Author name: Niall Slowey

The final session of EURETINA 2026 looked back over the week. In the first of two parts, we revisit the highlights from AMD, diabetes, tumours, surgery, clinical trials, vasculitis and inherited retinal disease.

In the second part of our look back at the closing session, we cover myopia surgery, lifestyle and genetics in dry AMD, global AI models, robotics, diabetic retinopathy screening and the limits of retinal age.

View photos from the delegate party on Saturday evening.

Five talks in a Sunday morning session showed how thinking about diabetic eye disease is shifting, from protecting the whole retinal neurovascular unit to using AI for screening, and from a single view of macular oedema to four distinct phenotypes.

Topics covered by speakers in the Saturday afternoon Euretina session on artificial intelligence (AI) covered model development, applications, and cautions about the need for developers and users to behave safely and responsibly. 

Four teams showed where robots stand in vitreoretinal surgery today, from first-in-human trials to a subretinal injection performed across 4,200 kilometres. The shift under way is from single devices to AI-assisted surgical ecosystems.

In a busy YOURS session, leading retina specialists shared honest advice on choosing, applying for and making the most of a fellowship, from academia to industry to competitive surgical posts.

Speakers in the Saturday morning Euretina Session on myopia covered topics relating to myopic traction maculopathy (MTM), myopia control in children, and dome-shaped macula.

View photos from Saturday in Vienna, including Women in Retina breakfast

Pictures of the early risers on Friday morning who completed the 5km fun run.