Kazuo Tsubota serves as the CEO of Tsubota Laboratory and Professor Emeritus at

Keio University School of Medicine. An internationally recognized dry eye

specialist, Prof. Tsubota has devoted much of his career to studying the pathogenesis

and treatment of dry eye. Prof. Tsubota was the first Japanese recipient of the American Academy of

Ophthalmology Honor Award and received the Academy’s Life Achievement Award in 2020.

Kyung Chul Yoon, MD, PhD is a Professor of the Department of Ophthalmology, Chonnam National University Medical School and Hospital and a Vice President of the Chonnam National University Hospital, Korea. Following his residency at the Chonnam National University Hospital, he completed a fellowship at the Keio University School of

Medicine, Japan, in 2004, and the Cullen Eye Institute of the Baylor College of Medicine, USA, in 2006–2007.

Dr. Yoon specializes in tear film and ocular surface disorders, especially dry eye disease. He is one of the pioneers in the field of clinical and experimental dry eye research and has developed many drug delivery systems for dry eye treatment. He is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Clinical Medicine, the Frontiers in Medicine, and the Annals of Optometry and Contact Lens and has published 360 scientific papers as well as 10 book chapters. 

Dr. Yoon is a president of the Korean Dry Eye Society, a president of the Korea Cornea Disease Study Group, and a previous president of the Korean Contact Lens Study Society. He is a member of the Asia Dry Eye Advisory Board and Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society DEWS II & III.

Professor Lingyi Liang is the Vice President and Director of the Prevention of

Blindness Department at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, China. As a doctor in corneal and ocular surface diseases, she specializes in the diagnosis and management of complex keratitis, immune-mediated corneal diseases, and complicated dry eye cases.

Prof. Liang led the “laughter therapy” study for dry eye disease treatment published in The BMJ (as the last corresponding author). She also introduced the concept of “Functional Dry Eye” which has been officially adopted into Chinese national clinical guidelines. Her prolific academic output includes over one hundred SCI publications in top-tier journals such as NEJM (case), The BMJ, Allergy, and Ophthalmology.

In her capacity as a Board Director of the Asia Dry Eye Society (ADES), she has led or contributed to the development of six international consensus guidelines. Globally, she serves as a core member of the WHO SPECS 2030 initiative. She also holds editorial leadership as the deputy editor of BMJ Open Ophthalmology and editorial board member in Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO)

Dr Ong Hon Shing is a Senior Consultant at the Singapore National Eye Centre and Deputy Clinical Director of the Singapore Eye Bank. He obtained his medical degree from Barts and the London School of Medicine, University of London, where he achieved the highest number of awards in his cohort and was proxime accessit to the University of London Gold Medal.

He completed his Ophthalmology Specialist Training at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, and received multiple accolades, including the Elizabeth Hunt Medal from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Dr Ong holds postgraduate qualifications from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, an MSc in Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and a PhD in ocular surface inflammation and scarring from University College London.

Dr Ong has completed subspecialty fellowships in corneal and external diseases and refractive surgery in the UK and Singapore. His clinical expertise includes corneal and ocular surface diseases, advanced corneal transplantation, cataract surgery, and refractive surgery.

An active clinician-scientist, Dr Ong has received numerous research awards and grants, published extensively in international journals, and regularly presents at international conferences. He is also actively involved in medical education and humanitarian ophthalmic missions.

Reiko Arita, MD, PhD is an ophthalmologist specializing in dry eye disease and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). She received her MD and PhD degrees from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and completed her clinical training in ophthalmology at the same institution. She subsequently held academic and clinical appointments at Keio University and the University of Tokyo.

Dr. Arita is currently Chief Ophthalmologist and Deputy Director of Itoh Clinic. Her research focuses on the ocular surface, meibomian gland biology, meibography, and the diagnosis and management of MGD. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to the development and clinical application of noncontact meibography.

She serves as Chair of the Lid and Meibomian Gland Working Group and has played key roles in multiple international initiatives of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS), including the International Workshops on MGD, DEWS II, and DEWS III. Dr. Arita is an Associate Editor of The Ocular Surface and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals.

She holds multiple international patents related to dry eye diagnostics and therapeutic technologies, including noncontact meibography, and has received national awards for her contributions to dry eye research.

Dr. Shizuka Koh is Associate Professor of Innovative Visual Science at the University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. She received her MD and PhD from the same institution and completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Rochester, USA.

Her academic and clinical work spans the full spectrum of corneal and ocular surface health, including dry eye, keratoconus, corneal imaging, and contact lenses, with a particular focus on visual quality. She has authored over 160 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters, and her clinical applications of optical quality assessment and tear film analysis have helped bridge basic research and clinical practice.

Dr. Koh is a recipient of the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). She serves as Associate Editor of Eye & Contact Lens and is on the Editorial Board of Eye. She has served as President of the Japan Contact Lens Society since January 2026.

Associate Professor Yu-Chi Liu is currently Clinician and Clinician Scientist at the Department of Cornea, Singapore National Eye Centre. She is also the Co-Head, Regenerative Therapy Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, and Associate Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Duke National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS), Singapore.

She is listed as the Top 100 Most Influential Ophthalmologist in Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (2025), and the World Top 2% Scientist since 2022 (2022-2025). She has published 170 peer-reviewed papers, including 2 in prestigious journals: LANCET and LANCET RESPIRATORY MEDICINE, as the first author. She has been successful in obtaining national research funding, with a total funding amount of 8.1 million $SGD. She has won 19 awards both nationally and internationally, such as the Achievement Award of Asia- Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

Her clinical and research work is internationally recognized. She is the Lead of Global Neuropathic Ocular Pain (NOPP) platform. She is in the Advisory Board of American Academy of Ophthalmology, Global Ophthalmology. She is the Editor of 7 journals and contributed to 7 book chapters.