The event, "Critical Issues in Optometry and Vision Science," will feature experts from around the country discussing a variety of topics in vision research and clinical care.

"Our faculty at the University of Houston are leaders in many fields of vision science, and they were instrumental in bringing together a stellar lineup of national and international experts to discuss important developments in basic research and promising new treatment options," said Dr. Earl Smith, UH professor of optometry.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Paul Sieving, director of the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health. His talk will focus on the genetic basis of macular degeneration, a condition in which light-sensitive photoreceptor cells of the retina degenerate, leading to progressive loss of vision. In 1990, Sieving established the Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration at the University of Michigan while he was a faculty member there.

Dr. Jerald Strickland, dean of the UH College of Optometry, said: "This symposium will address matters of great importance to practitioners and vision scientists alike. The speakers are top scientists and clinicians in the field and the breadth of the program provides state-of-the-art information and a glimpse into the future."

Issues to be discussed during the meeting include:

• developments in contact lens research;
• advances in refractive surgery to modify defects in the eye;
• new surgical procedures to address presbyopia, the deterioration of the eye's ability to switch from focusing on distant objects to those nearby;
• loss of vision associated with aging;
• research related to new treatment options for myopia, or nearsightedness;
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