Global Eye Genetics Consortium (GEGC) Business Meeting at ARVO 2023
New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, April 24, 2023, 1:30 – 3:00 pm, Rm 333-334

1:30 pm Current status and future plans for GEGC - Takeshi Iwata (Japan)
1:38 pm Report of the 1st International Congress of GEGC in Mumbai, India - S. Natarajan (India)
1:43 pm GEGC Special Recognition Award to S. Nataraja and his team
1:45 pm Introduction of Dr. Robert Hufnagel as additional Vice-President of GEGC
1:47 pm Introduction of ClinGen project - Robert Hufnagel (USA)
1:55 pm Foundation Fighting Blindness Project Program Award to study the adRP genetic defect in RP17 – Daan Panneman, Suzanne de Bruijn, Susanne Roosing (Netherland)
2:03 pm Video presentation of eye genetic study in Middle East – Selwa AlHazzaa (Saudi Arabia)
2:11 pm Video presentation of eye genetic study in Africa – Raj Ramesar (South Africa)
2:19 pm Video presentation of eye genetic study in Pan America – Laura Echandi (Argentina)
2:27 pm Discussion by all
2:52 pm Closing remarks – Gyan “John” Prakash (USA)
2:55 pm Group Photo
3:00 pm Adjourn

2023 GEGC Special Recognition Award to Prof. Natarajan and his team

Special Recognition Award is hereby bestowed upon Prof. S. Natarajan and his team for superlative contribution to the 1st International Congress of GEGC in Mumbai, India on Novemver 19-20, 2022. GEGC Special Recognition Award was presented at the GEGC Business Meeting during ARVO on May 15, 2023 in New Orleans, USA

congratulations



Video Presentations


Prof. Selwa A. F. Al-Hazzaa, MD, FRCS, MMM
College of Medicine, Alfaisal University
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


Prof. Raj S. Ramesar, PhD
Division of Human Genetics
Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine
University of Cape Town and Affiliated Hospitals


Prof. Laura Echandi, MD
Consultores Oftalmológicos
Buenos Aires, Argentina


XXV Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Eye Research
February 19-23, 2023
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
ISER 2023 Website

Session Title: Global Eye Genetics Consortium - Genetic Studies of the Pacific Rim
Date: February 20, 13:00 - 15:00
Moderators: Takeshi Iwata, National Institute of Sensory Organs, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, Japan and Gyan (John) Prakash, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA

Program:
Speaker 1: Andrea Vincent
Title: Genetics and founder effects in inherited eye diseases in the Maori population in New Zealand/Aotearoa
Country: New Zealand
Speaker 2: John Grigg
Title: Experience with IRD clinical trials in Australia
Country: Australia
Speaker 3: Akiko Suga
Title: The whole exome and genome analysis for inherited retinal diseases in Japanese population
Country: Japan
Speaker 4: Radha Ayyagari
Title: Genetic architecture of IRD in three ethnic populations determined by whole geneome analysisi
Country: USA







WOC2022® Virtual - World Ophthalmology Congress
September 9-12, 2022
WOC 2022 Website

Session Title: Advancing global research in ocular genetic under pandemic
Date: Septermber 9, 12:15 - 13:15 (CEST)
Moderator: Takeshi Iwata, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, Japan

Program:
Speaker 1: Takeshi Iwata
Title: Introduction of GEGC
Country: Japan
Speaker 2: Calvin Pang
Title: Collaborative opportunities through GEGC in the Asia Pacific region
Country: Hong Kong
Speaker 3: Selwa A. F. Al-Hazzaa
Title: From Diagnosis to Treatment: Ocular Gene Therapy in the Real World
Country: Saudi Arabia
Speaker 4: Bawa Yusuf Muhammad
Title: The African Vision Research Collaboration
Country: Nigeria
Speaker 5: Laura Echandi
Title: IRDs in Argentina, what we are doing now
Country: Argentina
Speaker 6: Gyan John Prakash
Title: NEI & research on vision in North America – Opportunities for collaboration
Country: USA


NEI-GEGC Educational Workshop
International Collaboration, NEI Grant Writing & NIH Review Process
(Virtual) June 3, 2022, 9:00-10:45 US EST
Chairs: Dr. Gyan “John” Prakash, National Eye Institute-NIH, USA
Dr. Takeshi Iwata, Tokyo Medical Center (TMC), Japan


Summary: Global Eye Genetics Consortium (GEGC) is an initiative that started in 2014 with a research agreement signed between NEI-NIH in the US and Tokyo Medical Center in Japan. In the past seven years, the consortium has expanded to more than 30 countries and serves several hundred members around the world. As much as 90 percent of the global burden of eye disease is shouldered by developing countries, where many genetic eye diseases often go undiagnosed. GEGC led initiatives of research and training programs have grown over the years under a comprehensive research strategy and international research collaborations between the developed and developing world. Several collaborative programs have been successful in bringing international colleagues together to make significant contributions to vision research and training of the next generation of scientists. The consortium has produced three volumes of Advances in Vision Research. Moving forward, a wider participation of researchers and trainees are needed to advance the high-quality research in vision science. The NEI-GEGC educational workshop-2022 will focus on the NIH grant opportunities, how foreign investigators can write NIH grants, and how grant applications are reviewed at NIH. The program will stimulate discussion on the current issues and challenges in genetic eye research, forming new international research partnerships, grant applications and NIH review process.

Program:
Welcome by Dr. Michael Chiang - Director NEI & Dr. Santa Tumminia - Deputy Director NEI 7min
1. Dr. Gyan “John” Prakash, NIH-NEI, USA
Title: Developing International Research Collaborations and Program Areas of Interest
2. Dr. Takeshi Iwata, Tokyo Medical Center, Japan
Title: Global Eye Genetics Consortium (GEGC) – Update on Genetic Eye Research Programs
3. Dr. Lisa Neuhold, NIH-NEI, USA
Title: NIH - NEI Grant Opportunities & Application Process
4. Dr. Seetha Bhagavan, NIH-CSR
Title: NIH-NEI Grant Review Process
Discussion/Q & A and Closing

China Eye Genetics Consortium Meeting
May 17, 2019, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China

GEGC Meeting at ARVO 2019
April 29, 2019, Vancouver, Canada

April 29, 2019, 1:30-3:00 PM, Vancouver Convention Center, Room West 306
Moderator: Takeshi Iwata, Tokyo Medical Center

1. Overview of GEGC, Takeshi Iwata, Gyan Prakash (NEI, NIH)
2. Global networking, Peter Wiedermann (President of ICO) Neeru Gupta (Vice President of ICO)
3. Scientific activities in Africa and South America, Pamela Sieving (NEI, NIH)
4. How to organize international consortium, Margaret DeAngelis (Member of International AMD Consortium、University of Utah)
5. Introduction of GEGC database GenEye, Takeshi Iwata, Kaoru Fujinami (Tokyo Medical Center)
6. Discussion about establishment of Scientific Committee, Clinical Diagnostic Committee and Ethics Committee for global operation (All)
7. Closing remarks, Takeshi Iwata

GEGC Session at Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology 2019
March 6, 2019, Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok Convention Center, Ground Meeting Room 2
Visual Sciences Symposium:
Global Eye Genetics Consortium (GEGC) Symposium
Moderators: Li Jia CHEN, Takeshi IWATA
1. Novel Genes Identified for Inherited Retinal Diseases in Asian Population, Takeshi IWATA
2. From Genome-wide Association Studies to Mendelian Randomization: Opportunities for Understanding Ocular Disease Causality, Ching-yu CHENG
3. Can Ophthalmologist Diagnosed a Rare Genetic Syndrome of WernerAhmed REDA
4. Leber's Congenital Amaurosis in China, Zheng Qin YIN
5. Role of GEGC, India Chapter in Promoting Eye Research, S. NATARAJAN
6. Successful Treatment of Secondary Choroidal Neovascularization Associated with Best Vitelliform Dystrophy with Anti-VEGF Therapy, Tharikarn SUJIRAKUL
7. TBC, Amir Hossein MAHMOUDI
8. Research as a Tool for Serving Community Eye Health Needs and Building International Collaboration, Gyan PRAKASH

Foundation of the GEGC China Branch at Chongqing, China
June 28, 2018, Kempinski Hotel Chongqing











GEGC Meeting at SAO 2018, Kathmandu, Nepal
June 22, 2018, 13:00 – 14:00, Hotel Yak adn Yeti





GEGC Meeting at World Ophthalmology Congress 2018
Barcelona, Spain
June 18, 2018, 15.00 – 16:00, Convention Center, Hall 8, Room 21
15.00 – 15.07 Introductory comments
Hugh Taylor, MD and/or Peter Wiedemann, the incoming President of ICO
15.08 – 15.15 Establishing the GEGC and Eye disease book updates
Gyan Prakash, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA
15.16 – 15.23 Updates on GEGC
Paul Baird, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne
15.24 – 15.31 China and retinal disease
Calvin Pang, Chinese University of Hong Kong
15.32 – 15.39 Applying AI for screening diabetic retinopathy in Thailand
Paisan Ruamviboonsuk
15.40 – 15.47 Bibliometric analysis and AEGC research
Pamela Sieving, Sieving Information Solutions, USA
15.48 – 15.55 Closing remarks. Q and A
S. Natarajan, Aditya Jyot Foundation for Twinkling Little Eyes, India

1st GEGC Meeting at ARVO 2018
May 2, 2018, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

May 2, 2018, 1:30-3:00 PM, Hawaii Convention Center, Room 323C
Moderator: Paul Baird, PhD, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Australia
13:30-13:40 “AEGC updates: database construction and corporate support” Takeshi Iwata, PhD, National Institute of Sensory Organs, Tokyo Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Japan
13:40-13:50 "Introduction of European Retinal Disease Consortium" Frans Cremers, PhD and Susanne Roosing, PhD, Department of Human Genetics, Radbound University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
13:50-14:00 “Springer, Advances in Vision Research, Volume II”, Gyan Prakash, PhD, MBA, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA
Propose to expand AEGC to GEGC. Accepted by all attendants.
14:00-14:10 “Updates on the AEGC genetics unit in Mumbai”, S. Natarajan, MD, Aditya Jyot Foundation for Twinkling Little Eyes, India
14:10-14:20 “Updates on East Asia Inherited Retinal Disease Studies”, Kaoru Fujinami, MD, PhD, National Institute of Sensory Organs, Tokyo Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Japan
14:20-14:30 “What bibliometric analysis tells us about AEGC research”, Pamela Sieving, MA, MS, AHIP, Sieving Information Solutions, USA
14:30-14:40 “ProgStar: International study of Stargardt Disease”, Rupert Strauss, MD, Moorfield’s Eye Hospital, University College of London, UK
14:40-14:50 "‘International collaborations: Benefits and challenges”, Janey Wiggs, MD, PhD, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard University, USA
14:50-15:00 “Updates on the gene therapy of eye in China”, Zheng Qin Yin, MD, PhD, Southwest Eye Hospital/Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, China
15:00-15:10 "Questions and Discussion"

AEGC Meeting at Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology 2018
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China

February 8, 2018, 1:30 – 2:30 PM
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Room N209 - N210

1:30 - 1:40 PM
“Brief introduction of AEGC and where we stand”
Takeshi Iwata, PhD, National Institute of Sensory Organs, Tokyo Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Japan
1:40 - 1:50 PM
Graham Holder, PhD, National University of Singapore, Singapore
1:50 - 2:00 PM
“Ocular Genetics: Indian Subcontinent”
Muneeb A. Faiq, MD, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
2:00 - 2:10 PM
“Polymorphism in Hepatocyte Growth Factor and cMET Gene as a Predisposing Factors to Myopia in Indonesian Patients”
Yudisianil E. Kamal, MD, Rita S. Sitorus, MD, PhD, Pediatric Ophthalmology Division, University of Indonesia - Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Indonesia
2:10 - 2:20 PM
"Inherited eye disease service in the most populated province in China"
Bo Lei, MD, PhD, People's Hospital of Henan Province, Henan Eye Institute/Henan Eye Hospital, Henan Ocular Pharmacology and Ocular Therapeutics International Laboratory, China
2:20 - 2:30 PM
“Updates on AEGC Genetics Unit”
Govindasamy Kumaramanickavel, MD, PhD, Aditya Jyot Foundation for Twinkling Little Eyes, India
2:30 - 2:40 PM
“Challenges and next steps”
Paul Baird, PhD, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Australia

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Meeting at ARVO 2017

ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

AEGC Poster, ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)


SERI Reception, ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

AEGC Meeting, ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

AEGC Meeting, ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

AEGC Meeting, ARVO 2017 (Baltimore, USA)

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Session at Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology 2017, Singapore

Date and Time: 16:30-18:00, March 3, 2017
Moderators: Paul Baird, Sundaram Natarajan, Raj Patil
1. Prevalence of Ocular Genetics Disorders in Asia, Raj Patil (Singapore)
2. Genetic Characteristics of Korean RP Patients, Hyeong Gon Yu, (South Korea)
3. NDP Polymorphism in ROP, Rita Sitorus (Indonesia)
4. GWAS and AMD and PCV in Thai Populations, Paisan Ruamviboonsuk (Thailand)
5. Role of Genetics in Glaucoma Susceptibility and Progression in Malays, Liza Sharmini Ahmad Tajundin (Malsysia)
6. Multiplex Cytokine Analysis in the Aqueous Humar of Patients with Primary Angle Glaucoma, Periasamy Sundaresan (India)
7. Functional Genomic Interactions in Congenital Glaucoma, Subhabrata Chakrabarti (India)





Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Session at ARVO Asia 2017, Brisbane, Australia
Date and Time: 14:00-15:30, February 5, 2017
Moderator: Paul Baird
1. Genetic dissection of sporadic patients with inherite retinal dystrophy, Zi-Bing Jin (China)
2. Molecular genetics of polypoidal chroidal vasculopathy and age-related macular degeneration, Calvin Pang (China)
3. Asian Eye Genetics Consortium: International collaboration to accelerate identification of novel disease-causing genes, Takeshi Iwata (Japan)
4. Genetics congenital cataract in Bangladesh, Mridul Kumar Sarkar (Bangladesh)

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Session at ISER 2016
Date and Time: 15:30-17:30, September 26, 2016
Moderators: Takeshi Iwata, Sundaram Natarajan
1. Developing international research collaborations in eye diseases - Asian Eye Genetics Consortium, G. Prakash, T. Iwata
2. Association of A69S missense polymorphism of ARMS2 gene with age-related
macular degeneration in indian population, S. Natarajan, S. Rajkumar, V. Chavan, S. Nare
3. Genes associated with treatment outcome of age-related macular degeneration in Japanese, K. Yamashiro, ANGEL study group
4. Mutation spectrum in a large cohort of inherited retinal dystrophy patients revealed by next-generation sequencing, Z.-B. Jin

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Anual Meeting at ARVO 2016

Date and Time: 13:00-14:30, May 3, 2016

1. The aim of AEGC
2. Brief history of AEGC activity
3. Progress report of the Springer book
“Advances in Vision Research: Genetic Eye Research in Asia, Australia and the Middle East” – Volume I
4. Introduction of the new vice-presidents
5. Detail future plans for AEGC
6. Discussion
Chung-Yu Chang, Eavin Tan, Raj Patil, G. Kumaramanickavel, Subhabrata Chakrabarti, Hemant Khanna, Calvin C.P. Pang, Fielding Hejtmancik, Kerry Boetz, Santa Tumminia, Pamela Sieving, Vinod Mootha, Bo Lei, Muneeb A. Faiq, P. Sundaresan, V. Nangia, Akiko Maeda, S. Shivaji, D. Balasubramanian, Yoshihiro Hotta, Umang Mathur, Mridul Kumar Sarkar, Avi Gurbaxani, Christopher Ardlja, Mones Abu-Asab, Ahmet M Hondur, Kaoru Fujinami, Quingjiong Zhang, Arun Sethi, Reena Sethi, S. Natarajan, Paul Baird, John Prakash, Takeshi Iwata

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Session during 74th All India Ophthalmology Congress, February 28, 2016
Session Name: Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Meeting
Date and Time: 8:30-9:55 , February 28, 2016
Session Chair: Takeshi Iwata (Japan), S. Natarajan (India)
1. Asian Eye Genetics Consortium an Update (Takeshi Iwata)
2. Study of Genetics of Ophthalmic Disorders (Kumaramanickavel)
3. Exploring Corneal Pathologies: outcome of National Think Tank Deliberations (Noopur Gupta)
4. NEI Audacious Goals Inititatives and the way forward (S Natarajan)
5. Retinal Disorders and Genetics Translational Realities (Anand Swaroop)
6. Understanding glaucoma genetics (Viney Gupta)
7. Audience participation (Panelists)

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Session, 2nd Congress of ASEAN Ophthalmology Society, Hanoi, Vietnam, October 29, 2015
Session Name: Asian Eye Genetics Consortium Meeting
Date and Time: 10:30-12:00 noon, October 29, 2015
Session Chair: Takeshi Iwata (Japan), S. Natarajan (India)
1. Takeshi Iwata, Tokyo Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Japan.
“Introduction of the Asian Eye Genetics Consortium and the Japanese Consortium for Hereditary Retinal Diseases”
2. S. Natarajan, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, India.
“Expansion of AEGC and plans”
3. Paisan Ruamviboonsuk, Rajavithi Hospital, Thailand.
“GWAS for AMD and PCV in Thai populations”
4. Raj Patil, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore.
“Genetic Studies in Unique Asian Patients Population: An Opportunity for Drug Development”
5. Liza Sharmini Ahmad Tajudin, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
“Role of genetics in glaucoma susceptibility, severity and progression in Malays“

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) session, ARVO 2015, Denver, Colorado, USA
May 4, 2015
The 2nd AEGC annual meeting was held during ARVO meeting in Denver, Colorado, USA. The aim and future plan for AEGC was intorduced to over 35 scientists gathered at this meeting. Publiction of a book focused on Asian Eye Geentics was also intoduced as the first activity of AEGC.

AEGC session, Asian ARVO Meeting 2015, Yokohama, Japan
May 7, 2015
AEGC session was held during the Asian ARVO in Yokohama, Japan. Each speaker shared their gene analysis data and discussed about the construction of database for Asia.

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) session, All India Ophthalmology Congress 2015, New Delhi, India
February 7, 2015
AEGC evening seminar was held during AIOS 2015. Indian chapter of AEGC was establish by four Eye institute in India.

Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) Evening Symposium, XIIth Congress of the SAARC Academy of Ophthalmology
October 1, 2014
AEGC dinner seminar was held during the joint meetings of the XIIth Congress of the SAARC Academy of Ophthalmologys, 23rd Scientific Congress of College of Ophthalmologists of Sri Lanka, and the Colombo Retina Meeting 2014. Over 30 ophthalmologist and eye geneticist gathered in Colombo, Sri Lanka to participate in active discussion. This was the first AEGC meeting in Asia.