Lithuania 2006

An international meeting on retinopathy of prematurity was held in Vilnius, Lithuania from September 14-16, 2006. The meeting, entitled, “World ROP Meeting: East Meets West: Can we prevent blindness from ROP?” was the largest international medical meeting ever held in Lithuania. 260 participants from over fifty countries attended.

Although there was an international organizing committee, the unusual venue for the meeting was selected because of the special efforts of two Lithuanian ophthalmologists, Rasa Bagdoniene, MD, PhD and Rasa Sirtautiene, MD, PhD (Fig. 2), following the close of the Third World ROP Congress held in conjunction with the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2003.

The meeting site was viewed as a bridge between East and West and emphasized engaging those countries where ROP was becoming a problem because of improved survival of premature infants. The meeting date also coincided with the 225th Anniversary of Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius. To emphasize the importance of the meeting to its host country, the proceedings were opened by the Honorable Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania. The conference was dedicated to Arnall Patz, MD, because of his pioneering studies of ROP. Dr. Patz, who was unable to attend, opened the first scientific session of the conference by digital video.

Support for the meeting was provided by the National Institutes of Health through the National Eye Institute, The Fogarty-Childs Institute of International Medicine and The Institute of Maternal and Child Health and Human Development. Additional support was furnished by the Bernadotte Foundation for Childrens Eye Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the International Center for Eye Health and Danute Kristopaityte-Mallart, as well as a number of ophthalmic pharmaceutical firms. Source: http://www.iovs.org/

Contacts

Rasa Sirtautiene - rsirtautiene@hotmail.com