Chapter Affiliate updates

IT-ARVO 2022-2023 highlights

In Nov. 2022, the Italian Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (IT-ARVO) sponsored the plenary lecture, ‘Extracellular ATP and purinergic receptors: A novel, and yet ancient, pro-inflammatory pathway’. The lecture was presented at the University of Catania Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences by Francesco Di Virgilio, MD. Di Virgilio is a professor of clinical pathology at the University of Ferrara (Italy), director of the Postgraduate School in Clinical Pathology and Biochemical Pathology, and also chair of the PhD program in molecular medicine.

Federica Conti, PhD, was awarded an IT-ARVO travel grant to attend the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting (April 23 - 27) in New Orleans, La., where she presented a poster entitled, 'Vitamin D3 and retinal protection: An in vitro study'.

Conti earned her PhD in neuroscience in Dec. 2022 from the University of Catania (Italy). Her PhD thesis focused on search of new therapeutical perspectives in retinal neuroprotection. Currently, she is a post-doc in the Pharmacology Section of the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological  Sciences at the University of Catania.

On Oct. 31, 2023, IT-ARVO will sponsor the plenary lecture, 'The long and winding road: Impact of mevalonate pathway defects on retinal structure and function', being presented at the University of Catania by Steven J. Fliesler, PhD, FARVO. 

Fliesler is a distinguished professor, vice-chair and director of research for the Department of Ophthalmology at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo-the State University of New York (SUNY). He is also a professor at SUNY's Ross Eye Institute and a health systems specialist at the VA Western NY Healthcare System.

Stay tuned for further educational activities (TBA) sponsored by IT-ARVO in 2024.