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The 7th iteration of Ophthalmology Updates! was one of the most successful ever. Over 250 ophthalmologists gathered at the Fullerton Hotel, Sydney on 24-25 August 2024 to hear world-renowned international and local speakers. "Cataract Coach" Professor Uday Devgan from Los Angeles wowed the audience with his videos of cataract surgery challenges and complications, masterfully interacting with expert panellists and the audience. Professor Pearse Keane from Moorfields Hospital and University College London is one of the world's leading ophthalmologists in the field of Artificial Intelligence, and helped us understand the impact of generative AI and how this will impact our profession. Expert presenter Associate Professor Rishi Gupta from Nova Scotia, Canada discussed the importance of the "Notorious P.E.D." and the latest on vitreoretinal lymphoma and secondary IOLs. Entertaining debates were held between A/Prof Gupta and A/Prof Hemal Mehta on the relative efficacy and safety of aflibercept vs. faricimab for the treatment of neovascular AMD, as well as the latest anti-complement drugs (Syfovre and Izervay) for geographic atrophy. In addition, our local speakers were not to be outdone, with standout talks being given by Associate Professor Loren Rosen (Myopia), Professor Jamie Craig (Polygenic risk scores for POAG), Dr Andrea Ang (HSV Keratitis and Keratoconus) and Name Deva (Scleritis, Uveitis imaging) amongst others. As always, the conference banquet was a wonderful event, with guests enjoying cuisine from the three hatted Quay Restaurant over-looking the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
“Cataract Coach” | Uday Devgan
Artificial Intelligence | Pearse Keane
Retina | R. Rishi Gupta
Glaucoma | Jamie Craig
Myopia | Loren Rose
Cornea | Andrea Ang
Medical Retina | Hemal Mehta
Oculo-Plastics | Lucy Gould
Ocular Oncology | Lindsay McGrath
Neuro-ophthalmology | Sudarshini Ramanathan
| Subspecialty | Time | Topic | Title |
| REGISTRATION & COFFEE | 8:00-8:25 |
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| Welcome | 8:25-8:30 |
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| Oculoplastics Lucy Goold Chairs: Krishna Tumuluri, Richard Parker | 8:30-8:42 | Common condition | Eyelid trauma |
| 8:50-9:02 | Frontier | Medical therapies for Thyroid Eye Disease | |
| 9:10-9:22 | Cases |
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| Cataract Coach 1: Best of Uday Devgan Moderators: Tanya Trinh, Andrea Ang, Chameen Samawickrama | 9:30-9:42 | Common condition | 6 Case Panel Discussion |
| 9:50-10:02 | Frontier | 6 Case Panel Discussion | |
| 10:10-10:22 | Frontier | 6 Case Panel Discussion | |
| MORNING TEA | 10:30-10:55 |
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| Artificial Intelligence 1 Pearse Keane Moderators: Peter van Wijngaarden, Adrian Fung | 11:00-11:12 | Common condition | Traditional AI explained |
| 11:20-11:32 | Frontier | Generative AI | |
| 11:40-11:52 | Frontier | AI in Ophthalmology: What's Next? | |
| Glaucoma Jamie Craig Moderators: Emily Gregory-Roberts, Richard Symes
| 12:00-12:12 | Common condition | The New Glaucoma Suspect |
| 12:20-12:32 | Frontier | Polygenic Risk Scores in Managing POAG | |
| 12:40-12:52 | Cases |
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| LUNCH | 1:00-1:55 |
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| Ocular Oncology Lindsay McGrath Moderator: Adrian Fung, Krishna Tumuluri, Lucy Goold | 2:00-2:12 | Common condition | Choroidal haemangioma |
| 2:20-2:32 | Frontier | Oral nicotinamide for reducing risk of non-melanoma skin cancer | |
| 2:40-2:52 | Cases |
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| Medical Retina 1 R. Rishi Gupta Moderators: Adrian Fung, Pearse Keane, Hemal Mehta, Narme Deva, Richard Symes | 3:00-3:12 | Common condition | The Notorious P.E.D. |
| 3:20-3:36 | Great Debate 1 | Rishi Gupta: Faricimab is the best drug for the treatment of nAMD Hemal Mehta: Aflibercept is the best drug for the treatment of nAMD
6 mins each, 2 mins rebuttal | |
| 3:40-3:52 | Cases |
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| AFTERNOON TEA | 4:00-4:25 |
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| Artificial Intelligence 2 Pearse Keane Moderators: Peter van Wijngaarden, Adrian Fung
| 4:30-5:30 | Panel Discussion | AI Panel Discussion |
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Conference Dinner:
6:30pm - 9:30pm
Upper Level,
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| Subspecialty | Time | Topic | Title |
| REGISTRATION & COFFEE | 8:00-8:25 |
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| Welcome | 8:25-8:30 |
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| Cornea Andrea Ang Moderators: Tanya Trinh, Andrea Ang, Chameen Samarawickrama | 8:30-8:42 | Common condition | HSV Keratitis |
| 8:50-9:02 | Frontier | Keratoconus including CAIRS | |
| 9:10-9:22 | Cases |
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| Vitreoretinal Surgery R. Rishi Gupta Moderator: Gaurav Bhardwaj, Adrian Fung, Lindsay McGrath, Uday Devgan
| 9:30-9:42 | Common condition | You don’t want to miss this one! Primary Vitreoretinal Lymphoma |
| 9:50-10:02 | Frontier | Secondary IOLs: Considerations, Controversies, Complications and Catastrophes! | |
| 10:10-10:22 | Cases |
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| MORNING TEA | 10:30-10:55 |
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| Paediatrics Loren Rose Moderator: Linda Zheng | 11:00-11:12 | Common condition | Myopia Management: Environment & Atropine |
| 11:20-11:32 | Frontier | Myopia Management: Red light and Defocus spectacles | |
| 11:40-11:52 | Cases |
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| Cataract Coach 2 Uday Devgan Moderators: Tanya Trinh, Chameen Samarawickrama | 12:00-12:12 | Cases | When the going gets tough |
| 12:20-12:32 | Cases | The complicated cataract surgery- now what? | |
| 12:40-12:52 | Cases | Everything IOLs | |
| LUNCH | 1:00-1:55 |
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| Neuro-ophthalmology Darshi Ramanathan Moderator: Clare Fraser, Megha Kaushik | 2:00-2:20 | Frontier | MOG (Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein) Antibody Disease |
| Medical Retina 2 Rishi Gupta Moderators: Adrian Fung, Pearse Keane, Narme Deva, Richard Symes | 2:30-2:54 | Great Debate 2 | Great Debate 2: Rishi Gupta (for) vs Hemal Mehta (against): “I would give my Grandmother Syfovre or Izervay for her Geographic Atrophy"
10 mins each, 2 mins rebuttal |
| Uveitis Narme Deva Moderators: Richard Symes, Elisa Cornish | 3:00-3:12 | Common condition | Scleritis |
| 3:20-3:32 | Frontier | Imaging Biomarkers in Uveitis | |
| 3:40-3:52 | Cases |
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| CLOSE & FEEDBACK | 4:00 |
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Pearse Keane is Professor of Artificial Medical Intelligence at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. Since 2020, he has been funded by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) as a Future Leaders Fellow, and in 2023 he became a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator. He is originally from Ireland and received his medical degree from University College Dublin (UCD), graduating in 2002.
In 2016, he initiated a collaboration between Moorfields Eye Hospital and Google DeepMind, with the aim of developing artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for the earlier detection and treatment of retinal disease. In August 2018, the first results of this collaboration were published in the journal, Nature Medicine. In May 2020, he jointly led work, again published in Nature Medicine, to develop an early warning system for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), by far the commonest cause of blindness in many countries. In 2023, he led the development of RETFound, the first foundation model in ophthalmology, published in Nature and made available open source.
In October 2019, he was included on the Evening Standard Progress1000 list of most influential Londoners (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/the1000) and in June 2020, he was profiled in The Economist (https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2020/06/11/the-potential-and-the-pitfalls-of-medical-ai).
In 2022, he was listed in the “Top 10” of the “The Power List” by The Ophthalmologist magazine, a ranking of the Top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology https://theophthalmologist.com/power-list/2022.
Uday Devgan is ranked as the number 1 eye surgeon in California and number 2 in the USA (out of more than 15,000 ophthalmologists). He is in private practice, specializing in cataract and refractive surgery, at Devgan Eye Surgery in Los Angeles and a full partner at Specialty Surgical Center in Beverly Hills, California. He is honored to have performed cataract surgery for more than 70 fellow eye surgeons and he knows that this personal recognition from your peers is far more important than a celebrity endorsement. Patients from all over the USA (and from other countries) fly to Los Angeles to have their cataract surgery with Dr. Devgan. A leading eye surgery journal deemed Uday Devgan MD as 1 of the top 25 leaders in ophthalmology of the last 25 years. He has been honored as 1 of the World’s Top 100 influential leaders by The Ophthalmologist.
Board certified in the U.S and Canada, Dr. R. Rishi Gupta is an Associate Professor and Vitreoretinal Specialist in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After attending medical school at the University of Toronto, he completed his Ophthalmology residency training at the University of Ottawa and thereafter received his Vitreoretinal Fellowship from McGill University. Dr. Gupta actively participates in research and has over 50 publications in prominent peer-reviewed journals. He is a Founding Editor of the journal Canadian Eye Care Today. A dynamic presenter, Dr. Gupta is regularly invited to speak nationally and internationally on a variety of topics, including medical and surgical retina, wellness, ethics, audits and complaints, and communication. Dr. Gupta also has a keen interest in ergonomics and injury prevention and established the Canadian Ophthalmological Society’s Working Group in Ergonomics. He has received awards for his work in medical education, research, surgical videos, as well as excellence in patient care. A passionate educator, he has won the department’s “Clinical Teacher Of the Year” award three times.
He is a contributing member of the American society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) and American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and has received the AAO Global Video Film Festival 2nd Place Prize (2020), AAO International Education Award (2021), ASRS Honor Award (2022), ASRS “Best In Show” Film Festival Prize (2022), ASRS Master Distinguished Contributor Award (2023), and AAO International Scholar Award (2024).
Dr. Gupta’s believes strongly in the power of story-telling in medical education. His best-selling book, Reflections of a Pupil, was named one of the top must-have books for beginning ophthalmologists and has become required reading in some residency programs. His most recent publication is a children’s book, that he wrote with his wife and three kids, called “Milk, Eggs, Butter, and Broccoli”! His 2024 resolutions are to work less (failing miserably), write another book, record an album, and run a marathon!
Dr. Rose completed her ophthalmic training at the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital in Victoria and a fellowship in paediatric ophthalmology at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. She is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University and has completed her PhD at Macquarie University titled Myopia Progression in Children in 2021. She has also been appointed Adjunct Assoc Professor at the University of Canberra.
She is involved in ophthalmic registrar training both in her public VMO position at Bankstown Hospital and Westmead Children's Hospital and in private rooms.
She is the founder of Myopia Australia, her new project which helps patients and eye health providers best manage myopia progression in children.
Dr Narme Deva is a key opinion leader for Medical retina and Uveitis in New Zealand and an expert cataract surgeon. She graduated
from Auckland Medical School in 2002, and in addition to her Ophthalmology training also obtained a Doctorate in Medicine. Narme
has spent over two years at the highly prestigious Moorfields Eye Hospital, London where she completed fellowships in Medical Retina
and Uveitis. She presently holds a consultant post at Auckland City Hospital, Eye Institute and is an honorary senior lecturer at the
University of Auckland.
Dr Andrea Ang is a Corneal and Laser Refractive specialist at the Lions Eye Institute and Royal Perth Hospital, and is the Director of Lions Laser Vision.
Dr Ang graduated with the gold medal in medicine from the University of Western Australia and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for which she completed a Masters of Public Health at Harvard. Dr Ang completed her ophthalmology training in Western Australia, and then trained in her subspecialty of Corneal, Refractive and Anterior segment surgery at the internationally renowned Cincinnati Eye Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre.
Dr Ang has authored numerous textbook chapters and scientific papers, and presents at national and international conferences. She has a keen interest in teaching the next generation of ophthalmologists and is the corneal fellowship supervisor at Royal Perth Hospital and examiner for RANZCO. She is the immediate past Chair of the Qualifications and Education Committee and Director of Training of RANZCO (WA).
Dr Ang is widely involved in the Ophthalmology community in Australia and internationally, serving on multiple organisations including the Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (AUSCRS), and the Australian and New Zealand Cornea Society (ANSCS). Dr Ang was a volunteer with the Myanmar Eye Care Project from 2012 to 2020.
Professor of Ophthalmology
Director of the Flinders Centre for Ophthalmology, Eye and Vision Research
Chair and Academic Head of the Department of Ophthalmology
Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health
Practising Consultant Ophthalmologist
NHMRC Senior Practitioner-Fellow
As Chair and Academic Head of the Department of Ophthalmology (ERA rank 5) at Flinders University and a Consultant Ophthalmologist, Professor Jamie Craig specialises in the care of patients with glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible blindness. Professor Craig is a clinician-scientist and NHMRC Practitioner-Fellow, who translates laboratory-based research into clinical practice.
Having developed an exceptional track record in synergising clinical practice and laboratory-based research, Professor Craig’s pioneering work establishing the Australian and New Zealand Registry of Advanced Glaucoma has been critical to Australia leading the world in discovery and translation of glaucoma genetics. His clinical practice and ongoing leadership of the world’s largest glaucoma progression study enable significant translational outcomes to be achieved by more rational use of available tools, coupled with innovative concepts.
Lindsay McGrath is a specialist ocular oncology, oculoplastic and orbital surgeon.
Lindsay undertook her specialty ophthalmology training in Queensland. She completed her training at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in the orbital, lacrimal and plastics team. She then went on to complete a further year of subspecialty training in ocular oncology, oculoplastics and orbit at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in the United Kingdom.
She has published extensively in her area of subspecialty in peer-reviewed journals and presented lectures and workshops at international conferences. Lindsay has recently been appointed an adjunct Associate Professor with Queensland University of Technology and is a visiting Consultant Ophthalmologist and Supervisor of Training at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. As well as urban practice, Lindsay services northern and central Queensland on a monthly basis to service these regional populations.
Associate Professor Sudarshini Ramanathan is a neurologist and clinician-scientist with subspecialty expertise in neuroimmunology. She is a Staff Specialist Neurologist at Concord Hospital, where she diagnoses and treats patients with autoimmune neurological disorders. She heads a research team, the Translational Neuroimmunology Group, at the University of Sydney, and leads a basic science and clinical research program in autoimmune neurological
disorders. Her team’s research program aims to improve our understanding of underlying disease pathogenesis with a focus towards ‘precision medicine’ in neuroimmunology with diagnosis and therapeutics. This has resulted in the development and validation of gold standard diagnostic assays in routine clinical use; the recognition of novel neurological syndromes and development of diagnostic criteria; biological insights into the pathophysiologyof these disorders; and the development of treatment recommendations and approval of therapies to reverse disability and improve outcomes in patients. A/Prof Ramanathan has been awarded over $10 million AUD of research funding as Chief Investigator, including 14 continuous years of NHMRC fellowship funding. The impact of her research program has beenrecognised by the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurology Leonard Cox Award for Excellence in Neuroscience Research (2022), and the NSW Premier’s Prize in Science and Engineering (Early Career Researcher of the Year, Biological Sciences, 2022).
Dr Lucy Goold completed her medical training at the University of Sydney. She completed a Masters in Ophthalmology whilst working as an Ophthalmology Registrar in Newcastle, before moving to South Australia for her formal Ophthalmology training. She undertook an Oculoplastics and Orbit fellowship at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She is the current Secretary of ANZSOPS and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania. Lucy works in general ophthalmology and oculoplastics in private practice in Launceston, and through the Launceston General Hospital, and also conducts regular clinics in regional Tasmania through TazReach.
A/Prof Hemal Mehta is a medical retina ophthalmologist based in Sydney. He has expertise in retinal clinical trials, tracking real-world treatment outcomes and retinal imaging. Hemal is a Medical Retina Section Editor for the Journal Eye and on the Therapeutics Committee of RANZCO.
Hemal is Co-director of Clinical Trials Research with Dr James Wong at Strathfield Retina Clinic and has served as PI or Sub-PI in over 50 retinal clinical trials. The clinical research during his previous fellowships at Sydney Eye Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital contributed to his higher research degree supervised by Professors Mark Gillies and Adnan Tufail on ‘Novel endpoints in diabetic retinopathy clinical trials’ registered at Cambridge University.
Hemal is an Associate Professor at University of Sydney and on the Steering Committee of the Fight Retinal Blindness! (FRB!) project. Hemal was recently awarded the Australian Vision Research RANZCO Primer Grant to support linking imaging with FRB! registry data. Together with Professor Svetlana Cherepanoff, Hemal is co-supervising a Sarks Macular Degeneration Research Foundation PhD student looking at novel imaging – histopathological correlates in AMD.
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