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From the WGA Executive Office
Dear IGR readers,
We are proud of the success of the 9th World Glaucoma E-Congress-Beyond Borders (June 30-July 3, 2021), organized by the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) and virtually hosted by the Japan Glaucoma Society (JGS). This year’s Congress was among one of the top-3 WGC meetings by attendance, with 2800+ delegates from over 100 countries during four live days!
Thanks to all of you who were able to participate, speak, and moderate this year. Special thanks to our Program Planning Committee, chaired by Drs. Tina Wong and Arthur Sit!
We also wish to thank our corporate sponsors and especially our platinum sponsors Allergan and Santen for their continued support during these challenging times and for their ability to adapt to a new virtual format. When you interact with representatives from our corporate sponsors, please thank them and their companies for their partnership with the WGC: Allergan, Santen, Novartis, Glaukos, Alcon, Zeiss, Iridex, Oculus, Sight Sciences, iSTAR, Ivantis, Nidek, Heidelberg Engineering and Topcon Healthcare.
For this year’s WGC, participants enjoyed an amazing educational program prepared by a globally diverse faculty: 70+ sessions, 40 hours of live broadcast, 350+ speakers, 540+ e-posters, 40+ films in the Film Festival, 24 photos in the Photo Exhibition, 8 industry satellites and much more. A state-of-the-art platform encouraged the active participation of delegates during the live sessions and allowed for fruitful connections with industry via the Partner pages.
And it is not over yet! Participants can replay, rediscover and relive 80+ hours of on-demand content. And there is more: NEW exclusive content covering the latest developments in Glaucoma and best practices are released LIVE every first Friday of the month until the platform closes (December 30, 2021). You can receive more information at: www.worldglaucomacongress.org.
In addition, on Saturday, October 9, 2021, the 6th WGA Global Webinar featured: ‘WGC- 2021 Highlights: going deeper’.
Please stay safe and healthy as we all care for our patients and serve our communities.
Get to know us
Arthur Sit
I completed my glaucoma fellowship at the University of California San Diego, where my mentor, Bob Weinreb, introduced me to the global glaucoma community. I subsequently joined the faculty at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where I am currently Professor of Ophthalmology and Vice Chair for Research. My own research interests are focused on aqueous humor dynamics and ocular biomechanics, and the development of novel devices for their measurement.
I have been fortunate to be part of the WGA since joining the Associate Advisory Board in 2009. Since then, I have been actively involved with the WGA and am currently Associate Treasurer and serve on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee and Chair the Statutes Committee.
I have been involved in numerous WGA initiatives over the years. When the WGA formed out of the Association of International Glaucoma Societies, I co-chaired the strategic planning process that set out the goals and direction for the organization. It has been inspiring to see these goals realized by the tireless work of everyone involved with the WGA. I have also been a member of the Program Planning Committee for the World Glaucoma Congress since 2011 and co-chaired the committee for our latest congress in 2021. The WGC has become the premier glaucoma meeting globally, and I am proud of the work of our committee this year. In the midst of a pandemic, our global group of glaucoma specialists stayed focused on the goal of delivering the highest quality glaucoma education and creating a venue for the exchange of ideas – all in a virtual format! Of course, glaucoma education occurs continuously at WGA, and not just every two years. The IGR and now the Journal of Glaucoma (the official journals of the WGA) play an important part in delivering education, and I have been delighted to play my small part. As WGA continues to expand to parts of the world that continue to lack adequate glaucoma care, these educational efforts will undoubtedly grow in importance.
Most importantly, the WGA has allowed me to develop a global network of friends and colleagues. These relationships have been invaluable during my career, both personally and professionally. I think that may be the truly invaluable role of the WGA – connecting people from around the world who share a passion for improving glaucoma care!
