This application proposes a training plan to develop Christopher Girkin, MD into an independent clinician-scientist specializing in investigations of optic nerve structure and visual function. Dr. Girkin is a board certified ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in both neuro-ophthalmology and glaucoma with prior research experience involving the relationship between optic disc structure and visual function in glaucoma. This training program will consist of mentored research, advanced coursework leading to a Masters in Science in Public Health, and multi-disciplinary conferences. Mentored research will be conducted under the direction of a mentorship committee composed of Dr. Cynthia Owsley, Director of the UAB Clinical Research Unit and Dr. Gerald McGwin, Director of the Epidemiology Unit in the UAB Center for Injury Sciences. Dr. David Roth and Dr. Robert Weinreb, Director of the UCSD Glaucoma Service will serve as consultants on the project and as committee members. This research will be conducted through the UAB Optic Nerve Imaging Center that Dr. Girkin has developed over the past two years. Quantitative techniques that evaluate optic disc structure in vivo and specialized visual field tests have been developed to better quantify glaucoma. However, each of these techniques has individual weaknesses and detects different aspects of glaucomatous damage. This project proposes that a composite variable developed from these instruments will better quantify glaucomatous damage. This composite can then be used to determine the measurements or combinations of measurements that best quantify glaucomatous damage defined by confirmatory factor analysis and compare this measurement model in Caucasian and African-American subjects both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
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