A positive environment

Exciting initiatives planned as Society celebrates 19 years

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I am delighted to get this opportunity to write this editorial for EuroTimes, which has a special focus on retina in its March edition. At our first congress in 2001, we welcomed 300 delegates in Hamburg, Germany. Last year in Vienna, Austria, we welcomed more than 5,600 delegates at our 18th Congress, confirming its position as the largest retina meeting in the world. The environment has been very positive for retina in the past 20 years and from around 2005 onwards, the introduction of anti-VEGF therapy has sparked a revolution in the field of retina. This year marks the 19th anniversary of the Society and we have many exciting initiatives planned. Some of you will have recently returned from our Winter Meeting, which was held this year in Prague in the Czech Republic. Our focus now turns to the 19th EURETINA Congress, which will be held in Paris, France, from 5-8 September, 2019. I am delighted to announce that Francesco Bandello, a founder member of the society, will present the EURETINA Lecture at the Opening Ceremony in Paris, entitled ‘Diabetic retinopathy today’. Our Programme Committee has been very busy preparing for what should be another memorable Congress and exciting topics to look out for in Paris are Artificial Intelligence in Retina, The Diabetic Retina and Retinal Gene Therapy. Education, as always, is at the centre of our activities and under the EURETINA Observership Scheme, 10 grants are awarded annually in March. EURETINA is also awarding grants for two research projects this year. One is the EURETINA Submacular Haemorrhage Clinical Research Grant and the other is the Retinal Medicine Clinical Research Funding Call In the past year, EURETINA has launched a new website – www.euretina.org – which keeps members up to date with all of the Society’s activities. Please also note that membership is free for under 40s through the YOURS initiative or, if your national society is a partner, a 20% discount can be availed of for members of their national society. Details of how to join are available on the website. I look forward to seeing you in Paris and as always welcome any ideas that you may have that will help us to keep EURETINA at the forefront of retina education and research.
Tags: EURETINA, retina