WIO 2026 agenda spans AI, AMD, and physician leadership

The Women in Ophthalmology (WIO) 2026 Summer Symposium heads to the Portola Hotel and Spa in Monterey, California, from August 20 through August 23, bringing together clinical, research, and leadership programming built specifically for women in the field. The hybrid meeting offers both in-person and virtual attendance, with the virtual platform staying open for 60 days after the final session wraps.¹

Founded in 1979, WIO has grown into a global organization of more than 1500 members, and the Summer Symposium remains its flagship gathering.² The meeting is planned and implemented in partnership with Medical Education Resources (MER), jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and American Nurses Credentialing Center.¹

>>> View Ophthalmology Times' full WIO 2026 Summer Symposium coverage

Thursday: Kickoff on the greens

The symposium opens off-site, with the WIO Golf Tournament and Charity Event at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch before registration opens back at the Portola.¹ Chair Jennifer Galvin, MD, and Kimberly Winges, MD, of VA Portland and the Casey Eye Institute at OHSU, welcome attendees that evening, ahead of a CME dinner session supported by Bausch + Lomb on oral micronutrient therapy for early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) intervention, led by Judy Kim, MD, of UT Southwestern, and Lejla Vajzovic, MD, of Duke Eye Center. An opening dessert reception and sunset toast, hosted by Cat Burkat, MD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Galvin, and Winges, closes out the night, with a stargazing session led by Winges for those who signed up ahead of time.¹

Friday: Leadership takes center stage, then AI and neuro-ophthalmology

Friday's scientific programming opens with "Insight: Leadership and Mentorship in Ophthalmology," an 8-speaker panel featuring Kathryn Colby, MD, PhD, of NYU Grossman, Stephen McLeod, MD, chief executive officer of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and Sophie Bakri, MD, of Mayo Clinic, among others. The Bernice Z. Brown Memorial Lecture and Award follows, presented by Burkat and Susan MacDonald, MD.¹

The morning pivots to technology with a session on artificial intelligence in ophthalmology; Jennifer Lim, MD, Sophia Y. Wang, MD, and 5 other faculty members walk through current AI applications across the field before a neuro-ophthalmology "hot topics" session covers handheld OCT, virtual reality visual field testing, and smartphone-based diagnostics, led by Zarmeena Vendal, MD, and 6 colleagues. Skill labs in phacoemulsification and glaucoma/minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) technique run in parallel throughout the day. A CME lunch session supported by Alcon Vision tackles dry eye disease neurostimulation with Analisa Arosemena, MD, and Laura Periman, MD, before the evening turns social: a cocktail reception, a Bausch + Lomb dinner symposium on innovation across the care continuum, and a keynote from Carol Shields, MD, director of the Ocular Oncology Service at Wills Eye Hospital, on advances in ocular oncology.¹

Saturday: Sustainability, research, and a night under the stars

Saturday's CME breakfast, supported by Amgen, focuses on rare disease awareness with Winges, Coleen Fong, and Neeyaz Zolfaghari. Back-to-back sessions follow on sustainability in ophthalmology, featuring Barbara Erny, MD, of Stanford University School of Medicine and EyeSustain, and Eliesa Ing, MD, of the Casey Eye Institute, and on translating research into patient care, featuring Amy Zhang, MD, of the University of Michigan, and Jesse Berry, MD, chief of ophthalmology at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Winges and Lynn Gordon, MD, of UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine, present the WIO Honorary Lecture and Award, followed by the Best Research Abstract Presentations and Joanne Angle Award, presented by Burkat and Zhang.¹

A CME lunch supported by Genentech covers durable treatment strategies for AMD, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic macular edema (DME) with Bakri, Lim, and Christina Weng, MD, of Baylor. An Ocular Therapeutix-sponsored panel later addresses applying US FDA guidance to ophthalmic trial design. The day closes with a Biogen-sponsored sunset toast and group photo, then the Saturday Night Under the SEE Gala Dinner.¹

Sunday: Patient voices close the meeting

The symposium's final morning turns reflective: a patient-perspectives session moderated by Bhakti Panchal, MD, brings in advocates Rosalyn Adekunle, Wendee Duong, and Chloe Pak to share how vision conditions shaped their lives and care experiences. A session on ergonomics and career longevity, led by Zhang, and the Top 3 Surgical Video Presentation Awards round out the scientific program before Galvin closes the meeting with a look ahead to WIO 2027.¹

Full program details, faculty disclosures, and CME credit information are available through WIO's online program book and virtual platform.

References
1. Women in Ophthalmology. Summer Symposium. WIO website. Accessed August 20, 2026. https://sites.google.com/wioonline.org/womeninophthalmology/summer-symposium
2. Women in Ophthalmology. The History of WIO. WIO website. Accessed August 20, 2026. https://wioonline.org/the-history-of-wio/