The 47th Annual Meeting of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society Occurring Virtually

Neuro-Ophthalmology News Section Editors: Kathleen B. Digre, MD Meagan Seay, DO The 47th Annual Meeting of the North American NeuroOphthalmology Society Occurring Virtually T he North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) held its 47th Annual Meeting virtually on February 20–23, 2021, as we were unable to meet in person, as planned, in Tucson, Arizona, due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Fig. 1). However, the virtual platform allowed for a record attendance of more than 1,000 attendees with 290 international attendees from 54 countries around the globe. The virtual meeting captured the spirit of NANOS even through the electronic waves on a Zoom platform! The Frank B. Walsh Society meeting was hosted by Stanford University (Drs. Y. Joyce Liao, Shannon Beres, and Heather Moss) who did an amazing job with a completely virtual platform (Fig. 2). Special experts included Nancy Fischbein, MD (neuro-radiology), Raymond Sobel, MD (neuro-pathology), and Vinit B. Mahajan, MD, PhD (ophthalmic genetics). The best Walsh abstract by a fellow was presented by Olwen C. Murphy, MBBCh, MRCPI—“Oh My GAD!! Something Else?” The first symposium, moderated by Drs. Melissa W. Ko and Kevin Lai, featured relevant talks regarding “TeleNeuro-Ophthalmology: Updates and Future Implications.” Day one ended with a virtual welcome reception in Gather Town, which was certainly a novel and enjoyable experience for all of us (Fig. 3)! Day 2 began with a session entitled “Infectious Diseases in Neuro-Ophthalmology: It’s Not Just COVID19” and included lectures discussing COVID-19, immunosuppressive therapies and infectious risk, infectious optic neuropathies, syphilis, and botulism (Fig. 4). Drs. Sophia Chung and Kimberly Winges moderated “Journal Club: What You Need to Know Now!”, which included a variety of discussions, including research on artificial intelligence. Day 2 ended with a social hour of virtual wine tasting! Day 3 started with the first scientific platform session moderated by Drs. Nagham Al-Zubidi and Ruth HunaBaron. An informative session, “TBI and the Neuro-Ophthalmologist” was moderated by Drs. Laura Balcer and Courtney Francis. The afternoon began with the second scientific platform session, moderated by Drs. Susan Mollan and Kenneth Shindler (Fig. 5). This was followed by the first ever NANOS Talent Show! The top 3 talent awards were presented to Elizabeth Fortin, MD, Irina Krikova, PA, and Richard Sogg, MD. This was truly a sight to see! The final day began with a symposium entitled “Cognitive Disorders and Vision” moderated by Drs. Victoria Pelak and Sashank Prasad. The meeting concluded with the point-counterpoint, “Controversies in Pediatric NeuroOphthalmology” moderated by Drs. Grant Liu and Paul H. Phillips. There were 220 posters presented, divided between 4 virtual poster sessions. We are grateful for everyone’s resilience and persistence in truly making this a successful NANOS to remember! FIG. 1. The virtual platform used for the 47th annual NANOS meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seay and Digre: J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2021; 41: e239-e241 e239 Copyright © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Neuro-Ophthalmology News FIG. 2. Drs. Shannon Beres, Heather Moss, and Y. Joyce Liao (left to right) of Stanford University hosting the virtual Frank B. Walsh session. Once again, the NANOS staff made everything look seamless—thanks to Toma Ossian, Tara Thebeau and Katie Connelly. Dr. Prem Subramanian did a phenomenal work as the Program Chair of the NANOS’s first virtual meeting. 2021 PILOT GRANT AWARD: Lindsey De Lott, MD, MS—“Early deep phenotyping of optic neuritis to inform medical decision making” THOMAS AND SUSAN CARLOW YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD: Eric Gaier, MD, PhD—“Digital Therapeutic Improves Visual Acuity and Encourages High Adherence in Amblyopic Children” BEST FRANK B. WALSH SESSION PAPER PRESENTATION BY A FELLOW: Olwen C. Murphy, MBBCh, MRCPI—“Oh My GAD!! Something Else?” BEST ABSTRACT AWARD BY STUDENT: Benjamin I. Meyer, BS—“Significance of Incidental Imaging Signs of Intracranial Hypertension with Corresponding Fundus Photography: A Prospective Study.” BEST ABSTRACT AWARD BY RESIDENT: Michael James Gilhooley, MB, PhD, FRCOphth—“Ectopic Melanopsin for Visual Restoration: Compressed Cell-Specific Promotors—a Translatable Delivery Mechanism.” JAMES A. SHARPE BEST ABSTRACT AWARD BY FELLOW: Wesley Chan, MD, MSc—“Acute Central Retinal Artery Occlusion Seen Within 24 hours at a Tertiary Stroke Center.” 2021 J. LAWTON SMITH AWARD: Original Contribution: Lasse Malmqvist, MD, PhD—“Progression Over FIG. 3. Gather Town was a virtual meeting space for those in attendance. e240 Seay and Digre: J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2021; 41: e239-e241 Copyright © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Neuro-Ophthalmology News FIG. 4. Moderators and presenters for “Infectious Diseases in Neuro-Ophthalmology: It’s Not Just COVID-19.” FIG. 5. Moderators and presenters for “Scientific Platform Session II.” 5 Years of Prelaminar Hyperreflective Lines to Optic Disc Drusen in the Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 Eye Study.” Best Case: Siwei Zhou, MD—“Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Optic Neuritis and Myelitis in COVID-19.” 2021 MERIT AWARD (for extraordinary contributions of time, energy, and resources to NANOS) Sophia Chung, MD. 2021 NANOS WIN LEADERSHIP GRANT: Jane Bailey, MD. Seay and Digre: J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2021; 41: e239-e241 NANOS Talent Show Winners Elizabeth Fortin—“Musical Review of 2020” Irina Krikova—“Intercontinental musical project" Richard Sogg—“Piano Performance.” Meagan D. Seay, DO Kathleen B. Digre, MD Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University of Utah Moran Eye Center, Salt Lake City, Utah e241 Copyright © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.