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Seize the day and the future
At the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology congress held in conjunction with the All India Ophthalmological Society conference in Hyderabad, India, which brought together more than 9,000 delegates and more than 1,000 invited speakers, Rajvardhan Azad, MD, FRCS, and Clement C.Y. Tham, BM, BCh, FCOphthHK, FRCS, succeeded Frank J. Martin, AM, FRACS, FRANZCO, and Dennis S.C. Lam, MD, FRCOphth, to be the president and the secretary-general of the APAO, respectively. Meanwhile, Dr. Lam was elected president-elect of the APAO and Dr. Martin assumed the role as the Advisory Standing Committee chair. The APAO will continue its vision and mission to assist its member nations and member societies to achieve international excellence in ophthalmology.
APAO standing committees
The APAO would like to express its deepest gratitude toward its immediate past president, Dr. Martin, as well as its immediate past secretary-general, Dr. Lam. Under their visionary leadership, 18 standing committees were set up to deal with different aspects of ophthalmology. A summary table of all the APAO standing committees and their corresponding chairs is shown in the table.
Images: Lam DSC
We would like to thank all the standing committee chairs, who have committed their service for another 2 years, for their past efforts and look forward to their contributions and visionary leadership in the future.
APAO named awards 2013
With the Award Standing Committee, the APAO recognizes outstanding ophthalmologists who have made substantial contributions to advance ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond with its annual named awards.
This year, the APAO Jose Rizal Medal and the Jose Rizal International Medal went to Jialiang Zhao, PhD, MD (China), and Marilyn T. Miller, MD, MS (US), respectively, in recognition of their excellence in ophthalmology. The APAO De Ocampo Lecture, which is the highest award for academic excellence in the Asia-Pacific region, went to Tin Aung, MBBS, NMed, FRCS, FRCOphth, FAMS, PhD (Singapore). Dr. Tham (Hong Kong) was presented the APAO Holmes Lecture for his exceptional contributions to preventive ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific region, while the APAO Susruta Lecture went to Prof. Zia Ul Qazi (Pakistan), an extraordinary cataract surgeon. Jodhbir Mehta, FRCS, a young ophthalmologist actively involved in the international ophthalmic community, was selected for the APAO Nakajima Award, whereas Hyung-Woo Kwak, MD, PhD (Korea), vice president of the APAO, received the APAO Arthur Lim Award in recognition of his exemplary leadership. Last but not least, Peter McCluskey, MD (Australia), a dedicated professor of clinical ophthalmology, was selected for the ICO Mark Tso Golden Apple Award in recognition of his commitment to ophthalmic education. The APAO will soon call for nominations for all these awards and honors to be presented at the APAO Congress held in conjunction with the World Ophthalmology Congress 2014. Please stay tuned.
APAO leadership development
Drs. Martin and Lam also placed special emphasis on nurturing young talents, and the APAO launched its leadership development program (LDP) in collaboration with the American Academy of Ophthalmology during their tenure. We have immense pleasure in seeing young talents take up more important roles in the ophthalmic community. Both Dr. Tham and Nadeem Butt, FRCS, are graduates of the first APAO LDP class, and they have now assumed leadership positions in the APAO council, serving as secretary-general and treasurer, respectively. Other APAO LDP graduates include Paisan Ruamviboonsuk, MD, president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of Thailand, Shu-Yen Lee, MBBS, MMed, FRCS, FAMS, president of the Singapore Society of Ophthalmology, and Ningli Wang, MD, president-elect of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society and congress president of the APAO Congress 2015.
We are hopeful that the Asia-Pacific region will play a more prominent role in the international ophthalmic community with more capable leaders answering the call. Moreover, Dr. Azad, president of the APAO, also emphasized the importance of nurturing young leaders who hold the future of ophthalmology. Together with the council, he will continue the tradition and devise new initiatives that can advance ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Asia-Pacific Eye Care Week 2013
The APAO will organize the third Asia-Pacific Eye Care Week from Oct. 6 to 12 to again coincide with World Sight Day 2013. With many activities organized by its member societies in the Asia-Pacific region, it is hoped that public awareness on the importance of eye health can be raised further. Due to a lack of education opportunities in olden days and in some parts of the Asia-Pacific region, many patients, the elderly in particular, still believe that vision loss is a natural part of aging and treatment is almost unnecessary. With Asia-Pacific Eye Care Week, the APAO hopes to create a ripple effect that can not only correct all these misconceptions, but also turn the tables and spread the word that everybody should have the right to sight, regardless of their age, gender, occupation or financial means.
APJO annual review
We are pleased to share that the annual review series published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology has been very well-received, with a recent article published in the January/February issue rated third among the most popular ophthalmic articles published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, the publishing partner of the APJO. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew Lee, MD, and his team for their special efforts and express our deepest gratitude to all the committed authors. In view of its popularity, the annual review series is currently made freely accessible to all.
In the upcoming March/April issue, the APJO will feature two annual reviews on stem cells and ophthalmic oncology. Other featured articles include a laboratory science article on the pathogenesis and animal models of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy by Christopher K.S. Leung, MD, MB ChB, and a clinical study on the burden of ocular surface diseases in glaucoma patients by Jonathan Crowston, MD, PhD.
Adhering to the principle to cover as many subspecialties as possible, the APJO is a comprehensive eye journal representative of the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. As a launch journal with a brief history, the APJO is pleased to announce that it had more than 100,000 page views in 2012, which equaled half of the page views recorded for a mature bimonthly journal running for more than 20 years. We would like to thank the advisory and editorial boards for their contributions. We look forward to your support, as well. – by Clement C.Y. Tham, BM, BCh, FCOphthHK, FRCS, Dennis S.C. Lam, MD, FCROphth, and Rajvardhan Azad, MD, FRCS