SECO 2025: A preview of innovation and expansion of technology in the back of the eye

Julie Rodman, OD, MS, FAAO, joins us to discuss her significant contributions to SECO, which is taking place this week in Atlanta, Georgia. In this conversation, she provides a preview of her keynote presentation, which will highlight cutting-edge advancements in eye care technology. Key topics include innovative approaches to detecting and managing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), such as home monitoring devices, artificial intelligence, genetic therapy breakthroughs like optogenetics, and photobiomodulation for dry AMD treatment. Additionally, she touches on new developments in dry eye therapy, including Lacrifill, a canalicular gel. Rodman also shares insights into a hands-on poster workshop where attendees can engage directly with emerging technologies.

Video transcript

Author's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Emily Kaiser Maharjan:
Hi everyone. I'm here with Dr. Julie Rodman to talk about her many contributions to SECO, which is happening this week in Atlanta, Georgia. So thanks for taking the time to chat today, Dr. Rodman.

Julie Rodman, OD, MS, FAAO:
My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Kaiser Maharjan:
Of course. So first, can we kind of dive a little bit into the keynote presentation that you're giving? Can you just kind of give me a preview of some of the advancements in technologies in eye care that you'll be discussing?

Rodman:
So there's actually 4 of us presenting, so I will talk more about my piece, just because I'm not 100% sure what everybody's doing. But I have 2 sections. The first section is going to be talking about some advancements in the detection of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). So you know, the use of home monitoring devices, artificial intelligence, some advances in genetic therapy, something called optogenetics, which is a brand new type of gene therapy that we're super excited about. [We will] talk about photobiomodulation, which is a new way of using light therapy to help patients with dry AMD. So that's going to be a big, big portion of it.

I'm going to talk even a little bit about a dry eye therapy, which is going off my my comfort list. It's called Lacrifill, which is a canalicular gel that is brand new and has a lot of promise. So basically, in this keynote session, we're going to be introducing some, you know, new and innovative technologies for a bunch of different diseases, but I'm going to focus primarily on the back of the eye.

The only other thing is, I'm doing a poster segment workshop tomorrow that we're going to give the opportunity for whoever comes to have some hands on experience with some great devices, so some great information about, you know, actually playing with stuff instead of just learning about it. So hopefully we'll get some attendance there too.