Recently, the 41st Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress (APAO 2026) was held in Hong Kong. An 11-member ophthalmology team from the First Affiliated Hospital (FAH) of Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU) traveled to Hong Kong to attend the congress under the leadership of Director Pei Cheng and with the guidance of Academician Wang Ningli, demonstrating the department’s academic strength and international influence.
During the congress, the delegation visited the School of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Hong Kong and held in-depth exchanges with Professor Fan Guoping’s team. Relying on the Academician Workstation of the FAH of XJTU, the two sides will carry out collaborative research on cell therapy for ocular diseases, integrating HKU’s upstream innovation capacity in stem cells with the FAH’s clinical resources to accelerate the translation of frontier technologies.
The team also actively participated in the congress’s academic exchanges. Chief Physician Li Li delivered an English thematic presentation on ocular surface and corneal diseases, and multiple physicians and postgraduate students completed poster presentations, contributing “XJTU insights” to the development of ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific region.
In addition, at the invitation of the Eye Bank of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Chief Physician Li Li led a four-member team to visit the Eye Bank of Hong Kong Eye Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where they learned from well-established practices and humanistic management concepts in corneal donation, evaluation, and preservation. The two sides reached a consensus to establish a regular communication mechanism and deepen cooperation in areas such as technical collaboration and talent training, so as to support the development of corneal donation and transplantation.
This trip to APAO 2026 marks an important step in the internationalization of the Department of Ophthalmology at the FAH of XJTU and lays a foundation for the discipline’s global cooperation and development. Looking ahead, the department will uphold the congress philosophy, leverage academic leadership from the Academician, advance the integration of clinical practice and research, strengthen talent development, and move toward the goal of building a world-class ophthalmology center, so as to provide higher-quality medical services for patients with eye diseases.
