Chew Sek-Jin & Josh Wallman Memorial Lectures for 2024 IMC

Chew Sek-Jin & Josh Wallman Memorial Lectures

As is now a well-established tradition of the International Myopia Conference series, nominations were accepted for two memorial lectures, as described below, each established to remember and honor the legacies of two past giants of our myopia research community, Professors Chew Sek-Jin and Josh Wallman. Details of the two awards are included at the end of this announcement.

As co-chairs of the review committee, Professors Christine Wildsoet and Frank Schaeffel are pleased to announce the recipients of the two awards:

Chew Sek-Jin Memorial Lecture: Professor Daniel Flitcroft

Professor Flitcroft, from Dublin, Ireland, is well known to most within the myopia research community, for his unique insights and important contributions to the field. His background training incudes both medicine (ophthalmology) (at Oxford University and Imperial College in the UK) and visual neurophysiology research, which covered both computational modelling and experimental studies, earning him a DPhil from Oxford University. Dr Flitcroft also holds a fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologist.

Professor Flitcroft’s current affiliations include the Children’s University Hospital Dublin (Consultant Ophthalmologist since 2002), Centre for Eye Research Ireland, Technological University of Dublin (Adjunct Professor of Vision Science, since Dec 2016), and University College Dublin (Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology (since 2014). As the recipient of the Chew Sek-Jin memorial lecture award, you will have opportunity to hear from Professor Flitcroft at the IMC.

Josh Wallman Memorial Lecture: Dr Barbara Swiatczak

Barbara Swiatczak studied medical biotechnology at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland. She continued as a PhD student in the Research Training Network “MyFUN” (Myopia-Fundamental Understanding Needed), which was funded by the European Community, at the Eberhard-Karls University in Tuebingen, Germany. For her PhD research, she investigated fundal reflectance changes during myopia development in chickens. After graduation, Dr Swiatczak moved to the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), in Basel, Switzerland, to take up a postdoctoral fellowship. Here, she shifted the focus on her research to investigate the visual cues modulating choroidal thickness in young adult human subjects. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr Swiatczak won a number of awards, including the Swiss Ophtha Award, the RetinAward and the Pfizer Award, and published more than 10 papers. As the recipient of the Josh Wallman memorial lecture award, Dr Swiatczak will have opportunity to present her exciting research findings at the IMC.

Chew Sek-Jin Award Lecture

The Chew Sek-Jin Memorial lecture is named in the memory of Sek-Jin Chew, who died at the age of 39 years of complications from surgery for a brain tumor. He was a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Singapore National Eye Center and Deputy Director of the Singapore Eye Research Institute. Dr. Chew received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Rockefeller University in New York, where his close friendship and scientific collaboration with Josh Wallman also began. Together they worked to resurrect the International Myopia Conference series, which had been earlier attached to the now long defunct Myopia International Research Foundation, for which Dr. Chew served as President. The Chew Sek-Jin Memorial Lecture represents a now well-established tradition in the International Myopia Conference series and one of 2 keynote presentations. By tradition, this award lecture is given by a senior myopia researcher whose work has made a significant impact on the myopia research field. The awardee is selected by an awards committee, whose members were also responsible for identifying suitable candidates based on their myopia-related research achievements. The final selection was based on anonymous votes by committee members. CooperVision’s on-going sponsorship of the Chew Sek-Jin Memorial Lecture reflects their strong commitments to the ocular health of our children and to myopia research more generally.

ZEISS Young Investigator Award in Myopia Research & Josh Wallman Memorial Lecture

The Josh Wallman Memorial Lecture acknowledges both the contribution of Professor Josh Wallman to myopia research and his support for junior researchers. As a long-term senior faculty member of City University of New York, Professor Josh Wallman pioneered the use of the avian model for understanding eye growth and made invaluable contributions to vision research and the field of myopia. There are likely no myopia researchers who have not read a paper from Josh Wallman’s myopia research laboratory and, for researchers who crossed his path, he will be remembered for his enthusiasm for science and interest in and promotion of their work. The ZEISS Young Investigator Award for Myopia Research recognizes young researchers for their distinguished contribution in the field of myopia research. ZEISS is committed to its heritage: Promotion of excellence in research. Innovation has a long tradition at ZEISS since 1846. Promoting future scientists is anchored in the company statutes – a specification of Ernst Abbe who established the Foundation. ZEISS’s sponsorship of the Josh Wallman Memorial Lecture reflects their strong belief in the importance for better and healthier lives, of both science and innovative business. The awardee was selected by an awards committee, who reviewed nominations meeting the following requirements – an active junior myopia researcher, who had completed within the last 10 years, their PhD or equivalent research degree, or myopia research training (for non-related PhD research).

History of Award Lectures at International Myopia Conferences

Here are the past awardees of the two memorial lectures above for each of the past IMCs.