One of the biggest events of the ophthalmic calendar is ramping up for November, with innovative new sessions planned for the Victoria gathering.
One-on-one coaching sessions, a deep dive into the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and a morning-tea session for female medical students are among the new offerings at the RANZCO Congress 2025.
The event is being held in Melbourne and will run over four days – November 14-17.
Organisers say that the innovative program for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists event, which will also include the “wildly popular” Clinical Controversies session, had already attracted more than 900 registrations at time of writing.
“Compared to last year we are up 5%,” they told Insight, “and sponsorship and exhibition inquiries have exceeded targets.”
They urged those keen to attend to register soon.
That increased level of interest had positively impacted on other areas of the event.
“We have seen record numbers of course submissions, as well as papers, posters and films,” organisers say.
They say speakers invited to the congress will be a highlight for many.
“Ophthalmologist and researcher Professor Gus Gazzard is quite a big name in glaucoma, being the lead author of the LiGHT study which has transformed open angle glaucoma management globally.
“Ms Clare Bailey has done a lot of work on diabetic screening in the NHS [National Health Service].
“Also of note are Professor Anders Behndig for cataract and Associate Professor Daniel Vitor Vasconcelos-Santos for uveitis, who is also known as a toxoplasmosis guru.”
Beyond those speakers and many others there will be plenty of other opportunities for people to learn and advance their careers, including a full-day CPD workshop on Friday 14 November.
The organisers believe the congress will appeal to a broad cross-section of specialists, surgeons and others in the ophthalmic community.
“The RANZCO Congress provides an opportunity to hear about advances and updates from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally across all specialties, rather than just one focus. So it’s great for both generalists and subspecialists, and a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and those in the industry.”
For those unable to make it to Melbourne, all sessions held in the Plenary Hall of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre event will be live-streamed.
Those remote delegates will also get access to all lectures, which will be recorded and made available after the congress has finished.
Keynote speakers:
Rachel Callander, Congress opening speaker:
Callender, a speaker, trainer, award-winning author and artist, will be “looking beyond procedures and diagnoses to explore the unseen force shaping every patient interaction: language.
Clare Bailey, retina update lecture:
Bailey, a consultant ophthalmologist at Bristol Eye Hospital since 2001, will describe various approaches used within the UK National Health Service to help with capacity pressures facing medical retina services.
Prof Anders Behndig, cataract update lecture:
Prof Behndig, professor at the Department of Clinical Sciences/Ophthalmology, Umeå University Hospital, will provide an overview of where we stand today in terms of cataract surgical indications, techniques and outcomes and biometry/IOL calculations.
Prof Celia Chen, the council lecture:
Prof Chen, a clinical professor with University of South Australia and academic professor at Flinders University, will evaluate the feasibility of the novel treatment option of thrombolytics in the treatment of acute central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO).
Prof Gus Gazzard, glaucoma update lecture:
Prof Gazzard, chief investigator of the six-year (£2.5m, 718 subject) multi-centre LiGHT trial of SLT, will examine the evidence for the move towards ever earlier surgery, in reaction to the older ‘drops, drops and more drops then trab’-as-a-last-resort’ treatment pathway, with some even proposing ‘MIGS’ surgery as a primary therapy, and propose ‘Non-Incisional Glaucoma Care’ as the first stage of any ‘Interventional Glaucoma Pathway’.
Prof Mandeep S. Sagoo, oncology update lecture:
Prof Sagoo, professor of Ophthalmology and Ocular Oncology at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, will cover the use of imaging to differentiate choroidal naevus from melanoma, and how imaging is incorporated into the TFSOM and MOLES systems for classifying melanocytic choroidal lesions.
Prof Dinesh Selva, The Norman McAlister Gregg lecture:
Prof Selva, appointed to the foundation chair of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Adelaide in 2004, will cover a clinical or basic science topic that has clinical relevance and may cover some facet of work not previously published.
Dr Sandra Staffieri, the Fred Hollows lecture:
Dr Staffieri AO, the retinoblastoma care co-ordinator at the Royal Children’s Hospital, will discuss the timely diagnosis and access to treatment for retinoblastoma, the most survivable of all childhood cancers.
Dr Radhika Tandon, cornea update lecture:
Dr Tandon, professor of ophthalmology, head of cornea, cataract and refractive surgery, ocular oncology and low vision services unit at Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, will provide an overview of the most impactful and exciting advancements in corneal disease management, with an emphasis on personal practical real-world experience.
A/Prof Daniel Vitor Vasconcelos-Santos, uveitis update lecture:
Dr Vasconcelos-Santos, a tenured associate professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology at UFMG School of Medicine, will provide an update on ocular toxoplasmosis, dissecting its importance as the main etiology of infectious posterior uveitis worldwide and an important cause of visual disability in endemic areas.
A/Prof Andrea Vincent, Dame Ida Mann memorial lecture:
A/Prof Vincent, the first molecular ophthalmologist clinician-scientist in New Zealand, will provide an overview of the spectrum of Inherited eye diseases observed in the New Zealand population, specifically in the New Zealand Māori and Pacific Peoples.
