UAB research follows trend toward pediatric care

Issue: February 2006

ByJessica S. Nowak

As part of a yearlong series, Primary Care Optometry News is looking into current research projects and studies being conducted aeach of the schools and colleges of optometry. E. Eugenie Hartmann, PhD, professor, director of clinical research, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry (UABSO), initiates this series by discussing the university’s current research projects.

As with many sectors of optometry, focus has shifted to pediatrics, with interest in increasing awareness, prevention and research into this key segment of the population. “One of our primary care faculty members recently said that pediatrics has thrown down the gauntlet,” said Dr. Hartmann, a UAB faculty member for 2 years.

Aphakia treatment

“My work right now focuses on infant visual development,” Dr. Hartmann told Primary Care Optometry News. “We are the vision testing center for a multicenter study called the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study, which is funded by the National Eye Insitute (NEI) and coordinated by Emory University department of Ophthalmology.”

The study follows children who are born with cataracts. The enrolled children are assigned either an IOL implant with cataract extraction or contact lens correction only. “I am responsible for testing all of these infants when they’re 12 months of age,” Dr. Hartmann said. “We are also developing protocols for testing them when they’re 4 years old.”

Currently, 23 patients are enrolled in the program at 12 centers across the United States. Dr. Hartmann estimates that 400 children with this condition are born each year in the United States.

Convergence insufficiency study

UABSO is also taking part in a 4-year convergence insufficiency study being coordinated by the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and funded by the NEI. The Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial (CITT) is a randomized, masked, placebo-controlled trial that has enrolled 208 children between the ages of 9 and 18 years. The study will attempt to determine which of the standard therapies — home-based pencil push-up therapy or office-based vision therapy — is the most effective for convergence insufficiency.

Infant formula, retinal development

UABSO is working on a project with Ross Laboratories involving supplemented infant formula. As part of the study, pre-term infants are given a variety of supplemented formula. The researchers at UABSO are then responsible for recording the infant’s retinal development.

Involvement in other pediatric studies

The school’s researchers are involved with the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG), which studies treatment for amblyopia and myopia. UAB is one of the sites for the NEI-funded COMET-2 (Correction of Myopia Evaluation Trial), which is examining the differences between progressive-addition lenses and single-vision lenses on the progression of myopia in children.

Dr. Hartmann has made it a priority to integrate the work being conducted at UABSO with the rest of the campus facilities, especially the medical school. “We happen to be in a unique position as an optometry school within a campus that has a medical school with a really strong research environment,” Dr. Hartmann noted.

Specifically, she has reached out to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and people involved with maternal medicine within the UAB School of Medicine.

Focus on research development

As part of her duties, Dr. Hartmann has been given the job of creating a vision for the development of research at UABSO. The goal is to seed research development through pilot projects to encourage more research and greater funding.

During a recent interview with a UABSO publication, Dr. Hartmann said, “One of the major things I want to be doing is mentoring the junior faculty to bring them into the research arena. They’ve been trained as optometrists, and they enjoy teaching, but some of them are not that well-versed in the research area of their jobs, or at least not as comfortable.”

Dr. Hartmann’s vision includes providing senior faculty mentors to the junior members in the hope of sharing wisdom and insight on the finer points of research.

Research retreat

Dr. Hartmann solidified this commitment to integration by coordinating a day-and-a-half research retreat at the UABSO campus. A majority of the faculty attended, along with representatives from the NEI and Allergan and faculty from the UAB School of Public Health. “The main thing was to bring the faculty from the clinical end together with the faculty from the vision sciences end,” Dr. Hartmann said.

The retreat was an opportunity for the faculty members to review all of the research resources available to them.

Prior to the event, preliminary brainstorming sessions were held to determine which issues were current priorities. Topics such as glaucoma, visual development and eye movements rose to the top of the list.

“At the retreat, we formalized a few projects with the goal that these groups will continue meeting and integrating their work,” Dr. Hartmann said.

For Your Information:

E. Eugenie Hartmann, PhD, is professor and director of clinical research at University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry. She can be reached at 504 Henry B. Peters Building, 1530 3rd Ave. South, School of Optometry, UAB, Birmingham, AL 35294-0010; (205) 975-3143; fax: (205) 934-7980; e-mail: eehartmann@uab.edu.