The Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) is inviting Australian eye health professionals to join ophthalmologist Associate Professor Wilson Heriot for a webinar focusing geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The event – taking place on Thursday, 27 May at 7pm AEST – has received Institute of Excellence Quality Assurance through Optometry Australia and is worth 1.5 CPD hours with assessment.
Heriot is a retinal specialist based in Melbourne and a member of MDFA’s Medical Committee. He was one of 25 Australian researchers to have received MDFA Research Grants Program funding for a 2016 project examining the phototoxicity of anti-malarial agents.
At the completion of the CPD activity, MDFA states participants should be able to:
- Accurately define, identify and diagnose different types and classifications of AMD.
- Understand clinical practice pearls including documenting GA on OCT, fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and MAIA microperimetry.
- Understand the symptoms and functional impact of intermediate AMD and GA (late AMD), including the role of predictive saccades and central visual processing mechanisms in the presence of foveal-sparing scotomas.
- Acknowledge the current management options and the potential future therapies for AMD and progressive GA.
After completing his general ophthalmic training in Melbourne, Heriot investigated phototoxic retinal injury and choroidal neovascularisation during a two-year medical retinal research fellowship with Dr Paul Henkind in New York.
This was followed by a vitreoretinal surgical fellowship with Robert Machemer at Duke University also investigating RPE repair. His current research projects include a translation to clinical care program for a new method of retinal detachment repair called Retinal Thermofusion, funded by a US Department of Defense Award.
In another project with colleagues at the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Melbourne – where he holds an Associate Professorship – he is measuring retinal capillary autoregulation changes in diabetic patients, which received a Bayer GOAP award in 2020.
Heriot is also a principal investigator for several clinical trials for diabetic retinopathy and AMD. He is the director of Retinology Institute, a private practice in Glen Iris, Australia.
Click here to register for the webinar.
Webinar details
Presenter: Associate Professor Wilson Heriot
Title: Geographic Atrophy (GA) secondary to Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Date: Thursday, May 27
Time: 7.00-8.00pm AEST
CPD hours: 1 (1.5 with assessment)
More reading
Annual out-of-pocket eye injection costs to double to $3,900 under rebate cut – modelling
Awareness of diabetic eye diseases lacking – MDFA poll
The new CPD standard for optometrists
