The world’s premiere vision research meeting in Salt Lake City opens to news of deep federal cuts to scientific research.
Storm clouds were brewing in Salt Lake City for Day 1 at The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2025 Annual Meeting (ARVO 2025)—and it wasn’t just the late afternoon thunderstorm that rolled over the Salt Palace Convention Center.
ARVO 2025 and its posters, presentations and podium talks offering a sneak peek at the future of vision are officially open for business. But the festivities are markedly more muted and nervous as the reality of the Trump administration’s recent deep, devastating funding cuts to the National Science Foundation set in.
From the lecture halls to the exhibition floor and even the press room, the cuts and what they mean to the gathered scientists, some of whom rely on the grants being binned, were on everyone’s mind—including ARVO president Dr. SriniVas Sadda (United States).
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t also say that the vision research community stands at a very critical moment in time,” Dr. Sadda said as he addressed a full house at the ARVO-Genentech Keynote Session.
“This moment is marked not only by incredible scientific opportunity, but also by some of the most significant threats to the U. S. research enterprise that we’ve ever seen,“ he continued, alluding to the cuts.
“We will continue to actively engage with Congress in order to communicate the consequences of their proposals and advocate for the resources our community really needs to thrive. So when we see calls to action from others today, we really need to take this seriously because we have to work together to protect our community.”
It certainly is not all doom and gloom, however. For now, the science still continues, as Dr. Sadda pointed out, and Day 1 at ARVO 2025 started with a bang in that department.
We officially kicked off our five days (!?) of coverage from ARVO 2025 in Salt Lake City with reporting on our first highlight session, the selfsame session that Dr. Sadda made his comments in—the ARVO-Genentech Keynote Session. Besides Dr. Sadda’s speech, attendees were treated to a guest lecture from social AI scientist and AI for the People CEO Mutale Nkonde, who spoke on her social framework for creating a better future with AI for all.
READ MORE: Check out our reporting on the ARVO-Genentech Keynote Session for the full story!
Also included in our Day 1 coverage is our writeup on a super special translational medicine minisymposium—a perennial key topic at ARVO Annual Meetings. In this session, scientists tackled the modern landscape by taking discoveries from the lab to the light of day, so be sure to read now.
READ MORE: Translational Research at ARVO 2025
And there’s plenty more on tap throughout the week, so stay tuned and join the thousands of doctors worldwide who rely on us to bring the latest and greatest from the world’s biggest ophthalmic conferences. Signing out (for now) from Salt Lake City, and see you tomorrow!
Industry updates
We’ve got a massive list of industry updates from the meeting, so we’re spreading it out over two days of coverage so you don’t miss a beat.
Espansione Group (booth #2122, #2023) is here with some serious science backing their wearable solutions for dry eye, dry AMD and more. Fresh off a new paper in Eye where they showcased promising data for intermediate dry AMD, Espansione is also running some posters on their wearable tech for glaucoma and cornea applications for your viewing pleasure.
READ MORE: Espansione Group’s eye-light® Gets New CE Mark for Corneal and Retinal Care
ZEISS (booth #1729) is showcasing their latest tools for researchers and beyond in Salt Lake City, too! Their AI-assisted Research Data Platform is making its debut along with a slate of booth talks—including updates on their partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim—are ready for you to discover.
Topcon Healthcare (booth #1401) also made some waves just before the start of the conference with their acquisition of RetInSight, pioneers in ophthalmic AI with their machine learning fluid analysis in exudative retinal disease.
WATCH NOW: Topcon 2024 Recap: A Year of Innovation & Progress
Sydnexis is showing off three abstracts (posters A0117, A0118 and A0132) as the October 2025 PDUFA date for their low-dose atropine candidate new drug application approaches. Check out the poster hall for the latest on their potential myopia management solution now.
Bayer is also bringing the abstract heat, as they have a whopping 26 on display! These include results from their Phase IV SPECTRUM trial for aflibercept 8mg in treatment-naive patients in DME (posters B0078, B0079) early experiences with the drug, and more.
READ MORE: Bayer’s Aflibercept 8 mg Eyes Six-Month Stretch Between Treatments
Stay tuned to our daily conference coverage here!
Editor’s Note: Reporting for this story took place during the annual meeting of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO 2025) being held from 4-8 May in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
