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. OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS THE NUMBER OF ATTENDEES HAS RANGED FROM 155 TO 195 IN ANY GIVEN YEAR WITH 13 TO 17 VENDORS EXCEPT FOR 2021 AS THE CONFERENCE WAS HELD VIRTUALLY.

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 28 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 28 AFFILLIATED TRAINING PROGRAMS. APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED BY OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONSISTING OF MEMBERS OF OUR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE, VITREORETINAL SURGERY 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. OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN BETWEEN 39 & 50 APPLICATIONS WITH AWARDS RANGING FROM 18 TO 24 AND 2 TO 4 FELLOWSHIPS IN ANY GIVEN YEAR.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 101 PRESENTATIONS AND 84 PUBLICATIONS.