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From the WGA Executive Office
Dear IGR readers,
The World Glaucoma Association is proud to welcome Dr. Fabian Lerner as our President of the WGA. Fabian has recently completed his tenure as the Education Committee Chair. Under his leadership, the Education Committee developed the Online Basic Course in Glaucoma which was taken by more than 1400 ophthalmologists and were made available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. In addition, the Education Committee has created the Patient Education Website with educational materials written for the patient and their family members. This is available in English and Spanish and soon for additional languages.
The World Glaucoma Association is proud to sponsor and coordinate the global events of the World Glaucoma Week. Last year we had 626 participating events organized in various countries around the globe. This year, as World Glaucoma Week took place in the midst of a surge of COVID-19 in many areas of the world, there was the expected reduction in the number of participating centers. However, there was still an excellent turnout of 399 activities worldwide. Also, we were able to reach out to hundreds of thousands through our online and social media campaigns including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please let us know if we missed your activity for World Glaucoma Week so that we may add it to the WGW Worldmap and include your efforts in our website. Thanks to all who were able to participate this year!
Dr. Neeru Gupta is the immediate Past-Chair and Dr. Vijaya Lingham is the present Chair of the Global Outreach Committee. The committee has expanded our joint ICO-World Glaucoma Association Fellowship program to 10 glaucoma fellowships for 2021. We have received numerous applications and are in the process of selecting our fellows from amongst the many high-quality applicants. Also, the Global Outreach Committee has established additional fellowships programs for qualified applicants to train at sites in India and Nepal.
We welcome Dr. Pradeep Ramulu as the new Chair of the Education Committee. Dr. Ramulu and his committee will continue to expand the number of learning modules in the Online Courses in Glaucoma as well as coordinate with the World Glaucoma Patient Committee to produce patient education materials.
The World Glaucoma Patient Committee, under the leadership of Drs. Ivan Goldberg, Robert Ritch, and Ki Ho Park, had a very productive inaugural meeting during the annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in San Francisco last year. Several initiatives have already begun with the goal of greater education of and advocacy for our patients with glaucoma.
Our Program Planning Committee (co-chaired by Drs. Tina Wong and Arthur Sit) for the 2021 World Glaucoma Congress in Kyoto convened at the AAO to start creating the scientific and clinical programs for the meeting. The committee has continued to develop the program via email communications and conference calls. A planned meeting at ARVO (cancelled due COVID-19) will take place virtually as a teleconference.
We hope you had a chance to visit the WGA booth at the American Glaucoma Society.
We look forward to your continued participation in WGA activities and at future World Glaucoma Congress meetings. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the value of community, including on a global level, and the WGA is glad to be able to serve as your resource for education and connection to the international glaucoma community. Take care and stay healthy as we continue our fight to save the sight of our patients, even through these challenging times.
Get to know us
I was involved with the WGA since the consensus meeting in 2007. Since then I participated in several consensus meetings up to the last one on Glaucoma Surgery.
I joined the Board of Governors in 2012 and was co-director of the scientific program for WGC-2013 and 2015. I co-chaired the Education Committee, where a series of online courses were developed as well as a website for glaucoma patients, relatives and the general public. I was President-Elect in the last two years and have now the privilege and honor to serve as President of the WGA for 2020-2021.
Working at the WGA was (and still is) a very stimulating and inspiring activity as there are so many talented people involved to help. This happened in all the positions I had in the past and is still the case at the Executive Committee. The WGA has grown so much during the last years with many committees and activities aimed at reducing visual disability due to glaucoma around the world!
After doing my residency in Buenos Aires, I did a glaucoma fellowship with Professor Jorge Alvarado at UCSF, after which I returned to Buenos Aires. I served as President of the Argentina Glaucoma Association, the Pan American Glaucoma Society and the Argentina Society of Ophthalmology. I am now Professor and Head at the Department of Ophthalmology, University Favaloro School of Medical Sciences in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fabian Lerner
