CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND INVITED LECTURES
Dr David Gunn teaches corneal, cataract and refractive surgery at congresses across Australia, Asia, Europe, India and South Africa. Most of that teaching is on CAIRS for keratoconus and corneal ectasia, and on corneal cross-linking. This is the record — what was presented, where, and who ran the meeting.
A fuller list of published work is on the research and publications page.
2026
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Clareon PanOptix Pro: The International Early Adopter Experience
Invited international speaker; panellist, PanOptix Pro segment (moderated by Prof Ronald Yeoh)
Alcon's Asia-Pacific launch of the Clareon PanOptix Pro trifocal intraocular lens and the UNITY VCS platform brought leading cataract and vitreoretinal surgeons from across the region together to share their early clinical experience. As an early adopter of the lens in Australia and New Zealand, Dr Gunn was invited to present the international early-adopter experience and to join the PanOptix Pro panel discussion, moderated by Prof Ronald Yeoh alongside faculty including Prof Chee Soon Phaik and Dr Tan Peng Yi.
Meeting description: Alcon — Clareon PanOptix Pro
- Clareon PanOptix Pro
- trifocal IOL
- premium cataract surgery
- early adopter experience
- Alcon APAC
-
A Few of My Favourite 'Rings': CAIRS Plan Pro
Co-chair and speaker, Session Ten — Cornea: Saturday Morning Live, The Cone Edition (with Dr Aanchal Gupta)
AUSCRS is the Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, and its annual meeting is the main regional forum for cataract, refractive and anterior segment surgery. The 2026 meeting, convened by President Dr Jacqueline Beltz and Vice President Dr Andrea Ang under the title The Sound of AUSCRS, ran dedicated programmes for advanced trainees, doctors and support staff, and took over the Novotel Sunshine Coast at Twin Waters for four days. Dr Cathleen McCabe delivered the 2026 Barrett/Wolfe Lecture.
Meeting description: AUSCRS — 2026 Conference
- keratoconus
- corneal cross-linking
- CAIRS
- femtosecond channel
- corneal ectasia
- corneal transplant
-
Femto CAIRS
Invited speaker, Session 9 — Therapeutics
Ziemer's regional user meeting brings FEMTO LDV Z8 surgeons from across Asia-Pacific together for two days on refractive, cataract and therapeutic femtosecond applications. The Z8 is a mobile, low-energy femtosecond platform used for everything from lenticule extraction to corneal channel creation, which is what makes it relevant to CAIRS.
Meeting description: Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems — FEMTO LDV Z8
- Femto CAIRS
- FEMTO LDV Z8
- corneal channels
- therapeutic femtosecond laser
- keratoconus
-
WaveLight Plus ray-traced laser outcomes; early Clareon PanOptix Pro experience
Steering committee member and session moderator
FOCUS is an Australasian cataract and refractive symposium run as an Alcon event series, built around a surgeon steering committee rather than a company agenda. The 2026 committee was Dr Alison Chiu (Sydney), Dr David Gunn (Brisbane), Dr Dean Corbett (Auckland) and Dr Ben LaHood (Adelaide). The meeting carried RANZCO accreditation for 4 Education and 1 Reviewing Performance hours.
Meeting description: FOCUS symposium programme and on-stage steering committee slide
- WaveLight Plus
- ray tracing
- Clareon PanOptix Pro
- trifocal IOL
- refractive cataract surgery
-
The 2026 Cornea SA Lecture
Invited named lecturer; Top Tips Champion; lead instructor, Lions World Vision Institute CAIRS wet lab
The 21st Biennial SASCRS Congress ran 12–15 February 2026 at the Sandton Convention Centre, drawing ophthalmologists, anterior segment surgeons and international faculty together to shape the future of cataract, corneal and refractive surgery. A parallel two-day congress ran for nurses and theatre personnel.
Meeting description: SASCRS Congress
- Cornea SA Lecture
- Top Tips Champion
- CAIRS
- corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segments
- keratoconus wet lab
- OptiGraft
2025
-
Transitioning to CAIRS — precut allogenic rings, the Brisbane nomogram and CAIRSPlan
Session faculty (session chaired by Dr Soosan Jacob); instructional course faculty; ePoster author
The 43rd ESCRS Congress brought more than 16,700 participants and over 300 exhibitors from 125 countries to the Bella Center. The programme ran five main and four research symposia, more than 110 instructional courses, and hundreds of wet and dry labs across cataract, refractive, cornea, glaucoma and retina.
Meeting description: ESCRS
- CAIRS
- precut corneal ring segments
- KeraNatural
- Brisbane nomogram
- CAIRSPlan
- corneal ectasia
-
Next Generation CAIRS Modelling and Automated Nomogram
Invited speaker; controversies session — DALK vs PTK, cross-linking vs CAIRS
The 2025 Queensland Branch ASM, themed "Vision for Tomorrow — Cornea, External Eye Diseases and Oculoplastics", ran 22–24 August at the JW Marriott Gold Coast. It focused on corneal, ocular surface and oculoplastic conditions, with leading experts presenting current research and treatment strategies to over 200 colleagues.
Meeting description: RANZCO
- CAIRS nomogram
- hyper-parallel OCT
- Cylite
- automated surgical planning
- keratoconus
- DALK
-
FemtoCAIRS for keratoconus — 2025 update; A Deep Dive into Refractive Solutions
Main session speaker; Device Technology dinner presenter
AUSCRS 2025 ran 16–19 July at the Darwin Convention Centre under the theme "Disconnect to reconnect — experience the top end in every sense", with dedicated programmes for advanced trainees, surgeons and support staff. Professor Michael Knorz delivered the 2025 Barrett/Wolfe Lecture.
Meeting description: AUSCRS
- FemtoCAIRS
- keratoconus
- Ziemer Z8
- refractive surgery
- corneal ectasia
-
CAIRS — a paradigm shift in the management of corneal ectasia
Ridley Award Lecture; video session; CAIRS tips and tricks
DOC is Europe's largest dedicated cataract, corneal and refractive surgery congress. The 37th edition brought more than 6,700 surgeons, researchers and industry to Nuremberg for three days of live surgery, plenary debate and hands-on training.
Meeting description: DOC Nuremberg
- Ridley Lecture
- CAIRS
- corneal ectasia
- keratoconus
- Femto CAIRS
-
Planning CAIRS cases with CAIRSPlan.com
Invited speaker
The 40th Annual Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Cornea Society, held with the Eye Bank Association of Australia and New Zealand, is the national forum for corneal surgeons and eye banking. Dr Gunn presented on planning corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segment (CAIRS) cases and the CAIRSPlan.com planning platform.
Meeting description: Australian and New Zealand Cornea Society
- CAIRS
- CAIRSPlan
- keratoconus
- surgical planning
- corneal ectasia
2024
-
Femto-CAIRS for corneal ectasia; Phorcides-guided PTK with cross-linking for keratoconus
Presented poster pod author (Gunn, Cronin, Cox); instructional course faculty
The 42nd ESCRS Congress recorded total attendance of 16,247 at Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, with more than 300 exhibitors and over 1,300 ophthalmic nurses, technicians and allied professionals. The programme included 80 wet labs and 111 instructional courses.
Meeting description: ESCRS EuroTimes
- Femto-CAIRS
- corneal ectasia
- Phorcides
- topography-guided PTK
- corneal cross-linking
-
WaveLight Plus first Queensland cases; RayOne EMV outcomes; Phorcides-guided Contoura for keratoconus; FemtoCAIRS six-month results
Session speaker (refractive and corneal programme)
AUSCRS 2024, themed “The I-Land”, was held on Hamilton Island. Dr Gunn presented across the refractive and corneal programme — early WaveLight Plus ray-traced laser cases in Queensland, RayOne EMV intraocular lens outcomes, Phorcides-guided topographic treatment for keratoconus, and six-month results with femtosecond-created CAIRS.
Meeting description: Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
- WaveLight Plus
- ray tracing
- RayOne EMV
- Phorcides
- FemtoCAIRS
- keratoconus
-
FemtoCAIRS; the CAIRS Multiverse; WaveLight Plus outcomes; topography-guided transepithelial cross-linking
Invited international faculty — awarded the IIRSI Gold Medal
IIRSI has run since 1982 as a platform for surgeons worldwide to exchange experience in intraocular lens implantation and refractive surgery. The 2024 convention, held on 6 and 7 July at the ITC Grand Chola, drew more than 4,000 ophthalmologists and around 50 expert speakers for invited lectures, live surgery, wet labs and the IIRSI Film Festival Awards.
Meeting description: IIRSI
- IIRSI Gold Medal
- FemtoCAIRS
- WaveLight Plus
- transepithelial cross-linking
- keratoconus
-
Planning CAIRS cases with CAIRSPlan.com
Invited speaker
The 39th Annual Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Cornea Society, held with the Eye Bank Association of Australia and New Zealand. Dr Gunn presented on planning corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segment (CAIRS) cases with the CAIRSPlan.com planning platform.
Meeting description: Australian and New Zealand Cornea Society
- CAIRS
- CAIRSPlan
- keratoconus
- surgical planning
2023
-
Femto-cut CAIRS
Instructional CAIRS course faculty; abstract author
The 41st ESCRS Congress ran 8–12 September 2023 at the Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Centre. ESCRS instructional courses are peer-selected teaching sessions rather than sponsored content, which is what makes a course faculty position a useful marker of where a technique sits in mainstream practice.
Meeting description: ESCRS
- CAIRS instructional course
- femtosecond channel
- keratoconus
- corneal allogenic ring segments
-
StreamLight transepithelial PRK; femtosecond CAIRS
Invited speaker; congress education studio recording
The 35th APACRS Annual Meeting ran 8–10 June 2023 at Suntec Singapore under the theme "NEXUS — Connecting Everyone and Everything". Professor Gerd Auffarth delivered the 2023 APACRS LIM Lecture, and the programme covered phakic IOLs, lenticule techniques and ray-tracing approaches to refractive predictability.
Meeting description: APACRS
- StreamLight
- transepithelial PRK
- femtosecond CAIRS
- surface laser
- keratoconus
-
Oxygen-supplemented, topography-guided epithelium-on corneal cross-linking for progressive keratoconus
ePoster — Cronin & Gunn (presenting authors)
The ASCRS Annual Meeting is the largest cataract and refractive surgery meeting in the United States. Dr Gunn presented the Brisbane series on oxygen-supplemented, topography-guided epithelium-on corneal cross-linking for progressive keratoconus — work later published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Meeting description: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
- corneal cross-linking
- epi-on CXL
- oxygen-supplemented
- keratoconus
2022
-
Phorcides-guided topographic PTK with cross-linking; CAIRS for post-LASIK ectasia
Presenter — Australian Vision Research recommended abstract (CAIRS for post-LASIK ectasia)
The 53rd RANZCO Annual Scientific Congress in Brisbane is the annual meeting of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists. Dr Gunn presented Phorcides-guided topographic PTK with corneal cross-linking, and CAIRS for post-LASIK ectasia — the latter selected as an Australian Vision Research recommended abstract.
Meeting description: Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
- Phorcides PTK
- corneal cross-linking
- CAIRS
- post-LASIK ectasia
-
Phorcides-guided topographic PTK with cross-linking for keratoconus
Free paper podium (Gunn & Cronin); presented poster — first report of CAIRS with cross-linking for post-LASIK ectasia
The 40th ESCRS Congress ran 16–20 September 2022 at the Allianz MiCo, Milano Convention Centre — the society's first full-scale in-person congress after the pandemic years, and the meeting where several of the current keratoconus techniques were first argued out in public.
Meeting description: ESCRS
- Phorcides
- topography-guided PTK
- corneal cross-linking
- post-LASIK ectasia
- CAIRS
ALSO PRESENTED
Further meetings, with full write-ups to follow.
| Meeting | Year | Location | Presented |
|---|---|---|---|
| RANZCO Cornea Grand Rounds | 2020 | Australia | The first case of CAIRS surgery performed in Australia |