It is a great honor to write an editorial for this special issue of Strabismus, for the Proceedings of the International Forum for Vision and Ocular Motility that took place in Shanghai from April 13th to April 14th, 2019. Four hundred delegates attended the forum and more than 50 ophthalmologists, pediatric ophthalmologists and vision scientists from five different countries presented their clinical and basic research studies during the congress. Dr. Xiong Li Yang, who is a world famous retina research expert, attended the forum and addressed the forum at the opening ceremony.
Many internationally known ophthalmologists and vision scientists lectured, such as Richard Hertle, Susan Cotter, Yue Liu and Dmitri Ogorodnikov from the USA, Larry Abel from Australia and Huib Simonsz and Mandy Nordmann from The Netherlands. Many pediatric ophthalmologists from China also presented reports, like Yiying Yue, Shiqiang Yang, Ping Wang, and Dongsheng Yang. All international experts saw nystagmus and strabismus patients before or after the conference which, in some cases, were operated by Dr. Hertle and Dr. Simonsz. We exchanged experiences and opinions from our clinical practices, made friends and enjoyed delicious authentic Chinese food and exquisite Chinese teas like Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun.
The papers for the Proceedings that passed review and were included in this issue of Strabismus cover a wide range, from superior and inferior oblique muscle surgery to nystagmus diagnosis and myopia prevention. For most Chinese authors, it was the first time to speak in English at an international congress and it was the first time they wrote a paper in English. Hence, this international conference and its related activities helped doctors to break language barriers. It has been a good start for authors from China to know the journal of Strabismus and for Strabismus to reach out to a whole new group of authors.
I would like to thank Ping Wang, Yan Yan, Houcheng Liang and Fiona Rowe for their efforts in managing, reviewing and editing the Congress Proceedings of the International Forum for Vision and Ocular Motility 2019.
