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The 1996 ISCEV symposium in Tübingen has demonstrated impressively
how vital and how scientifically active our Society is, how well it has
developed into neighbouring fields and how quickly it has picked up new
findings in basic research for applications which will improve clinical
electrophysiology. There are fascinating new techniques which will provide
a strong impetus to the Society's works in the coming years.#2 Further development of electro-physiological methods, utilising recent
advances in basic science.
In order to maintain awareness of such developments, future symposium organisers
will be asked to to include, as a regular feature, a basic science lecture
by an eminent local authority.
#3 Helping members in efforts to obtain proper resources for clinical
electrophysiological investigations.
The group which prepared the "Ophthalmic Electro-diagnostics"
booklet will be asked to extend their work to propose guidelines on a more
general basis for the use ISCEV members and others.
#4 Policy for representation of ISCEV in larger umbrella organisations.
For JERMOV, the ISCEV lecture will be promoted as a regular feature of
the JERMOV meeting and limited financial support (registration fee+ DM1000)
will be offered to the lecturer in each case. Also all ISCEV members will
be invited through the medium of the Newsletter, to make nominations for
the lecturer each year. For ARVO, each year an ISCEV member will propose
a SIG meeting, drawing attention to the fact that it is ISCEV-sponsored.
In the coming year, a SIG meeting on the use of electro-physiological investigations
in clinical trials has been proposed by Odom and has already been accepted.
This will become the ISCEV SIG for 1997; the Vice-president (Americas)
will co-ordinate proposals for future years.
#5 Scientific encouragement of the work of younger ISCEV members.
The board will examine the feasibility of establishing an ISCEV Fellowship
to support, on an annual basis, a visit of around three months to an established
laboratory by someone who is setting up a new facility. In the first instance
the Secretary-General will draw up a proposed set of rules/protocol and
bring it to next year's meeting.
The members of ISCEV meet only once a year at an international symposium.
However, it is reassuring to see that there are numerous activities in
various ISCEV chapters in the Americas, in Asia, in Europe, also in conjunction
with JERMOV. I would like also to thank the colleagues Drs Odom, Adachi
and Galloway for fostering the activities in this chapters. The very active
Chinese chapter, organised by Prof Wu has also reported fruitful meetings.
Another event that helps the younger colleagues in our Society to establish
themselves in the field of clinical electrophysiology is the "Eberhard
Dodt Memorial Award", first presented by Mrs Dodt to Dr Kraemer from
Denmark this year. It was wonderful to see so many good presentations from
younger researchers who have joined our Society in recent years.
The number of members is constantly growing and we hope that the development
of an internet page as a forum for clinical electrophysiology will further
strengthen constant interaction and co-operation among members.
The Board of Officers is looking forward to seeing you all at the 1997
meeting in Monterey, organised by Prof Marmor. On behalf of them, I wish
you a most successful year with many rewarding experiences concerning your
research and clinical application of electro-physiological methods in vision
and ophthalmology.
Eberhart Zrenner, MD
The continuing major activity of the Western Hemisphere division of
ARVO is the sponsoring of an annual meeting before ARVO. The 1996 annual
Western Hemisphere Meeting of ISCEV, better known informally as ISCEV @
ARVO was attended by some 79 participants from 5 continents (Asia, Australia,
North America, South America and Europe). ISCEV @ ARVO continues to have
excellent presentations. The afternoon scientific session consisted of
22 papers. Ms. Sara Putney was the administrative associate in charge of
organizing the conference, Dr. Vernon Odom selected the presentations and
chaired the sessions. The meeting was subsidized by a contribution from
Mr. Ken Hansen of Hansen Ophthalmic Development Laboratory. Following the
scientific session, scientific interchange continued over a dinner held
at the Sheraton Yankee Trader. The evening social was a Hawaiian Luau Buffet
attended by 65 participants and accompanying persons.
We welcome ISCEV members to attend the 1997 ISCEV @ ARVO if they can. Also
feel free to invite non-members to attend the meeting and/or the dinner.
Note however, that only members may present papers at the meeting . The
meeting will be held in 1997, the afternoon before ARVO from 1 - 6 pm.
The scientific session will be followed by a buffet dinner afterwards.
Y'all come!!
J Vernon Odom, PhD Secretary for the Americas
The 44th Annual meeting of Japanese Society for Clinical Electrophysiology
of Vision was held at Keio University in Tokyo from November 15th to 17th,
1996 by the organiser Prof Yoshihisa Oguchi. Participants were 160. Two
symposia, 2 special lectures and 47 free papers were given. The next meeting
will be held in Kurashiki from October 31 to November 2nd 1997 by the organiser
Prof Akio Tabuchi, Kawasaki Medical University.
Yoshihisa Oguchi, MD, Secretary for Asia & Australia
Once again, in 1996, the European Group of ISCEV held its meeting in
conjunction with the Joint European Research meetings in Ophthalmology
and Vision (JERMOV) which was held in Monpellier from 9th-13th October.
There was a good selection of presentations on electrophysiology, and the
ISCEV Lecture, which was given by Professor Günter Niemeyer, was very
well received.
The JERMOV organisation is evolving as the meeting becomes more established,
and ISCEV has been intimately involved in the planning for its future.
A society to take the initiative for the joint meeting is being formed
by the amalgamation of a number of European societies. Professor Zrenner
has been a member of the committee charged with drawing up the constitution
of this society, which is likely to be called European Vision and Eye Research
(EVER). The JERMOV meeting will still be a joint venture, involving ISCEV,
as well as EVER and others, and Mr NR Galloway is a member of the steering
committe set up to decide how best to organise the meeting in future. They
have decided that the 1997 meeting shall once again be in Montpellier, during
15-19 October. It will be organised by Professor Missotten of Leuven.
The very first "ISCEV-approved" teaching course was held in May,
at the meeting of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in Edinburgh, organised
by Mr NR Galloway. Speakers included Professor Colin Barber, Professor
William Dawson, Mrs Josephine Duvall-Young, Dr Daphne McCulloch and Mr
Gary Misson. The session ended with a do-it-yourself type workshop organised
by Dr Keith Bradshaw. The course was so successful that Nick Galloway has
been asked to organise another at this year's meeting of the College, in
Birmingham.
Further ahead, in 1997, I am pleased to report that ISCEV has been invited
to organise a session on clinical electrophysiology of vision at the European
Congress of Ophthalmology, which will be held in Budapest from 1 to 5 June.
Colin Barber, PhD, Secretary for Europe & Africa
This year, most of what I want to say is covered elsewhere in the Newsletter,
so I will restrict myself to those items which require a response. Please
do respond! | INCOME | |||
| Kluwer Publisher | 1¥0 | ||
| Symposium income | 2¥16,274 | ||
| Membership dues | ¥2,374,418 | ||
| of which: | Regular & Junior | ¥2,039,418 | |
| Corporate | ¥335,000 | ||
| Interest Income | ¥16,274 | ||
| TOTAL INCOME | ¥2,639,504 | ||
| EXPENSES | |
| Check handling fees | ¥73,927 |
| Credit card handling fees | ¥88,501 |
| President's office | ¥0 |
| Secretary-General's office | ¥443,175 |
| Editor's office | ¥497,015 |
| Treasurer's office | ¥159,370 |
| Others3 | ¥71,350 |
| Kluwer publisher1 | ¥0 |
| ISCEV grants | ¥104,290 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | ¥1,437,628 |
| NET balance for 1995 | (surplus) ¥1,201,876 |
NOTES:
1. Accounts not yet presented by Kluwer.
2. From the Athens symposium.The surplus from the Banff symposium was used as start-up funding for International
Educational Seminars (financial accounts for the ISCEV Teaching Course).
3. Dr MF Marmor, reimbursement for reprints of the Standard for Clinical
Electroretinography, 1994 update.
TOTAL ASSETS: ¥12,796,982 approx, on Dec 31, 1995.
The 34th ISCEV Symposium was held in Tübingen, Germany from July
20-24, 1996, preceded by the 1st ISCEV "hands on " teaching course,
which took place in the University Eye Hospital from July 19-20. Participants
were accommodated in various hotels and guest houses in Tübingen most
of them within a walking distance.
The topics of the symposium were:
Spatial aspects of electrophysiological responses
Electrodiagnostic techniques in degenerative diseases of the visual system.
| The beautiful River Neckar winds its langorously way through medieval Tübingen. |
| Programme Organiser, Dr Klaus Miliczek, uses his ISCEV memento to demonstrate a German skill practised since medieval times. |
The Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award, established to honour a young scientist
for his/her outstanding performance/work in ophthalmological diagnostic
research, was awarded for the first time at the Tübingen symposium.
An international jury chose, from a multitude of applications, Dr Maria
Kraemer, a young ophthalmologist from Göteborg, Sweden, for her excellent
work on the development of visual function in new-born children.
This scientific award is named after Prof Dr Eberhard Dodt, the late director
of the Max Planck Institute for Physiology and Clinical Research in Bad
Nauheim, who prepared the way to ophthalmological research for many young
scientists from all over the world. He was a longstanding Board Member
and Honorary Member of the Society, and his scientific work exerts a lasting
influence on the field of functional diagnostics. The total of donations
from more than 60 friends of Eberhard Dodt, among them many colleagues
and friends from Bad Nauheim and its surroundings, yields interest enough
to ensure an annual award of $2000.
| Dr Maria Kraemer, who graduated from Göteborg University in 1994, and is presently working in the paediatric eye clinic there, received the fiirst Eberhard Dodt Award from Mrs Elke Dodt. Mrs Dodt's speech is given below: |
1. Opening by the President.
The meeting is opened at 16.53 by the President,
Professor Zrenner. 93 members are present. He refers to the aims for the
future which he mentioned in his opening address and which are described
in the President's report in the Newsletter. He informs the meeting that
the Board has made proposals for action for each one of them and he will
return to these topics under item 6. on the agenda
2. Minutes of the 1995 meeting.
The minutes of the 1995 Membership Meeting
are accepted as a true record and signed as such by the President. There
are no matters arising.
3. Report of the Secretary-General.
The Secretary-General (Professor
Barber) presents his report for 1995, which has been published in the Newsletter.
There are no matters arising from it. Six ISCEV grants have been offered
for the Tübingen meeting. Local grants were awarded to: M Kraemer
(Gothenburg, Sweden), S Parks (Glasgow, UK) and M Jarc/P Raic (Ljubljana,
Slovenia). Overseas grants were awarded to: A Cideciyan (Philadelphia,
USA), O Miyauchi (Chiba, Japan) and S Suzuki (Nagoya, Japan). The report
of the Secretary-General is accepted and the President expresses his thanks
for all of his work for ISCEV throughout the year.
4. Report of the Treasurers.
The Treasurer (Dr Miyake) presents his report
and invites questions. He reports that the old account for non-convertible
currencies has now been closed. The funds, which became DM after the re-unification
of Germany, having been transferred to Tübingen as seed money for
the symposium, in accordance with the resolution at last year's membership
meeting. He reports that the old main account in the USA has also been
closed, the funds being transferred to Dr Marmor as seed money for the
1997 symposium, in accordance with the resolution at last year's membership
meeting. The report of the Treasurer is accepted and the President thanks
him for all his work.
5. Report of the Editor.
The Editor (Dr Fishman) reads his report, commenting
on a continued decline in the number of papers being submitted for publication.
He appeals for manuscripts of papers presented at the symposium to be sent
to him within two weeks; if there are enough within this time he will quickly
publish a single-topic issue for each of the topics of the symposium. He
also reminds members that papers on other topics can be submitted at any
time. He appeals to members wishing to be referees to get in touch with
him. Vaegan asks whether authors are to be encouraged to submit their manuscripts
on disk. Fishman replies that it is possible but that the volume at present
does not merit the upheaval that would be caused by making this mandatory.
Marmor announces that he is now Editor-in-chief for Documenta Ophthalmologica
and informs the meeting that he is willing to consider other types of papers
and article for the other issues of the journal, including theses. He invites
members to submit things to him, but that papers on electrophysiology should
continue to go to Dr Fishman. The report of the Editor is accepted and
the President thanks him for all his work.
6. Items arising from the Board Meeting.
Zrenner explains that the Board
has spent much time in discussing how best to progress in the "five
tasks" that he has outlined in previous President's Reports and in
the Newsletter; he commends the Board's proposals for approval by the Membership
Meeting
Task 1: development of guidelines on good laboratory practice for
electrophysiological investigations of vision in animals.
It is proposed that Zrenner, Dawson and possibly others approach ISOT and the Veterinary
Ophthalmology Group to determine whether they are interested in setting
up a joint Working Group to develop such guidelines. In the event that
they are, such a Group will be formed and will begin work, reporting back
to next year's meeting.
Task 2: further development of electro-physiological
methods, utilising recent advances in basic science.
He comments on the success of the lecture by Prof Wässle. In order to maintain awareness
of such developments, future symposium organisers will be requested that
a basic science lecture by an eminent local authority be included in the
symposium programme as a regular feature.
Task 3: helping in members efforts
to obtain proper resources for clinical electro-physiological investigations.
After outlining the problems currently being experienced in Germany and
other countries, he suggests that the group which prepared the "Ophthalmic
Electrodiagnostics" booklet (and pricing information) be asked to
extend their work to propose guidelines on a more general basis to include
space, equipment, staff, qualifications, etc. for the general use of ISCEV
members for discussion with health authorities and hospital administrations.
Task 4: policy for the representation of ISCEV in larger umbrella organisations
such as JERMOV, ARVO, SOE and so on.
It is suggested that for JERMOV, the
ISCEV Lecture be promoted as a regular feature of the JERMOV meeting and
that limited financial support (registration fee + DM1000 equivalent) be
offered to the lecturer in each case. Also, that all members be invited,
through the medium of the Newsletter, to make nominations for the lecturer
each year. For ARVO, it is hoped that each year an ISCEV member will propose
a SIG meeting, drawing attention to the fact that it is ISCEV-sponsored.
In the coming year, a SIG meeting on the use of electrophysiological investigations
in clinical trials has been proposed by Odom and colleagues and has already
been accepted. This will become the ISCEV SIG for 1997 and the Vice-president
(Americas) will co-ordinate proposals for future years.
Task 5: scientific
encouragement of younger ISCEV members.
It is proposed that the Board examine
the feasibility of establishing an ISCEV Fellowship to support, on an annual
basis, a visit of around three months to an established laboratory by someone
who is setting up a new facility. In the first instance the Secretary-General
will draw up a proposed set of rules/protocol and bring it to next year's
meeting and all of those with ideas on this topic are asked to communicate
directly with Barber.
These proposed actions are endorsed by the membership.
Vaegan suggests that it would be helpful to publicise more widely the usefulness
of electrodiagnostic examinations and that a smaller, cheaper version of
the booklet "Guidelines for Electrodiagnostics", cheap enough
to be given away on a wide scale, would be helpful in this regard. It would
be useful for laymen, patient administration personnel, and also for ophthalmologists
who do not practice electrodiagnostic procedures. Marmor suggests that
a small working group be set up to produce this in time for presentation
and approval at next years meeting and this is agreed. The members of the
working group are Arden, Dawson (Co-ordinator), Holder and Vaegan. It will
be possible to produce this as an ISCEV publication, in the same way as
the original "Guidelines" booklet.
Sloper asks whether there are plans to publicise ISCEV activities on the
Internet and Zrenner informs him that the Secretary-General has this in
hand. Hawlina suggest that it would also be useful to publicise the ISCEV
Course and the Symposium in more general ophthalmology journals and it
is agreed that this should be pursued.
Zrenner reports that the Board has also considered the question of whether
the ISCEV logo should be changed to something that is perhaps more aesthetically
pleasing and asks the meeting to vote on this. The meeting votes by a large
majority not to change the logo at this time.
Zrenner reports on proposals to cope with the special problems of members
in some of the former socialist countries, following the interim arrangements
which have now expired. The proposals are as follows: The post of "Treasurer
for countries with non-convertible currencies"is to be abolished;
All German members are to pay the full rate; Financial hardship of some
members in certain East European countries may be recognised on an individual
(annually confirmed) basis by free membership; The ISCEV-funded supply
of the Journal to certain libraries in such countries shall be continued.
The meeting approves by show of hands and instructs the Secretary-General
to prepare the necessary changes in the Bye-Laws in time for action at
next year's meeting.
Zrenner reports that a similar proposal has been made to add a category
of "Emeritus Member" at a low or free membership fee for those
members who are retired from employment but wishing to maintain their interest
in the Society and the field. The Secretary-General will prepare proposals
for next year's meeting.
Next the President asks Professor Sven-Erik Nilsson to leave the room and
informs the meeting that the Board wishes to proposes him for Honorary
Membership. He describes the great contribution that Nilsson has made,
and continues to make and states that Nilsson will retire to a position
of Professor Emeritus at the end of the year. The proposal is approved
unanimously by acclamation. Nilsson returns to the room, informed of the
result and congratulated. He makes a speech of thanks.
Finally Zrenner gives his personal thanks to the Board and expresses his
appreciation for all of their input.
7. Elections.
Zrenner reports that the term has ended for two Board Members-at-large
(Dawson and Spekreijse), both of whom are eligible for re-election, having
served one term. The Board proposes them both for a second term. The have
been no proposals by mail. He asks if there nominations from the floor
and Harding proposes Bach (who has indicated his willingness to stand).
This is seconded by Trick. Barber explains the voting procedure, asking
the approval of the meeting for Galloway and Marmor to act as scrutineers.
This is granted and the candidates leave the room whilst voting takes place.
The voting and counting procedure is lengthy and, in the interest of saving
time, other agenda items are taken whilst this goes on. However, for ease
of reading, these minutes will retain the published agenda order.
The voting places the candidates in the order: Bach, Dawson, Spekreijse
and so Bach and Dawson are duly elected.
However the numbers of votes cast for each candidate are rather close and
so Zrenner proposes that Spekreijse also be invited, on a personal basis,
to serve another term as Board Member-at-large. He explains that this is
possible because the number of Board members-at-large is not fixed. There
is much discussion and then a vote is taken. A larger majority approves
the proposal. The candidates are invited back into the room and informed
of the result.
8. Report of the Organiser.
Zrenner reports that 214 participants have
attended (from 24 countries), including 31 from Tübingen. There are
51 accompanying persons. The programme includes 64 oral presentations and
78 posters. He pays tribute to all of the "unprofessional organisers"
from his department and this is spontaneously confirmed by acclamation
from the floor.
9. The ISCEV Course and ISCEV-approved Courses.
Zrenner reports the success
of the first ISCEV Course which has been held in Tübingen in conjunction
with the ISCEV symposium. Galloway reports that a highly successful ISCEV-approved
course was held in Edinburgh in May.
The Course Director (Odom) explains
the difference between the two types of course and makes available Guidelines
for those wishing to run an ISCEV-approved course. Various members take
copies of the Guidelines. Barber informs the meeting that every member
will be sent a copy with the Newsletter.
Rigaudière asks that all
ISCEV-approved courses be listed in the Newsletter and Barber undertakes
to do this.
Holder asks that they be publicised prospectively and more
widely. The view is expressed that publicity for individual courses (and
the cost of it) is the responsibility of the individual course organiser.
Holder expresses concern about the requirement, in the Guidelines for ISCEV-approved
courses, for the names and addresses of participants to be forwarded to
ISCEV. Zrenner explains that ISCEV has an obligation and a responsibility,
for example, to keep them up to date on standards if ISCEV approval is
sought for the course, but that if an individual makes a formal (i.e. written,
or tick-box) request that his/her name not be forwarded the course organiser
should respect that request. Instead of names, the number of those participants
who are not forwarding their names shall be indicated to the Course Director.
10. Calibrations Standard.
The Chairman of the Calibration Standard Committee
(Brigell) reports on the progress that has been made in two open meetings
held during the course of the symposium. He outlines, with the aid of the
OHP, proposed changes that have been made to the previous draft and says
that other changes have to do with style rather than content. He offers
to incorporate relevant changes and to distribute a "really final"
draft with the Newsletter. He asks the meeting to give him the authority
to begin the publication process if no serious objections are raised before
the end of April. Marmor, speaking from the experience of having chaired
the ERG Standards outlines the pros and cons of this approach and recommends
that it would be better to await the final approval of next year's meeting
before carrying on. Harding, who had chaired the VEP Standard spoke of
the need to get the standard into operation as soon as possible and concluded
that it was close enough to completion to approve Brigell's request. A
vote was taken which resulted in a larger majority for the proposal. The
President asks that the final draft be sent to him for approval before
publication
11. Costs of Clinical Electrophysiology.
This was dealt with under item
6.
12. Future Symposia.
Marmor makes a presentation, with slides, on next year's
meeting in Asilomar. He gives the dates as 21-25 July, and the topics Clinical
applications of New Technology and Electrophysiology and Genetic Disease.
He also gives details of the location and transportation to it. He warns
that if participants wish to visit, and stay in, popular sites such as
Yosemite after the symposium they should make their reservations at least
6 months in advance.
Kuba makes a brief presentation on the 1998 meeting,
which will be held at Hradec Králové in Czech Republic. The
dates are 13-17 June (Saturday-Wednesday). The farewell ceremony will be
in Prague, in the historical "Carolinium" and that accommodation
has been reserved so that participants may stay to the weekend to visit
the many attraction of Prague. The topics are Electrophysiological and
Related Measures of Motion Detection and Electrophysiology in the Investigation
of Acquired Retinal Disorders.
The 1999 symposium will be in Israel, and
Perlman asks for the view of the meeting about lengthening the symposium
by one day. The reasons are the very intensive nature of the meetings now
(the current meeting being a very good example) and a very special excursion
he has planned, upon which he does not elaborate. The meeting approves.
He says that the best time of year is end of March/beginning of April and
that he will make proposals along those lines next year.
Zrenner reminds
the meeting that it was previously agreed that the millennial symposium
will be in the Asia/Australia region, in the southern hemisphere. There
are two invitations: from Dr Miyake for Bali; from Dr Vaegan for Sydney.
Each makes a presentation and a vote is taken. There are 29 votes for Bali
and 21 for Sydney and so Bali is chosen for the location.
13. Any Other Business. There is none.
14. Closing of the meeting. The meeting is closed at 19.22.
Colin Barber, PhD
In accordance with Article XIII of the bye-laws, notice is hereby given of the following proposals to change the bye-laws.
This proposal introduces a new class of member: "Emeritus Member",
to cater primarily for the needs of retired members.
Proposer: C Barber Seconder: E Zrenner The proposal is as follows:
Article V of the bye-laws shall be replaced by the following: Article V:
Members
Section 1: Members of the Society are: Regular members; Junior
members; Corporate members; Honorary members; Emeritus members
Section 2: Regular members are physicians, scientists, engineers or other professional
personnel who are actively engaged in work on clinical electrophysiology
of vision. They have all the privileges of membership, including the right
to vote.
Section 3: Junior members are those primarily engaged in supervised
basic science or clinical training. Examples include graduate students,
post-doctoral fellows, residents and clinical fellows. Applicants should
include, with their application form, confirmation from their supervisor
of their status and an indication of its duration. They have all the privileges
of membership, excluding the right to vote.
Section 4: Corporate members
are scientific, university or commercial organisations which have a bona
fide interest in (clinical) electrophysiology of vision and related disciplines.
They receive all mailings of the Society and certain advertising rights
in Documenta Ophthalmologica.
Section 5: Honorary members are individuals
who, in the opinion of the Board of Officers, have acquired particular
distinction in the electrophysiology of vision or allied fields, or who
have performed particularly meritorious work for the Society. Names of
candidates for honorary membership are placed by the Board before a Membership
Meeting of the Society and are elected by vote of the majority of members
present. Honorary members do not pay membership fees.
Section 6: Emeritus
members are individuals who have been members of ISCEV for at least five
years, who wish to retain their membership upon retirement from full-time
employment. One of two categories of Emeritus Membership may be chosen
by the individual concerned: Category 1 Emeritus Members will pay the same
membership fees as Junior Members and will have all the privileges of membership;
Category 2 Emeritus Members will pay no membership fee and will receive
only the Newsletter and other mailings, with no other privileges.
Section 7: Dues-paying members who are in arrears for two fiscal years can be suspended
from membership.
This proposal removes the position of "Treasurer for Countries
with Non-convertible Currencies" since it is no longer needed following
the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
Proposer: Y Miyake Seconder: C Barber The proposal is as follows:
Article VI, Section 1 of the bye-laws shall be replaced by the following:
Article VI: Officers Section 1: The management of the Society shall be
carried out by a Central Board of Officers, consisting of: a President;
three Vice-presidents; a Secretary for Europe and Africa; a Secretary for
the Americas; a Secretary for Asia and Australia (one of the three Secretaries
will be Secretary-General); a Treasurer; an Editor; Members-at-Large.
Although the countries of Eastern Europe now have convertible currencies,
the GNP in these countries, and certain other countries, is very low and
individuals may not be able to afford the membership fees. This fact is
already acknowledged by the provision of free copies of Documenta Ophthalmologica
to certain libraries. This proposal extends the principle by allowing the
Board, on either a national or an individual basis, to grant category 2
Emeritus Membership to deserving individuals.
Proposer: E Zrenner Seconder: C Barber The proposal is as follows:
Article V, Section 6 of the bye-laws shall be replaced by the following:
Section 6: Emeritus members are individuals who have been members of ISCEV
for at least five years, who wish to retain their membership upon retirement
from full-time employment. One of two categories of emeritus membership
may be chosen by the individual concerned: category 1 Emeritus Members
will pay the same membership fees as Junior Members and will have all the
privileges of membership; category 2 Emeritus Members will pay no membership
fees and will receive only the Newsletter and other mailings, with no other
privileges. The Board may, at its discretion, grant category 2 Emeritus
Membership, on either a national or an individual basis, to individuals
who fulfill the criteria of interest and work in the field, but who are
prevented by circumstances beyond their control from paying a membership
fee. Such membership shall be reviewed annually.
Our first ISCEV BASIC COURSE IN CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY OF VISION was held immediately preceeding the 1996 ISCEV annual meeting in Tübingen. A second course is scheduled to be held in conjunction with this years 1997 annual meeting in Asilomar, California.
This year has seen a bumper crop of ISCEV-approved courses. The range
and variety of content of the courses has been a pleasure for me as the
Course Director. The year began with the first ISCEV approved course which
was organized by Professor Nick Galloway at the 1996 annual meeting of
the Royal College of Ophthalmology (course language: English). The first
non-English language course was organized by Professor Zrenner and followed
the ISCEV annual meeting.
At the 1996 annual meeting, the membership approved new procedures for
approving courses and instructors for ISCEV-approved courses. Under these
new procedures, Prof. Patrizia Tormene of Padua became the first non-ISCEV
board member to become an approved ISCEV instructor. She organized a day-long
ISCEV-approved didactic course in Padua (course language: Italian). Prof.
Werner Spileers and the Association of Belgian Residents in Ophthalmology
organized a day long ISCEV-approved didactic program (course language:
Dutch, English, and French) with instructors from 5 countries and two continents.
Prof. Spileers also organized an ISCEV-approved practical workshop in visually
evoked potential methods. The two courses in Belgium were part of the 1996
annual meetings of the Belgian Ophthalmological Society. More than 545
ophthalmologists or ophthalmologists-in-training attended ISCEV-approved
courses in 1996. In their course materials they received copies of the
ISCEV standards, and information about ISCEV and its activities.
Although it is impossible to predict the future exactly, it looks as though
the future of ISCEV-approved courses is rosy for 1997. The Moorfield's
Course was approved for February 1997. Because of its success the first
year, Professor Galloway was again asked to organize an ISCEV-approved
course combining didactic and practical sessions at the Royal College of
Ophthalmologists meeting in April 1997.
Statement of Purpose:
The establishment of a mechanism for granting approval from ISCEV for courses
in clinical electrophysiology of vision has several purposes which are
compatible with the interest of ISCEV. The first purpose is to improve
the quality of knowledge and instruction in clinical electrophysiology
of vision by providing a framework for monitoring courses, their content,
and success. A second purpose is to provide one means of promoting the
standards, recommendations and guidelines which the ISCEV has established.
A third purpose is to provide a mechanism for creating courses of a wider
range and more flexible content that could be provided by courses sponsored
by ISCEV alone. Thus an ISCEV-approved course may be an instructions course
in electrophysiological techniques, a basic course in principles and techniques
or an advanced course on the relationship of clinical electrophysiology
of vision to other topics within medicine or basic science. A fourth purpose
is to encourage participation of persons involved in clinical electrophysiology
of vision, especially, newcomers in the field, to expand their knowledge
and expertise by participating in the society.
To gain approval to provide an ISCEV-approved course, a local course
organiser must apply to the ISCEV Course Director. The application should
provide sufficient information to permit the ISCEV Course Director and
the Education Committee to determine that the criteria for identifying
a course as an ISCEV-approved course have been met. At a minimum this will
include an identification of the course organiser, identification of the
course instructors and their qualifications, a course outline, and a letter
indicating the organiser's plans for meeting the criteria below. The Course
Director will review the materials and recommend approval or disapproval
of the application. A majority of the Education Committee must approve
a course for it to be identified as an ISCEV-approved course. A fee of
$25 will be required to process applications. The fee is not refundable.
Courses cannot be approved more than one year in advance. At the present
time courses are only approved for one occasion; therefore, a separate
fee is required each time approval is requested.
Several examples will indicate the implications of these limitations. If
a local organiser requests approval of an annual course, permission could
be granted only of the first course. Other courses would be beyond the
one year limitation. A separate approval would have to be requested for
each year's course. If a local course organiser wishes to present multiple
identical courses in a time which is shorter but may be too short to request
separate approvals for example, (four courses in one month) a fee for each
occasion on which the course would be presented is required (in the case
of four courses, 4 x $25 = $100).
The criteria for an ISCEV-approved course are as follows:
1) The ISCEV-approved standards or recommendations will be presented for
the methods presented in the course. (This does not require that all ISCEV-approved
procedures be discussed in each course nor does it prevent the
presentation of non standard electrophysiological procedures (eg. focal
ERGs or multi-input procedures) in the course.
In basic courses the ISCEV standard and recommendations should be covered
in detail in more advanced courses, the discussion of ISCEV-approved protocols
may be abbreviated and substantially accomplished by complying with criterion
three (3) below.
2) The instructors for ISCEV-approved courses must include one or more
senior ISCEV members. Other instructors should have appropriate levels
of experience in their areas of instruction. An appropriate level of experience
is generally not less than five years in their speciality or subspecialty.
Levels of experience should be stated clearly in the application for approval.
A senior ISCEV member has a fundamental role in an ISCEV-approved course.
The senior ISCEV member represents the interests of ISCEV in the course.
She (or he) provides a guarantee that in the long run the quality of the
course will meet ISCEV standards.
Senior ISCEV members. Present and past ISCEV Board members are automatically
senior ISCEV members for purposes of instruction and need not apply for
further certification. Having been elected by the membership, they are
presumed to represent ISCEV as indicated above. Other ISCEV members may
qualify as "senior ISCEV member" for purposes of instruction
upon application and approval by the ISCEV Board. These persons must have
been members of ISCEV for more than five (5) years, have regularly attended
international ISCEV meetings, and be judged by the Board to be able to
represent ISCEV and its interest in a course setting.
Application for Senior member of ISCEV. Nonboard members interested in
qualifying as "senior" members should submit a request for qualification
which includes a history of their participation in ISCEV. The request should
be submitted to the ISCEV Course Director acting the ISCEV Education Committee.
The request will be reviewed by members of the Education Committee and
a recommendation submitted to the members of the ISCEV Board. A majority
approval of the ISCEV Board is required to be identified as a senior ISCEV
member. The (non-refundable) fee for the review process will be $10 US.
Once identified as a senior member of ISCEV, the status can be revoked
only by the action of a majority of board members.
3) Copies of the ISCEV recommendations or standards for the procedures
presented in the course should be included as part of the materials which
are given to course attendees. The ISCEV materials should be those current
at the time of the course. Including an ISCEV membership application or
membership information in the course materials is encouraged, but not required.
ISCEV materials may be obtained from the Secretary General for the cost
of their reproduction and shipping costs. It is not required that the materials
be purchased from ISCEV.
If the language of the course is not English, the organiser must provide
the original ISCEV materials and a translation of those ISCEV materials
deemed appropriate by the local course organiser to assure full comprehension
of ISCEV standards and recommendations by the participants. While it is
preferred that the translation be submitted as part of the application
materials, they may be provided to the Course Director as part of the materials
provided after the course.
4) The organiser must agree to provide the Course Director with information
after the course is completed. The information should include 1) a copy
of brochures and course materials which are provided to course participants
(i.e. handouts, etc), 2) the number of course participants, and 3) the
names of participants who receive a certificate of participation which
identifies the course as an ISCEV-approved course.
The sole purpose in requiring that course materials provided to participants
(brochures, articles, handouts etc) should also be provided to the Course
director is to provide a method to check the quality of the course and
the appropriateness of its contents as an ISCEV-approved course. Course
materials will not be copied for any purpose without the express written
consent of the local course organiser. Upon request of the local organiser
all materials will be returned to the local course organiser within three
months of the time they are received by the Course Director.
The primary purpose in requiring the name and professional addresses of
attendees is to provide ISCEV with a means of knowing who has received
a certificate permitting them to accurately claim that they have attended
an ISCEV-approved course. Participants must be informed that their names
are provided to ISCEV under these conditions to comply with the laws of
many nations which forbid giving out names of persons without their knowledge.
Course participants' names and addresses are not required if the course
participant does not receive a certificate indicating that they attended
the course; either because the local organizer does not provide such a
certificate, or because the participant does not wish to receive such a
certificate.
In all cases, local organizers should provide ISCEV with information about
the number of participants who attended their course. The organizers are
encouraged to collect information regarding participants' reactions to
their course and to share that in summary form with the committee.
J Vernon Odom, PhD
Results of the elections in 1996
Members-at-large: Michael Bach, Bill Dawson, Henk Spekreijse
Elections for the following Board positions are due this year:
Treasurer: The position is currently held by Yozo Miyake.
He has served one term and is eligible for re-election
Editor: The position is currently held by Gerald Fishman.
He is not standing for re-election.
Any Regular or Honorary Member may nominate, or be nominated for, either
of the above positions. In order to nominate someone, you should write
to the President with the name of the proposed candidate. The letter must
include the signed consent of the individual concerned to stand for office
and to fulfill the duties of office if elected.
The letter of proposal must reach the President by 20 June 1997.
The following material pertains to manuscripts that were received, distributed,
and edited in the office of Dr Gerald Fishman at the UIC Eye Center from
approximately May 1, 1995 through April 30, 1996. ISCEV issues 8.5, 9.1
and 9.2 were published over this interval. The contents for 9.3 are with
the publisher.
From May 1, 1995 through April 30, 1996 we received a total of 42 manuscripts.
Nineteen (45%) of these have been accepted for publication, 9 (21%) have
been been rejected, 6 are currently under review and 8 are pending revision.
In 1994-1995 we received 35 manuscripts. As of April 30 1995, 15 (42%)
were accepted, and 8 (22%) were rejected.
Gerald A Fishman, MD
The 35th ISCEV Annual Symposium, organised by Prof Mike Marmor, will
be held from 20th-24th July this year.
The topics are:
Applications of New Technology in Clinical Electrophysiology
Clinical Electrophysiology and Genetics
Invited lecturers are:
David Birch (Retina Foundation of the South West): New Approaches to Infant Electrophysiology
De-Ann Pillers (Oregon Health Sciences University): Dystrophin and the Retina
Jonathan Horton (University of California): Mapping the Human Visual Cortex
The symposium venue is the Asilomar Conference Center, part of the California
State Park System. It is located amidst redwoods and sand dunes, just a
short walk from the beach on the Monterey Peninsula.
Participants will be accommodated in historic or modern rooms on site,
or in a nearby motel, depending upon numbers and preferences.
The social programme for accompanying persons includes an excursion to
Big Sur, a visit to Point Lobos and a tour of Monterey/Carmel, plus the
social events in the program.
If you have misplaced your Registration Booklet, you can obtain one from
the Secretary-General, or contact the Symposium Secretariat direct at:
Tel: +1 408 655 3209
Fax: +1 408 655 4956
e-mail: dmctod@aol.com
attention Suzanne Wyatt
CLINICAL CASES SESSION
If you have a case you wish to present in the Clinical Cases Session, just
send the title (that's all) to the Convenor, Mike Marmor. Please do it
as early as possible to expedite the planning of the session.
Fax: +1 415 723 7918, or E-mail michael.marmor@forsythe.stanford.edu
See you at Asilomar!
The XXXVI Symposium is to be held in Hradec Králové in
the Czech Republic.
The organisers are Dr Miroslav Kuba and Dr Zuzana Kubova.
The topics of the symposium are:
Electrophysiological and Related Measures of Motion Detection, and
Electrophysiology in the Investigation of Acquired Retinal Disorders
The dates are 13th-17th June, which time coincides with celebrations to
mark the 650th anniversary of the founding of Charles University. The congress
centre and hotel accommodation in the town of Hradec Králové
have already been reserved as this is sure to be a popular time to be there.
The main campus of Charles University is in Prague and it has been arranged
that the official closing ceremony of our symposium will actually take
place in Prague, in the historical "Carolinum", where most festive
University meetings, and graduations are held.
The XXXVII Symposium is to be held in Israel. The organiser is Dr I.
Perlman.
OPTIONS FOR 2000
Following a precedent set in 1994, by which this year's symposium location
was chosen, and establishing the means by which future sites will be chosen,
the Board invites consideration of two invitations received for our special
Millenial Symposium.
It has already been agreed that the symposium will be held in Asia, and
in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time ever. The Board is convinced
that in either of the two locations described below, the organisers concerned
can produce a most excellent symposium. Each site has its own particular
advantages and we ask that you weigh these advantages in the context of
your own requirements for the symposium site.
Then using the enclosed voting form, make your views known to the Secretary-General.
Please do this, even if you voted at last year's Membership Meeting. The
final decision will be announced at the Membership Meeting at Asilomar
and printed in next year's Newsletter
The two sites (in alphabetical order) are Bali Island in Indonesia and
Sydney in Australia. Each is described below by the host. For ease of comparison,
prices are shown in US dollars.
| The world-famous Sydney Opera House and Harbour. |
