Who We Are

The Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics is a global not-for-profit organization for scientists and individuals from all disciplines related to ocular pharmacology and its therapeutic applications. AOPT has a diverse, multi-national membership composed of preclinical and clinical scientists, students and healthcare professionals. Members are from academic institutions, pharma and biotech industries, device companies, clinics and private practice. To achieve its mission the society organizes biennial conferences and provides editorial leadership for the peer-reviewed Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (JOPT).

The Board of Directors strives to achieve global growth and reach of the society and to make the Board composition and committees representative of its membership.

Mission

• To serve as a global forum and network for the publication, dissemination and exchange of information and knowledge on treatments of eye diseases, from basic and clinical ocular pharmacology and therapeutics to related disciplines such as pharmacokinetics and dynamics, metabolism, translational research, safety, drug delivery, and pharmaceutics
• To promote the advancement of research and scientific progress in these fields
• To assist researchers and eye-care professionals in furthering their understanding of the treatment of ocular disorders

Benefits of Membership

• Access to a global network of ophthalmic scientists and healthcare professionals
• Affordable membership dues
• Very low membership dues for fellows and students
• Discounted registration fee for AOPT scientific conferences
• Networking opportunities at AOPT conferences
• Eligibility for Young Investigator support for attending an AOPT conference
• Substantially reduced subscription fee to the official journal of AOPT, the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (JOPT)
• JOPT manuscript submission fee waived (a $75 savings)
• Opportunity to serve on its governing Board of Directors
• Voting rights in AOPT Board of Director elections

Historic Background

AOPT was begun informally in the 1970s by Dr. George Chiou as special sessions at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) conferences. It grew to an official separate Symposium of Ocular Pharmacology meeting of academicians, clinicians, and pharmaceutical industry representatives at Novi, Michigan in August 1993. The participants voted to charter the organization. This was followed about one year later by the inaugural AOPT meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana in January 1995. The founding board comprised Drs. George Chiou (president), David Lee (vice-president), Hitoshi Shichi (treasurer), and Herbert Kaufman (trustee). During the early FASEB years, Dr. Chiou also established the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology, now known as the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Bylaws

Policies and Procedures