The 76th meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 25-29 April 2004. The congress focused on the latest developments in clinical and laboratory research in ophthalmology and the treatment of ocular disease. In this article the authors review new insights into dry eye, including recent treatment developments, discuss current advances in the field of ocular allergy and highlight new findings in the area of ocular infection presented at the ARVO meeting.