Dr Kyle Wilson, Wellcome Clinical PhD Fellow in the Department of Eye and Vision Sciences, was recently able to attend the annual meeting of the European Paediatric Ophthalmology Society (EPOS) in the Netherlands, after being awarded an EPOS Travel Award for his presentation, Retinal phenotypes in cerebral malaria may provide insight into underlying immunopathology. Here, Kyle talks to us about his conference experience.
Between 9 and 11 October 2025, I attended the annual meeting of the European Paediatric Ophthalmology Society (EPOS) in Leiden, the Netherlands, to present work from my Wellcome Clinical PhD Fellowship. Over the past three years, my research has focused on the relationship between the eye, the brain, and the immune system in paediatric cerebral malaria in Malawi. My attendance was supported by an EPOS Travel Award.
The conference featured sessions spanning the breadth of paediatric ophthalmology, including genetic and metabolic disorders, retinopathy of prematurity, the psychosocial impact of paediatric eye disease, and inflammatory eye disease. My presentation formed part of the inflammatory eye disease session.
Cerebral malaria is not a common concern for paediatric ophthalmologists in Europe, yet many presentations offered valuable insights and transferable techniques. Notable highlights included a clinical workflow for collecting tears for proteomic analysis and the identification of optical coherence tomography parameters relevant to detecting brain swelling. Tears represent a promising, non-invasive source of biomarkers for neuroinflammation in cerebral malaria. Likewise, brain swelling is a key mechanism of death in cerebral malaria, and I am currently working on a project led by Dr Nick Beare and Professor Yalin Zheng to identify patients at risk of severe brain swelling using optical coherence tomography.
Beyond the scientific sessions, it was a pleasure to reconnect with colleagues and meet new peers. Having only recently returned to the UK, I had felt somewhat removed from ophthalmic practice in Europe. The networking events provided an excellent opportunity to discuss future steps in my career as a clinical academic with senior colleagues from across the UK and further afield.
The meeting concluded on a high note as I was awarded one of the ‘Best Presentation’ prizes in the Oral Presentation category—a very satisfying end to three days of stimulating clinical and academic exchange.