President’s Letter (March 12, 2020)

Dear Colleagues, The COVID-19 emergency has now assumed world-class proportions and many countries are facing the problem of the expanding of the infection with very restrictive measures. For contingent reasons, the AOPT Executive Board has therefore decided to postpone the Congress scheduled in Shenyang, China to 2023 and to accept the proposal to hold the 2021 AOPT Congress in Miami, USA. The new program in Miami will be developed by Dr Sanjoy Bhattacharya and colleagues. Thus, the next biennial AOPT meeting will be held on March 4-7 2021 in Miami, at the José Berrocal Auditorium. The theme will be “Restoring Vision Through Regeneration”. You all will soon find more information on our website. The subsequent biennial meeting will then take place in Shenyang, China on March 2023 (exact dates are still to be decided). I also want to remind you that the upcoming Diabetic Retinopathy Meeting to be held in Santa Fe, USA on August 20-21, 2020. Information about abstracts, agenda, and keynote speakers will be found on the AOPT website (www.AOPT.org). Also, you probably have already learned that the next ARVO meeting has been cancelled. I understand that this decision was really suffered and has been taken with “a sad and heavy heart” by the ARVO Officers. I would like to thank Dr. Dan Stamer as ARVO President, together with the other members of the Executive Board, for making this courageous decision. A warm hug.