ACOS turned 1 year old in January. I am both pleased and amazed by its progress. Reflecting its growth, the organization's name changed from the American College of Ophthalmic Surgery to the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery. Prompting this expansion, ACOS' leaders were asked by the organizers and sponsors of the very successful Presby-Oscars Meeting to create an ACOS meeting in Cannes, France. We agreed. It seemed like a natural opportunity to grow the society and welcome our European colleagues.
A nonprofit group, ACOS has become a recognized organization of leading anterior segment surgeons, ophthalmic industry executives, select venture capitalists, and inventors of technology. The society is living up to its goals of education, innovation, and advocacy. Perhaps the jewels in its crown are the organization's four annual educational meetings: the Aspen ACOS-Dulaney Winter Meeting (formerly AIRS) in Colorado in February; the aforementioned ACOS Femto-Presby Ophthalmic Solutions in Cataract & Refractive Surgery meeting in France in June; the ACOS Summer Symposium in Deer Valley, Utah, in July; and the ACOS Summit in Chicago in November. In addition, last year, ACOS initiated the formation of and is the sponsor of FDA investigational studies focused on corneal collagen cross-linking. The society has also been very active regarding the issue of billing in laser cataract surgery.
I am proud to work with the members of ACOS, as I know is the rest of the society's executive board: J. Andy Corley; David Cox; Steven Dell, MD; Adam Krafczek; William J. Link, PhD; Robert Maloney, MD; Kerry Solomon, MD; William Trattler, MD; Steven Vold, MD; John Vukich, MD; and Eric Weinberg. We designed ACOS to offer its members the benefits unique to a small society through a special blend of science, industry, and medicine. The organization's mission statement is one of the few things about it that has stayed the same: “ACOS brings leading ophthalmologists and innovators of technologies together to advance vision care and improve patients' quality of life.” The future of ACOS is bright. Steven Dell is taking over as the organization's president in January 2013. Whether members or not, I encourage readers of Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today to check out the society at its brand new Web site (www.acosurgery.com).
As proud as I am of ACOS, I am also impressed with the current issue of CRSToday. As part of this month's cover series, several distinguished surgeons describe cataract surgical techniques made possible by their use of a femtosecond laser. The remainder of the series is devoted to advanced phaco techniques, and all of these articles have companion videos featured on Eyetube.net. This issue of CRSToday also signals the coming of spring with a feature series devoted to the topic of ocular allergy. I hope readers enjoy this edition of the publication as much as I did.
