COSIG Annual
Meeting 2022

Dr. Guillermo Rocha is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. He obtained his Medical Degree at the Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City, followed by a research fellowship in Microvascular Surgery (Mexico City and Houston, TX). He trained in Ophthalmology at McGill University in Montreal and has completed subspecialty training in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation (McGill University), and Cornea and External Diseases (University of South Florida, Tampa). He recently completed the Physician CEO Executive Program at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.​He is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Manitoba, President of the COS Foundation, Past President of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (2016-2018), past President of the Canadian Cornea, External Diseases and Refractive Surgery Society, and former Head of the Department of Surgery at the Brandon Regional Health Centre (2004-2009). He is past Associate Editor and Cornea Section Editor for the international journal Techniques in Ophthalmology and co-Editor of four books, “Advanced Technology IOLs in Cataract Surgery: Pearls for Success”, “Bringing you the Future in Ophthalmology”, “Advances in Refractive and Corneal Surgery” and “Surgical Correction of Astigmatism”. In the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, he is a current Board Member and past Chair of the Council on Continuing Professional Development.

In 1995, he was awarded the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation & Medical Research Council of Canada Resident Research Award for his work on the causative factors of ocular inflammation. Dr. Rocha received two Best Paper of Session awards at the 2001 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) meeting in San Diego, CA, and was the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba iCare Award for 2014. In 2015, he was recognized as one of the 10 Most Successful Mexicans in Canada, followed by an award as one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians in 2016.

Dr. Rocha currently resides in Brandon, Manitoba. He is Medical Director of TLC Laser Eye Centre/LMD Winnipeg, Medical Director of the Ocular Microsurgery & Laser Centre, active Medical Staff in the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Minnedosa Health Centre and Misericordia Health Centre.​He performs Anterior Segment and Corneal Surgeries, including femtosecond laser, LASIK, PRK, PTK, astigmatism correction, Cross-linking and Intacs for Keratoconus, advanced cataract surgery with premium lens implants and femtosecond laser, Visian ICL, corneal transplantation and glaucoma surgery.

Dr. Cynthia X. Qian is currently a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and the head of the electrophysiology laboratory and the pediatric retina service at the University of Montreal. Dr. Qian completed medical school at McGill University. She then went on to finish residency at the University of Montreal where she was chief resident and graduated as the school valedictorian. During this time, she was a Rhodes Scholar finalist for the Province of Quebec and also received the Forces Avenir Personality of the Year award for her implication in International Medicine and Volunteer work.

She received the CNIB EA Baker Fellowship Award and the Besner Valois Fellowship Award and completed dual fellowships in surgical retina at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School in Boston and in inherited retinal diseases at the Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan respectively.  

She is the current Vice President of the Canadian Retina Society, the chair of Royal College Retina AFC committee, and the provincial representative for Quebec in Ophthalmology at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and a member of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS), AAO, the American Society of Retina Specialists, ARVO, and PAAO. Her main research interest is in clinical trials on new therapies in inherited retinal diseases. She is an expert on pathologies of the pediatric retina and on retinal dystrophy. She is the first university-designated clinician-scientist in the department of Ophthalmology in over ten years.She is an official spokesperson for the Canadian Ophthalmological Society. She has been recognized for her ground-breaking work both as a leader in medicine and in clinical ophthalmology. She was chosen as the Young Physician delegate representing Canada at the Young Physician Leaders forum at the World Health Summit in Berlin in 2017. She has also been voted as “The Young Professional of the Year” by the Young Chamber of Commerce of Montreal in 2018 and as one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 2019 and was one of the speakers chosen to present her work at the inaugural University of Montreal TEDx Ophthalmology event in 2021.

Dr. Agnes Wong is Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Psychology at the University of Toronto, and an active staff Ophthalmologist at The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Wong is the former Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at The Hospital For Sick Children, where she was named the inaugural John and Melinda Thompson Chair in Vision Neuroscience. She is also the former Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. In her career as a physician-scientist, Dr. Wong has published extensively in the field of Ophthalmology and vision sciences, travelled widely as a visiting professor / invited speaker, and won many research and teaching awards.

Dr. Wong recently completed chaplaincy training at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM, USA. She also completed the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Teacher Training Intensive. She is a facilitator in the Mindfulness & Compassion Training for Health and End-of-Life Care Professionals program at The Hospital For Sick Children and the Sarana Institute in Toronto. Dr. Wong’s current work focuses on physician well-being, integrating mindfulness, compassion, reflective practice, and system thinking as tools for physicians to maintain and enhance their own well-being, as well as to effect system change.