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EW AAO CHICAGO 2014 44 October 2014 particularly in ophthalmology we're seeing this start to come to fruition." Although this has been a topic for several years at OIS, it will ex- pand to include companies in the showcase session, as well as a panel discussion on digital devices in ophthalmology. Dr. Kliman said he is excited about digital technology and how it could potentially change the face of eyecare. Other offerings As in past years, OIS will include a biopharma company showcase, as well as a device company showcase. "We're going to have some new and exciting companies in the showcases," Dr. Kliman said. OIS will feature a session with a speaker from the National Eye In- stitute (NEI) to talk about the NEI's view of ophthalmic innovation. An afternoon session will fea- ture bankers discussing companies going public. There have been a number of ophthalmic companies that have gone public in the last year, Dr. Kliman said, so there is a lot of interest on this topic. An FDA panel and the presen- tation of the OIS Innovator Award will also be included in this year's program. "Reinventing your company" is another topic that will be discussed during the OIS afternoon session. "The idea there is to talk about some of the pivots that companies make and how not everything is a success and to build on that," Dr. Kliman said. Audience feedback from OIS has indicated that many attendees would like to hear more about how a company can reinvent itself. Dr. Kliman said OIS has contin- ued to expand since the first mee - ing, and it is a useful networking meeting for industry as well as a good meeting for clinicians to get involved with. "It's been growing and grow- ing, so we're expecting somewhere between 750 and 1,000 people this year," he said. "We appreciate the support of our audience year after year, and we're encouraging more ophthalmologists to attend, which has been typically about 20% of the audience." EW Contact information Kliman: gkliman@interwest.com Other important industry topics will be highlighted such as industry consolidation. Leadership changes in companies has been common this year, Dr. Kliman said, and this is part of the changing landscape. There can be both positives and negatives associated with these changes, he said, and these will be addressed in the session titled "The good, the bad, and the unknown." Digital technology offerings "Another area that we've touched on but we're really expanding this year is what we call digital technolo- gy in ophthalmology," he said. "We see this as a big growth area of using mobile devices of various types to provide value to doctors, patients, the whole healthcare system; by Ellen Stodola EyeWorld Staff Writer Dr. Kliman helps coordinate OIS along with William J. Link, PhD, Versant Ventures, Menlo Park, Calif., and Emmett T. Cunningham Jr., MD, PhD, Clarus Ventures, San Francisco, One focus at this Fall's OIS will be the strategic environment in oph- thalmology. "We're trying to high- light that," Dr. Kliman said. "We're going to have a plenary keynote ad- dress from Jeff George, the new CEO of Alcon [Fort Worth, Texas] and get his perspective." Coming from the pharmaceutical side, he is perhaps going to have a different perspective than previous management at the company, so OIS organizers wanted to give him a platform to talk about how he sees innovation in ophthal- mology evolving, Dr. Kliman said. The program will highlight a number of pharmaceutical, device, and digital technology companies N ow in its sixth year at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting, the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) will take place on Thursday, October 16 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. "This has become a twice-a-year event for people to get updated, and we think this Fall it will be bigger and better than ever," said Gilbert Kliman, MD, InterWest Partners, Menlo Park, Calif. AAO Preview • October 18–21, 2014 OIS focusing on digital technology and other current topics Garrett Popcorn Shop 625 North Michigan Ave. 312-944-2630 www.garrettpopcorn.com Ralph Lauren 750 North Michigan Ave. 312-280-1655 www.ralphlauren.com Bravco 43 East Oak St. 312-943-4305 www.bravco.com Hermes 25 East Oak St. 312-787-8175 www.hermes.com Pratesi 67 East Oak St. 312-943-8422 www.pratesi.com Lightology 215 West Chicago Ave. 312-944-1000 www.lightology.com Manifesto 755 North Wells St. 312-664-0733 www.manifestofurniture. com Pagoda Red 1714 North Damen Ave. 773-235-1188 www.pagodared.com Stitch 1937 North Damen Ave. 773-782-1570 www.stitchchicago.com Chicago shopping