Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation

FURTHERING EDUCATION RELATING TO RETINAL MACULAR DISEASES AND ADVANCING CLINICAL RESEARCH.

THE VRS FOUNDATION SPONSORS THE ANNUAL RETINAL UPDATE CONTINUING EDUCATION CONFERENCE. THIS HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY OF THE VRSF AND HAS OCCURRED ANNUALLY FOR THE PAST 27 YEARS. THE TARGET AUDIENCE IS PRACTICING OPHTHALMOLOGISTS AND OPTOMETRISTS IN THE UPPER MIDWEST. PRESENTATIONS ARE GIVEN BY VRS PHYSICIANS, AS WELL AS AN INVITED NATIONAL RECOGNIZED SPEAKER. THIS CONFERENCE IS ACCREDITED BY THE MINNESOTA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR 4 AMA PRA CATEGORY 1 CREDITS. THE OPHTHALMIC BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED THE CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITS THEIR LATEST INNOVATIONS. IT IS THE ONLY CONFERENCE SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING DISEASES OF THE RETINA AND MACULA IN OUR REGION EACH YEAR. IN 2023, THERE WERE 142 ATTENDEES AND 12 EXHIBITORS AT THE CONFERENCE.IN ADDITION, THE VRS FOUNDATION HOSTS A RESIDENT/FELLOW CASE REVIEW CONFERENCE THE EVENING BEFORE THE RETINAL UPDATE COURSE. RESIDENTS AND FELLOWS FROM VRS, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND MAYO CLINIC PRESENT CHALLENGING CASES TO RCM, U OF MN AND MAYO CLINIC STAFF PHYSICIANS AS WELL AS OUR INVITED NATIONAL SPEAKER. IN 2023, THERE WERE 35 ATTENDEES TO LEARN ABOUT 10 DIFFERENT CASES PRESENTED.

VRSF HAS SPONSORED THE PRIMARY RETINAL DETACHMENT OUTCOMES (PRO) STUDY. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WAS BEGUN IN 2016 UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DR EDWIN RYAN, ITS PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR. IT HAS BEEN FUNDED BY A GRANT FROM THE ALLINA FOUNDATION, MINNEAPOLIS MN, TO THE VRSF. THE PRO STUDY COMPILED A LARGE, COMPREHENSIVE OBSERVATIONAL DATASET FROM PATIENTS WHO UNDERWENT REPAIR OF RETINAL DETACHMENT IN 2015 IN SIX STUDY CENTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 61 VITREORETINAL SURGEONS PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY. NEARLY 3,000 CASES OF PRIMARY RETINAL DETACHMENT WERE ENTERED IN THE STUDY DATABASE. THE DATASET HAS NOW BEEN ANALYZED TO DETERMINE PRE-OPERATIVE, INTRA-OPERATIVE AND POST-OPERATIVE CHARACTERISTICS WHICH IMPACT THE OUTCOME OF PRIMARY RETINAL DETACHMENT SURGERY. THE RESULTS OF THE PRO STUDY HAVE BEEN WIDELY DISSEMINATED THROUGHOUT THE OPHTHALMIC COMMUNITY, AND WILL STRONGLY INFLUENCE THE MANAGEMENT OF RETINAL DETACHMENT FOR YEARS TO COME. THE PRO STUDY HAS SO FAR RESULTED IN 9 PRESENTATIONS AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIA, AND 17 PUBLICATIONS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS.

SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION (VRSF) 2005, WE HAVE MAINTAINED A ROBUST RESEARCH PROGRAM. THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH PROGRAM HAS BEEN TO SUPPORT YOUNG INVESTIGATORS AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO PURSUE A CAREER FOCUSING ON DISEASES OF THE RETINA. OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM IS OPEN TO MEDICAL STUDENTS, RESIDENTS AND FELLOWS AT OPHTHALMOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAMS, AND FULLTIME RESEARCH TRAINEES AT ACADEMIC CENTERS. WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH 31 PRACTICE BASED AND UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.WE OFFER TWO TYPES OF RESEARCH GRANTS. OUR RESEARCH AWARD IS DESIGNED FOR OPHTHALMOLOGY RESIDENTS AND FELLOWS WHO WANT TO PURSUE A RESEARCH PROJECT DURING THEIR CLINICAL TRAINING. THE AWARD CONSISTS OF A RESEARCH STIPEND OF $2,000 TOGETHER WITH AN ADDITIONAL $1,000 FOR RESEARCH RELATED EXPENSES AND $1,000 FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES TO PRESENT RESEARCH RESULTS AT A NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM. OUR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IS DESIGNED FOR SOMEONE INVOLVED IN FULLTIME RESEARCH AT AN ACADEMIC INSTITUTION PURSUING AN ADVANCED DEGREE, SUCH AS A PHD OR MD/PHD. THE FELLOWSHIP HAS A STIPEND OF $10,000 AND AN ADDITIONAL $1,000 FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES TO PRESENT RESEARCH RESULTS AT A NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM.EACH YEAR BEGINNING IN JULY WE SOLICIT APPLICATIONS FROM OUR 31 AFFILIATED TRAINING PROGRAMS. APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED BY OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONSISTING OF MEMBERS OF OUR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE, RETINA CONSULTANTS OF MINNESOTA PLLC, AS WELL AS REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND THE MAYO CLINIC. THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS COMPETITIVE, WITH APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE APPLICATIONS SELECTED FOR AN AWARD OR FELLOWSHIP. IN 2023, THERE WERE 65 APPLICATIONS, WITH 30 RESEARCH AWARDS GIVEN, AND 3 FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED.THE SUCCESS OF OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM CAN BE MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF PRESENTATIONS OF RESEARCH RESULTS AT NATIONAL MEETINGS AND PUBLICATION OF RESEARCH MANUSCRIPTS BY PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS. RESEARCH RESULTS ARE FREQUENTLY CITED IN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS. RESULTS OF PRESENTATIONS ARE SOMETIMES PICKED UP BY LOCAL OR NATIONAL MEDIA. PUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS ARE AVAILABLE TO THE ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH COMMUNITY THROUGH THE PUBMED SEARCH ENGINE, AND MOST JOURNAL ARTICLES ARE AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE OPHTHALMOLOGY PROFESSION THROUGH OPEN SOURCE JOURNAL ACCESS. OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS THERE HAS BEEN 120 PRESENTATIONS AND 88 PUBLICATIONS.