RCSV and School of Optometry 45th Anniversary Research Seminar - "New approaches to the treatment of amblyopia"
Conference / Seminar
-
Date
17 Oct 2023
-
Organiser
School of Optometry
-
Time
13:00 - 14:00
-
Venue
Online via Zoom
Speaker
Prof. Ben Thompson
Summary
There is growing interest in the development of new amblyopia treatments that not only enhance treatment outcomes in children but also improve vision in adult patients. I will provide an update on the development of binocular amblyopia therapies that aim to recover both monocular and binocular visual function. I will also describe evidence indicating that the therapeutic effect of refractive correction as a treatment of amblyopia may not be limited to childhood but may also occur in adult patients. An ongoing study running at the Centre for Eye and Vision research in Hong Kong is exploring this effect. Finally, I will provide an update on the use of techniques that are designed to enhance cortical neuroplasticity to enhance vision in adults with amblyopia.
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Ben Thompson
Professor and University Research Chair
School of Optometry and Vision Science
The University of Waterloo, Canada
Ben Thompson is a Professor and University Research Chair within the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Waterloo. Ben is also the CEO and Scientific Director of the Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR) in Hong Kong, a collaborative initiative between The University of Waterloo and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University funded by the Hong Kong Government’s InnoHK initiative. Ben’s research interests encompass human visual development and neuroplasticity and he has a particular interest in harnessing neuroplasticity for vision rehabilitation. His research has led to the development of binocular treatments for amblyopia and a new field exploring non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for the treatment of amblyopia in adulthood. Ben completed his BSc and PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Sussex, UK and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA in Los Angeles and McGill University in Montreal. Ben lived in Hong Kong from 2020 to 2022 working alongside his PolyU colleagues to establish CEVR.
