Newsletter 1997

Contents


President's report top

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.

At the outset of my first term of presidency, five years ago, I set five goals and all of them have largely been achieved. We now have standards and recommendations for all the major electro-physiological recordings in clinical ophthalmology, thanks to the work of Drs Marmor, Nilsson, Harding, Galloway, and many colleagues in our Society. The Clinical Cases Session has become a well-attended and important event, pleasurably guided by Dr Marmor. The development of quality in electrophysiological recording is a constantly-ongoing process. The calibrations standard currently being developed by a committee chaired by Dr Brigell will also be of great help in maintaining quality in technical matters. The ISCEV Course has been established as an educational programme in clinical electrophysiology and a curriculum has been developed thanks to the efforts of Drs Odom, Barber, Fishman and Marmor. The Society is indebted to all colleagues who served on the board of ISCEV and on the various committees and helped so much with advice and hard work to make these developments possible. Particular thanks are due to Secretary-General Prof Colin Barber, the Editor Prof Gerald Fishman and the Treasurer Dr Yozo Miyake.

The five goals which I, together with the Board Members, determined for the second term of my presidency have been published in the Newsletter in 1996. At the Board and Membership meetings in Tübingen, specific tasks were identified to help achieve these goals:

#1 Development of guidelines on good laboratory practice for electro-physiological investigations of vision in animals.
Dawson, Narfström, Zrenner, and possibly others will 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. Results will be reported at next year's meeting.

#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


Regional reports top

AMERICAS

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

ASIA-AUSTRALIA top

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

EUROPE-AFRICA top

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


Secretary-General top

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!

Calibration Standards Draft Enclosed with this Newsletter is another draft for your consideration, the absolutely final draft on calibration standards. Please send any comments directly (and promptly) to Mitch Brigell so that we can move to publication of the standard as agreed at last year's meeting.

The ISCEV Lecture at JERMOV Also at last year's meting, it was agreed that ISCEV will support an "ISCEV Lecture" on clinical electrophysiology at the annual Joint European Meeting on Ophthalmology and Vision (JERMOV). This year the lecturer will be Henk Spekreijse. You are invited to make proposals for next year's lecturer. Please send your suggestions to me.

Editor After serving the Society with unstinting devotion for many years, and establishing the ISCEV issues of Documenta Ophthalmologica as a first-ranking scientific resource, Dr Gerry Fishman has resigned the post of Editor. Nominations are invited to fill this post, with effect from this year's Membership Meeting. Details are given on p9.

Millennial Symposium The Board is anxious to establish a more democratic system for choosing the location for the annual symposium from among the many invitations received. We have in mind to use a system similar to that enshrined in the Bye-Laws for electing new Board Members. The choice will be reduced to two by voting at the Membership Meeting, and then the final decision will be made by means of a postal ballot open to all members. This method was used to choose this year's site, and will be used for all symposia from 2000 on. Details of this year's choice can be found on p10-11 and a voting form is enclosed. Do vote!

Colin Barber, PhD

Treasurer top

INCOME
Kluwer Publisher1¥0
Symposium income2¥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.

  1. ¥9,684,283 held in Japan by current Treasurer, Dr Y Miyake.
  2. $5000.62 (¥514,813) held in USA by outgoing treasurer Professor P Sieving.
  3. $12,033.11 (¥1,238,808) held in USA by Dr Odom for International Educational Seminars.
  4. $3,566.21 (¥367,141) held in USA by Dr Odom for ISCEV@ARVO.
  5. £4185.43 (¥666,571) held in England, by Secretary-General, Prof Barber.
  6. $0 (¥0) held in USA by the Editor, Dr Fishman.
  7. RMB8275.71 (¥101,377) held in China by Professor Lezheng Wu.
  8. DM3417.92 (¥223,989) held in Germany by Dr Renate Hanitzsch.
Conversions to yen, using exchange rates of Friday 29.12.95: $1= ¥102.95; £ = ¥159.26; RMB 1= ¥12.25; DM 1= ¥71.62

Yozo Miyake, MD

Tübingen Symposium top

ORGANISER'S REPORT

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.
On Saturday evening (July 20), an informal welcome reception was held at the "Old Library" of the University. Prof E Zrenner welcomed the participants and officially opened the meeting. The Clinical Cases Session was held during this evening, and 12 interesting cases were presented. In the following days, 64 oral presentations were given in 12 oral sessions, including 4 invited main lectures by Drs Samuel G Jacobson, Yozo Miyake, Paul A Sieving and Erich E Sutter. A well-attended poster session with 78 poster boards was scheduled on Sunday. Additionally there were invited introductory lectures by Drs Geoffrey Arden, Michael Bach, Hans-Ulrich Dodt, Gerald Fishman, Peter Gouras, Don Hood, Ulrich Kellner, Mathias Korth, Miroslav Kuba, Zuzanna Kubova, Neil Peachey and Henk Spekreijse. There were seven exhibition booths by commercial participants.

On Sunday evening, there was a concert by the pianist Mariko Mizuyu, followed by a dinner. On Monday, an excursion to Hohenzollern and Haigerloch took place, Prof Zrenner's co-workers, dressed in medieval style, serving as guides for the ISCEV participants and accompanying persons. Due to the pleasantly warm weather, after the historical sightseeing tour, "medieval knights' games" were performed by delegates from 24 countries. Alan D Collins the brave delegate from Ireland, won the competition after big efforts in "holding the beer stein", horseshoe throwing, singing and other medieval disciplines, and was finally knighted by the "King" Prof Zrenner.

Programme Organiser, Dr Klaus Miliczek, uses his ISCEV memento to demonstrate a German skill practised since medieval times.

On Monday a Gala Dinner with ancient "Viola da Gamba" music was given in the Bebenhausen monastery. The music included a quite remarkable piece inspired by the removal of a kidney stone without anaesthetic. Afterwards Mrs Dodt presented the first "Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award" to Dr Maria Kraemer from Sweden (see the account below)

The symposium was attended by 205 participants from 26 countries and there were 44 accompanying persons. The ISCEV teaching course was attended by 33 participants.

The organisers would like to thank the following sponsors of the symposium for their generosity:
Alcon Pharma, Texas;
Basothern GmbH, Biberach;
Comptior Electrotechnique, Luxembourg;
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn;
Ethicon GmbH & Co KG, Norderstedt;
Landesbank Rheinland-pfalz International S A Luxembourg;
Dr Gerhard Mann Chem.-pharm Fabrik GmbH, Berlin;
Optik Strebel-Hiltwein, Tübingen;
Pharmacia, Erlangen;
Rodenstock Instrumente GmbH, Ottobrunn;
Schwind GmbH & Co KG, Kleinostheim.

I want to express my sincere thanks to all of them and to all co-workers of the Eye Hospital in Tübingen who helped in organising the symposium, also the Secretary-General Colin Barber. I also thank the many participants who came from all over the world to Tübingen, for their scientific contributions and lively discussions.

E Zrenner, MD


EBERHARD DODT AWARD top

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:
Honoured Awardee, Ladies and Gentlemen. With pride and sorrow I award for the first time in the history of the International Society of Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision, the 1996 Eberhard Dodt Prize for outstanding research to Dr Maria Kraemer. My warmest congratulations! At about your age my husband received his first award, the Freceschetti Liebrecht Prize that stimulated his research, as this will yours . I would like to add a very personal observation on this Society. My husband took me to many exciting meetings in beautiful places. There we witnessed the harmonious growth of this scientific family, which we appreciated and enjoyed. What I am left with now is a close association with the many friends of my husband who comforted and supported us with their affection beyond his death. I thank you all!

Mrs Elke Dodt


Membership Meeting top

MINUTES OF THE MEMBERSHIP MEETING

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


Bye-law Changes top

In accordance with Article XIII of the bye-laws, notice is hereby given of the following proposals to change the bye-laws.

1. Proposal to define CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP

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.

2. Proposal to define THE OFFICERS top

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.

3. Proposal to deal with INDIVIDUALS IN STRAITENED CIRCUMSTANCES top

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.


The ISCEV Course top

ISCEV SPONSORED COURSES

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.

ISCEV-APPROVED COURSES & INSTRUCTORS

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.

GUIDELINES FOR ISCEV-APPROVED COURSES top

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.

General Mechanism:

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


Elections top

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.


Editor’s Report top

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


Future Symposia top

1997

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!

1998

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.

1999

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.


 
BALI ISLAND, INDONESIA
Beach of
 Sanur
The beautiful white sandy beach of Sanur.
BALI is the westernmost island in Indonesian archipelago of 13,000 islands, which stretches from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, lying both sides of the Equator between the Malay Peninsula and New Guinea. A chain of volcanoes runs through the islands of Sumatra and Java and continues into Bali, forming Gunung Agung, the island's highest mountain (3,142m). Bali is a land of great physical beauty, with tropical forests and terraced paddy fields, surrounded by warm seas filled with colourful fish, turtles, and dolphin. A thriving Hindu culture, Bali proudly preserves its traditions and invites visitors to share some of its special qualities. The dry season from May until October is the most pleasant time to visit. Many direct flights are available from Europe, USA and Japan to the International Denpasa Airport in Bali. Because it is a prime holiday destination, there is not only a wide choice of flights, but keen competition keeps travel costs low, particularly for "package" arrangements.

The Grand Bali Beach Hotel is the prime candidate for the location of ISCEV 2000. It is a five star hotel, opened originally in 1966 but relaunched, after major upgrading in 1993. It is located on the long, white sandy beach of Sanur (see picture) 15km from Denpasar Airport (an airport shuttle bus is always available). The existing plan would provide for all of the convention activities at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel. The banqueting facilities can accommodate up to 1000 people for receptions and 4 function rooms can provide for excellent poster and scientific sessions. If ISCEV 2000 is held in May, June or early July, the room charge rate can be enormously discounted (single and twin: $100 per room per night) and the conference room can be used free. Recreation facilities include championship golf course, four outdoor swimming pools, a wide range of water sports, two gravel tennis courts, indoor bowling centre and so on. It is a very nice place, and would provide a most impressive ISCEV symposium.

Yozo Miyake, MD

 

ISCEV IN OZ IN 2000

· SYDNEY would like to welcome ISCEV to Australia in the Millenial Year
· You will see Sydney preened to its very best: the Olympic Games will occur the following September.
· Our preferred dates are between Sat 1st and Sun 9th July, 2000 in the mid year break, when university college rooms are available.
· Our midwinter is the driest part of the year with bright blue skies. 2 in 5 days are totally cloudless. Nights are crisp and cool. Winds come off the snowfields 200kms south. Brief storms can occur.
The world-famous Sydney Opera House and Harbour.
GOOD, LOW COST, FACILITIES
· We have offset your high travel cost with low conference costs.
· St John's is an Oxbridge style college (built ca 1860) above Sydney University ovals. It has a beautiful library for the meeting room @ $160/day, other convenient meeting rooms, in-house catering and easy parking.
· 150 single bed rooms are available @ $36/night or $160/wk, with breakfast.; these services are about 25% the cost of commercial hotel rates.
· Three star hotels and a motel are nearby.
· The City is one bus section away.
OUR FAVOURITE PLACES
· We will take you to our favourite places
· Dine near the harbour entrance, look down-harbour to the city, opera house and bridge
· Barbeque shrimp and steak at Vaegan's surf club on Bondi Beach
· Take time off; tour the harbour by ferry
· Accomp. persons: Opera House, Zoo, Aboriginal art, Blue Mountains, koalas
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
· Already sponsored my initial bid
· Additional loans are avaiailable should you vote for Sydney.
· Sydney University can help organise conferences, coordinate room hire, catering, outside hotels etc.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT CAN SPONSOR 3RD WORLD VISITORS
The Department of Science, Industry and Tourism has an International Conference Subsidy Support Scheme. If they plan early, some visitors will be eligible for grants.
· Up to $25,000 (Aust) is available in total
· The grants are not restricted by conference size if >100 attendees
· Targeted to Decision Makers with power to introduce change.
· Targeted to UN-listed Third World Countries in the Asia/Pacific Area, including China, India, Singapore, Parts of South America and Africa, but exclude Japan, Korea, and Eastern Europe.
· We must show the visitors will gain knowledge benefiting their country.
· Early notice of intention to register is necessary.
· We must apply about a year in advance
VISIT BALI ON THE WAY!
· Travel costs will be very similar to those for Bali, and you could always have a stopover in Bali on the way.
ISCEV IN OZ IN 2000 HAS WIDE SUPPORT
· Australia's large Ophthalmological and Vision Science Community are on side. The Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists will support the meeting and publicise it in their journal.

Vaegan, PhD

Last update 23.06.2001 by webmeister mb, michael.bach@uni-freiburg.de