UPMC and Pitt Ophthalmology Faculty Present at World Cornea Congress and AAO Annual Meeting

UPMC Eye Center and University of Pittsburgh Department of Ophthalmology faculty were well represented at the World Cornea Congress VIII and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2022 annual meeting, both held in Chicago earlier this fall. 

The World Cornea Congress, presented by the Cornea Society, brought cornea, refractive, and cataract subspecialists and comprehensive ophthalmologists together for two days of symposia, courses, labs, and paper and poster presentations. Faculty members Deepinder K. Dhaliwal, MD, L.Ac, and Vishal Jhanji, MD, both serve on the board of directors for the Cornea Society, and Dr. Dhaliwal also served on the Congress program committee this year. Dr. Dhaliwal moderated the discussion on surgical innovations and participated in a panel discussion on contact lenses, highlighting myopia control; Dr. Jhanji took part in a panel discussion on ocular surface diseases and focused on varied causes of ocular surface inflammation.

Several faculty members and fellows served as moderators, speakers, and panelists and presented posters at AAO 2022, which attracts physicians and researchers from all disciplines within ophthalmology each year. Some highlights include:

• Jay Chhablani, MD, instructed the skills transfer courses A New Way of Teaching Retinal Laser Treatments: An Interactive Course and Smartphones in Ophthalmology: #TheFutureIsAI; he also served as a reviewer for the Retina, Vitreous and Uveitis, Intraocular Inflammation subcommittee
• Ian Conner, MD, directed the skills transfer course Glaucoma Laser Therapy: Innovations and Advice From the Experts
• Deepinder Dhaliwal, MD, L.Ac, served as a program director for Refractive Surgery Subspecialty Day in addition to instructing several skills transfer courses and speaking at the Patient Selection for Cornea and Lens-based Refractive Surgeries and Pressure’s On symposia
• Vishal Jhanji, MD, served as a program director for Cornea Subspecialty Day, moderator for sessions on corneal ectasias, keratitis, and ocular surface disease, and instructor for the courses Pterygium Revisited: Clinical Pearls for Success in Every Situation and Management Algorithm for Recalcitrant Microbial Keratitis
• Alex Mammen, MD, presented on atypical keratitis in the Keratitis session
• Joseph Martel, MD, presented the poster Optogenetics in the Clinic: Safety and Efficacy Updates on the Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial PIONEER
• Sabrina Mukhtar, MD, served as a virtual moderator for several sessions on refractive surgery, as well as the ISRS Awards and keynote lecture
• Ken Nischal, MD, instructed the Pediatric Cataract Surgery in Special Situations, Developmental Corneal Abnormalities: A Systematic Approach in Unraveling the Diagnosis, and Adventures in Complex Pediatric Cataract Surgery courses
• Matthew Pihlblad, MD, served as a paper session panelist for Pediatric Ophthalmology, Strabismus Original Papers
• Robert Shanks, PhD, chaired the symposium Ocular COVID-19: Questions and Answers
• Andrew Williams, MD, served as a speaker at the symposium Loss to Follow-Up Among Glaucoma Patients: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes
• Farida Hakim, MD, served as session speaker for Noninfective Keratitis - Case Presentation 3: Mystery Keratitis
• Betul Bayraktutar, MD, presented the posters Clinical Outcomes and QoL Assessment in Patients Treated for Concurrent Neurotrophic Keratopathy and Neuropathic Corneal Pain and IVIG Treatment in Patients With Auto-/Dysimmune Neuropathy-Related Neuropathic Corneal Pain