United in Manchester

Manchester may be famous for Coronation Street and its vibrant nightlife, but for many people around the world the city means only one thing: football. The BCLA hopes to capitalise on the city’s international reputation by holding the Gala Dinner at its annual conference at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United.

Enjoyable social events are just one aspect of the BCLA conference, now the largest dedicated contact lens event in the world, with more than 1,200 visitors per year arriving from 40 different countries. Top international speakers and world-class education are the main attractions, and this year’s programme is strong on both.

As well as moving to a brand new venue, the 2007 conference returns to a four-day format with dual-track presentations on Friday, Saturday and on Sunday morning. A later start for the Thursday programme means that delegates can opt to arrive that morning.

The conference has enjoyed growing success in recent times, last year’s event in Birmingham equalling the record attendance of the previous year. The challenge for the conference team is therefore to add new features to the programme to keep delegates coming back for more.

This year’s programme will feature a series of special sessions in the main auditorium covering the most topical areas of contact lens and anterior eye practice. Platinum sponsors’ product showcases will be held during coffee, lunch and tea breaks over the first three days. Research presentations will run concurrently on Saturday and on Sunday morning in the adjoining lecture theatre.

Scientific programme officer Jonathan Walker says the emphasis throughout the four days will be on clinical issues. ‘This year every bit of the programme is good and it’s clinical all the way through. There will be lots that practitioners can take back to their practices and use the next day,’ he says.

For Walker, this is the cornerstone of the BCLA’s success. ‘Unlike other events, it’s not an academic-type meeting – that’s what attracts practitioners to the conference,’ he says.

Thursday opens with a session on ‘The digital consulting room’, which will include two hour-long presentations from Professor Lou Catania on the use of wavefront aberrometry and how wavefront-corrected spectacle and contact lenses can be incorporated into practice. In the evening, there will be an Alcon-sponsored welcome lecture and reception in the exhibition area.

The centrepiece of the programme will be Friday’s full-day symposium on the global epidemic of myopia, bringing together experts from four continents. Associate Professor Saw Seang Mei will open the symposium by describing the size of the problem in Singapore and the Far East. This year’s principal keynote speaker Earl Smith III of the University of Houston, will also present his pioneering work on the aetiology of myopia

Other speakers will examine the practicalities of fitting the high myope, whether contact lenses can halt myopic progression, and ortho-K and children. The closing discussion of this session between Professors Brien Holden, Bernard Gilmartin and Smith will seek to answer the question: ‘Is myopia prevention really achievable?’ with reference to their differing approaches.

Running concurrently with Friday’s lectures will be five hands-on clinical presentations (pre-booked workshops) on topics from dry-eye problem-solving to the role of the contact lens hygienist. A new rapid-fire session of 12 six-minute lectures will allow young researchers and clinicians to present their clinical pearls and research findings.

On Friday evening, all delegates are invited to a Johnson & Johnson hosted ‘Evening to remember’, following on from last year’s motivational speech by Olympic athlete Roger Black. Friday’s off-programme events will also include a guided walking tour of Manchester for accompanying persons.

Understanding MK

Saturday morning features a special session on understanding, managing and preventing microbial keratitis. Ophthalmologist John Dart will present the results of new epidemiological studies to determine whether silicone hydrogel lenses have had any impact on MK rates. The afternoon session, ‘The clinician’s guide to dry eye’, will include presentations from two husband and wife teams: Dr Don Korb and Joan Exford, and Drs Kelly and Jason Nichols.

Also running on the Saturday will be a contact lens pre-exam workshop, designed for trainee contact lens opticians and pre-registration optometrists preparing for practical examinations. The workshop will cover two major clinical areas: initial assessment and aftercare. For each discipline, there will be an examination format session with an examiner.

The evening festivities will kick off with stadium tours of Old Trafford, followed by a cocktail reception in the club’s museum and the Gala Dinner.

The final day will comprise two half-day symposia on clinical topics, again with top speakers from around the world. The morning session examining the hot topic of corneal and conjunctival staining and its causes will include lectures by two US researchers: Dr Gary Andrasko, who has developed the Andrasko grid for lens/solution compatibility, and Dr Chris Snyder, who recently joined Bausch & Lomb. Among the specialists in staining participating will be keynote speaker Dr Graeme Young and Danish practitioner Tom Løfstrom.

‘Stealth infections and the dirty consulting room’ will see ophthalmologists Professor Roger Buckley and Will Ayliffe join Associate Professor Saw Seang Mei for a one-hour mini-symposium. Sunday’s closing session, chaired by Australia-based optometrist Tony Phillips, will look ahead to future advances in contact lenses. Professors Pat Caroline, Lou Catania, Dwight Cavanagh and Brien Holden will each review the contact lens of tomorrow from their own perspective.

A full trade exhibition with more than 40 companies taking stands, poster and photographic competitions and the awarding of the new BCLA Fellowships complete the line-up for this year’s event.