ICO Annual Conference 2023

The Irish College of Ophthalmologists Annual Conference 2023 will take place from Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th May at the Great Southern, Killarney, Co Kerry.  The Conference is a highlight of the College's annual calendar of events and an important opportunity for our members to hear the latest clinical, scientific and service delivery updates taking place in the specialty.

Early Bird Registration rate of €300 (ends Tuesday, 7th March) and €350 (ends Tuesday, 4th April) is available to all ICO members.  Registration for ICO Trainees and Life members is complimentary.  

Please log in to the ICO members portal here to complete your registration.

Call for Abstracts now Open 

Closing date for abstract submission: End of Day Monday, 13th March 2023

Submit an abstract at this link:  https://forms.gle/1C2wY1osr1hVUjaUA

Programme Overview

Clinical symposia at this year's conference will focus on Medical Retina, Ocular Tumours, Keratitis and the Assessment and Management of Watery Eye.   

Among our guest speakers, we are delighted to be welcoming Dr Carol Shields, Director of Ocular Oncology Service at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Prof John Crown, Consultant Oncologist, St Vincent's University Hospital and Prof Heinrich Heimann, Liverpool Ocular Oncology Research Group who will give present at the Ocular Tumours symposium. Dr Stela Vujosevic, Head of Medical Retina Unit, IRCCS MultiMedica, Milan and Prof Usha Chakravarthy, Professor of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Queen's University of Belfast will present at the Retina symposium.   

We look forward to presentations across all clinical sessions from our eye experts here in Ireland and those joining from overseas to share their knowledge and expertise.   Full programme to follow shortly.

Annual Mooney Lecture 2023

"Mitochondrial function - a potentially modifiable risk factor for glaucoma?"

Professor David Garway-Heath, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital London will present the Annual Mooney Lecture at the ICO Conference.  He is Glaucoma UK Professor of Ophthalmology for Glaucoma and Allied Studies at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London.

Prof Garway-Heath was the principal investigator of the UK Glaucoma Treatment Study, a landmark trial in glaucoma management and the first trial in glaucoma to be published in The Lancet.   The randomized placebo-controlled trial provided evidence for visual field preservation in glaucoma patients with an intraocular-pressure-lowering drug and the study design enabled a considerable reduction in the period needed to identify treatment effects.

He is the inventor of the anatomical map (known as the ‘Garway-Heath map’) used worldwide in research in structure-function relationship in glaucoma and of the Moorfields regression Analysis algorithm for one of the earliest imaging diagnostic devices contributing to the worldwide use of imaging in the clinic.

Prof Garway Heath is immediate Past President of the European Glaucoma Society, Chair of the Membership Committee of the international Glaucoma Research Society  and Vice President of the International Imaging and Perimetry Society.  It is a great honour for the ICO to welcome him to our conference to present this year's Mooney Lecture.

Workshop sessions, paper and poster presentations, a talk on 'Managing Risk' and the European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) Lecture 2023 are among the many other highlights to feature on the three day conference programme.

A parallel industry partner exhibition will run alongside the scientific conference.

The ICO very much look forward to welcoming you all to Killarney this year for what promises to be another great gathering!