DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Assessing Ocular Hemodynamic Response to Surgical Intervention in Glaucoma PA-14-049: Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (Parent K23) Principal Investigator: O'Rese J. Knight, MD Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Candidate: O'Rese J. Knight, MD is a fellowship-trained glaucoma specialist who has been involved with patient-oriented research throughout his training and clinical career. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the UNC Department of Ophthalmology. He has specific interests in clinical outcomes research and is interested long-term in investigating emerging glaucoma medications and surgical techniques for clinical efficacy. The specific training objectives for the proposed career development award are: 1) gaining proficiency in clinical trial design, team leadership in research, and statistical analysis through coursework culminating in a Master's of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR), 2) completing the Responsible Conduct of Research training with the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, and 3) conducting research focused on understanding the role of ocular hemodynamics in glaucoma pathogenesis, and evaluating whether OHD factors can be altered with medical and surgical interventions. His team of mentors and co-mentors include Donald Budenz, MD, MPH, Anthony Viera, MD, MPH, and Shawn Gomez, EngScD. Environment: The University of North Carolina is one of the nation's premier research institutions. It is a member of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium and has been since 2008. In FY2013, UNC ranked seventh among all universities nationwide in NIH funding. It provides an optimal environment for the proposed research. O'Rese will be completing his MSCR degree at the UNC Gillings' School of Global Public Health, which has been perennially recognized as the best public institution of public health. The Department of Ophthalmology is home to a number of extremely accomplished basic and clinical research scientists and boasts brand new facilities that are conducive to clinical research. Within the glaucoma division, there is an active and varied research portfolio which will provide O'Rese ample leadership experience in clinical research. The UNC research community is marked by its collegial nature, and this is demonstrated in the proposed research seamlessly spanning the Departments of Ophthalmology, Family Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering. O'Rese has taken the time to develop the necessary relationships with key stakeholders to accomplish the proposed research. UNC, in kind, has demonstrated its support of O'Rese's research career by providing the salary support that allowed him the time to complete the early work underpinning this current proposal. Research: Open angle glaucoma (OAG) is the third leading cause of blindness in the US, and is expected to affect 4.3 million Americans in 2032. Its p...