Join us Tuesday, May 26 at 12 PM ET for the CLSA webinar “Retinal Vessel Traits and Age-Related Eye Disease in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.” The webinar will be presented by Alexis O’Neil, who holds a in epidemiology from the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa.
Disruptions in retinal vasculature can occur in both glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, previous studies examining retinal vessel characteristics in these diseases have mostly been cross-sectional, limiting our understanding of the temporal relationships. Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Comprehensive Cohort, we investigated both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between retinal vessel traits (diameter and tortuosity) and AMD, glaucoma, and glaucoma-related factors (intraocular pressure and cup-to-disc ratio). Through this research, we provide additional evidence that the retinal microvasculature may play a role in the development of ocular disease. Understanding these relationships may have implications for improving treatment and prevention strategies in ophthalmic clinical practice.
Alexis O’Neil holds an MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Ottawa. Under the supervision of Dr. Ellen Freeman, her thesis research focused on retinal vessel characteristics and their relationships to various health and lifestyle factors, as well as ocular and systemic diseases. With a clinical background in ophthalmology, she is interested in advancing techniques for early disease detection and improving patient outcomes to help prevent vision loss. Alexis will begin her PhD in Vision Science this fall at the University of Waterloo.
