View from the conference centre balcony at Mac's Brew Bar in Wellington

March is here, which means it’s time for the Cornea and Contact Lens Society (CCLS) of New Zealand’s annual conference. This year, the shorter, one-day format is back, with the event scheduled for Sunday 18 March at Mac’s Brewbar and Function Centre on Wellington’s waterfront, just a few steps from Te Papa.

Jagrut Lallu, CCLS’ new president who will be MC for the day, says the biennial return to Wellington for the CCLS one-day conference was welcomed by members. “Great support from attendees and sponsors alike shows this is the right location. This year, we again have excellent speakers together with an interesting and informative programme that will hopefully help ensure high attendance rates once again.”

The programme

The 2018 conference programme includes short talks (20-30 minutes) from nine invited speakers from CCLS New Zealand’s member optometrists and ophthalmologists as well as one overseas guest. The keynote speakers are our own Professor Charles McGhee and Associate Professor Jennifer Craig.

Professor McGhee, is chair of ophthalmology and head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Auckland. He’s co-authored more than 300 scientific papers and is internationally recognised within the field of corneal diseases. A consultant ophthalmologist for 25 years, he has performed more than 1000 corneal transplants and has pioneered a number of techniques including corneal stem cell transplants, and he has a longstanding sub-specialty interest in cataract surgery and reconstruction of the anterior segment of the eye following trauma. Professor McGhee is giving three lectures at this year’s CCLS conference, covering the assessment and treatment of the anterior segment; complex cornea and anterior segment clinical cases; and keratoconus – the never-ending story. To find out more about how Professor McGhee got into eye health, see NZ Optics’ March issue, last year.

A/Prof Jennifer Craig is head of the ocular surface laboratory at the University of Auckland and vice chair of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society’s (TFOS’s) second international workshop (DEWS II) who’s work and research into dry eye is recognised internationally. At this year’s event, she will share the key learnings from DEWS II and their impact on dry eye diagnosis and management; explore the predisposition of the Asian eye to dry eye disease; and discuss how Manuka honey could help with blepharitis management. For more about A/Prof Craig’s talk and how she began her journey in eye health see p10.

During the morning, CCLS 2018 attendees will also hear from Dr Ilva Rupenthal, head of the Buchanan Ocular Therapeutics Unit at the University of Auckland, on semi-fluorinated alkanes; and optometrists William Shew, who will discuss new insights on meibomian cyst interventions, and Alex Petty who will share some of his more complicated and fascinating cornea and contact lens (CL) cases. In the lead up to lunch, Tony Alexander, chief economist at the BNZ, will again impart some of his economic wisdom after being re-invited to speak following rave reviews from members who attended his talk in 2016.

After lunch, Kiwi ophthalmologist Dr Dean Corbett will share his knowledge on extended depth of focus intraocular lenses for use in post-radial keratotomy corneas; optometrist Emilie Langley will tackle orthokeratology regression; Canadian guest speaker Professor Heather Sheardown, chair in ophthalmic biomaterials at the Department of Chemical Engineering of McMaster University in Ontario will discuss surface modification of contact lenses (CLs) for improved properties; and optometrist Alan Saks will present a talk entitled Life, the universe and CLs.

The workshop is back

The inaugural CCLS one-day conference workshop was oversubscribed in 2016 so it’s back this year, focusing on optical coherence tomography (OCT). CCLS councillor and Hamilton-based ophthalmologist Dr Chris Murphy is running the workshop which will provide an overview of the uses and limitations of OCT in glaucoma, medical retina and the anterior segment. For more, see Dr Murphy’s overview on p10.

And a pub quiz

On the social side, new president Lallu says the committee wanted to try something new. “Feedback received told us attendees wanted an all-inclusive event as part of the registration fee.” So, this year CCLS is offering an all-inclusive opportunity to connect and network prior to the conference through a pub quiz and crawl on the Saturday night for attendees and partners. The quiz and crawl is organised by some of CCLS’s local Wellington council members, just in time for St Patrick’s day. Don’t forget to sign up to the quiz, included in the conference fee, when registering.

The details

The OTC workshop is an optional addition to the conference and will be held at The Meeting Space, Level 2, 148 Cuba St (entrance off Garrett St) on Saturday 17 March from 9am to 4pm. The workshop has been awarded 5.67 CD and 0.33 general credits. Again, spaces are limited, so delegates need to book in advance if they want to go.

For the conference proper, registration opens at 7.30am on Sunday 18 March. Breakfast will be served from 8am with the president’s welcome at 8.30am. Lectures begin at 8.30am, lunch at 12.20pm followed by the AGM at 1.20pm with lectures resuming at 2pm. The educational part of the day finishes at 5pm with a well-earned cocktail function at Mac’s!

The CCLS Conference has been awarded 1.486 CD and 4.126 general credits. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.contactlens.org.nz/ccls-1-day-conference-18th-march-2018/

As always NZ Optics will be supporting the event, so we look forward to seeing you there.