist from Wills Eye Hospital. The late Tadeusz Krwawicz, MD, who was an outstanding corneal surgeon, will also be honored. To close out the Opening General Session, we have the CEO of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), David Parke II, MD, giving a lecture with a panel discussion following about the state of ophthalmology, how COVID-19 affected ophthalmology, and what we can expect in the future.
The Sunday General Session is starting out with Scott Gottlieb, MD, the former FDA commissioner and COVID-19 expert. The second half of the Sunday General Session is a brand new program. This session will highlight the latest advances in cataract, cornea, refractive, and glaucoma surgery and will feature the inaugural Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, Lecture. One can certainly understand why ASCRS would want to honor Dr. Lindstrom. I think he has been the most influential ophthalmologist of his era, and he has made tremendous contributions to our specialty.
On Monday, we have the Innovators General Session, which starts out with five innovative talks, followed by the Charles D. Kelman, MD, Innovator’s Lecture. This year, that will be presented by Stephen Slade, MD, a great champion of innovation.
On Tuesday, we have an exciting program called “X-Rounds: Refractive Cataract Surgery to the Max.” It’s an interactive program where we discuss many topics in anterior segment surgery. It’s followed by the Best of ASCRS, where we highlight some of the key papers that have been presented during the meeting accompanied by great faculty discussion.
We have a couple of new, exciting programs. One is a program that will be moderated by Leon Herndon, MD, and Caroline Fisher, MD, called “Redefining Our Vision for Future Generations: Implicit Bias in Ophthalmology.” We’ll have great speakers and a panel discussion about how we understand and handle bias in ophthalmology.
Dr. Donnenfeld: I also want to mention that we’re having our first in-person Eyecelerator meeting, being held immediately prior to the ASCRS Annual Meeting on July 22. It’s a combined endeavor of ASCRS and AAO. It’s going to be an opportunity for ophthalmology and industry to work together to improve patient care.
Dr. Holland: One other thing I want to mention is an idea that Steve Speares, ASCRS executive director, gets credit for, called the ASCRS Tap Room. In the middle of the Exhibit Hall, we’re going to have a tavern with beverages and light snacks, and it’s going to be open on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. In each corner of the ASCRS Tap Room will be industry programs highlighting new pharmaceuticals and surgical instruments in an interactive, informal setting.
Dr. Donnenfeld: The world has certainly changed in the last 2 years, and ophthalmology has changed. This is the first real chance to attend a live, in-person meeting where we can see all the innovation that’s taken place and take home new information that’s going to change the way we practice. I encourage everyone to attend the 2021 ASCRS Annual Meeting. Ed, I plan to see you in the ASCRS Tap Room where we will discuss all things ophthalmology.
Dr. Holland: I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Las Vegas!
Contact
Donnenfeld: ericdonnenfeld@gmail.com
Holland: eholland@holprovision.com
