Devers Research - Discoveries in Sight Research Laboratories
Research studies and programs currently in process at Devers Research - Discoveries in Sight Research Laboratories include:
Special facilities available through Devers Research - Discoveries in Sight Research Laboratories include:
Research Studies
Visual Field Reading Center
Under the direction of G. A. Cioffi, MD and Shaban Demirel, OD, PhD, the Discoveries in Sight Visual Field Reading Center (VFRC) serves as a global resource center for compilation, analysis and verification of visual field information. The VFRC is responsible for:
- Developing study specific reading center protocols for the collection and interpretation of visual field data.
- Designing computer systems that allow quality control assessment and processing of visual field data.
- Receiving, analyzing and interpreting visual field data, including statistical analysis of data transferred from national and international sites.
- Certifying study sites and their staff involved in collecting visual field data, overseeing and managing the performance of quality control, patient recruitment and data collection.
- Determining whether or not a visual field event or outcome has been reached, per study protocols
The VFRC has collaborative projects with government and private industry, including the National Eye Institute and National Institutes of Health clinical trials. There are currently more than 100 sites worldwide sending visual field data to our center.
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Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Under the direction of Stuart Gardiner, PhD and Steven Mansberger, MD, MPH, the Devers Eye Institute Ocular Epidemiology and Biostatistics Center (OEBC) serves to study the determinants of health-related conditions or events and their distribution within specific populations (epidemiology) as well as in the application of statistical methodology towards the description, analysis, modeling and interpretation of health-related data (biostatistics). Overall, the goal of epidemiology is to decrease the burden of disease in specified populations. This lies in contrast to the typical medical model of decreasing the burden of disease on an individual level.
The OEBC conducts multiple epidemiological and clinical trial studies. Some of our more recent studies include the determination of the prevalence of eye diseases in American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN), an exploration of the determinants of compliance with glaucoma medications, an examination of the gains in vision-related quality of life after the provision of eyeglasses in AI/AN, the use of telemedicine to track progression of diabetic eye disease, and various clinical trials to determine the efficacy and tolerability of assorted eye medications and surgical procedures.
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Ocular Blood Flow Laboratory
Under the direction of Lin Wang, MD, PhD, the Ocular Blood Flow Laboratory, established by G. A. Cioffi, MD, focuses on the pathological role of blood flow in the mechanisms of glaucoma. By using different techniques, this lab has investigated the anatomy and physiology of microcirculation in the eye under normal and experimental conditions. Current projects include:
- To test the hypothesis that blood flow autoregulation dysfunction is a principle contributing mechanism to blood flow deficiency in the optic nerve and to visual system damage in an experimental model of glaucoma.
- To explore and advance different techniques for blood flow measurement and assessment of autoregulatory capacity in the optic nerve.
- In cooperation with Dr. An Zhou, Dow Neurobiology Laboratories, to investigate the neuropeptide processing system in the retina and its potential roles in the pathology of ischemic retina injury.
- In collaboration with Dr. Crawford Downs and Dr. Brad Fortune to develop techniques to investigate the angioarchitecture of the optic nerve head with a cutting-edge technology; and to advance, validate and compare several diagnostic tools that are used clinically to evaluate the nerve fiber layer in experimental models of glaucoma.
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Ocular Biomechanics Laboratory
The role of intraocular pressure (IOP) in the development and progression of glaucoma is still unclear, even though IOP is the principal risk factor for development of the disease. The eye is a pressure vessel, and we believe that the eyes of each person deform differently in response to IOP. This could explain, at least in part, the variations in susceptibility to IOP-related damage in glaucoma. To investigate the relationship between IOP and glaucoma, the Ocular Biomechanics Laboratory, under the direction of J. Crawford Downs, PhD, studies the eye as a mechanical pressure vessel using a combination of engineering-based experimental and computational approaches. Experimentally, we study the stiffness of the various load-bearing tissues of the eye for use in our computational eye models. We are also developing telemetric tools to characterize the level of IOP as it changes throughout the day. Computationally, we have developed computer models of individual eyes with anatomically accurate geometries that are used to predict the forces and IOP-induced deformations of the ocular load-bearing tissues. The results of this work should help improve our understanding of the role of IOP in glaucoma, and hopefully lead to better clinical screening and diagnostic tools.
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Optic Nerve Head Research Laboratory
Under the direction of Claude Burgoyne, MD, the Devers Eye Institute Optic Nerve Head Research Laboratory (ONHRL) is funded by the National Institutes of Health along with private and corporate funding agencies to study the neural and connective tissues of the optic nerve head. To do so, this laboratory utilizes state of the art in-vivo and in-vitro three-dimensional (3D) imaging techniques to build high-resolution digital reconstructions of the optic nerve head tissues of normal and glaucomatous eyes. The laboratory is particularly interested in early glaucomatous damage and in the alterations in susceptibility which may be associated with optic nerve head aging. Ongoing collaborations with the engineers of the Devers Eye Institute Ocular Biomechanics Laboratory, clinical ocular imaging researchers and cell and molecular biologists are adding to the laboratory’s ability to describe the basic mechanisms by which the neural and connective tissues of the optic nerve head are damaged in glaucoma. The long-term goal of the ONHRL is to translate optic nerve head basic science into clinical tools that will help predict an individual eye’s risk for developing glaucomatous vision loss.
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Electrophysiology
Under the direction of Brad Fortune, OD, PhD, the Devers Eye Institute Electrodiagnostic Services and electrophysiology laboratory apply an array of electrodiagnostic and ocular imaging techniques to study both normal and abnormal aspects of the visual system. These techniques can reveal interesting aspects of normal visual system function or anatomy and also serve as important diagnostic tools for diseases of the visual system, the eye and brain. The goal of some portion of research in the Devers electrophysiology laboratory is to better understand the fundamentals and the intricacies of these electrodiagnostic techniques, while other projects aim to improve diagnostic capabilities or to gain insight into the process of eye diseases such as glaucoma.
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Perimetry and Psychophysics
The Perimetry and Psychophysics Laboratory, under the joint direction of Shaban Demirel, OD, PhD, Brad Fortune, OD, PhD and Stuart Gardiner, PhD, is currently conducting the Longitudinal Study of Ocular Hypertension and Glaucoma. In this study, which is in its 11th year, people at risk of significant vision loss from glaucoma undergo a series of tests at regular intervals. The overarching aim is to better understand how glaucoma progresses over time. For example, how quickly does it worsen on average? Perhaps more importantly, we would like to identify individual patient features that predict who is most at risk for rapid worsening.
Results from this study are used to improve the clinical tests used by physicians to manage their patients with glaucoma. This type of ongoing study is quite rare (there are probably only a handful like it anywhere in the world), due to the large labor commitment and great cost involved in conducting such a study. Perhaps even more important to the success of the study is the enduring commitment of the patients being tested. Even though this type of study is difficult to conduct, there are certain questions about glaucoma that can only be answered by this approach, e.g., determining which clinical tests will identify the disease earliest. It is also important for describing the natural history and staging of this disease.
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Northwest Tribal Vision Project
American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) suffer from higher rates of systemic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, little information exists regarding eye disease in AI/AN. Devers Eye Institute designed the Northwest Tribal Vision Project (NWTVP), under the direction of Steven Mansberger, MD, MPH, to determine the ocular health status of AI/AN and improve AI/AN access to ocular care. The study has four main objectives:
- To provide preliminary data regarding the age-specific prevalence of visual impairment, blindness, and ocular disease (such as cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related maculopathy) and related risk factors in a sample of AI/AN aged 40 years and older.
- To determine whether technicians performing newer methods of testing are as reliable at diagnosing eye disease as an expert examiner such as an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
- To determine whether telemedicine, specifically the remote interpretation of retinal imagery using cameras that do not require dilation, is as sensitive to diabetic retinal changes as an examination using a standard dilated eye exam.
- To determine the changes in vision-related quality of life after the procurement of eyeglasses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds this joint venture between Devers Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Science University’s Prevention Research Center, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, and participating tribes both locally and abroad.
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Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS)
This major clinical trial is sponsored by the National Eye Institute and is designed to assess the clinical course, prognosis and risk factors of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract, and to evaluate the effects of pharmacologic doses of (1) antioxidants and zinc on the progression of AMD and (2) antioxidants on the development and progression of cataract. Results from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) showed that high levels of antioxidants and zinc significantly reduce the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration and its associated vision loss. These same nutrients had no significant effect on the development or progression of cataract. See http://www.nei.nih.gov/amd for more information.
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Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2)
The Portland center for the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) is under the direction of Michael Klein, M.D. and Carolyn Beardsley, Clinical Research Coordinator. AREDS2 is trying to determine whether the nutritional supplements, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, and two nutrients found in fish oil, DHA and EPA, will slow the development of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Lutein and Zeaxanthin are found in many yellow and orange fruits and vegetables, and in dark, leafy greens. The study will also look at whether reducing or eliminating certain vitamins and minerals from a previous nutritional pill that slowed macular degeneration in people at risk for the advanced stages of the disease will work as well as the original supplement did.
There are approximately 90 medical centers in the United States participating in this study. Recruitment for the study ended June 30, 2008, and more than 4,000 patients have been enrolled. The study is sponsored by the National Eye Institute, one of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health. Results from this study are anticipated in 2012. See http://www.nei.nih.gov/areds2 for more information.
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Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS)
The Portland site for the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) is under the direction of Principal Investigator, G. A. Cioffi, MD and Kathryn Sherman, Clinical Research Coordinator. The first five-year period of the study showed eye drops used to treat elevated pressure inside the eye are effective in delaying the onset of glaucoma. This clinical trial, sponsored by the National Eye Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, then entered a second five-year phase to determine whether eye drops to lower pressure are as effective when started later compared to earlier treatment. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) expects to publish the final study findings in the spring of 2009. See http://www.nei.nih.gov/glaucomaeyedrops for more information.
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Community Screening with the Frequency Doubling Technology
Over the past 12 years, Devers Eye Institute has provided free glaucoma/visual field screenings to more than 15,000 individuals in Portland and surrounding communities using frequency-doubling technology. Devers Eye Institute recognizes the value of these screenings in their commitment to the prevention of blindness. Early diagnosis and intervention is key to successful treatment of glaucoma. Changes in visual field can also be a sign of stroke, retinal degenerations, diabetic retinopathy or brain disease along the visual pathway. The screening venues range from large health fair settings to small community events.
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