6110 Executive Boulevard, Suite 506 • Rockville, MD 20852, USA • Tel (301) 984-4734 • Fax (301) 984-4737 • 
Vision Service Plan (VSP)
Evidence-Based Eyecare Seed Grants
Evidence-Based Eyecare Seed Grants
Background
Private practice optometry has a unique primary care support role in the diagnosis, treatment and management of disease, particularly with regard to costly systemic medical maladies. This primary care role provides optometry with the ability to do more towards influencing individual lifestyle and behavioral changes that can lead to lower cost, better medical outcomes and an overall improvement in a patient's quality of life. Evidence-based optometric research is in its infancy, particularly with regard to outcomes research. A significant need for evaluation of the effectiveness of optometric interventions exists today.
Award
|
In 2008, the American Optometric Foundation and VSP entered into a partnership to support the research into the efficacy of optometric care and optometric medical interventions. The 2008 VSP Evidence-Based Eyecare Seed Grant was awarded to Dr. Nathan Efron, Queensland University of Technology, School of Optometry and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation. From the fifteen applications, the review committee made its selection for this highly competitive $42,000 grant. The title of Dr. Efron's project is "Expanding the Role of Optometry in Diabetes Management: Determining the Discrimination Capacity of a Novel New Ophthalmic Marker of Diabetic Neuropathy." |
|
Further News
The significance of Professor Efron's work, in the optometric and primary care impact, is evident in his recognition by the New York-based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRFI), the world's largest charitable funding agency advocate of type 1 diabetes research. Professor Efron has recently received a large related award for a 5-year clinical study entitled "Longitudinal Assessment of Novel ophthalmic Diabetic MARKers (LANDMark)." That grant is a significant milestone for optometry as it is one of only a few awards that the JDRFI has made to optometric researchers.
The winning of successful awards from other funding agencies is an important factor in recognizing the capacity of an investigator to undertake complex and sophisticated scientific investigations and the wisdom of the AOF-VSP Seed Grant. The work to be undertaken as part of the VSP grant will form a critical component of this overall approach; it will facilitate determining the scientific validity of the key test in this work - laser scanning confocal microscopy.
For further details see:
http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=21197
The Foundation congratulates Dr Eforn on his success and thanks VSP for their vision and support of this program.
For additional information about the American Optometric Foundation, contact Mark Bullimore, MCOptom, PhD, FAAO, Development Director: by phone (614) 292-4724 or e-mail 
