Between 1–3 July, we will be heading down to England for the 107th Oxford Ophthalmological Congress, taking place across three venues within the historical city. Robert W Doyne founded OOC in 1909 and since then, it has gone from strength to strength, expecting 450+ delegates this year and with the following ethos forever at its heart:
“[The Congress is] for the cultivation of the spirit of good fellowship and of unconventionality, the right of our youngest member to rank with his oldest colleague, and last, but assuredly not least, the frank, free and tolerant discussion of scientific matters brought before its gathering."
Being one of the longest-standing meetings in the UK and almost the largest, it attracts hundreds of delegates each year and features a star-studded line up of local and international speakers, covering the entire ophthalmic landscape of subspecialties. Its history of masters extends back throughout the 20th century and is a worthy subject for exploration by anyone into modern history.
And don’t forget: 24.25 self-accredited CPD points are also available across the three days, so be sure to keep yourself topped up.
We are incredibly pleased and honoured to be invited down to this year’s Congress, and so we’ve put together this handy preview, filling you in on all the essentials before you join us ‘down south’.
Scientific sessions across the three days will be held in the New Theatre, and registration will open from 08:00 each morning. Refreshments, posters and the exhibition hall will be hosted in Oxford’s Town Hall. And the Gala Dinner on Tuesday evening will be taking place in Hertford College.
- Scientific sessions: New Theatre, 26 George St, Oxford OX1 2AG
- Exhibition / posters / refreshments: Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford OX1 1BX
- Gala dinner: Hertford College, Catte Street, Oxford OX1 3BW
MONDAY 1 July
- 09:45–10:50 – Master’s Symposium – ‘Advances in diagnosis and treatment in medical retina’ chaired by James Talks (Newcastle)
- 10:50–11:40 – Refreshments, Exhibition, Posters
- 11:40 - 12:45 - Master's Symposium (continued) chaired by James Talks
- ‘Consideration of targets for treating dry AMD’ by Andrew Dick (Bristol)
- ‘Clinical trials update and treatment for GA’ by Ian Pearce (Liverpool)
- 14:15–16:00 – ‘Meeting the (UK) Challenges of Glaucoma in 2024’ by chairs, Professor Agusto Azura-Blanco (Belfast) and Professor Sir Peng Khaw (London)
- ‘Case for primary laser trabeculoplasty SLT and Direct SLT’ by Gus Gazzard (London)
- 17:30–19:30 – OOC Reception – Town Hall, Grand Hall
TUESDAY 2 July
- 09:00–10:35 – ‘Rapid-fire session’ chaired by Professor Rachel Pilling (Bradford)
- 14:00–15:30 – ‘The promise of personalised medicine – challenges and opportunities’ chaired by chair Professor Graeme Black (Oxford)
- Personalised medicine: prone to bias? by Evelyn Mensah (London)
- 16:00–17:30 – ‘The Eye is not the Limit’ chaired by Professor Susan Mollan, (Birmingham)
- Advances in artificial intelligence by Pearse Keane (London)
- 19:30 – OOC Gala Dinner – Hertford College Hall
Keep an eye on 11:15–12:30 on Tuesday for the Doyne Lecture: ‘Gene therapy treatments for retinal diseases’ by lecturer, Professor Robert MacLaren (Oxford); Introduction and Doyne Medal presentation by James Talks.
WEDNESDAY 3 July
- 09:00–11:00 – ‘Emergency Ophthalmology’ chaired by Miss Samantha De Silva (Oxford), Roxane Hillier (Newcastle), including talks by key figures such as Susie Mollan, Lucy Clarke and Manoj Oarulekar covering a wide range of subspecialties.
- 11:30–12:50 – ‘Interesting Cases’ chaired by Professor Mandeep S Sagoo (London)
- ‘It's enough to make your flesh creep!’ by Andrew Pyott, Inverness, UK
- 16:00–16:15 – Prizes, and handover to next Master
At this year's OOC, there will be dedicated viewing sessions for the congress' collection of posters in the Town Hall. These posters will be presented in the Assembly Room and its neighbour, the Old Library.
Interestingly, the OOC has grouped the posters together by their subspecialty, including emergency eyecare, surgical retina, inherited retinal disease, corneal & cataract, and lids, lacrimal & orbit, amongst others.
Not only will we both be down there doing our usual thing, but we’ll be joined by the regular faces you see us hanging around with like Topcon, Alimera Sciences, Haag-Streit, Heidelberg, Apellis, Théa, etc., so don’t be shy and come over to say hello. At this stage, I can neither deny nor confirm whether or not there will be Tunnock’s Teacakes this time around, but you know we’ve always got a few treats hidden away for those of you who behave!
To register for one or more of the days, please click here, and we look forward to seeing you in Oxford! And to contact the OOC Secretariat, Louise Richards, you can email louise@healthology.eu or call +44(0) 7950 273790.
