retinAware 2011, a national convention organized by Retina India, is to be held on September 24 & 25, 2011, at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, has kindly consented to inaugurate the convention.

Retina India is a registered national non-profit organization with a focus on helping people with visual impairment due to retinal diseases. It brings all stakeholders together on the same platform, which includes patients and their family members, retina specialists, low vision experts, genetic and other counselors, mobility specialists, etc. with a focus on making treatments available to Indian patients, while also helping them with issues such as education and jobs.

The Convention is meant for the following:

• Patients affected with retinal disorders & their family members
• Retina specialists
• Ophthalmologists of other specialists
• Optometrists
• General Medical Practitioners

It will also be a useful medium of interaction for the following:

• Departments of Health, Social Welfare & Disability (Central & State Governments)
• Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of rehabilitation of the visually challenged
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Companies with focus on the ophthalmic field
• Companies & Dealers that deal in products for the visually challenged
• Companies with a strong focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

retinAware 2011 will include the following:

1. Plenary Sessions, which will bring experts from around the country, and the world, to speak about the latest in research and treatments with patients with retinal ailments and their families, in simple-to-understand language.

Diseases of focus:

• Diabetic Retinopathy
• Macular Degeneration
• Retinitis Pigmentosa & its allied syndromes
• Retinopathy of Prematurity
• Retinal Detachment
• Eye Trauma
• Others

Treatments & Research work that will be discussed:

• Gene Therapy
• Stem cell treatments
• Medical devices, e.g. Bionic eye, implants
• New pharmaceutical drugs

Faculty list:
International faculty:

• Prof Eberhart Zrenner, Tubingen, Germany, one of the inventors of the bionic eye
• Dr Robin Ali, London, UK, world's leading authority on Retinal Gene Therapy & stem sell treatments
• Dr Jean Bennett, Pennsylvania, USA, one of the pioneers of Gene therapy in retinal degenerations
• Dr Gerald Chader, Chief Scientific Officer, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, (formerly Chief Scientific Officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness, USA)
• Dr Emily Chew, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, USA, an expert on nutritional supplements for retinal diseases
• Professor Usha Chakravarthy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, an expert in macular degeneration

National faculty:

• Dr Taraprasad Das - LV Prasad Eye Institutes, Bhubaneshwar/Hyderabad
• Dr R V Azad, AIIMS, New Delhi
• Dr S Natarajan - Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, Mumbai
• Dr R Kim, Aravind Eye Hospitals, Madurai
• Dr Gopal Lal Verma - Eye Surgery & Laser Centre, Jaipur
• Dr A Giridhar, Giridhar Eye Institute, Cochin
• Dr Subhadra Jalali - LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad
• Dr Lalit Verma - Center of Sight, New Delhi
• Dr Vishali Gupta, Advanced Eye Center, Postgraduate Institute, Chandigarh
• Dr K Ravishankar, Sri Ramana Eye Centre, Chennai
• Dr Hemanth Murthy, Retina Institute of Karnataka, Bangalore
• Dr Shobhit Chawla, Prakash Netra Kendr, Lucknow
• Dr Ajay Aurora, Delhi Retina Center, New Delhi
• Dr Partha Biswas, BB Eye Foundation, Kolkata
• Dr Saurabh Luthra, Drishti Eye Center for Retina & Lasers, Dehradun

2. Break out sessions to allow friendly interaction between patients and experts, in multiple simultaneous sessions on topics such as a specific disease, genetic counseling, counseling on other issues such as education and jobs, low vision aids, help in managing diabetes, and assistive technological solutions. There will also be other focused sessions, such as on issues related to youth with visual impairment, women with visual impairment or those in close proximity of people with visual impairment, as well as parents of visually challenged children.

Some of the topics to be discussed during break out sessions:

• Living with diabetes: What should you know? (Conducted by experts in Diabetes care)
• Low Vision Aids
• Genetic counseling: Questions regarding marriage and expanding your family
• Living with visual impairment: How do you make adjustments in your home?
• Counseling for individuals and families
• Technological aids for people with visual impairment
• Working with disability: How you can make a difference in your own life?
• Education for the visually challenged: What you should know as a parent?
• Learning to be independent: Mobility for the visually impaired
• Social etiquette: How to follow norms in a sighted world
• Close and personal with achievers: How did they do achieve their goals?

3. Exhibit area for those seeking information, help or products in relation to visual impairment, by providing the same during the convention through companies, organizations and dealers of products.

4. Continuing Medical Education (CME) on September 25, 2011 with a focus on retinal diseases, to encourage more interaction between national and international experts and the talented retina specialists in the country, to help induce more research & development of treatments for India specific retinal diseases.

Please mark your calendar, and start making arrangements for being a part of the convention.

Registration:

Delegate: Each delegate will pay a registration fee of Rs 2000 per person (Rs Two thousand only). The registration will include entry to the convention, plenary & break out sessions, general exhibit areas, and lunch & refreshments on the two days.

Associate Delegate: Each accompanying person with the above delegate will additionally pay Rs 1000 per person (Rs One thousand only). This registration will include entry to the convention, plenary & break out sessions and general exhibit areas along with the above delegate, as well as lunch & refreshments on the two days.

Children: Children above 12 years will pay the associate delegate fee, and have to be accompanied with an adult. Children under 12 years of age are not allowed.

Expert Delegate: Experts (e.g. Ophthalmologists from other specialties, Optometrists, General Practitioners, etc.) will have to pay a registration fee of Rs 5000 per person (Rs Five thousand only). This will include entry to the convention, plenary & break out
sessions (including medical sessions), all exhibit areas and lunch & refreshments on the two days. You will listen to world experts speak on the latest in the field of retinal treatment and care in easy to understand language, which will help you speak to your patients about it.

Specialist Delegate: Retina Specialist will pay Rs 8000 per person (Rs Eight thousand only), which includes entry to the convention, plenary & break out sessions (including medical sessions), all exhibit areas, entry to the CME program on Sep 25, and lunch & refreshments on the two days.

Trainee Delegate: Ophthalmology Residents / Retina Fellows will pay Rs 2000 per person (Rs Two thousand only), which includes entry to the convention, plenary & break out sessions (including medical sessions), all exhibit areas, entry to the CME program on Sep 25, and lunch & refreshments on the two days.

Mode of Payment

Send a crossed check,  demand draft payable at Mumbai or a postal order, in the name of "Retina India",  to the address - Retina India, Ridhi Sidhi Bhavan, 2nd floor 2/12, Babu Genu Road, Mumbai 400 002, India.

Alternatively, you can transfer money to the   bank account details of which will be shared on request.  Please note that direct deposit of cash is not accepted, and money has to be transfered from an account through internet banking or NEFT.

Download the application form from the web site www.retinaindia.org

You can send the filled application along with the demand draft through post, or fill it and send it as an attachment if you choose to transfer money to the account through INB/NEFT.

If you have any questions regarding the registration process, you may contact +918976658402 any day between 1pm and 7pm, or write to event@retinaindia.org.

We are tieing up with hotels at different budgets near the venue. Once finalized, the details will be shared and the delegates can book their accommodation depending upon their budget.

We seek support from Partners.

Health, Social Welfare and Disability departments of Central or State Governments
Large, medium & small companies, with a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Banking Institutions
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) / Trusts
Individual donors

Your contribution can be of any amount.

Send a crossed check, a demand draft(payable at Mumbai) or a postal order, in the name of “Retina India”,  to the address - Retina India, Ridhi Sidhi Bhavan, 2nd floor 2/12, Babu Genu Road, Mumbai 400 002, India.

All donations to Retina India are eligible for exemption under section 80G of the Income Tax act. We will acknowledge your contribution, and send you a receipt for it.

To request more details about donations, you can
Write to info@retinaindia.org
Call Mr Arvind Bhartiya, Trustee Retina India, at  +919820019584 in Mumbai
Call Mrs Sudamani Venkatesan, Chief Operating Officer - Retina India, at  +918939911897 in Chennai, or write to coo@retinaindia.org.

We welcome your comments & thoughts. If you feel you want to hear about or discuss a topic relevant to the convention's mandate, or wish to be a speaker at the meeting, or want to help/volunteer in the organization of the convention, please feel free to write to info@retinaindia.org.

Regards,
The Organizing Committee for retinAware 2011
Retina India
From Darkness Unto Light
www.retinaindia.org