The American Academy of Optometry has released education highlights for its annual meeting, taking place this year in San Antonio, Texas, November 7-10. 

This year’s Plenary Session, “The Future of Health Care Delivery,” will cover various trends and concepts to help shape your future practice. Speakers include two from outside of eye care: Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, and McMaster University’s Gordon Guyatt, MD, MSc, who coined the term evidence-based medicine. Joining them will be New England College of Optometry’s Anthony Cavallerano, OD. 

During the Monroe J. Hirsch Research Symposium, “Vision Restoration for Retinal Degenerative Disease,” speakers Sheila Nirenburg, PhD, Tom Reh, PhD, and Byron Lam, MD, will discuss different approaches to saving or restoring vision in patients with retinal degenerative disease.

Also on the docket is a symposium from Ezell Fellows about contact lens discomfort (CLD). Speakers Maria Markoulli, PhD, MOptom, Lakshman Subbaraman, PhD, BSOptom, MSc, and Pete Kollbaum, OD, PhD, will walk attendees through the impact of contact lens material and design, the ocular surface and outside factors on CLD as well as updates on current research. 

Additionally, Academy 2018 will feature the fourth joint symposium of the Academy and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, “Advances in Ocular Imaging.” Here, Austin Roorda, PhD, Joel Schuman, MD, Don Miller, OD, David Huang, MD, PhD, Adrian Glasser, PhD, Hiroshi Ishikawa, MD, Susana Chung, OD, PhD, and Phillip Rosenfield, MD, PhD, will provide an update on applications of ocular imaging for the anterior segment, retina and glaucoma.

In all, the conference will feature over 250 hours of lectures and workshops in addition to Section and Special Interest Group symposia, scientific papers and posters, an exhibit hall and social events.

To learn more, go to www.aaopt.org/2018.