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Show NANOS NEWS 33rd Annual North American Neuro- Ophthalmology Society ( NANOS) Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, February 10- 15, 2007 The 33rd Annual North American Neuro- Ophthalmology Society ( NANOS) Meeting brought together 325 participants at Snowbird, Utah, from February 10 to 15, 2007. Among them were 74 fellows/ residents/ medical students and 55 international attendees arriving from Canada ( 21), Israel ( 8), Switzerland ( 6), Australia ( 5), England ( 3), France ( 3), Japan ( 2), Scotland ( 2), Egypt, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand ( 1 each). As usual, the Frank B. Walsh Session occupied an exciting first day. Organizers Eric Eggenberger, DO ( East Lansing, MI), Karl Golnick, MD ( Cincinnati, OH), and Andrew Lee, MD ( Iowa City, IA), selected 22 neuropath-ologic cases for presentation from a rich field of more than 40 submissions. Presiding were guest neuroradiologist Mary Gaskill, MD ( Cincinnati, OH), and guest neuropathologist Patricia Kirby, MD ( Iowa City, IA), who were widely praised for their expert commentary and enrichment material. The awardee for the best Walsh presentation was Thomas Hwang, MD, PhD ( San Francisco, CA), for describing a mysterious case of optic atrophy from biotinidase deficiency. In all the presentations, the elusiveness of the diagnosis was trumped only by the razzle dazzle of the PowerPoint and the videos. There were three half- day symposia packed with information. The first one was entitled " Novel Approaches to Treatment of Neuro- Ophthalmic Disease," organized by Leonard Levin, MD, PhD ( Madison, WI, and Montreal, QC), which dealt principally with neuroprotection. It included two spectacular talks on retinal ganglion cell and optic nerve regeneration by Adriana Di Polo, PhD ( Montreal, QC), a talk on progress in finding ways to measure axonal loss in optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis by Laura Balcer, MD ( Philadelphia, PA), an update on neuroprotection trials in glaucoma by Swaraj Bose, MD ( Irvine, CA), and a talk on progress on stem cell research by Dr. Levin. There were two presentations by William Hauswirth, PhD ( Gainesville, FL), on viral vector- mediated therapy of retinal photoreceptor disorders. The main character in Hauswirth's talks was Lancelot, the dog with blindness from a form of Leber congenital amaurosis, that was transfected with the missing enzyme and has developed marked improvement in his electroretinogram and perhaps his vision. John Guy, MD The neuroprotectionists after their symposium: Swaraj Bose, MD, Adriana Di Polo, PhD, Leonard Levin, MD, PhD, William Hauswirth, PhD, and Laura Balcer, MD, with Deborah Friedman, MD. Melissa Ko, MD, winner of best presentation by a resident physician, and Christopher Glisson, MD, winner of best presentation by a fellow. J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2007 155 J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2007 Thomas Hwang, MD, PhD, winner of best Walsh presentation, with Judith Warner, MD. ( Gainesville, FL), described his efforts to produce a mouse model of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. The second symposium, co- chaired by Janet Rucker, MD ( Chicago, IL), and Jonathan Trobe, MD ( Ann Arbor, MI), covered endovascular treatments of intracranial aneurysms and fistulas and newer methods of radiotherapy for neuro- ophthalmic disorders. Kieran Murphy, MD Resident Travel Scholar Awardees Arghavan Almony, MD, William Hills, MD, Krishna Mettu, MD, and Elena Sokolova, MD ( fifth awardee Claire Sheldon, MD, PhD, not pictured). 156 NANOS News Fiona Costello, MD ( right), winner of The Thomas and Susan Carlow Young Investigator Award, with Agnes Wong, MD, PhD. ( Baltimore, MD), coiled and glued his way through difficult cases and Volker Stieber, MD ( Wake Forest, NC), buzzed through anterior visual pathway tumors. The third symposium, organized by Steve Feldon, MD ( Rochester, NY) and Jeffrey Bennett, MD, PhD ( Denver, CO), handled immunologic aspects of uveitis, autoimmune optic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, and Graves disease. Featured speakers were Russell Van Gelder, MD, PhD ( St. Louis, MO), Larry Frohman, MD ( Newark, NJ), Mark Freedman, MD ( Ottawa, ON, Canada), Dr. Feldon, and Kimberly Cockerham, MD ( Palo Alto, CA). The two optional afternoon seminars ( how to write an article for medical publication and understand copyright, and how to enhance your use of PowerPoint, PubMed, and EndNote) attracted large crowds. Poster night was lively and provocative with 95 posters and a discussion session hosted by Dr. Feldon and Alfredo Sadun, MD, PhD ( Los Angeles, CA), in which 10 of the posters were reviewed with the authors. There were 26 fine scientific platform presentations. The awardees for best platform/ poster presentations were fellow- Christopher Glisson, MD ( Philadelphia, PA); resident- Melissa Ko, MD ( Philadelphia, PA); and medical student- Bryn Burkholder ( Philadelphia, PA). The Thomas and Susan Carlow Young Investigator Award went to Fiona Costello, MD ( Ottawa, ON, Canada). Banquet Night brought everyone together for revelry and the presentation of the Distinguished Service Awards to John Selhorst, MD ( St. Louis, MO), and Neil Miller, MD ( Baltimore, MD). The next NANOS meeting will be held at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Sea World in Orlando, Florida, from March 8 to 13, 2008 ( www. nanosweb. org). © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins NANOS News New active NANOS members Joyce Liao, MD, Steven Bernstein, MD, Dean Cestari, MD, Billi Wallace, MD, and Donna Hill, MD. New Candidate NANOS Members Robert Crow, MD, and Guy Jirawuthiworavong, MD. New NANOS Fellows Hana Leiba, MD, Teresa Vives, MD, Luis Mejico, MD, Peter Quiros, MD, Prem Subramanian, MD, Timothy McCulley, MD, with NANOS Membership Chair Sophia Chung, MD. J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2007 John Selhorst, MD, accepting NANOS Distinguished Service Award. Neil Miller, MD, NANOS Distinguished Service Award winner, with William Hoyt, MD. Alfredo Sadun, MD, PhD, and Steven Feldon, MD, poster session moderators. 157 J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2007 NANOS News Michael Vaphiades, DO, and Caroline Tilikete, MD, in front of her poster. Klara Landau, MD, at the poster session. Andrew Lee, MD, and Melissa Ko, MD, in a dive on Banquet Night. Gregory Kosmorsky, DO, carrying off Kimberly Cockerham, Rebecca Kay, daughter of Matthew Kay, MD ( not pictured), MD, in a dance marathon on Banquet Night. and Richard Sogg, MD, in a karaoke duet. 158 © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |