Message from the PAAO President
Dear Friends,
In an effort to stimulate research at the Pan-American level and recognize the efforts of our young investigators, the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) has been organizing the Pan-American Research Day, in conjunction with the important partnerships with the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and with Allergan Latin America, for the past 16 years and it has become an exciting tradition. Research development and our young vision scientists are very important for PAAO. In that regard, Pan-American Research Day (PARD) is held every year the day before ARVO. Everyone presenting at ARVO is invited to share their research in a quick 5-minute presentation format. This popular event will bring you up to speed on all the latest research in one day, therefore just to attend to learn about advances in research is worthwhile. It is FREE, will be held on Saturday, 27 April 2019 at the University of British Colombia in Vancouver, and the deadline to register is April 20, 2019: https://paao.org/pard2019/
If you have had a presentation accepted by ARVO, we would like to offer you the possibility to present your work at our PARD meeting. The PAAO will feature two rooms for presentations: anterior and posterior segments. Due to the popularity of this event, we always receive more requests to present than there are time slots available, so there is a review and competitive selection process. If you are selected to be a program participant, you will be presenting your work in a speed presentation format: three minutes for presentation and two minutes for discussion. The language for presentation is English. This is an excellent place to practice your presentation skills in English in front of a friendly audience. Submission deadline to participate in the program is March 15.
The Pan-American offers several travel awards and scholarships each year. This year there are a total of four (4) travel awards, in the amount of $1,500 each. Please see the scholarships page for rules, restrictions and the application forms: https://paao.org/education/fellowships-scholarships/. The deadline for submitting your travel grant application is March 15. Remember, one award per person. If you have already received a travel award from ARVO or PAAO to attend this meeting, you do not qualify to apply for a PAAO award. You must present to receive the travel award.
Finally, keep in mind, the goal is to meet again at our XXXIV Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology in Cancun, Mexico in May! The program is online: http://www.paaocancun2019.com/congress-schedule/ It’s at this meeting where ophthalmology from all the Americas come together to meet and you cannot miss that!
Fernando Arévalo, MD PhD
PAAO President