This time of year, everyone's schedules are most certainly packed with vacation plans, barbeques, and, of course, educational meetings. In fact, many of you combined vacations and meetings in July while attending the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists in Vienna, Austria. For those who were at the meeting, you know that a wealth of information was shared there.

These meetings present excellent opportunities for retina physicians and the staff of Retina Today alike. Sessions and poster presentations at these meetings showcase emerging data and allow the retina community to share ideas and engage in healthy debate. As a guide to our readers who are vitreoretinal surgical fellows, this issue's Fellows Focus column shares tips from second-year fellows Jayanth Sridhar, MD; Yoshihiro Yonekawa, MD; and Daniel Chao, MD, PhD, on how to make the most of educational meetings and conferences. They cover issues such as what to wear and how to prioritize your schedule. Our more seasoned readers have likely come to find these things out for themselves. Of course, if you have additional wisdom for your younger colleagues, get in touch with us and we will share it for you.

For the staff of Retina Today, not only do these meetings of the minds allow us to network with our readers, but they also key us in to what you find important. For example, today's comprehensive retina specialist has two main paths from which to choose when treating patients: surgery or medicine. Some physicians prefer one over the other; some combine methods. For many of us, surgery has been the mainstay, but physicians are increasingly embracing the growing number of medical options available, which is exactly why this issue of Retina Today takes a closer look at the role of therapeutics and pharmacology in retina.

In his article on individualizing therapy for diabetic macular edema (DME), Antonio Capone Jr, MD, explains how and why both individual patient needs and disease features should guide treatment protocol. Equally as important, he tells about the safe use of steroid therapy for DME—in appropriate patients. Xiaoxin Li, MD, PhD; Xiaoyan Ding, MD, PhD; and Peter K. Kaiser, MD, explore how a new anti-VEGF agent (not yet approved in the United States) could serve as an alternative treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. In an article reviewed by Neil M. Bressler, MD, Retina Today's Editor-in-Chief, Karen Roman, examines another potential therapy that could slow disease progression and preserve vision in patients with
geographic atrophy. If approved, it would be the first in its class.

Be sure to take a look at the rest of this month's cover stories. With a better understanding of the different retinal disease states comes a better understanding of how to treat and prevent them. Broadened knowledge leads to enhanced patient care and insight into future treatment strategies that may raise the bar for us all.

As always, we encourage your feedback. Share your thoughts with us on Twitter (@RetinaToday), Facebook, or at RetinaEditors@bmctoday.com. n

Robert L. Avery, MD, Associate Medical Editor

Allen C. Ho, MD, Chief Medical Editor