EPOS

European Paediatric Ophthalmological Society

Invitation

Dear Friends, dear Colleagues,

I would like to welcome you very sincerely to the 31st Meeting of the European Paediatric Ophthalmological Society EPOS that this year is held in Warsaw. Prof. Marek Prost had kindly offered to organise the meeting for the first time in Poland. My sincere thanks to him and all who helped him to arrange a very promising meeting. The Scientific Committee consisted of Marek Prost as the Congress President, and the Board Members of EPOS Hélène Dollfus, Albert Franceschetti, Gerd Holmström, Tony Moore, Alan Mushin, Eduardo Silva, and myself.

The main topic of this year´s meeting is “Surgical Advances in Paediatric Ophthalmology”. I am glad that renowned experts in the field have agreed to talk on this subject. In addition to the main topic, there are also free papers. Six invited key lectures will discuss the various aspects of the main topic, and 30 papers and 44 posters address the main topic and also other fields of paediatric and genetic ophthalmology. In order to keep to the tradition of EPOS of having key lectures to the main topic and sufficient time for discussion of the free papers, the Scientific Committee decided to have larger poster sessions given the high number of abstract submissions. To allow adequate presentation of the topics presented in the posters, specific poster sessions with ample time for discussion have been integrated in the program.

I was very pleased to see the growing interest in paediatric ophthalmology and in EPOS also from the Eastern parts of Europe. Delegates from 34 countries have registered for this meeting to date – a really international participation reaching beyond the borders of Europe. Despite this growing participation, I would like to invite everybody to encourage even more ophthalmologists who are interested in paediatric and genetic ophthalmology, and in particular juniors, to join the EPOS. This is of utmost importance for further developing paediatric and genetic ophthalmology as a major subspecialty of ophthalmology.

The General Assembly of the EPOS will be held on Saturday, November 5th, from 11.00 to 12.00. All members are invited to attend the assembly. I would also like to encourage those who intend to become members but who have not yet signed, to do so as soon as possible. You can sign up during this meeting. Thus, you will have the opportunity to join in at the General Assembly and discuss with us the future of the EPOS. This year there will also be elections of board members. If you wish to join just contact the Registration Desk, and the necessary formalities can be done immediately. When we structured the statutes of the Society we had decided to keep things as simple as possible. So any ophthalmologist, geneticist, scientist or any other person involved in paediatric ophthalmology can become a member of our society. A growing EPOS will document the importance of Paediatric Ophthalmology as a subspecialty in Europe to the benefit of our patients as the ultimate goal of all our efforts.

As in previous years, there is a technical exhibit that due to the main topic is more important this year. I encourage you to visit the exhibit during the coffee and lunch breaks. I would like to thank all exhibitors for their significant efforts to support this year´s meeting.

Finally, I wish to emphasize the extreme support I get in the “headquarters” of the EPOS from Dr. Markus Preising, my coworker and friend for many years. Without his continuous work for the Society, it would not be possible to cope with all demands over the year.

I hope that the 31st Meeting of the EPOS will be again fruitful to the society in all respects: scientifically and politically, and personally to all who have come to Warsaw.

Birgit Lorenz, MD
President of EPOS