29th Annual meeting of Indian Eye Research Group
AMRF, 29 – 30 July
The 29th annual meeting of the Indian Eye Research Group – ARVO India Chapter was held at Aravind Medical Research Foundation (AMRF), Madurai, with the theme of “Innovations in Eye Health: Technology to Translation”.
The meeting featured seven scientific sessions covering various ocular segments, such as the retina, cornea, orbit, and diseases like diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, keratoconus, and ocular infections. Many talks focused on translational research, including gene therapy and stem cell therapy for retinal diseases and corneal dystrophies. The significance of artificial intelligence in diagnosing ocular disease was discussed in detail. There was a special discussion on Emerging Areas of Indian Eye Research – Future Perspective that helped establish goals for future research.
The event saw participation from 220 individuals, including scientists from academia and industry, young researchers, clinical fellows and optometrists from across the country. There were six invited talks, 18 free papers, 123 posters and two industry talks. Two best presentation awards were given in both posters and free paper categories. Additionally, travel support was provided to eleven young trainees/clinical fellows. The popular quiz programme, I-Quest, was conducted, and prizes were given to the winner and runner-up.
Three oration lectures were presented by eminent scientists in frontier areas of research:
Prof. Colin Willoughby, Ulster University, UK, delivered the Bireswar Chakrabarti Oration titled Reverse Engineering Glaucoma: A path to improving glaucoma treatment.
Dr. Subhabrata Chakrabarti, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad delivered the D. Balasubramanian Oration titled Molecular dissections of a blinding disease in children through evolving omics in the sands of time.
Dr. V. Mohan, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, Chennai gave the SS Badrinath Oration on Making India diabetes complications free: Hype or reality?
The meeting also included a special talk on Vaigai – The cradle of Tamil civilisation and a cultural programme enjoyed by all participants. The event was organised by AMRF under the aegis of ARVO with support from Aurolab, Spinco Biotech, Mankind Pharma, Sun Pharma, Thermo Scientific, Zivira Labs, Lific, Biokart, Theracues, Fortune Biosciences, Synergy Scientific, National Scientific, Ileco and Spincoanalytica.
