Over 82 presentations from 22 sessions are available
ARVO/Alcon Keynote Series
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Electronics Association
The head of the nation’s largest technology trade association, which owns and produces the world’s largest innovation event, the International Consumer Electronic Show, will provide a look at the future. Hear about the next trends in technology and consider the implications for health, lifestyle, privacy and safety. Shapiro will also describe coming changes in display technology. How might these affect your research and practice?
Ian Crozier, MD; Tim Uyeki, MD; Jay B. Varkey, MD; Steven Yeh, MD; and Jessica G. Shantha, MD. Moderator: William F. Mieler, MD, FARVO
Ian Crozier, an infectious disease specialist, was living in Uganda, teaching physicians and providing care for patients with HIV/AIDS, when the Ebola outbreak began in West Africa. He signed on with the World Health Organization and arrived in Kenema, Sierra Leone to help in the fight against the outbreak in August 2014. Within a few weeks, he himself contracted the disease and was evacuated to Emory University Hospital in critical condition. Crozier and a team of ophthalmology and infectious disease physicians from Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention share their perspectives into Crozier’s evacuation, treatment, recovery and subsequent vision-threatening condition, as each of them dealt with the uncertainty and long-term implications of this virus.
ARVO TBI Session
Research conducted by eye and vision scientists is uncovering important similarities between military blast TBI-related visual dysfunction and ocular pathology resulting from sports-related head injuries.
In this TBI Session recording, the field’s most prominent researchers address the interface between brain injury and visual function. Former National Football League running back Terrell Davis speaks about
the need for more research to support veterans, athletes and others
whose lives have been devastated by TBI.
Recipients: Napoleone Ferrara, MD (Presenter), Joan Whitten Miller, MD, FARVO (Presenter) Evangelos S. Gragoudas, MD, FARVO, Patricia A. D'Amore, PhD, MBA, FARVO, Anthony P. Adamis, MD, FARVO, George L. King, MD, FARVO, and Lloyd Paul Aiello, MD, PhD, FARVO
The António Champalimaud Vision Award, established by the Champalimaud Foundation in 2006, honors outstanding contributions to the preservation and understanding of sight. Seven ARVO members were named as the recipients of the 2014 Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award, the highest distinction in ophthalmology and visual science, for their pioneering work to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy, the most important causes of blindness in high- and middle-income countries.
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Napoleone Ferrara, MD
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center
It has been long recognized that angiogenesis plays a key role in the pathogenesis of several intraocular disorders, including proliferative diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
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However, identifying the factors mediating such angiogenic effects proved elusive. In 1989 we isolated and cloned vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A as an endothelial cell-specific mitogen and an angiogenic inducer. The tyrosine kinases Flt-1 (VEGFR-1) and Flk-1/KDR (VEGFR-2) were subsequently identified as VEGF receptors. Loss of a single VEGF-A allele results in defective vascularization and embryonic lethality, underscoring the essential role of VEGF-A in the development of the vascular system. High expression of VEGF-A mRNA has been described in many human tumors. Anti-VEGF-A monoclonal antibodies or other VEGF inhibitors block growth and neovascularization in tumors. To date several VEGF inhibitors have been approved for the treatment of advanced tumors. Importantly, VEGF-A is also implicated in intraocular neovascularization associated with ischemic retinal disorders as well as the wet form of AMD. We developed a humanized anti–VEGF-A antibody fragment (ranibizumab) for the treatment of wet AMD. Ranibizumab administration not only maintained but also improved vision and has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of wet AMD and other intraocular neovascular disorders. The benefits of anti-VEGF therapy were durable. The availability of VEGF inhibitors has had a dramatic impact on the course of disorders that had no effective treatment.
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Joan Whitten Miller, MD, FARVO
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
One of the most important developments ever seen in ophthalmology is the identification of the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and subsequent treatment with VEGF inhibitors of vascular retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and branch and central venous occlusion.
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Miller is one of the great leaders in this
field, making eminent contributions to the knowledge regarding the role of VEGF
in ocular diseases and being the first to develop an effective treatment for
age-related macular degeneration, i.e., photodynamic therapy.