Cross-sectional Group Sessions
If your interests are not easily defined by just one section, consider these Cross-sectional platform sessions.
Sunday, April 23
Noon - 1:30pm
Broadening diversity and inclusion in ocular genetics and multi-omics research (GEN)
Organizer(s): Sudha Iyengar, Pirro Hysi and Elizabeth Rossin
Speaker(s): Sally L. Baxter, Anneke den Hollander, Takeshi Iwata and Alice B. Popejoy
Description:
Diversity in science and medicine is critical to understanding the full landscape of pathophysiology, and it is highly pertinent to the diagnosis, study, and treatment of ocular diseases. The field of ophthalmology has harnessed exquisite data on the organization and functions of the eye from cellular models, animal models, diverse populations, and electronic health records, but much remains to be done to harness the value of diversity in genomics and social determinants of health. This cross-sectional GEN session comprises a broad range of leading experts in the field with significant experience and expertise in applying different forms of diversity and inclusion in their scientific study. The session will highlight areas where progress has been made and topics where further advances need to be made. Ultimately, the patient, the physician, and the scientist all benefit from maintaining diversity as a priority, and the field of ophthalmology benefits as a whole from these improvements.
Tuesday, April 25
11:45am - 1:15pm
Challenges in intervention effectiveness research (LV)
Organizer(s): Ruth Van Nispen, Aurelie Calabrese, and Vijaya Gothwal
Speaker(s): Gianni Virgili, Ryan Man, Hilde van der Aa and Lauren Ayton
Description:
In the last decade, researchers studying the effect of clinical interventions in ophthalmological practice or low-vision services have increasingly used designs that aim for the highest level of evidence. Still, study designs of choice, such as randomized controlled trials, are often pragmatic as they should mimic usual clinical practice. These designs are critical to inform decision-making from a patient’s, clinicians, and policy-makers perspective in real-world settings. However, setting up these pragmatic trials can be a challenge as the implementation of interventions is not straightforward, professionals need to be trained to comply with strict protocols, the same procedures should be used in multiple center studies, and recruitment of patients, choosing the control condition, avoiding drop-out and blinding of outcome assessors can also be complicated. These factors directly or indirectly lead to uncertainty of the effect estimates and interpretation of the results. In this mini-symposium challenges in pragmatic trials are discussed and solutions are presented.
