Dr François Malecaze plans to build on success of past EuCornea presidents

EuCornea, a new subspecialty organisation dedicated to the specialty of cornea and ocular surface disease, was launched in Barcelona in 2009 during the XXVII Congress of the ESCRS. After six years, the society has gone from strength to strength and it is now firmly established as a major point of reference for cornea specialists. Dr François Malecaze was one of its founding members and this year Dr Malecaze is the new president of EuCornea, taking over the office from Dr José Güell. “It was a great honour to be one of the founding members of the society,†said Dr Malecaze,†and I am privileged now to be taking over the presidency of the society. We held our first EuCornea Congress in Venice in 2010 and we will hold our sixth Congress in Barcelona in 2015. “ Dr Malecaze said the challenge every year is to organize a Congress with an excellent scientific programme and this year will be no exception. What are his priorities during his presidency? “If we are to continue to develop as a specialty,†he said, “the training of young cornea specialists is essential. I also want to see the co-ordination of cornea research projects in Europe and the organisation of multi-centre studies between different centres of cornea in Europe.†A major force Dr Malecaze said that a lot of excellent work has been done by former EuCornea presidents Vincent Sarnicola, Harminder Singh Dua and Jose Guell and he hopes to build on the work that they have done.“They have all made a major contribution to the development of our subspecialty and their clinical, organisational and management skills have helped to make EuCornea a major force in world ophthalmology. I have been privileged to work with these great ophthalmologists and I look forward to building on their achievements.†This year’s EuCornea Congress will be partnered with the XXXIII ESCRS Congress in Barcelona and Dr Malecaze said it was important that EuCornea should contribute its collaboration with ESCRS. “We are still a young organisation,†he said, “and it is important that that we have a spirit of partnership with societies such as ESCRS. “ Dr Malecaze said that he hopes to meet and talk to members on a regular basis during his presidency. “EuCornea is only as strong as its individual members,†he said. “This is their society and it is important that they all contribute to EuCornea. This can be done by taking part in our meeting in Barcelona, by speaking from the podium and presenting free papers. It is also important that our more established members work closely with young cornea specialists by helping them with their training.â€