2026 Meeting Agenda

Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group

60^th Annual Meeting

October 9, 2026

Moderators: Rachel Wozniak, MD, PhD, and Miel Sundararajan, MD

NOTE: All times are CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME
*Presentation times are approximate and subject to change without notice.

-AGENDA-

CLICK on titles to review abstracts


Time	#	Title / Presenter
6:45 AM		Registration
7:30 AM		Introduction by Moderators
7:35 AM		2025 Harry Hirsch Leiter Award Recipient: External Validation of a Multi-Regionally Trained Deep Learning Model for Trachomatous Inflammation – Follicular Detection Hady Yazbeck, MD
7:42 AM	1	Metagenomic RNA Sequencing Reveals Diverse Pathogens in Infectious Keratitis in a German Cohort Thuy Doan, MD, PhD
7:49 AM	2	Corneal Infiltrate Segmentation of ASOCT Images in Microbial Keratitis via Annotation-Efficient, Domain-Matched Self-Supervised Pretraining Lucia Rhode
7:56 AM	3	Central Pain Mechanisms Predominate in Patients With Ocular Surface Discomfort and Poorly Correlate With Dry Eye Signs Pedram Hamrah, MD
8:03 AM	4	Longitudinal Three-Dimensional Quantitative Analysis of Corneal Epithelial Nerve Layers in a Neurotrophic Keratopathy Mouse Model Gabriella Mezzich
8:10 AM	5	IKZF1 Overexpression Primes the Ocular Surface for Exaggerated T Cell–Mediated Inflammation Following Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Eye Disease Ali Khodor, MD
8:17 AM	6	Infectious Keratitis Isolates and Susceptibility in the Pacific Northwest LuAnna Rochelle, BS
8:24 AM	7	Risk Factors for Immediate and Delayed Therapeutic Penetrating Keratoplasty in Microbial Keratitis Kamini Narendra Reddy, PharmD, ScM
8:31 AM	8	Full-length 16S rDNA Sequencing with Contamination-Corrected Thresholds Identifies Pathogens in Culture-Negative Infectious Keratitis Bridget Slomka
8:38 AM	9	Analytical Evaluation and Validation of an mNGS Workflow for Infectious Uveitis Diagnosis Vridhi Vinaykiya
8:45 AM	10	Clinical Assessment of a Metagenomic Sequencing Approach for Diagnosis of Infectious Uveitis Ananya Mukundan
8:52 AM	11	Multiregional Deep Learning for Active Trachoma Using Latent Class Analysis-Derived Probabilistic Labels Jad F. Assaf, MD
8:59 AM	12	Metagenomic Deep Sequencing Reveals a Balanced Distribution of Fungal and Bacterial Pathogens in Infectious Keratitis in Guatemala Kelly Ngo
9:06 AM	13	Real-Time Adaptive Long-Read DNA Sequencing for Rapid Diagnosis of Microbial Keratitis Russell N. Van Gelder, MD, PhD
9:13 AM		BREAK and Poster Viewing
9:40 AM	14	Tokyovirus in Acanthamoeba Keratitis Gerami Seitzman, MD
9:47 AM	15	Managing the Inflammatory Milieu of Acanthamoeba Keratitis; A Decade of Evolving Practice Patterns Helen Song, MD
9:54 AM	16	Persistent Cysts in the Explanted Cornea Predict Graft Failure in Acanthamoeba Keratitis Felipe Echeverri Tribin
10:01 AM	17	Analysis of Intraocular Fluid Specimens Using the (1→3)-β-D-Glucan Assay for the Rapid Detection of Fungal Endophthalmitis Aaishwariya Gulani, MD
10:08 AM	18	Aspergillus Endophthalmitis: Clinical Features, Management, and Visual Outcomes Sujin Kang, MD
10:15 AM	19	Virulence Factor Signatures of Ocular Staphylococcus aureus Clinical Isolates from India and the United States Jordan N Reed, PhD
10:22 AM	20	Community Acquired MRSA USA300 Periorbital Infections: Clinical Features, Risk Factors, and Outcomes in a Comparative Cohort Study Lisa Y. Lin, MD MBE
10:29 AM	21	Genomic Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Streptococcus pneumoniae from Ocular Infections Fernando Henrique Antunes Murata
10:36 AM	22	Improving the Diagnosis of Culture-Negative Bacterial Endophthalmitis Using Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing: Illumina Versus Nanopore Platform Comparison Brionna L. Bennett, BS
10:43 AM	23	Evaluating Cytomegalovirus Anterior Uveitis Treatment: the STACCATO RCT John A. Gonzales, MD
10:50 AM		OPEN QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
		BREAK and Poster Viewing
11:10 AM		Introduction — Thygeson Lecture 31st Thygeson Lecture: “Takeaway Lessons from the Zoster Eye Disease Study” *Elisabeth J. Cohen, MD* Clinical Professor, Department of Ophthalmology NYU Grossman School of Medicine New York, New York
11:50 AM		Questions, Closing Comments, Awards
12:00 PM		Adjourn
12:15 PM		Business Luncheon Grand Ballroom A (2nd floor)