WIO 2024: Get to know the chairs of WIO

(Image credit: AdobeStock/kuzmichstudio)

With the Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium set to begin on August 22, 2024, in Carlsbad, California, there’s plenty that goes on behind the scenes to make an event like this happen.

WIO president, Christina Weng, MD, MBA, highlighted efforts of the Program Committee, headed by 2024 co-chairs Anna Momont, MD, and Janet Alexander, MD, stating the team “devotes countless hours year-round to develop an outstanding event so that we can learn about the latest scientific advancements” and more.

Weng, who is involved with multiple clinical trials including the DRCR Retina Network trials and the AGTC Phase 1/2 intravitreal gene therapy study for X-linked retinoschisis, knows the importance of data and scientific advancements in ophthalmology. But also has faith in Momont and Alexander to provide an event that will not only feature these groundbreaking advancements, but also allow for attendees to share skills and exchange ideas as well as talk about other important, non-scientific topics such as workplace diversity and maternity leave.

Momont and Alexander deliver, with topics being featured at the WIO Summer Symposium ranging from real-world strategies for management of age-related macular degeneration, updates on dry eye therapies, the future of inherited retinal diseases to topics on how to approach maintaining your own private practice and how to be sure the legacy you leave behind professionally is notable. Water coloring, Zumba, yoga and other events are sprinkled in to make sure the event has a unique and inviting flair.

Outside of planning the WIO Summer Symposium, Anna Momont is a UW Health ophthalmologist and assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where she serves as the program director for the Ophthalmology Residency Program.

While Janet Alexander is a pediatric ophthalmologist at the University of Maryland, and even took home the title of “Top Doctor” in the specialty of Pediatric Ophthalmology by Baltimore magazine in 2020.

Overseeing the entire organization is CEO Lisa Nijm, MD, JD, a board-certified ophthalmologist and corneal specialist at Warrenville EyeCare & LASIK in Warrenville, IL. She also teaches part time at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in Chicago, IL.

These 4 women will feature in talks across the WIO Summer Symposium. Together they welcome all attendees and give them insight into the future, as they hope to see all attendees and more at the 2025 Summer Symposium from August 7-10, 2025, in Marco Island, Florida.