1-5 PM

AAO/ARVO – Vision Science and Cornea and Contact Lenses Section Joint Symposium
Understanding the Basis and Treatment of Dry Eye

The goal of this symposium is to bring together leaders in the study of dry eye to present the latest developments in this exciting field. By bringing together several noted basic science and clinical researchers, our goal is to educate clinicians and vision scientists in other fields about the most recent research advances and future directions in dry eye diagnosis and treatment. The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion that will specifically address the clinical implications of these developments for optometry.

Introduction to the Symposium, Alan Tomlinson, PhD, DSc, FCOptom, FAAO
Classification and Diagnosis of Dry Eye, A.J. Bron, FRCS
Tear Biochemistry and the Pathology of Dry Eye, D.A. Sullivan, PhD
Objective Measurements of Tear Physiology, Alan Tomlinson, PhD, DSc, FCOptom, FAAO
Dry Eye is a Subjective Disease, Carolyn G. Begley, OD, FAAO
Visual Effects of Dry Eye, Larry N. Thibos, PhD, FAAO
Treatment of the Dry Eye: the Development of New Modalities, S.C. Pflugfelder, MD
Panel Discussion, Alan Tomlinson, PhD, DSc, FCOptom, FAAO, & William H. Ridder, III, OD, PhD, FAAO

1-3 PM

Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatric Optometry Section Symposium
Current Concepts in Oculomotor Disorders

Oculomotors disorders affect a large percentage of patients examined by optometrists and other health-care professionals. In this symposium, selected areas of oculomotor dysfunction will be reviewed, and the latest diagnostic and treatment modalities and procedures will be considered with examples.

Introduction, Ken Ciuffreda, OD, PhD, FAAO
Oculomotor Rehabilitation in Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), Ken Ciuffreda, OD, PhD, FAAO, Ying Han, MD, PhD, Neera Kapoor, OD, MS, FAAO, & Anthony Ficarra, OD, FAAO
Ocular Oscillations: Diagnosis and Treatment, Josephine Shallo-Hoffmann, PhD, FAAO
Visual Feedback Training System for Young Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction, Daniella Rutner, OD, MS
Diagnosing and Treating Congenital Nystagmus with Ocular Motility Recordings, L.F. Dell’Osso, PhD

Low Vision Section Symposium
Low Vision and Accessibility of the Environment

The goal of this symposium is to bring together a small group of leaders in technology and vision rehabilitation to explore current research on access to the environment and how this research is being translated into clinical practice. The symposium will present information to educate clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, special educators and others in the latest developments so that they can continue to provide their patients with the highest quality service. A unique aspect of the symposium is a presentation of the personal experiences of Mike May, an individual who has been blind since birth. He is an expert in the application of GPS and related technology applied to the travel needs of individuals who are visually impaired. Technology, rehabilitation strategies, and medicine all offer promise to increase access to the environment and this symposium will provide a unique overview of how these promises can be implemented as well as their current limitations.

Introduction, Gregory L. Goodrich, PhD, FAAO
Driving Research: Implications for Clinical Practice, Kent Higgins, PhD, FAAO
Translating Mobility Research to Pedestrian Practice, Duane R. Geruschat, PhD
Translating Navigational Research into Travel Tools for the Visually Impaired, Mike May
Panel Discussion

Public Health and Environmental Optometry Section Symposium
NEHEP Community Grants: Healthy Eyes Healthy People in Action

The National Eye Institute through its National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) for the first time offered several mini grants promoting eye health education and disease prevention. These grants are focused on the Healthy People 2010 Vision Objectives. This symposium will highlight some of the health promotion activities being conducted under these grants and offer insights for grant offerings for next year.

Introduction, Satya B. Verma, OD, FAAO
NEHEP Grant Process and Awards, Rosemary Janiszewski
Direct Outreach and Patient Education, Roger Wilson, OD, FAAO
Community Education Program with County Department of Health, Peter Kehoe, OD, FAAO
“See the Light,” Louisiana Experience, James Sandefur, OD
Compliance for Dilated Eye Exams for Diabetic Patients, Kelly Nichols, OD, MS, MPH, FAAO
Education and Training of School Nurses and Teachers, Hector Santiago, OD, PhD, FAAO

Friday

3-5 PM

Optometric Education Section Symposium
Educating Future Practitioners – First Educating Educators!!!

Perhaps it is time to rethink how education of future graduates (practitioners of the profession) ought to occur. We should utilize information technology in optometric education beyond the power point presentation. But, the readiness of institutional infrastructures and the skill levels of the faculty may be deterrents in achieving integration of new technologies and new methods in the educational curriculum of schools and colleges of optometry in a timely and economical manner. This symposium will attempt to examine the complexities of information technology such as faculty development, support and training, teaching and learning strategies, security management, distance education, and maintaining network infrastructure. “The Future in Sight: Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Practice™,” what better way of considering: “Educating Future Practitioners” by examining issues associated with “First Educating Educators!!!”

Introduction, Sam Quintero, OD, FAAO
Information Technology is Here to Stay: The State of Computing in Higher Education, Claudia A. Perry, PhD, FAAO
Faculty as Cyborgs, Paul Abplanalp, OD, PhD
Re-engineering Instruction and Instructors: What are the Obstacles? J. Randall Vance, OD, MS, FAAO
Web-based Evaluation of Student Clinical Performance, Kimberly A. Lambreghts, RN, OD
Panel Discussion
Closing Remarks, Sam Quintero, OD, FAAO

Saturday, December 6th

1-3 PM

Low Vision Section Symposium
Low Vision and Accessibility of the World Wide Web

Concomitant with the growth in size of the older population in the coming years will be a huge expansion in the size of the low vision population. This group will be the first cohort of (mostly) older computer users who have grown up dependent on the Internet and World Wide Web, for needs as diverse as commerce, entertainment and information, as well as staying in touch with friends and relatives. At the same time, Internet technologies are growing in pervasiveness and importance in society. In just a few years, we will witness a growing impact of reduced visual ability to access information from the increasingly important Web.

The goal of this symposium is to gather together several different perspectives on low vision and Web accessibility, including the demographic and sociological impact of aging and its interaction with technology, the role of assistive technologies in computer and Web access, the need for considerate and sensible authoring of Web sites, and the need for innovative software engineering and psychophysical and usability research to effectively address screen and site navigation with low vision.

Introduction, Aries Arditi, PhD, FAAO
Older Adults Online, Roger Morrell, PhD
Computer and Web Access Products: What’s Available? Michael Fischer, OD, FAAO, & William O’Connell, OD, FAAO
Accessibility and Web Site Design, Joe Clark
Balancing the Load Among Guidelines, User Software, and Web Design, Aries Arditi, PhD, FAAO
Panel Discussion

Primary Care Section Symposium
Today’s Research: Tomorrow’s Primary Care Practice, Part I

The Primary Care Section Symposium is a rapid-fire multi-lecturer presentation designed to represent new innovations important to the primary care clinician. A broad spectrum of topics areas representing primary optometric care is covered. Standards of care and cutting edge information are presented to enhance primary optometric care.

Introduction, Joseph Sowka, OD, FAAO
Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus: Updates from the CLEK Study, Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD, FAAO
Contact Lens and Myopia Progression (CLAMP) Study and the Children’s Overnight Orthokeratology Investigation (COOKI): What Does It All Mean? Jeffrey Walline, OD, PhD, FAAO
Emerging Trends in Microbial Resistance, Michael DePaolis, OD, FAAO
Anti-microbial Update, Alan Kabat, OD, FAAO
Binocular Vision Study Update, Yin Tea, OD

Public Health and Environmental Optometry Section Symposium
Some Key Aspects of the Health Care Crisis in the United States

This symposium will highlight some of the key aspects of health care crisis in the United states and what impact would it have on the delivery of eye care services. What are some of the challenges we will have to face in addressing the unmet health care needs of the poor, uninsured, under-insured and hard to reach population.

Introduction, Satya B. Verma, OD, FAAO
A Block Grant Instead of Medicaid to Financially Strapped States: The End of a Four Decade Commitment to the Poor, Alden N. Haffner, OD, PhD, FAAO
The Dimensions of the Rising Tide of Uninsured Americans, Robert Kleinstein, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO
Prescription Drugs: The Largest Element of the Underinsured, Melvin Shipp, OD, MPH, DrPH, FAAO
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare Personnel and Delivery, Edwin Marshall, OD, MS, MPH, FAAO
Is Universal Entitlement to Health Care the Issue Whose Time Has Come? Morton Silverman, OD, FAAO

Saturday

3-5 PM

Primary Care Section Symposium
Today’s Research: Tomorrow’s Primary Care Practice, Part II

The Primary Care Section Symposium is a rapid-fire multi-lecturer presentation designed to represent new innovations important to the primary care clinician. A broad spectrum of topics areas representing primary optometric care is covered. Standards of care and cutting edge information are presented to enhance primary optometric care.

Introduction, Joseph Sowka, OD, FAAO
The Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study: OHTS I & II: What’s New and What’s Coming, G. Richard Bennett, OD, MS, FAAO
Medical Therapy for Proliferative Eye Disease, Richard Madonna, OD, MA, FAAO
Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography: A New Way to Study Maculopathies, Mark Dunbar, OD, FAAO
Low Vision Device Update, Lewis Reich, OD, PhD, FAAO
Neuro-ophthalmic Disease Update, Leonard Messner, OD, FAAO

Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses Symposium
Presentation of Section Awards
Founders’ Awards

Max Schapero Memorial Lecture: Do Contact Lenses Kill Keratocytes?, Nathan Efron, BScOptom, PhD, DSc, FAAO, MCOptom, FVCO
Wavefront Technology, Raymond Applegate, OD, PhD, FAAO
Clinical Aspects of Wavefront Designed Contact Lenses, Ian Cox, OD, PhD, FAAO

Disease Section Symposium
Laser-based Ophthalmic Imaging

Over the last few years major breakthroughs have been made in ophthalmic imaging. This symposium will focus on scanning laser tomography (SLT), which first appeared in the United States as the TopSS Topographic Scanning System and subsequently has been in the form of the Heidelberg Retinal Tomographer. Today this technology utilizing a HeNe or diode laser can be focused on various parts of the eye to image the cornea, optic nerve head, macula edema, and even blood flow in the retinal blood vessels. This program will bring seasoned clinicians together to discuss their experiences with these technologies.

Introduction, Joseph F. Molinari, OD, MEd, FAAO, & Nick Colatrella, OD, FAAO
Corneal Topographic Imaging with SLT, Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO
Optic Nerve Head Imaging, Chris Quinn, OD, FAAO
SLT Imaging of the Diabetic Retina, John Flanagan, OD, PhD, FAAO
Ocular Blood Flow, Alon Harris, MD
Panel Discussion

Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatric Optometry Section Symposium
Current Concepts in Learning Related Vision Problems

Interest in non-verbal learning problems has been increasing in both optometry and special education. This symposium will present results from several current research projects that have investigated visual processing and learning.

Introduction, Eric Borsting, OD, MS, FAAO
Linguistic and Cognitive Factors in Success or Failure in the First Four Grades of Elementary School, Douglas G. Horner, OD, PhD, FAAO
Can Tests of Visual Processing Predict Academy Performance? Marjean Taylor Kulp, OD, MS, FAAO
Improvements in Reading Performance Following Computerized Vision Training, J. David Grisham, OD, MS, FAAO
Looking Ahead, Harold Solan, OD, MS, FAAO