SAN FRANCISCO --- Judah Folkman, MD, will be the keynote speaker at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting to be held November 11-13, 2007, in New Orleans. Dr. Folkman’s address, “Antiangiogenic Ocular Therapy,” will be part of the meeting’s opening session Sunday, November 11 at 8:30 a.m.  Dr. Folkman’s research on angiogenesis inhibitors sparked major advances in the treatment of cancer, eye diseases and other illnesses that involve excessive or abnormal angiogenesis, or blood vessel development.  

“Because of Dr. Folkman, we have seen remarkable advances in helping patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) save their vision and even regain some of their eyesight,” said H. Dunbar Hoskins, Jr., MD, executive vice president for the Academy. “We are honored to have him speak at our annual meeting.”

Dr. Folkman and his research group identified the first angiogenesis inhibitors in 1985, after enduring fellow scientists’ indifference or scorn for their approach for 20 years.  Today, at least 40 compounds that affect angiogenesis are being tested in humans to combat a range of cancers, heart disease, and eye diseases including AMD, retinopathy of prematurity (a form of childhood blindness), and diabetes-related disorders. Dr. Folkman is currently professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Vascular Biology Department at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Online registration for the Annual Meeting is available through October 17 at www.aao.org.