A team of retinal specialists from Dongguan Aier travelled to Nanjing to attend an international academic conference, where they joined forces with leading German experts to promote the development of specialised care for intraocular tumours.

From 21 to 23 May, the 27th Retinal Disease Forum and International Retina Symposium (Retina China 2026) was held in Nanjing. As a highly influential international academic event in the field of retinal diseases in China, this year’s conference brought together leading ophthalmologists from around the world to focus on cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and advances in clinical research, thereby establishing a high-calibre platform for international academic exchange.

The team of experts from the Retinal Diseases Department at Aier Eye Hospital’s Dongguan Branch—including Director Liu Fei, Director Wang Hu and Head of Department Huang Hehua—were invited to attend the conference. There, they joined colleagues from home and abroad to explore the latest developments in the field and share academic achievements, with a view to fully advancing the region’s capabilities in the diagnosis and treatment of retinal diseases.

The conference has invited Professor Nikolaos Bechrakis, former President of the German Ophthalmological Society and a consultant at University Hospital Essen, to deliver a keynote lecture. With over 30 years of specialised experience in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular tumours, Professor Bechrakis is an expert in intraoperative OCT, complex retinal detachments, macular surgery and the assessment of post-operative complications following tumour resection. The University Hospital Essen, where he practises, serves as Germany’s national referral centre for intraocular tumours and is renowned for its expertise in retinoblastoma and uveal melanoma.

During the lecture, he systematically shared the latest advances in intraocular tumour surgery, with a particular focus on the surgical techniques for vitrectomy in the treatment of choroidal melanoma. This technique has revolutionised traditional treatment models, significantly improving eye-preservation rates for patients and offering a new approach to the diagnosis and treatment of complex intraocular tumours worldwide.

Professor Bechrakis’s Connection with Dongguan Aier

During the conference, Dean Liu Fei and Dean Wang Hu met once again with Professor Nikolaos Bechrakis to engage in in-depth discussions on key topics such as cutting-edge technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of intraocular tumours, departmental development and talent cultivation. In fact, the two parties have long established a deep academic friendship and a solid foundation for cooperation spanning more than a decade:

Dean Liu Fei has a long-standing connection with Professor Bechrakis. In 2007, whilst undertaking advanced training in the diagnosis and treatment of complex retinal diseases at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany, he studied under Professor Bechrakis; in 2014, he returned to the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria to refine his skills in retinal and vitreous surgery, again studying under Professor Bechrakis; In 2024, Dean Liu Fei made a special trip to the University Hospital of Essen in Germany for a fortnight-long specialised training course on intraocular tumours, continuing to study under Professor Bechrakis throughout.

As far back as 2015, Professor Bechrakis was invited to Dongguan to attend the International Retina Summit organised by Aier Eye Hospital Group and hosted by Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital. He was well acquainted with the hospital’s overall capabilities and was deeply impressed at the time by the fact that its equipment was already on a par with international standards.

Furthermore, in 2025, at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Retina Specialists, Director Wang Hu engaged in in-depth discussions with Professor Bechrakis on specialist issues such as the development of treatment facilities for intraocular tumours and the management of post-operative complications, thereby further strengthening the foundation for cooperation between the two parties.

During this exchange, Professor Bechrakis expressed his full endorsement of the technical capabilities and facilities at Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital. Upon learning that Dongguan Aier currently employs 45 ophthalmologists, he remarked with surprise that the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital of Essen in Germany, where he works, has only 42 ophthalmologists.

He believes the hospital has a solid foundation for performing intraocular tumour surgery and, through the introduction of technology and systematic training, could independently carry out complex procedures such as combined choroidal melanoma surgery. He also provided on-site guidance regarding the hospital’s plans to establish a specialist intraocular tumour department, and expressed his hope to provide diagnostic and therapeutic support for Chinese patients in the future, assisting Dongguan Aier in jointly building this specialist department and bringing the diagnosis and treatment of intraocular tumours fully in line with international standards.