Preview: The ESCRS Winter Meeting comes to Athens

Lively discussions, focused roundtables and an inaugural scholarship presentation make up this year's ESCRS Winter Meeting programme. Image credit: ©scaliger – stock.adobe.com

The foundational Greek principles of hospitality will be on full display at this year's Winter Meeting for the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS). From 28 February to 2 March, cataract and refractive specialists from around the world will be welcomed at the Megaron Athens International Conference Centre (MAICC) in Athens, Greece. In 2024, the Winter Meeting took place in Frankfurt, Germany; it was previously held in Athens in 2019.¹

In a welcome letter, Filomena Ribeiro, MD, PhD, FEBO, president of the ESCRS, extended thanks to this year’s partners, the Hellenic Society of Intraocular Implant and Refractive Surgery (HSIOIRS).² “As always, the ESCRS Winter Meeting is a unique opportunity for ophthalmologists, researchers, and industry representatives to exchange ideas and insights on the latest advances and challenges in cataract and refractive surgery, whilst being the ideal forum to network and forge new connections in a cozy environment,” she wrote. “The joint participation with the HSIOIRS will translate into joint Free Paper sessions and a Live Surgery Session amongst others.”

Before the conference commenced, the ESCRS announced measures which would enable attendees to easily access the conference centre despite a nationwide strike occurring on the first day of the meeting, 28 February. “ESCRS has arranged a bus service with morning departures from central locations in Athens and return transfers after the Meeting sessions,” read a notice posted on the ESCRS website.¹ “The latest update also states that the Metro will be working between 09:00 and 17:00 on Friday 28 February 2025, although not all metro stations will be open.”

This year, David F. Chang, MD, who is based in Los Altos, California, will deliver the International Kelman Award lecture, titled "Frugal Innovation: The Key to Tackling Our Greatest Challenges." He will be presented with the award in a ceremony which begins at 14:00 local time on Friday, 28 February. During this ceremony, the HSIOIRS will also present two scholarships to young ophthalmologists; the HSIOIRS Scholarship “Spyros Georgaras” and the innaugural HSIOIRS "Ioannis Pallikaris” Scholarship.

The full programme and other information about the ESCRS Winter Meeting can be found online at https://wintermeeting.escrs.org/.

ESCRS invites participants to try on TOGA

A key highlight from this year's programme is the TOGA Session series, which ESCRS leadership has described as "participant-driven discussion" in an open theatre presentation format. A facilitator will moderate the sessions, taking place in a "discussion corner," actively including the audience in dialogue. The format will allow any delegate or industry member to take the podium and share their perspective, research, experience and expertise.

The TOGA Session topics are:

• Conflict, Poverty and Ophthalmology in South Sudan - Personal Perspectives; moderated by Kenneth Lado Lino Sube, Mark Wevill and Tatjana Gerber
• Translating Evidence into Clinical Practice; Moderated by Joaquín Fernández; facilitated by Andreia Rosa, Farhad Hafezi, Gerd Auffarth and Gianni Virgili
• Cataract Surgery and Sustainability; moderated by David Chang, Diana Silva and Javier Foncubierta; facilitated by Oliver Findl and Ernest Lim
• Should Simulator Training be a Must Before Starting Cataract Surgery?; moderated by Paul Ursell; facilitated by Alja Crnej, Artemis Matsou and Stefan Palkovits
• Towards a Unified IOL Classification: Collaboration, Consensus, and Future Directions; moderated by Joaquín Fernández; facilitated by Burkhard Dick, Filomena Ribeiro and Francesco Carones
• Are There Differences Between Female and Male Eyes?; moderated by Marie-José Tassignon; facilitated by Nic Reus, Sotiria Palioura, Vicky Kauer and Victor Lazaro
• Leadership, Business and Innovation – Breaking down the ESCRS Practice Management Programme; moderated by Paul Rosen; facilitated by Christina Grupcheva, David Lockington and Vincent Qin
• Generative AI in Ophthalmology; moderated by Bruce Allan, Nic Reus and Nino Hirnschall; facilitated by Damien Gatinel, Mor Dickman and Sorcha Ní Dhubhghaill
• Advancing Team Excellence in Refractive Surgery Practice; moderated by Andreia Rosa and Fernando Faria-Correia; facilitated by Basak Bostanci and Carlos de la Rocha

The TOGA Sessions will take place in the Trianti Foyer 1st floor at the MAICC. Find more information here.

Around the world, around the table

Also part of this year's programme are 60-minute "world café roundtables," available to a limited number of participants. In a series of intimate group discussions, world café attendees will rotate between tables, spending 20 minutes at each station in an ongoing conversation with peers and moderators. There are six separate roundtable sessions, and during each one, participants’ time will be evenly divided between three topics:

• Decision-Making in Refractive Surgery
• Dysphotopsia and Glare
• How to Deal With Low Astigmatism

Moderators for the world café roundtables include Alex Day, Andreia Rosa, Artemis Matsou, Aylin Kılıç, Başak Bostancı, Bruce Allan, Christina Grupcheva, Claudette Abela-Formanek, Guy Sallet, Joaquín Fernández, Mario Nubile, Mayank Nanavaty, Mor Dickman, Nic Reus, Nino Hirnschall, Oliver Findl, Paul Rosen, Pavel Stodulka , Roberto Bellucci, Rudy Nuijts, Ruth Lapid, Thomas Kohnen and more to be announced.

The world café will be located in the Trianti Foyer 1st floor at the MAICC. Sign up for the roundtables here.

References

1. 29th ESCRS Winter Meeting: Athens. European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Accessed February 27, 2025. https://wintermeeting.escrs.org/

2. Ribeiro F. Welcome message. European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Accessed February 27, 2025. https://wintermeeting.escrs.org/congress-information/welcome-message/