The first IEOC Symposium was held April 3-4, 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky. The Dorothy Havemeyer Foundation of New York, NY supported this workshop. The IEOC is a group of clinicians and scientists dedicated to the study of ocular disease of horses and the goal of this symposium is to share clinical and basic research on equine ophthalmology and to facilitate the development of multi-centered collaborative research.

Drs. Dennis Brooks (University of Florida) and Brian Gilger (North Carolina State University) organized the symposium.  There were 13 invited speakers and 37 additional participants for a total of 50 attendees from around the world (i.e., from USA, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK). The format included “state of the art” lectures, free paper presentations, and round-table discussions on common equine ocular diseases including adnexal neoplasia, infectious keratitis, non-ulcerative keratitis, glaucoma, vision, cataract surgery, recurrent uveitis, and retinal disease. 

This first IEOC symposium met its goals of gathering a group of leading equine ophthalmology clinicians and researchers to indentify the challenges of the field.  To facilitate collaboration, notes from round-table discussions, including the ideas and plans that were discussed were  complied and distributed to the attendees.  Development of an IEOC membership organization and website was discussed and supported by the group in an effort to further advance the science of equine ophthalmology.