In the middle of April, almost our entire group attended the 18th PRO RETINA Research-Colloquium on Retinal Degeneration in Potsdam. It started early in the morning, when we jumped in our large transport vehicle with the logo from the University of Marburg. After four and a half smooth hours under Aaron’s control, we arrived in Potsdam and two lively conference days began.
This year’s conference was particularly special for me because my poster abstract was selected for a presentation alongside other junior researchers. It was an exciting and rewarding experience and I am grateful to the committee for awarding me a prize for my talk!
Furthermore, our two master’s students, Antonia and Jasmin, had the thrilling opportunity to attend a conference for the very first time. How exciting!
The hot topics this year included “Know your gene”, “Updates on RPE in retinal degeneration” and “Retinal organoids in development, disease and therapy”. A variety of interesting, diverse and informative talks captured our attention and taught us newest developments in the field. Particularly noteworthy were the keynote lecture by Kapil Bharti and the evening lecture by Christine Curcio. Both speakers shared insights from their influential research careers, which have contributed to numerous advancements in retinal research. Another outstanding presentation was delivered by Avril Daly from Retina International, providing us with valuable insights into the patient perspective.
All in all, the meeting provided a wonderful opportunity to learn new things and connect with fellow scientists from the retinal research field. Finally, on our journey home, we had a
lot of fun with a surprise visit to Leipzig to eat burgers at Swing Kitchen.
We really enjoyed our time at the Potsdam Meeting of the ProRetina!
Juliane