EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/194331
46 EW AAO PREVIEW October 2013 November 16-19, 2013 OIS returns to AAO for the fifth year by Ellen Stodola EyeWorld Staff Writer F or the fifth year, OIS will return to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting. It is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 14 at the Sheraton New Orleans. Emmett Cunningham Jr., MD, PhD, MPH, partner at Clarus Ventures, San Francisco, serves as chairman of OIS, with co-chairs Gilbert Kliman, MD, managing director at InterWest Partners, Menlo Park, Calif., and William Link, PhD, Newport Beach, Calif., managing director at Versant Ventures. Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Kliman commented on what to expect at this year's event. "[OIS at AAO] is the flagship meeting and takes place immediately prior to AAO," Dr. Cunningham said. "I think the concept of bringing together all constituents interested in innovation in ophthalmology has been successful from the outset." Dr. Cunningham said the first OIS meeting at AAO had more than 400 attendees, with almost 800 attending last year. It is expected that attendance will be similar this year. "Ophthalmology has a uniquely vibrant business community with close integration to clinicians, which makes creating an interesting agenda easy for the organizers," Dr. Kliman said. "The success of OIS is built on the incredible participants and sponsors who generate the dialogue and support to make the meeting a major draw prior to AAO." Dr. Kliman said that one of the main goals of the OIS meeting is to provide useful information to both businesspeople and those in the ophthalmology community, which will help promote innovation and improvements in patient care. "OIS continues to be the leading business meeting in ophthalmology, with unparalleled topical discussions and networking opportunities for everyone from the smallest startup to the largest multinational companies," Dr. Kliman said. "As with prior meetings, the faculty will focus on innovative technology and topof-mind clinical and business issues. We expect this meeting to be our largest ever as our attendance continues to grow at every meeting, so get there early!"