Academy 2002 San Diego!
December 12-15, 2002

Academy 2002 San Diego: Caring for Patients with Diabetes

Sunny San Diego, California, and its expansive Convention Center welcomed Academy 2002 San Diego participants to a meeting so full of offerings that, afterwards, one Fellow commented, “I wanted to clone myself many times because of simultaneous presentations.” The second largest meeting in Academy history, there were 4,470 registrants, with 2,415 of those being optometrists and vision scientists. 606 optometry students also took advantage of the inviting locale and excellent education.

This year’s theme was Caring for Patients with Diabetes, and for the first time, the format of the meeting was changed from five days to four days in order to shorten the meeting and thereby integrate all education courses (Lectures/Workshops, formerly known as the Ellerbrock Memorial Continuing Education Program, Scientific Program, and section symposia). The Plenary Session, generously supported by Vision Services Plan (VSP), brought together leaders from the fields of diabetes and vision care. Dr. Frank Vinicor, the Director of the Division of Diabetic Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave an overview of the diabetes epidemic, and was followed by Dr. Richard Bergenstal, Director of the International Diabetes Center, who spoke on the challenge of coordinated professional care of the diabetic patient. Academy Fellows Drs. Jerry Cavallerano and Richard Calderon completed the event with specifics about diabetes and vision care.

This was the fifth year that the Lectures and Workshops (Ellerbrock) Program was approved by COPE for continuing education (CE) credit. This has made the program even more attractive for optometrists who need CE credits for license recertification purposes. While some attendees commented on there being too many competing programs, feedback in general was overwhelmingly supportive of the new format. This year also marked the introduction of Exhibit Hall sponsored CE, as well as interactive participant response programming, sponsored by Novartis Ophthalmics, which produced overflow attendance. Attendees were sitting on the floor!

Academy Sections were hard at work this year planning symposia that reflected the most important trends in each discipline. On Friday, the Joint ARVO/AAO Symposium, presented by ARVO and the Academy’s Vision Science Section, contained the latest in Electrophysiologic Testing in Visual System Disease. At the Cornea and Contact Lenses Section Symposium, attendees heard Max Schapero Award winner Dr. Desmond Fonn’s lecture, “Corneal Swelling and Evolving Measuring Techniques.” The Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatric Optometry Section joined forces with the Vision Science Section to present “A Generation of Research: A Tribute to Merton C. Flom from his Colleagues and Students,” while the Primary Care Section used their symposium to present a fast-paced, action-packed overview of Clinical Primary Care.

Sunday morning, the Monroe J. Hirsch Memorial Research Symposium introduced “New Horizons in Detecting and Treating Diabetic Retinopathy – the Modern Paradigm of Applying Clinical and Basic Research to Cure Blindness,” with presentations by such important researchers as Dr. Lloyd P. Aiello of the Joslin Institute and Dr. Jerry Sebag of the Keck School of Medicine at USC. Outgoing Research Committee chair Dr. Tim McMahon presented Student Travel Fellowships at the symposium. There were over 100 students sponsored this year!

Thanks go to the corporate sponsors of Academy 2002 San Diego. Without the generous support the Academy gets from such donors as Vistakon, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, and CIBA Vision among others, materials printed for our meetings would be black and white photocopies! We are extremely grateful to be able to access our emails and the Academy webpage at the Technology Pavilion sponsored by Novartis Ophthalmics.

This year’s Exhibit Hall was chock-full of activities and exhibitors. Along with the over 170 vision care companies exhibiting, attendees were able to try out their golf drive, compete for Academy prizes, buy the wares of San Diego’s finest artisans, and enjoy lunch and hors d’oevres during exhibit hall hours.

Saturday morning, Fellows honored their own at the Academy Awards ceremony. The prestigious Glenn A. Fry Lecture Award was presented to Dr. Raymond Applegate, while the inter-disciplinary Prentice Medal was awarded to Dr. Russell DeValois of UC Berkeley for his work with color perception.

Attendees at the Banquet were treated to the songs of the All-American Boys Chorus, followed by the moving ceremony as new Fellows were inducted, and the President’s gavel was passed from out-going President Dr. Robert Newcomb to incoming President Dr. Tom Lewis.

Many thanks go out to all of the Academy volunteers for their selfless dedication to the day-to-day work of the Academy life, especially to all who worked to make this excellent Annual Meeting a reality!

Mark your calendars for two very important upcoming events! Don’t miss another fabulous Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas, December 4-7, 2003. The theme of Academy 2003 Dallas is “The Future in Sight: Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Practice™.” Then, the Academy will be presenting CE in a special Global-Pacific Rim meeting in Hawaii April 2-4, 2004.

If your interest has been piqued by the descriptions of the events in San Diego, be sure to check out the CD-ROMs and audio-tapes available of Academy 2002 San Diego at the website of The Sound of Knowledge. (http://www.tsok.net/tapelist.tpl?_wsConference_Codedatarq=2002-AAO&ac=AAO)

See y’all at Academy 2003 Dallas.

Helen M. Viksnins
Knowledge Initiatives Facilitator

Thank you to our Corporate Sponsors for 2002

The American Academy of Optometry and the American Optometric Foundation thank the following corporations for their support of Academy in the Alps and Academy 2002 San Diego!
Please support the companies that support the Academy – in your practice – where it counts the most!

PATRON ($150,000 +)

Benefactor ($75,000 - $149,999)

Sponsor ($50,000 - $74,999)

Supporter ($15,000 - $49,999)

Friend ($5,000 - $14,999)

Other (up to $4,999)

Winners of the Ocular Photography Contest
Generously supported by Vistakon

Contact Lenses

1st Place Condition: Keratoconus submitted by Julie A.Yu, O.D. Fullerton, California
2nd Place Condition: Jelly Bumps and Associated Cornea Stain submitted by Sara Butterworth, O.D. Iowa City Iowa
3rd Place Condition: Dimple Veiling with Gas Permeable Contact Lens submitted by Timothy B. Edrington, O.D., M.S. Fullerton California.


External/Anterior Segment

1st Place Condition: Tick Embedded in Lower Lid submitted by Paul Varner, O.D. Poplar Bluff, Missouri
2nd Place Condition: Conjunctival Intraepithelial Squamous Cell Carcinoma submitted by Seema Nanda, O.D. Houston, Texas
3rd Place Condition: Diffuse Lamellar Keratitis submitted by Loretta Ng, O.D. Fullerton, California


Fundus Photography

1st Place Condition: Massive Suprachoroidal Hemorrhage submitted by Stacy Holdsworth, Phoenix Arizona
2nd Place Condition: Malignant Choroidal Melanoma submitted by Richard Frick, Columbus Ohio
3rd Place Condition: Vitreomacular Traction Syndrome submitted by Huey-Fen Song, Tucson Arizona


Special Imaging

1st Place Condition: Proliferative Diabetic Vitreo-Retinopathy submitted by Richard Frick, Columbus Ohio

Scientific Program Book

  Author Index
Sunday Proceedings (pages 287-309)
Saturday Proceedings (pages 204-286)
Friday Proceedings (pages 108-203)
Thursday Proceedings (pages 1-107)

Click here to revisit the San Diego meeting site and flip through the Photo Gallery.

We wish to extend "Thanks" to our corporate sponsors for 2002 for their generous support of Academy in the Alps and Academy 2002 San Diego.

We look forward to seeing everyone in Dallas in 2003.

Future Academy meetings:

2004 Honolulu, HI April 2-4
Global - Pacific Rim
Hawaii Convention Center
Hilton Hawaiian Village

2004 Tampa, Florida December 9-12
Academy 2004 Tampa
Tampa Convention Center
Tampa Marriott Waterside

2005 San Diego, California December 8-11
Academy 2005 San Diego
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina

2006 tbd

2007 Tampa, Florida October 24-27
Academy 2007 Tampa
Tampa Convention Center
Tampa Marriott Waterside

2008 Anaheim, California October 22-25
Academy 2008 Anaheim
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim Marriott Hotel
Anaheim Hilton Hotel