Dr. Kaleb Abbott previews the American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting: what you need to know
Kaleb Abbott, OD, MS, spoke with Optometry 360 about the upcoming American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting. Here’s what you need to know before the meeting starts.
Question:
The American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting is taking place November 6-9 in Indianapolis. What are some highlights about the meeting, and what are you most looking forward to?
Kaleb Abbott, OD, MS:
There’s a lot of exciting things about this meeting. This is actually the first time the meeting has ever been in Indianapolis, so a lot of us are looking forward to visiting that city for the first time. This is the largest number of abstracts that have ever been submitted at the American Academy of Optometry meeting. We have over 300 hours of continuing education. Academy in general is known for its high-quality lectures and its workshops, and we expect that to continue this year.
Question:
Are there any sessions or topics you are particularly interested in at this year’s meeting?
Kaleb Abbott, OD, MS:
Definitely. There’s 3 talks that are being given on artificial intelligence and its use in optometry, including the conference plenary session. I think that that’s a pretty big topic right now not just in optometry, but also in health care in general. Then there’s also several talks that are being given on genetics, specifically pediatric genetics, cornea genetics, and inherited retinal disorders, which is another hot topic. Then there’s also informational sessions on how to become a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and how to become a diplomate in a particular section of AAO.
Question:
Are there any special sessions or speakers you are looking forward to hearing from?
Kaleb Abbott, OD, MS:
Most definitely.The Nutrition, Disease Prevention, and Wellness Special Interest Group, or SIG, is collaborating with the Comprehensive Eye Care SIG. We’re doing a joint talk called Worth the Wait: A Multidisciplinary Look at Eye Health and Weight Management. For this, we have 3 absolutely incredible speakers, one of which is a world-renowned speaker named David Allison. We’re so excited to be doing this talk as this is another topic that a lot of people are very interested in, because there’s a lot of myths and controversy surrounding weight management drugs and how it can affect eye health. There’s also the Dry Eye Jeopardy event that is being hosted by Lisa Hornick and Melissa Barnett, which is always a fun time. Then Carl Spear is giving a talk on telemedicine and teleoptometry, which should be absolutely fascinating.
Question:
Are there any studies or abstracts coming out of the meeting that you think might be important or practice changing?
Kaleb Abbott, OD, MS:
Yeah. The poster sessions are always such a great way to view hundreds of recently performed research in a very quick manner. Attendees can always find topics that they’re the most interested in. If attendees want to read about research being done in glaucoma, they can go to the glaucoma section of the poster session and read up on all of those recently performed studies. That’s always a great way for people to ingest a whole lot of research very quickly. I’m presenting a poster entitled Intranasal Varenicline for the Treatment of Neuropathic Ocular Pain Associated with Trigeminal Neuralgia. We’re discussing how the drug Tyrvaya can actually be used to help treat neuropathic ocular pain.
Question:
You are taking part in 2 sessions at the meeting: Advanced Strategies in Ocular Surface Disease Management: Harnessing the Power of Intense Pulsed Light Therapy and Ocular Rosacea: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Skin Can Be Red, But Eyes Can Too. What can attendees expect from these sessions? Can you give a bit of a preview?
Kaleb Abbott, OD, MS:
Yeah. We’re doing a workshop that’s not just on IPL, but also discussing combination procedures that can be performed with IPL, such as radio frequency combined with IPL and Meibomian gland probing combined with IPL. Then we’re also going to cover other indications for IPL, so not just using it for dry eye or Meibomian gland dysfunction, but using it for treatments like Demodex blepharitis or using it for our neuropathic ocular pain patients as well. Then the other talk that I’m giving is about ocular rosacea. Ocular rosacea is so common yet so commonly missed, and this affects many of our dry eye patients yet is vastly underdiagnosed. This course is going to go into rosacea and different types of rosacea, including ocular rosacea, and we’re going to discuss the pathophysiology, the diagnosing, and the management options for ocular rosacea.
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