The American Academy of Ophthalmology, Research to Prevent Blindness announce recipients of RPB/AAO Award for IRIS Registry Research

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The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) announced the 2024 recipients of the RPB/AAO Award for IRIS Registry Research.

According to a news release, the researchers will use the Intelligent Research in Sight (IRIS) Registry to gain insight on improving cataract surgery outcomes in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, herpes keratitis treatment, the effectiveness of combination therapy for glaucoma, and improving follow-up care for people with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.¹

The grant partnership was started by the Academy and RPB in 2018 to leverage the data contained in the IRIS Registry to answer pressing questions about eye diseases for the benefit of patient care. With a repository of data on more than 70 million patients, the IRIS Registry is a resource for researchers looking to uncover better approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases in people across races, ethnicities and ages, the groups noted.

The Academy’s IRIS Registry is the nation’s first comprehensive eye disease clinical registry and is used by more than 12,000 ophthalmologists around the country, according to the organization.

The Academy noted in its news release that the following researchers were selected to receive the grant based on the potential of their original research to advance eyecare:¹

Carolina Adams, MD, assistant professor, Emory University School of Medicine

Adams will evaluate whether treating children who have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with immunosuppressant therapy before cataract surgery can improve their visual outcomes. She will also compare outcomes between the children implanted with an intraocular lens (IOL) during cataract surgery with those who did not.

James Chodosh, MD, MPH, professor and chair, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Chodosh is going to study the effectiveness of recurrences of keratitis caused by herpes simplex virus, which is the most common cause of infectious eye disease in this country. There is currently no comparative effectiveness data evaluating acyclovir compared to other antiviral agents such as valacyclovir and famciclovir, and no information about the continuation or cessation of antiviral agents for the past 12 months in the real world, which this study aims to provide to better inform clinical care.

Preethi Ganapathy, MD, assistant professor, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Ganapathy will review the effectiveness of combining the glaucoma drug netarsudil (a rho-kinase inhibitor approved by the FDA in 2017) with selective laser trabeculoplasty to lower intraocular pressure. Both treatments work on the trabecular meshwork extracellular matrix to improve drainage, but it is unknown if their combined effects are synergistic or antagonistic.

Kristen Nwanyanwu, MD, associate professor, Yale University School of Medicine

Nwanyanwu is researching the risk factors associated with patients who fail to return for follow-up appointments to manage their proliferative diabetic retinopathy, as well as how those lapses in care affected their visual outcomes. The findings could help increase the number of patients returning for critical follow-up care so they can avoid vision-threatening complications from their eye disease.

According to the news release, the RPB/AAO Awards for IRIS Registry Research, worth $35,000, provides recipients with a subset of the IRIS Registry database for analysis based on their specific area of focus.

Moreover, the researchers also get training from Academy staff on how to use the IRIS Registry’s analytic capabilities, as well as $10,000 in direct research funds. The results of each awardee’s research will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication after study completion, according to the news release.

Brian F. Hofland, PhD, president of RPB, pointed out that this is the 6th year of providing this award in valuable partnership with the AAO and the relevance and significance of this award has increased over that time.

“Big data is transforming the vision research field—and the eyecare field—in incredible ways,” he said in the news release. “The IRIS Registry allows scientists to answer questions about eye diseases across populations that would not be possible with lab research or clinical trials.”

Stephen McLeod, MD, CEO of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, highlighted the importance of research in. the news release.

“Patient-centered research is core to our mission because it has the potential to help shape the care eye patients across the country receive so that each has the opportunity to enjoy their best life,” McLeod said. “We look forward to seeing the results of this exciting research.”

According to the announcement, 4 more grants will be awarded in 2025. The application process is currently open with a deadline of Jan. 31, 2025. For more details, visit the Academy’s website.

Reference:

1. Staff. The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Research to Prevent Blindness Announce the 2024 Recipients of RPB/AAO Award for IRIS Registry Research. Visionmonday.com. Published August 21, 2024. Accessed August 21, 2024. https://www.visionmonday.com/eyecare/article/the-american-academy-of-ophthalmology-and-research-to-prevent-blindness-announce-the-2024-recipients-of-rpb-aao-award-for-iris-registry-research/