Leading specialists drawn to Optrafair in London

Sponsors of the CET are Association of British Dispensing Opticians, Bausch + Lomb, Briticsh Contact Lens Association, Carl Zeiss Instruments, Cooper Vision, Essilor, Federation o;f Manufacturing Opticians, Federation of Dispensing Opticians, Heidelberg Engineering, Hoya and Topcon have ensured that the most inspirational speakers are gearing up to offer their knowledge to those who are looking to the future.Mo Jalie, from Ulster University, will pass on his pearls of wisdom about adaptive spectacle lenses, and the four methods of achieving variable power.David Henson, from Manchester University and famed the world over for his eponymous perimeters and research behind the technology, reviews visual field screening for glaucoma and the specific needs of the United Kingdom optometrist whose role extends from routine screening to the monitoring of loss in shared-care sches.David Thomson, from City University, gives a clear focus on children’s vision screening and his ambitions to improve that amongst the school age population.Praveen Patel, from Moorfields Eye Hospital, will speak about OCT, the workhorse of today’s practice. His research into finding novel therapies for macular disease brings a great depth to his presentation.Clare O’Donnell, from Manchester and Aston Universities, will look at alternative vision correction options and the latest IOL surgery innovations. An overview of what practitioners can expect when examining patients with multifocal IOL designs will be given and the role of ftosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery will be discussed.Teifi James, the youngest ever council mber of the College of Ophthalmologists, has a keen interest in dry eye and will speak about meibomian gland dysfunction.Robert Petrarca, London ophthalmologist, who originally qualified as an optometrist, is now undertaking a MD (Res) on new treatments for neovascular AMD. Speaking about advances in ophthalmology, his research has included epimacular brachytherapy as part of the MERITAGE and MERLOT randomised clinical trials. Investigating ocular microencapsulation drug delivery techniques with the London School of Pharmacy will also be discussed.Chris Hmerdinger, ophthalmologist from the north-west of England, has a special interest in glaucoma, corneal and external eye disease and will be speaking about referral criteria for common ocular disease.Bruce Evans, director of research at the Institute of Optometry, is a Fellow of the College of Optometrists and holds its higher qualifications of Diploma in Contact Lens Practice and Diploma in Orthoptics. Speaking about children’s vision and contact lenses, the topic reflects his research into children’s vision, dyslexia, orthoptics, contact lenses, and headaches including migraine.John Nolan, from Dublin, is an expert in ocular nutrition and macular pigment, and leads the five year CREST (Central Retinal Enrichment Supplentation Trials) project which is investigating the impact of supplentation with the macular carotenoids on visual performance in normal subjects, and in patients with AMD.Elaine Grisdale and Barry Duncan, from the Association of British Dispensing Opticians will speak about better paediatric dispensing for optometrists and dispensing opticians.Jayne Rawlinson, of FODO will lead discussions into the principles behind great patient/customer experience, supported by David Brett-Williams and Steve Taylor.To register your free place on the CET courses visit HYPERLINK http://www.optrafair-london.co.uk www.optrafair-london.co.uk.Visitors from Australia, Austria, Croatia, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka and the United States are among those who have pre-registered for Optrafair London, which will run from 11-13 April at Kensington, Olympia.Some 10 per cent of those already registered are coming from abroad with other visitors drawn from every corner of the UK, and with many keen to make a good weekend of a trip to the Capital.Forty-eight per cent of registered visitors are from independent practices with the decision makers keen to see the hundreds of new product launches and the broad array of business managent and IT providers, diagnostic technology companies and to source new suppliers for their frames, sunglasses, lenses and laboratory work, contact lenses and sports eyewear.More than 300 brands will be represented from more than 120 different suppliers. Some 90 per cent of the exhibition space has now been booked by the broadest range of optical suppliers ever to gather – the diverse, and innovative, practice building opportunities of Optrafair London.And for those who like to party, the Optcian Awards at The Hilton, Park Lane, beckon with the chance to hear about the winning businesses that lead the field in UK optics.Jigsaw Bookings have a variety of hotel packages available, particularly at the nearby Tara and Hilton Hotels. For all that you need to know visit www.optrafair-london.co.uk.