Richard Davis, Professor
and Chair of the USC Department of Ophthalmology leads the Department’s
clinical and translational research effort. The Department now ranks 51
of 117 ACGME accredited Ophthalmology programs in National Institutes
of Health (NIH) funding, according to 2005 rankings. The USC Vision Research
Center has approximately 6000 square feet of research space where scientists
explore methods in proteomics, genomics, cell imaging, cell biology, and
community translation regarding macular degeneration, retinal vascular
diseases (diabetes, retinopathy of prematurity), and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
The USC Vision Research Center in collaboration with the Medical University
of South Carolina (MUSC) was recently awarded a Research Center of Economic
Excellence award (COEE) by the State of South Carolina in 2004. This 9.0
million dollar award provides funding to recruit 3 endowed chairs to develop
new drugs and devices that will improve lives by reducing vision loss
from diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma,
retinopathy of prematurity, and cataract. The Center’s anticipated economic
impact for the South Carolina includes job growth and new industries.
 Dr.
Davis main research interest is the community translation of efficacy
trials such as the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), the
United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Studay (UKPDS), and the Diabetes Prevention
Program (DPP), which demonstrate that glucose control is necessary for
primary and secondary prevention of eye, kidney and cardiovascular complications
of diabetes. However, the knowledge and practice of these successes are
not necessarily translated to health systems, physicians or patients in
communities with health care shortages. Dr. Davis is interested in conducting
randomized clinical trials that test innovative methods that increase
patient’s knowledge, adherence to clinical guidelines and medications,
and promote health systems changes that improve overall health. These
methods are important for chronic eye diseases as well, such as glaucoma
and macular degeneration.
Dr. Davis is principle investigator (PI) of two National Institutes of
Health (NIH) grants, the USC Clinical Translational Sciences Award (P20)
and Bridging Barriers to Diabetes Care With Telemedicne (R18), Diabetes
TeleCare.
The University of South Carolina Clinical Translational Sciences Award
(CTSA) is funded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
of the NIH. It is a university-wide planning effort in collaboration with
the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), and the Medical College
of Georgia (MCG) to fund research infrastructure at all three institutions.
The proposal, if funded, will increase clinical and translational research
and education to train the next generation of basic science and clinician
scientists for the benefit of citizens of South Carolina and Georgia.
If awarded, the NIH will commit as much as 30 million dollars to the three
institutions over 5 years. The planning process will end in September
2007 followed by the submission of a CTSA U54 grant in October 2007. If
successful, the grant will transform research activities at USC, MUSC,
and MCG by developing collaborative and innovative approaches that move
laboratory discoveries more efficiently and quickly to clinical trials
and community practice. The hope and promise of this award are discoveries
that reduce health disparities and result in cures and treatments for
diseases that afflict our region such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, and
cardiovascular diseases.
The second NIH funded grant of Dr. Davis is Diabetes TeleCare funded by
the National Institute
of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Diabetes TeleCare
is a randomized clinical trial set in a community health center (CareSouth
Bennettsville, SC), which is in a Public Health Service designated health
shortage area. The intervention is a 13-session, one-year educational
disease management curriculum delivered by telemedicine (videoconferencing)
designed to promote adherence to American Diabetes Association guidelines
for improved diabetes care, which includes regular physician assessments,
adherence to medication regimens, home monitoring of blood glucose, and
attention to diet and physical activity guidelines. The intervention includes
a retinal assessment component, which includes retinal imaging in the
community health center with remote interpretation by the Wilmer Eye Institute
at Johns Hopkins University. Diabetes TeleCare is a four-year study, ending
in 2008. Planning activities are underway for further NIH funding of sustainable
interventions that promote diabetes knowledge and adherence to practice
guidelines that improve health outcomes as well.
Dr. Davis also directs the research rotation for residents in Ophthalmology
who are required to participate in research that culminates in a presentation
at an academic meeting or publication. The purpose of the rotation is
to train residents in the methods of research, promote better understanding
of the literature, and expose residents to career opportunities in clinical
and translational research. The residents may perform basic, clinical,
or translational research and must identify a mentor to supervise the
development of the project. Mentors may include any of the faculty in
the Department or vision scientists in other departments of the university.
This program has been successful; all residents in the past two years
presented first-authored abstracts at the main annual vision science research
meeting, ARVO. |
