Day Two of ARVO 2024 is officially in the books, and it was another day to remember for global vision science.
The mass of the world’s top minds in eye care innovation and research seemed only to have grown at the Seattle Convention Center’s Arch building since yesterday’s blockbuster attendance, with delegates from around the globe presenting, debating and marveling together at what the future holds for sight worldwide.
We were on hand once again to report on the latest from ARVO 2024, from the Proctor and Friedenwald Lectures to new insights in tissue biomechanical analysis. Here’s what went down.
Late-night party does little to dampen early morning sessions
Parties at eye care conferences can admittedly be hit or miss. But word around the conference suggested ARVO’s Day One party the night before was clearly rockin’, with the evening’s events on everybody’s lips as they shuffled into another solid slate of morning symposia.
Despite the late-night festivities, Day Two gave no signs of slowing down from yesterday as crowds of delegates packed the full slate of early morning symposia. Fuelled no doubt by cups and cups of Seattle’s famous coffee, attendees lined up at the opening gate for sessions like Modelling Vision at Multiple Scales: In search of a virtual visual system.
Titans honored with award lectures
The well-attended opening night party revealed another theme central to this year’s ARVO conference.
The pursuit of furthering vision science has created a community like no other, and this spirit was manifested further in the day’s main events—the Proctor and Friedenwald Award ceremonies and lectures.
Former ARVO President and titan of ophthalmology Dr. Emily Chew was awarded the Proctor Medal, and she was joined in being honored by her National Eye Institute colleague and occasional collaborator Dr. Anand Swaroop, who received the Friedenwald Award. These lectures form one of our Day Two highlight sessions, and you can find our detailed reporting on them here.
Both were greeted with uproarious standing ovations, and both Drs. Chew and Swaroop were introduced like family members to the packed auditorium in speeches replete with personal anecdotes and insights into the greatness of these two esteemed researchers.
Sending off Day Two
From these lectures came the day’s final round of symposia, including our second Day Two highlight session, Biomechanical properties of normal, aging, and pathological eye tissues.
During this symposium, experts discussed the state of the art in biomechanical tissue analysis and its promise for the future of managing diseases from keratoconus to glaucoma. Head on over to that article to see all the exciting new avenues in screening, diagnosis and treatment being opened by this work.
With the conclusion of this session, another day at ARVO 2024 became history as delegates spirited themselves away for rest and relaxation ahead of another action-packed Day Three. We’ll see you then tomorrow with more coverage of ARVO 2024’s best sessions, posters and innovations!
Editor’s Note: The Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO 2024) is being held from 5-9 May in Seattle, Washington, USA. Reporting for this story took place during the event.
