Eyeworld

24 | EYEWORLD | APRIL 2020 COVID-19 NEWS YOU CAN USE ASCRS NEWS continued on page 26 it's a huge undertaking. We're going to be using members' surgical centers, academic centers, and partnering with the Veterans Affairs. This is going to be a very important study because this will allow us to prove that intracameral antibiot- ics can prevent endophthalmitis and allow U.S. doctors to get an FDA-approved medication that they can then use in their patients. This will hopefully be just the first of many potential studies that the ASCRS Research Council will put together. In terms of the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, we just went through a major transition to a new publisher. Everyone at the journal has worked very hard over the past 6 months to make this happen and to make it happen seamlessly. The fact that we've canceled the ASCRS Annual Meeting has been a huge hit to the so- ciety. But I'd like to end on a positive note and say that even in this hard time, ASCRS is going to be committed to our educational mission, and we're going to do everything that we can to get content out to our members online without face-to-face interaction. This pandemic is unprecedented. We've never faced a challenge like this. We've shut down all elective surgeries and shut down our clinics to all but urgent and emergent cases. How our membership is going to get through this is a huge challenge, and they need to know that ASCRS is there to help them. ASCRS is go- ing to be there for members as we go through this incredibly challenging time. This year certainly has not started out as any one of us would have expected. While I am deflated at not having the chance to open the 2020 ASCRS Annual Meeting in Boston as your incoming president, I also feel extremely fortunate to be hunkering down in my home headquarters in North Carolina together with my family, who are all healthy and safe. Like many of you reading this, I have witnessed a major downscaling of my ophthal- mology practice and, of course, have concerns about when this will all start to turn around. We are certainly living in crazy times in this new era of pandemia that is affecting the daily life of every single individual in the world. As a people person, I have had a tough time adjusting from the handshaking, hugging, and mingling to the new norm of everyday communicating via "eye fives," foot taps, and conference calls. All of us have been inundated with new and evolving information regarding statistics, precautions, recommendations, etc., some of which have been changing on a daily and weekly basis. By the time this is published, I'm sincerely hoping we have more clarity on when we will get out of this crisis to some sense of normalcy. When I had to inform Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski (a.k.a., Coach K), the winningest college basketball coach of all time and our special guest speaker for the Opening General Session, that we had to cancel our annual meeting for the first time in its history, he said something to me that made me smile and gave me hope: "Thanks, Terry. Great decision. Let me know if I can help you in any way as you navigate this new landscape. Please stay safe. Terry, it's GREAT BEING ON THE SAME TEAM! Coach K." We are indeed so lucky that all of us are on the same team, fighting the same battles against this novel virus. With the help of ASCRS and other organizations, we will get through this Terry Kim, MD Incoming President continued from page 22

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