Molecular Genetics of Retinal Degenerations Clinical Protocol support contract designed to attain extramural support for developing, designing, interpreting, and evaluating clinical trials, epidemiologic and natural history studies. In addition, it will provide for outcomes research involving eye diseases and visual disorders and some preclinical studies. The focus shall be on the design of studies and the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data emanating from these studies, as well as support, and monitoring patient safety and follow-up. Contractor shall also provide analytical and data management support, as described in the work statement, for specified clinical research data bases, cost-effectiveness and economic analyses, quality of life assessment and outcomes research. This will include, but not be limited to, the following areas: analysis of Medicare and other health care databases;evaluation of existing NEI databases such as, centralized NEI Intramural Research database, the Eye Disease Case Control Study, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study, Framingham Eye Study, and intramural AIDS and uveitis databases. Objective of Clinical Protocol: This multinational study will investigate the inheritance of genetic retinal degeneration in families of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds in order to identify the genes that, when altered, cause retinal degeneration. The retina is a light-sensitive membrane lining the back part of the eye. It relays vision signals to the brain, which the brain interprets into sight. When the retina degenerates, vision is altered and possibly lost. The findings of this study should help improve diagnosis and methods of treatment for these disorders. Participating institutions include: the National Institutes for Health in Bethesda, Maryland;the University of Miami in Florida;the Casey Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon;the Byrd Health Sciences Center in Morgantown, West Virginia;the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas;the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis;the Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India;National Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology in Lahore, Pakistan;and the Jules Gonin Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland.
