ASRS 2019 offers expanded education, social opportunities

The 2019 American Society of Retina Specialists Annual Meeting offers balanced lectures, symposia, and courses with an ample amount of social events.

Beyond the welcome receptions and fundraisers to networking lunches and dinners, the event also is offering expanded educational opportunities.

The event will be held July 26-30 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, offering a forum on the latest developments in retina.

New this year

ASRS is debuting an ambitious live surgery symposium on Tuesday, July 30. Attendees will watch three hours of live vitreoretinal surgery beamed into the auditorium from three surgery sites in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

The session will be moderated by Kourous Rezaei, MD, and a panel of expert surgeons in Chicago. A surgeon moderator in each operating room will offer their expertise as the surgeries unfold.

In response to requests for more discussion on presented papers, ASRS has shortened the presentation time to allow for more moderated question-and-answer sessions after every four to six talks.

ASRS will now conclude each major area with a take-home panel discussion in which experts will “discuss topics of current clinical relevance to provide information you can put to immediate use in the office or in the OR.”

The LAST WORD will be the final session of the meeting, where selected authors, determined during the meeting, will be invited to present a two-minute summary of their work, followed by audience and expert panel discussion. 

“Sometimes a topic deserves more time… the most controversial, the most fascinating, the most important, the most memorable presentations,” said ASRS Program Chairman Carl C. Awh, MD.

RELATED: OCT and OCTA: Seeing deeper into sickle cell retinopathy 

Social Program
The annual meeting kicks off Friday with instructional courses in the afternoon.

All registered attendees and guests are invited to the Welcome Reception, being held this year at Eataly Chicago, where ASRS will take over the entire 60,000 square foot area for an evening of food and drink.

The Women in Retina group will host a luncheon (complete with keynote speaker) and a dinner meeting to hear about unique retina cases.

Attendance is open to all members.

The Fellow-in-Training Section reception is scheduled for Saturday, and is open to all members.

At 6 a.m. Sunday, the Foundation of the ASRS will host its 5K Stride for Sight in Lincoln Park. Outlook Therapeutics has supported this charity event this year.

Registration continues until Saturday, with a $50 donation. For more information, contact Chayal Patel.

Other events
The Early Career Section is hosting its annual luncheon symposium on Sunday. It will feature the 2019 Crystal Apple Award winner Seenu Hariprasad, MD.

For those on the other side of the employment spectrum, John T. Thompson, MD, will moderate an expert panel discussion on strategies to prepare for retirement. Speakers include Jerry Bovino, MD, Brian Conway, MD, Richard Garfinkel, MD, Alan Verne, MD, and David Williams, MD.

Attendees should be prepared with questions for an interactive audience question/comment period.

The annual black tie gala dinner will be held Sunday night at the Field Museum of Natural History.

The International Members and Delegates Breakfast is scheduled for Monday morning.

Festivities will culminate on Monday evening, when ASRS invites all attendees to its foundation fundraiser, a  Chicago architecture tour and river cruise.

Rated by TripAdvisor as the “top tour in Chicago and one of the top 10 tours in the U.S.,” the 90-minute tour on the Chicago River will be filled with Chicago’s 100-year coming-of-age story, as told through its architecture.

Proceeds from the event will help the foundation provide enhanced patient education materials on SavingVision.org.

Tickets are $60 per person and will include one drink ticket.