In this issue: Message from Prof. Stephen Ryan Congress Venue: HKCEC – Voted Best Convention and Exhibition Centre in Asia Pacific Hong Kong - A place you do not want to miss

Message from Prof. Stephen Ryan, Chair of Scientific Program Committee

Dear friends,

It is my great pleasure to invite you to join the World Ophthalmology Congress 2008 in Hong Kong. I am confident that this will be an outstanding scientific meeting. The leadership and organization for the 32 specialties and subspecialties will be provided by a Who’s Who of international leaders in ophthalmology as our scientific coordinators. Moreover, we have overwhelming support from many of the members of the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS). These internationally respected organizations and leaders are recruiting outstanding session chairs that will ensure that we will have the best speakers from around the world.

The world leaders in industry in our field have fully committed and we are therefore guaranteed to have outstanding technical exhibits.

I hope to see you in June 2008 in Hong Kong for what will be a most important and most memorable scientific meeting.

Prof. Stephen Ryan
Scientific Program Committee Chair

---

WOC 2008 Scientific Program Coordinators

(in alphabetical order)

#	Subspecialty Areas	Coordinators
		International	HK / China
1	AIDS	Criss Muccioli	Norris Tsang
2	Cataract	Emanuel Rosen; Walter Stark	Philip Lam
3	Complementary and Alternative Medicine	Robert Nussenbblatt	Dennis Lam
4	Contact Lens and Refraction	Albert Franceschetti; Tetsuro Oshika	Agnes Tse
5	External Eye Disease, Cornea, and Eye Bank	Harminder Dua; Donald Tan	Alvin Young
6	Eye Trauma and Emergencies	Ferenc Kuhn	Moon-kwong Tsang
7	Glaucoma	Paul Lichter; Robert Ritch	Dexter Leung; Clement Tham
8	Low Vision	August Colenbrander; Susanne Trauzettel-Klosinski	Nongnart Chan
9	Neuro-ophthalmology	Christian Luco	Carmen Chan
10	Oculoplasty, Lacrimal System and Orbit	Richard Collin; Guillermo Salcedo	Raymond Tse
11	Oncology	Tero Kivela; Jerry Shields	David Liu
12	Ophthalmic Epidemiology	Paul Mitchell; Jialiang Zhao	Robert Lam
13	Pathology	Miguel Burnier; Tatsuro Ishibashi	Hunter Yuen
14	Pediatric Ophthalmology	Marilyn Miller; Andrea Zin	Dorothy Fan
15	Refractive Surgery	Jorge Alio; Peter McDonnell	Arthur Cheng
16	Retina	Zdenek Gregor; Yasuo Tano	Wai-man Chan
17	Scleritis	Shigeaki Ohno; Peter Watson	Stanley Chi
18	Strabismus	Eugene Helveston; Anthony Murray	Christopher Yu
19	Microbiology and Tropical Diseases	Eddie Alfonso	Nai-man Lam
20	Uveitis	Rubens Belfort; Narsing Rao	Timothy Lai
21	Immunology, Molecular Biology and Genetics	Eduardo Alfonso; Robert Nussenblatt	Calvin Pang
22	New Technology: Bioengineering/Nano-technology	Mark Humayun; Shigeru Kinoshita	Carol Cheung
23	Pharmacology & Ocular Drug Delivery	Makoto Araie; Mark Blumenkranz; Barry Kupperman;	Alvin Kwok
24	Evidence Based Ophthalmology	Richard Abbott	Christopher Leung
25	Vision 2020	Al Sommer; Hugh Taylor	Nathan Congdon
26	Teleophthalmology and Computers	Jorge Valdez; Alexander Walsh	Dylan Chan
27	World Forum of Non Profit Organization in Vision and Prevention of Blindness	Nag Rao; Brad Straatsma	Pak-chin Chow
28	World Forum of Ophthalmological Journal Editors	Charles McGhee; Andy Schachat	David Wong
29	Ophthalmic Education - Allied Personnel	Lynn Anderson; William Astle; Rosalind Harrison; Mark Tso	Simon Ko
30	Ophthalmic Education - Continuing Professional Development	Enrique Graue; Dennis O'Day; Mark Tso	Clement Chan
31	Ophthalmic Education - Medical Student Education	Rich Parrish; Peter Quiros; Mark Tso	Ricky Law
32	Ophthalmic Education - Residency Training	Anthony Arnold; Pinar Aydin; Mark Tso	Chi-kin Ho

^back to top^

---

WOC 2008 Supporting Organizations

(in alphabetical order)

#	Organizations
1	Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis
2	American Academy of Ophthalmology
3	American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
4	American Society of Retinal Specialists
5	Asia Oceanic Glaucoma Society
6	Asia Pacific Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
7	Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology
8	Asia-Pacific Intraocular Inflammation Study Group
9	Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
10	Asociación Latino – Pan Americana de Cirugía de Catarata, Refractiva y Segmento Anterior
11	Association of International Glaucoma Societies
12	Chinese Ophthalmological Society
13	Club Jules Gonin
14	College of Ophthalmologists of Hong Kong
15	Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists
16	Cornea Society
17	European Association for Vision and Eye Research
18	European Contact Lens Society of Ophthalmologists
19	European Ophthalmic Oncology Group
20	European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
21	European Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
22	European Society of Ophthalmology
23	European Society of Retina Specialists
24	Hong Kong Ophthalmological Society
25	International Medical Contact Lens Council
26	International Ocular Inflammation Society
27	International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology
28	International Society of Ocular Oncology
29	International Society of Ophthalmic Pathology
30	International Society of Refractive Surgery
31	International Strabismological Association
32	International Uveitis Study Group
33	Macula Society
34	Middle East African Council of Ophtha
35	Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology
36	Pan-American Oculoplastic Society
37	Retina Society
38	Sociedad Panamerican del Retina y Vitreo
39	South East Asian Glaucoma Interest Group

^back to top^

HKCEC – Voted Best Convention and Exhibition Centre in Asia Pacific

The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) has been voted the "Best Convention and Exhibition Centre in Asia Pacific" in the newly released 2007 industry Reader's Choice Awards' survey.

The HKCEC is located on the magnificent and renowned Victoria Harbour. The Centre is multi purpose-built which can accommodate at least 19 parallel sessions simultaneously, at least 200 exhibition units and house up to 10,000 people at any single moment. Its latest state-of-the-art facilities and technologies will greatly facilitate both the scientific programs as well as the industrial exhibits, making it the ideal venue for WOC 2008.

The organizing committee is dedicated to making your visit a great experience and a lasting memory.

For more information, please visit the HKCEC website.

Hong Kong - a place you do not want to miss

Located on the south-eastern coast of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong is a flourishing international centre and a not-to-be-missed tourist destination. It has an area of around 1,100 square meters, with a population of over 7 million people. Hong Kong consists three parts, the Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. (Maps of Hong Kong)

Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842 as a colony. On July 1, 1997, it was returned to Chinese sovereignty and is now a Special Administrative Region under the "one country, two systems" principle. The rule of law, freedom and autonomy are guaranteed by the Basic Law.

The pictures shown here are the magnificent array of skyscrapes of Hong Kong fronting the Victoria Harbour, creating a stunning skyline that is the ideal backdrop for photographic opportunities.

For more information, please visit DiscoverHongKong website.