The 43rd Annual Meeting of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society in Washington, DC

The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society held its 43rd Annual Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, April 1-6, 2017, in Washington, DC. The Frank Walsh Society Session was co-hosted by John Chen and Jacqueline Leavitt along with special expert in neuroradiology, Jonathan Morris and neuropathologist Caterina Giannini. The program, hosted by Mayo Clinic, was lively and educational.

Neuro-Ophthalmology News Section Editor: Kathleen B. Digre, MD The 43rd Annual Meeting of the North American NeuroOphthalmology Society in Washington, DC T he North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society held its 43rd Annual Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, April 1-6, 2017, in Washington, DC. The Frank Walsh Society Session was co-hosted by John Chen and Jacqueline Leavitt along with special expert in neuroradiology, Jonathan Morris and neuropathologist Caterina Giannini. The program, hosted by Mayo Clinic, was lively and educational (Fig. 1). The best Walsh paper was presented by Shira Simon (Iowa City, IA), entitled "Nonchalant Midterm-taker Develops Altered Mental Status." This case highlighted bilateral optic neuritis associated with tumor negative NMDA encephalitis. Once again, the educational symposia were exceptional. "Journal Club" topics included masquerade retinopathies, clinical trials in neuro-ophthalmology, pediatric optic neuritis, and myasthenia gravis. The "Hot Topics" featured using OCT in the diagnosis of optic disc drusen, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and new techniques of OCT angiography. Other symposia included afferent and efferent strategies in visual rehabilitation, neuro-ophthalmologic side effects of medications used to treat cancer, rheumatologic disorders, and multiple sclerosis. We ended the meeting with an entertaining and lively eye movement symposium. The Jacobson Lecture featured Randy Kardon presenting "Going with the Flow" which was a fascinating talk of blood flow techniques of the optic nerve head and retina (Fig. 2). This year's optional symposia were very popular and included applications of advanced retinal vascular imaging, FIG. 1. The Mayo Clinic team hosted the Walsh Meeting. From left to right: John Chen, Jackie Leavitt, Jim Garrity, Caterina Giannini, Jonathan Morris. Digre: J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2017; 37: e9-e10 FIG. 2. Randy Kardon, 2017 Jacobson Lecturer, was introduced by Patty Johnston McNussen. radiation oncology for the neuro-ophthalmologist, and "My Baby Can't See." The Women in Neuro-ophthalmology (WIN) meeting highlighted the gender pay gap in neurology and ophthalmology. This year's meeting offered 2 poster sessions featuring 290 posters divided between clinical highlights in neuro-ophthalmology on Sunday afternoon and scientific advancement in neuro-ophthalmology on Tuesday evening. This year's awardees were: James A. Sharpe Award by a Fellow: Melinda Chang, MD, UCLA, Los Angeles: "Optical coherence tomography angiography in patients with migraine with aura demonstrates decreased macular vessel density." Best Abstract by a Resident: Lasse Malmqvist, MD, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark: "Optic disc drusen in children: The Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 Eye Study." Best Abstract by a Student: Anvesh Annadannam, BS, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore: "Effect of contrast sensitivity on pseudoisochromatic plate color vision tests." 2017 Pilot Grant Award: Victoria Pelak, MD, University of Colorado, Denver: "Retinal OCT in Alzheimer disease: The relationship of amyloid, cortical volumes, and visual fields." The Thomas and Susan Carlow Young Investigator Award: Kimberly Gokoffski, MD, PhD, USC Roski Eye e9 Copyright © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Neuro-Ophthalmology News Institute, Los Angeles: "Physiological electrical fields direct retinal ganglion cell growth." Hoyt Lecture Award (given at the AAO in 2016): Larry Frohman, MD, Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School: "Can a unique little specialty show us some pervasive issues with the old and new models of health care delivery?" NANOS Merit Awards (new this year for extraordinary contributions of time, energy, and resources to NANOS): Karl Golnik, MD, Lynn Gordon, MD, PhD. J Lawton Smith, MD Award (best original contribution in the JNO in 2016). Costa SL, Gonclaves OF, Chiaravalloti ND, DeLuca J, Almeida J. Neuro-ophthalmic syndromes and processing speed in multiple sclerosis. J Neuroophthalmol. 2016;36:23-32. Thomas Carlow Distinguished Service Award: James J Corbett, MD, who served on the NANOS board for over 11 years and for his lifetime contributions to NANOS and the field of neuro-ophthalmology (Fig. 3). The 2017 meeting had an all-time high attendance rate with 750 registrants from 42 countries. Our international members made up 32% of our attendees. The annual banquet was held in the hotel with an amazing non-stop dancing frenzy until the end! e10 FIG. 3. James J Corbett received the Thomas Carlow Distinguished Service Award. Kathleen Digre made the presentation, and President Ed FitzGibbon congratulated him. Janel Fick, Trish Shomion, Toma Ossian, and Sarah Korbel hosted another very well-organized meeting. The 44th meeting will be held in Hawaii, the Big Island, March 3-8, 2018. We will be celebrating 50 years of Walsh Meetings. See you there, Aloha! Kathleen B. Digre, MD Salt Lake City, Utah Digre: J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2017; 37: e9-e10 Copyright © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.