Low Vision News International Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation Issue 4 March 2002 President's Message Dear Members of ISLRR, The event of the year - our Conference VISION 2002 in Gothenburg, Sweden, July 21-25, is coming closer. The abstracts submitted are now being reviewed and organized into proper sessions, and it seems that we can look forward to a most interesting and successful conference, where we will be able to learn a lot from the top scientists in our field as well as from practitioners in different parts of the world. Register for the conference NOW. Our Secretary, Aries Arditi, and I myself inspected the two sites which had offered to organize VISION 2005: Kobe (in close collaboration with the recently formed Japanese Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation, JSLRR), Japan, and London (Royal National Institute for the Blind, RNIB), UK. Both sites gave us a good overview of the congress center, the hotels, possible themes and the financial situation. A document with the pros and cons was distributed to the Board of Directors and these members also received material sent to them directly from Kobe and London. Thereafter, the Board members voted. The outcome was a close vote in favour of London. We congratulate RNIB, and we are certain they will do a wonderful job. Their planning of VISION 2005 is already well on its way. We hope that Kobe will apply for VISION 2008, giving the members of the newly formed JSLRR more time to plan for the conference. The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO), the "umbrella organization" for all ophthalmological societies in the world, wants to establish closer relations with the subspecialty organizations. ISLRR welcomes these efforts, giving us a possibility of increasing the knowledge of low vision research and rehabilitation among ophthalmologists. Gus Colenbrander, California, USA, and Silvia Veitzman, Brazil, represented ISLRR at a meeting in New Orleans last fall, and they will also represent us at a similar meeting in Sydney this coming April. A seminar on research opportunities in low vision took place in San Francisco on January 28, organized by the US National Eye Institute. Gregory Goodrich represented ISLRR at this meeting. We are discussing a modernization of our by-laws, and a proposal may be ready to discuss at VISION 2002. The Board of Trustees will be partly renewed. As I mentioned in our Newsletter of September, 2001, I will step down as President after three most interesting years, and there may also be other changes. I wish you all the best for the coming spring. See you in Gothenburg! Sven Erik G. Nilsson Upcoming ISLRR Business Meeting Taking Shape Mark your calendars! At 17:30 on July 22, during Vision 2002, ISLRR will hold its triennial Business Meeting, where many key issues will be discussed and decided. Items already on the agenda include election of a new Board of Trustees, adoption of a new simplified set of bylaws ISLRR Business Meeting for the organization to replace the confusing, in-consistent and difficult-to-understand set of rules we currently have, and a proposed named change of the organization from International Society of Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation to Inter-national Society for Vision Rehabilitation Research in an effort to reflect broader recognition of the full spectrum of vision disability and increase emphasis on research that impacts rehabilitation rather than on two separate themes of research and rehabilitation. If you, or someone you know feel you would make an effective ISLRR trustee, please contact Aries Arditi, ISLRR Secretary (aries.arditi@us.ibm.com), with your nomination. Historically, the ISLRR has a broad international representation, which is a tradition that the Board wishes to continue. Welcome New Members ISLRR warmly welcomes the following individuals who have joined the Society in recent months. Thank you, too, goes out to all of the members who renewed their membership for 2002. If you haven't already done so, you'll want to send in your membership renewal as to not miss a copy of the Visual Impairment Research. Please note that the following new members' contact information is included on the enclosed update pages to the 2001 ISLRR Membership Directory. Should you have updates to your Directory information, please send your changes to Lorna Frazier-Lindsey via e-mail at lornafl@worldnet.att.net. Dr. Abdul Muttaleb A. Alsah, Al-Hammadi Hospital, Al-Hammadi Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Dr. ™rjan K.I.F. B„ckman, Stockholm Institute of Education/Department of Human Development, Special Education and Learning, Stockholm, Sweden Dr. Judith A. Bennington, Sneed & Associates, Ashland, Wisconsin, USA Dr. Mary Lou Jackson, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Dr. Gunnar Jansson, Dept. of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Ms. Ann-Mary Linhart-Eicher, Odilien-Institute for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons, Austria, Europe Prof. Jan E. Lovie-Kitchin, Queensland University of Technology, School of Optometry, Queensland, Australia Prof. Ridha Mabrouk, Nadi AL Bassar - North African Center for Sight and Visual Sciences, Tunisie, Africa Dr. Rebecca K. Morgan, Dean A. McGee Eye Institute, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA Dr. Yamah T. Osadebey, Obafemi-Awolowo University - Health Centre, Nigeria, West Africa Prof. Gary S. Rubin, Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom Dr. Ronald A. Schuchard, VA Rehabilitation Center, Decatur, Georgia, USA Dr. Erwin H. Voss, Centro Voss De Baja Vision, Buenos Aires, Argentia Mr. F. Randall Whetzel, The Inverso-Baglivo Foundation, Vancouver, Washington, USA Upcoming Events March 9-10, 2002 - Stresa, Italy Eurosight 2002 - Low Vision Conference, sponsored by the Robert Hollman Foundation and the Low Vision Centre, Ospedale di Circolo. See page 3 for additional information. May 5-10, 2002 - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. For information, contact 01-240-221-2900; fax 01-240-221-0370; e-mail mem@arvo.org; www.arvo.org July 17-22, 2002 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) International Conference. For additional information, call +01 (877) 492-2708 or www.aerbvi.org February 19-22, 2003 - Beverly Hills, California, USA Co-sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind and Foundation for the Junior Blind Vision Loss in the 21st Century - Everybody's Business. For more information, call +1 (323) 295-4555 or www.afb.org or www.fjb.org New Address for ISLRR Please note the new address for Aries Arditi, ISLRR's Secretary and the association's main contact: ISLRR c/o Aries Arditi IBM T.J. Watson Research Center 19 Skyline Drive Hawthorne, NY 10532 USA The phone, fax, and e-mail address remains the same. EUROSIGHT 2002 - LOW VISION CONFERENCE THE CHALLENGE OF VISUAL REHABILITATION IN EARLY INFANCY The Robert Hollman Foundation in Cannero Riviera (Italy) and the Low Vision Centre - Ospedale di Circolo - in Varese are hosting the Eurosight 2002 - Low Vision Conference. The purpose of this meeting is to present the state of the art of Visual Rehabilitation in Early Intervention (Europe, Canada and USA), in order to build a bridge of information and cooperation between specialists on an international level. Furthermore, it is an opportunity to bring together professionals of different fields interested in early intervention for visually impaired and/or multiply handicapped children. The main topics of the conference, which took place March 9-10, 2002, included: Epidemiology Assessment Rehabilitation Experimental studies The Conference took place in Stresa (VB), a well-known town on Lake Maggiore, one of the most beautiful regions in Northern Italy. The price of the conference is: ?.186. For further information, please contact, Fondazione Robert Hollman, Early Therapeutic Intervention Centre for Visually Impaired Children, Via Oddone Clerici, 6, I - 28821 Cannero Riviera (VB) Italy; phone: 0039-0323-788485; fax 0039-0323-788198; e-mail: info@fondazionehollman.it; or visit the web site at www.fondazionehollman.it WANTED: Manuscripts for Visual Impairment Research Have you ever considered submitting a manuscript for publication in Visual Impairment Research, ISLRR's official journal? Guidelines for authors can be found on the journal's home page: http://www.szp.swets.nl/szp/journals/vi.htm And manuscripts can be sent to either of the journal's editors-in-chief: Aries Arditi IBM T J Watson Research Center 19 Skyline Drive Hawthorne, NY 10520 USA Aart C. Kooijman Laboratory of Experimental Ophthalmology Groningen Graduate School for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences Groningen, The Netherlands VISION 2002 The Swedish Exhibition Congress Centre in G”teborg, Sweden, is the place to be in July 24-25, 2002! The VISION 2002 program is something you won't want to miss. Attendees will begin with two days of pre conference workshops (July 18 and 19) in both 3- and 6-hour formats, covering such topics as: Low Vision Clinic for Developing Countries Low Vision Centers of Excellence: A Comprehensive Approach The Importance of Early Medical and Functional Diagnosis in Deaf-blindness. .just to name a few. The four-day conference with the central theme of vision, reading, visual impairment/blindness, macular degeneration, and epidemiology hosts numerous keynote addresses, parallel symposia, and important association business meetings, exhibits and poster sessions. Also, you won't want to miss the tours, banquet, harbour party, and networking opportunties. For detailed programming information, registration forms, accommodations information and scholarship opportunities, visit the web site www.congress.com/vision2002. ISLRR President Receives Award from the King of Sweden Dr. Sven Erik G. Nilsson, President of ISLRR, was bestowed the prestigious Halland Academy Culture and Science Award on September 5, 2001, by King Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, and Karin Starrin, Governor of the County of Halland, Sweden. The award given to Dr. Nilsson included a diploma and $10,000 (US), and was in honor of his brilliant career in the field of ophthalmology, including research, teaching and international recognition. After receiving the award, Dr. Nilsson, who was born in Halland, Sweden, and his wife Ulla were also invited to a dinner with the King and the Queen at the Palace. Send letters to: Low Vision News, c/o Lorna Frazier-Lindsey, 109 Scarsdale Drive, Stafford, VA 22554 USA Send short (500 words or less), informal reports of research results, queries on research methodology or equipment, innovative solutions to problems encountered. Copyright ¸ by the International Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation. Printed in the USA. Low Vision News is provided to members of the Society