Welcome to the Holy city of Varanasi, which has been the knowledge capital of the country since times immemorial. In the words of Mark Twain, ‘Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice old as all of them put together.’ It is the perfect place where Science meets Tradition.

We are really thrilled to host the 13th National Conference on Cornea and Eye Banking in the holy city of Varanasi again after a gap of7 years. The last Conference in 2016 was a memorable event for all of us. It is a pleasure and honour for Varanasi Ophthalmological Society and UPSOS to be associated with this mega event. The Conference would be a 2 days academic feast not only for Ophthalmologists but also for the Eye Bankers who are the backbone of the Eye Banking Fraternity.

This year we would be mainly focusing on the newer trends in Corneal Surgery and to devise newer ways to strengthen our EyeBanks. With the new team of EBAI we are much more charged and ready to deliver more to the growth of our society. As in2016, we shall invite stalwarts to perform Live Surgeries in Ophthalmology; especially focusing on newer modalities like DMEK/DSEK/DALK and SLET besides routine PK and Phaco. For the better understanding of our audience we would also behaving Video Assisted Skill Transfer Courses and Wet labs, specially for the Eye Bankers.

We do hope that the Conference would prove to be an excellent platform for all of us, especially Cornea Specialists, and wouldhelp improve our level of knowledge and enhance surgical skills. After Covid we have seen a steep dip in cornea retrieval, which has till date not come back to the pre-covid numbers. This event would definitely help us to retrieve more cornea, to increase theutilization rate and improve the surgical results.