NEW YORK—Early bird registration for VM's 2024 Leadership Summit program, an upcoming live event to be held in NYC on March 13, will expire on Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Details for registration and more about the speakers are posted at www.visionmonday.com/summit. The speaker roster is growing for the VM Summit, which asks, "What's Your AI Acuity? Sharpening a Vision for the Future." The latest to join the exclusive annual event for senior executives and key opinion leaders in the vision care space is Dr. John Whyte, MD, MPH, who is WebMD's chief medical officer and one of the most influential voices in the health sector.

He'll share his perspective and conduct a Q&A with Deloitte LLP's Bill Fera, MD, a principal at the global consultancy, talking about AI's impact in the health care sector on both physicians and patients, how AI can offer providers new tools for disease detection and diagnosis, and play an enormous role in how data will be able to track both outcomes and efficiencies.

"Artificial Intelligence is fast opening up new dimensions and providing previously unimagined insights for customers, patients, employees and senior executives," noted Marge Axelrad, SVP and editorial director of Vision Monday/VMAIL. "The VM Summit will take a top-line but informative view of what AI portends across retail, health care and culture as this compelling technology continues to unfold."

Previously announced VM Summit speakers are two leading AI/ophthalmology and optometry initiatives, with professionals sharing fast-expanding programs and experiences with clinical applications and diagnostic advantages of AI. They include James Tsai, MD, and Pearse Keane, MD, who will discuss the increasingly important role that AI is playing in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular disease. Each will share an exclusive look at how their teams in the U.S. and the U.K. respectively, are using AI now and what they're building for the future.





(Top Row L to R) John Whyte, MD; Bill Fera, MD; and Jim Rowan. (Bottom Row L to R) Pearse Keane, MD; James Tsai, MD; and Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO.


Dr. Tsai heads the Center for Ophthalmic Artificial Intelligence and Human Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the first of its kind in New York and one of the first in the U.S. The Center is dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence in the field of ophthalmology.

Dr. Pearse Keane leads a pioneering research program at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London that is investigating whether AI can help meet a growing clinical need to better analyze eye scans. Now in its seventh year, the program grew out of a partnership with AI developer DeepMind and now involves Google Health.

Moderating a conversation with Drs. Tsai and Keane will be Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO. Dr. Karpecki will also share perspectives with leading ODs about the role that diagnostic AI will be playing in optometric practices.

Dr. Karpecki currently serves as director of cornea and external disease for the Kentucky Eye Institute in Lexington Ky., running the largest, advanced, referral only, ocular surface disease clinic in the U.S. He is also the chief medical editor for Review of Optometry.

Also, the human resources impact of AI is already creating new challenges for business and eyecare leaders. Sharing views about how leaders can build the best AI teams, will be Jim Rowan, a principal and leader of Deloitte's strategy and analytics practice and Deloitte AI institute.

At presstime, Platinum Sponsors of the 2024 VM Leadership Summit include Advancing Eyecare, EssilorLuxottica and VSP Vision. The Gold Sponsors are Alcon and Ocuco.

The 2024 VM Leadership Summit program will open with a networking breakfast from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. and the program and lunch will run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Registration includes the full program, networking breakfast and lunch. Details for registration are posted at www.visionmonday.com/summit. Early bird tickets and registration expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 31.