I would like to give a report on the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) 2012 which was held between February 16 and 20 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Musha-Shugo program in 2012 gave me support to participate.
　　　WOC is the most historical international conference in all medical specialist fields and it has about 150 years of history up to the present. Only once in the past was it held in Japan: the 23rd WOC in Kyoto in 1978. Now, it is held every 2 years and has become a valuable place for ophthalmologists in the world to exchange presentations of their research outcomes.
　　　The next conference in 2014 will be held in Tokyo, and the University of Tsukuba professor, Tetsuro Oshika will be served as a chairman.
　　　The number of participants were over 12,000, and 2,383 titles were selected after rigorous peer review of the entire results. 102 poster subjects and 19 oral presentation subjects were selected from Japan. This time, I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to give an oral presentation titled "Study of impact on retinitis pigmentosa of highly functional endothelial progenitor cell". Since it was my third oral presentation, I was not nervous but I was taken aback by the magnitude of the venue in Abu Dhabi. Retinitis pigmentosa is one of the three main causes of partial blindness in Japan. It is a serious disease in which patients become aware of night blindness in the early stages and it gradually lead to visual field constriction that causes patients to lose their eyesight in some cases. The frequency is quite high in that one in 4000 to 8000 people are affected by it and it has been certified as an intractable disease. I am really proud of the fact that the research on the application in technology of regenerative medicine, that is endothelial progenitor cells, for retinitis pigmentosa drew interest of top level ophthalmologists in the world.
　　　It was a very meaningful experience because I was able to disseminate my research outcome and even exchange opinions with top level ophthalmologists through WOC this time.
　　　I would like to make the best use of this experience for WOC 2014 which will be held in 2 years in Tokyo.
　　　Last but not least, I would like to give fullest thanks to all the professors and secretariats who gave me support.

（From Musha-shugyo Report）

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