This year’s Aniridia Day was more important than ever. The absence of our usual conference, due to pandemic restrictions, made it vital to find another way of connecting aniridia patients with one another, and with those who support them.

We therefore held a special online conference, providing an afternoon of free, informative presentations and discussions about aniridia. Anyone was welcome to attend from all over the world, especially patients with aniridia and their relatives in the UK and Ireland.

Watch recordings of the event on YouTube.

We had fantastic speakers and time to ask questions and chat with people also affected by the condition, as we all celebrated international Aniridia Day together.

The agenda included:

• Open discussion for all attendees
• Dry Eye Disease and Aniridia – Colin Parsloe will talk about the causes and treatments for the gritty sore sensation many feel in their eyes.
• “But you don’t look blind?” – Charles Bloch will talk about challenges and successes at university and finding jobs with aniridia.
• Annual General Meeting 2020 of Aniridia Network – Reports, financial accounts, questions and comments.
• Achievements with Aniridia – Sinead Kane will give a motivating talk about becoming a lawyer, multi-marathon athlete and world record holder with aniridia.
• Success at Aniridia Centre – Dr Natella Sukhanova will show how she has created an effective centre of excellence at the Research Institute of Pediatrics in the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Science.
• Open conversation for all attendees
• Perhaps other sessions, to be confirmed.

The event was also a substitute for the European Aniridia Conference in London, which is delayed until summer 2021.