# Predicting ocular outcomes, quality of life and survival after proton beam radiotherapy of choroidal melanoma

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $210,392

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
I am applying for a Career Development Award (K23) in ocular oncology. A K23 will allow me to establish a
clinical research program to enhance prognostication and improve holistic care for patients with choroidal
melanoma. The proposed research and training will provide the foundation for an R01/UG1 proposal to
develop an international ocular melanoma registry, fostering multi-center comparative studies with large
datasets.
My long-term career goals are to: 1) lead a multidisciplinary ocular oncology team at University of California,
San Francisco (UCSF); 2) create a prospective database of clinical outcomes, molecular pathology data and
patient- reported outcomes (PROs) to predict ocular outcomes, survival and quality of life (QOL); 3) advance
randomized trials and multicenter collaboration in ocular oncology, to advance diagnostics and therapeutics.
My training objectives are to: 1) master advanced biostatistics methodology, database management and
study design through didactic courses and apprenticeships, working with renowned mentors in ocular
oncology, molecular pathology and statistics; 2) understand molecular diagnostics in uveal melanoma and
how to evaluate new prognostic and diagnostic tests in clinical practice, through mentored laboratory
experiences with a pre-eminent molecular pathologist; 3) engage in multidisciplinary research, in collaboration
with international colleagues, forming connections for future multi-center studies; and 4) become proficient in
scientific writing.
The specific aims of this project are to: 1) develop and validate prognostic models for predicting visual
outcome, local tumor control and ocular conservation after proton beam radiotherapy for choroidal
melanoma. We will test the hypothesis that radiation dosimetry predicts such outcomes better than baseline
clinical features. 2): validate a targeted next-generation genetic sequencing (NGS) assay as a prognostic test
for survival in choroidal melanoma. We hypothesize that NGS of choroidal melanoma reliably determines
tumor lethality. 3): develop prognostic models for predicting PROs and QOL after proton beam radiotherapy
for choroidal melanoma. We hypothesize that social factors are more predictive than ophthalmic features in
determining PROs and QOL We will perform secondary analysis of an existing dataset of patients treated at
the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Centre, mostly by the primary mentor (BD), to create and validate the
prognostic models, which we will then evaluate in a cohort of patients at UCSF.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9967063
- **Project number:** 5K23EY027466-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Armin Reza Afshar
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $210,392
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-30 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9967063

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9967063, Predicting ocular outcomes, quality of life and survival after proton beam radiotherapy of choroidal melanoma (5K23EY027466-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9967063. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*