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Webinar "Solving the Myopia Puzzle"

This webinar, hosted by the Optical Society of America Applications of Visual Science Technical Group, will give a detailed overview of myopia (near-sightedness) and the science that works to resolve unanswered questions in relation to the mechanisms that drive eye growth.

We are pleased to announce the 4th webinar hosted by the Applications of Visual Science Technical Group below the Optical Society of America. This webinar will have presentations by Prof. Christine Wildsoet (UC Berkeley), Prof. Frank Schaeffel (U Tübingen) and Prof. Donald Mutti (Ohio State U) who are all leading experts in myopia. The presenters will discuss current understanding of myopia, reasons why myopia is on the rise, and possible steps that can reduce or delay the onset of myopia.

To register for the FREE webinar (registration is mandatory) please complete the online form:

https://cc.callinfo.com/registration/#/?meeting=1kgd5ce6zz5ae&campaign=1q6ommi9n1dsm

The webinar will give you an understanding about how myopia is quantified, and you will learn that the global fraction of people affected by myopia is sharply on the rise. The webinar will explain a number of factors that may all impact eye growth. You will learn about animal studies used to control myopic development and obtain important insight into growth mechanisms of the eye that ultimately guide the search for solutions to limit and delay the onset of myopia. You will learn about factors that control eye growth at a young age, about complications associated with high myopia and how these complications may be reduced. Three leading myopia experts will share their understanding with presentations on:

  • "Myopia: Lessons from the past & unanswered questions related to eye growth regulation” (Prof. Wildsoet)
  • "Understanding myopia using chick models" (Prof. Shaeffel)
  • "Delaying Myopia Onset as an Approach in Myopia Control" (Prof. Mutti)

What You Will Learn:

You will learn how myopia (near-sightedness) is being studied and why more and more people are affected by this condition. You will learn why high and severe myopia is associated with problematic eye diseases. You will learn what can be done to prevent or reduce the impact of myopia.

Who Should Attend:

This webinar is open for all to attend. It is recommended for graduate students and researchers in vision sciences, optics, ophthalmology, and biologists. It is also highly recommended for a wider audience affected by myopia and who would like to gain insight into how science is trying to overcome the complications associated with myopia.

We hope that you will be able to join this online feature from our technical group. The highly successful webinars on the human eye from the past years can still be viewed online at our Technical Group website:

http://www.osa.org/en-us/communities/technical_communities/vc/applications_of_visual_science/

About the presenters

Christine Wildsoet, University of California Berkeley

Christine Wildsoet is a full professor in the School of Optometry/Vision Science Program at the University of California Berkeley, USA. She is a fellow of both the American Academy of Optometry and ARVO, a long-term member of the Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS) editorial board and on the boards of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AOPT), the International Myopia Institute (IMI) and MyFUN, a European myopia research-training program.

She received her optometry training at the Queensland University of Technology and her pharmacology and PhD graduate research training at University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. She is a recipient of a University medal from the University of Queensland, as well as the Glenn A. Fry Award from the American Academy of Optometry The Chew Sek-Jin award at the 2017 International Myopia Conference, both for research.

Frank Schaeffel, Tübingen University

Frank Schaeffel is the Head of the Section of Neurobiology of the Eye, Ophthalmic Research Institute, Centre of Ophthalmology at Tübingen University. He is an ARVO Silver Fellow and recipient of the European Vision Award 2012. He has been researcher at Cornell University and the Max Planck laboratory in Munich before moving to Tübingen University. He is Senior Editor for Vision Research and Associate Editor for Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics.

He has published extensively in the areas of myopia for both human and animal vision, and he chaired the 13th International Myopia Conference. He is the holder of 4 patents and has been awarded with major research grants by the German Research Council and German Ministry of Science and Technology, scientific coordinator of three multi-center grants from the European Commission, a Research Training Network on Myopia, an Initial Training Network on optical and adaptational limits of vision, and a recent Research Training Network on Myopia MyFUN.

Donald O. Mutti, The Ohio State University

Donald O. Mutti is the E.F. Wildermuth Foundation Professor of Optometry at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. Dr. Mutti’s current research interests are in the emmetropization of infants and the development of myopia in children. He was a co-investigator on the NEI-funded Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) study. He was the Principal Investigator of the NEI-funded Berkeley Infant Biometry (BIBS) Study, an eight-year investigation of ocular component development and emmetropization in infancy.

His current research project is the Bifocal Lenses In Nearsighted Kids (BLINK) study, an NEI-funded randomized clinical trial evaluating whether myopia progression is reduced with multifocal soft contact lenses. Dr. Mutti has taught visual optics to optometry students for over 15 years. Dr. Mutti received the Borish Award in Support of Research in 1996 and the Glenn A. Fry Award from the American Optometric Foundation in 2006.