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9:15 am | 2nd Floor
Speaker: Dr. David Rhew, Global Chief Medical Officer and VP of Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft
What if a routine image of the eye could help reveal not only ocular disease, but also important signals about a person’s broader health? In this keynote, Dr. David C. Rhew will explore how the real-world application of oculomics, or “Healthcare from the Eye,” can help health systems identify risk earlier, expand access, and manage larger populations despite limited clinical resources. He will also explain why AI-enabled detection is only the first step, and outline the coordinated care pathways, responsible AI practices, patient engagement strategies, outcome measures, partnerships, and sustainable funding models required to translate a promising algorithm into a scalable and effective healthcare program.
9:45 am | 2nd Floor
Speaker: Dr. Dean VanNasdale, Associate Professor at Ohio State University College of Optometry
Vision health surveillance plays a critical role in understanding the complex factors associated with vision impairment. This session will review key data collection systems used to monitor vision health, highlight important findings related to risk factors and associated health outcomes, and demonstrate how existing public health surveillance infrastructure can be leveraged to evaluate policies intended to expand access to vision care.
10:30 am | 2nd Floor
Speakers:
Dr. Felicia Timmermann, Senior Manager, Professional Affairs at CooperVision
Dr. Damaris Raymondi, Practice Owner and Founder, Sur Eye Care
Myopia is increasingly affecting children worldwide, making early education, timely intervention, and coordinated care more important than ever. This engaging, practice-focused session will explore the innovation, implementation, and real-world impact of MiSight 1 day in managing childhood myopia. Leveraging CooperVision expertise alongside an interactive conversation with a local optometrist, the session will explore how collaborative care can help identify children at risk, educate families, support timely intervention, and improve long-term outcomes for children.
CooperVision is a presenting sponsor for this event.
11:30 am | Choose One
Executive Floor (12th Floor)
Speaker: Dr. Neda Gioia, ’06, Founder of Integrative Vision
As healthcare increasingly embraces precision and personalized medicine, women’s eye health represents a significant opportunity for innovation and improved patient care. This presentation examines how hormonal shifts, nutrition, inflammation, sleep, and metabolic health influence ocular disease risk and discusses how eye care professionals can help bridge the gap between eye care and women’s healthcare. This presentation underscores the need for greater awareness of women’s health disparities and positions eye care as an important, often overlooked, partner in closing that gap.
2nd Floor
Moderator: Christine Chang, Director at Artesian Capital
Speakers:
Rohan Gray, Partner and Co-head of VC at Artesian Capital
Steve Delnesky, Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Life Sciences
Turning a breakthrough idea in eye care or health innovation into something that reaches patients takes more than good science. It takes the right investment partner. This panel brings together a venture capital investor and a private credit investor to explore how different kinds of capital fuel healthcare innovation, how economic trends and geography shape where breakthroughs happen, and real examples of how vision-related technologies get funded and brought to market.
1:00 pm | 2nd Floor
Speakers:
Dr. Monica Jong, Head of Medical Affairs North America at EssilorLuxottica
Dr. Aaron Goffinet, Director of Professional Affairs at EssilorLuxottica
Dr. Rahim Bhaloo, Director of Externship Programs at SUNY College of Optometry
Artificial intelligence, digital health, and connected technologies are reshaping healthcare, but how can they address today’s biggest challenges in vision care, including access, health equity, aging, and preventable vision loss?
Join experts from EssilorLuxottica, Dr. Monica Jong, Dr. Aaron Goffinet, and SUNY College of Optometry’s Dr. Rahim Bhaloo for an engaging look at how AI, MedTech, wearables, and personalized care are creating new opportunities to improve eye health and patient outcomes. Attendees will gain insights into how technology can expand access, support healthier aging, enable earlier intervention, and connect vision care with broader health and wellbeing. The discussion will also highlight the importance of collaboration across healthcare, industry, education, and public health to turn innovation into meaningful patient impact.
EssilorLuxottica is a presenting sponsor for this event.
2:00 pm | Choose One
Executive Floor (12th Floor)
Speaker: Dr. Rudrani Banik, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Icahn School of Medicine, Mt. Sinai
What if a routine eye examination could reveal more than vision, and it could provide an early warning system for disease throughout the body? This engaging, case-driven lecture explores using ocular biomarkers to detect systemic disease before symptoms appear. From hypertension and diabetes to stroke, brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease, discover how the eye offers a unique, non-invasive window into vascular, neurologic, and metabolic health. This session highlights practical ocular findings that can influence diagnosis, referral, and patient management, underscoring the growing importance of collaboration between primary care and eye care professionals.
2nd Floor
Moderator: Dr. Ted Long, System Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Services and Population Health, Chief Executive Officer of the NYC Health + Hospitals Accountable Care Organization
Speakers:
Dr. Louis Pizzarello, Board Chair of Lavelle Fund for the Blind
Dr. Nikki Cotler, Director of Eye & Vision Services at Health + Hospitals, Gotham Health Gouverneur
Dr. Joy Harewood, Associate Clinical Professor at SUNY College of Optometry
This moderated panel will explore how Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and community health centers are increasingly integrating vision care into population health strategies to improve outcomes, advance health equity, and expand access for underserved communities. Panelists will discuss the role of eye care as a critical component of whole-person care, its connection to chronic disease management and social determinants of health, and the unique value optometry brings within the primary care setting.
The discussion will also examine innovative care models, strategies for addressing access barriers, and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and telehealth, that are helping health systems deliver more effective and equitable eye care. Attendees will gain practical insights into how vision services can strengthen community health, improve patient outcomes, and support sustainable care delivery models.
2:45 pm | 2nd Floor
Moderator: Dr. Lisa Ostrin, Dean for Graduate Studies & Research at SUNY College of Optometry
Speakers:
Dr. Alexandra Benavente-Perez, Research Professor at SUNY College of Optometry
Dr. Xiaoying Zhu, Lead Clinician for Myopia Management at SUNY College of Optometry
L. Wayne Spencer, Director of the Clinical Vision Research Center at SUNY College of Optometry
Myopia is more than a need for stronger glasses. It is a complex condition shaped by biology, visual experience, and the way the eye grows. But how do we move from understanding what happens at the molecular and cellular level to developing treatments that can make a meaningful difference for patients?
In this engaging panel discussion, experts from SUNY College of Optometry will take audiences on a journey across the full spectrum of myopia research including recent discoveries about eye growth, visual signals, and the biology of myopia as they become new approaches to prevention and treatment. The discussion will connect fundamental research and experimental models with translational studies, clinical trials, and the practical challenges of bringing promising discoveries to patients.
This session offers a behind-the-scenes look at how research moves from molecules to meaningful outcomes and where the future of myopia care is headed.