# Clinical and genetic analysis of retinopathy of prematurity

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $764,279

## Abstract

Project Summary
The long-term goal of this project is to establish a quantitative framework for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
care based on clinical, imaging, genetic, and informatics principles. In the previous grant period, we have
developed artificial intelligence methods for ROP diagnosis, but real-world adoption has been limited by lack of
prospective validation and by perception of these systems as “black boxes” that do not explain their rationale
for diagnosis. Furthermore, although biomedical research data are being generated at an enormous pace,
much less work has been done to integrate disparate scientific findings across the spectrum from genomics to
imaging to clinical medicine. This renewal will address current gaps in knowledge in these areas. Our overall
hypotheses are that developing a quantitative framework for ROP care using artificial intelligence and analytics
will improve clinical disease management, that building “explainable” artificial intelligence systems will enhance
clinical acceptance and educational opportunities, and that analysis of relationships among clinical, imaging,
environmental, and genetic findings, in ROP will improve understanding of disease pathogenesis and risk.
These hypotheses will be tested using three Specific Aims: (1) Evaluation performance of an artificial
intelligence system for ROP diagnosis and screening prospectively. This will include: (a) recruit a target of over
2000 eye exams including wide-angle retinal images from 375 subjects at 5 centers, (b) optimize an image
quality detection algorithm we have recently developed, and (c) analyze system accuracy for ROP diagnosis
and screening (using a novel quantitative vascular severity scale). (2) Improve the interpretability of our
existing artificial intelligence methods for ROP diagnosis. This will include: (a) increase “explainability” of
systems by combining deep learning with traditional feature extraction methods, (b) develop neural networks to
identify changes between serial images, and (c) evaluate these methods through systematic feedback by
experts. (3) Develop integrated models for ROP pathogenesis and risk. This will include: (a) build and improve
ROP risk prediction models based on clinical, image, and demographic features, and (b) integrate genetic,
imaging, clinical, and environmental variables through genetic risk prediction by machine learning, by
investigating casual relationships with genetic variants and genetic risk scores, and by incorporating SNP
associations with gene expression measurements to identify functional genes of ROP. Ultimately, these
studies will significantly reduce barriers to adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence for clinicians,
and will demonstrate a prototype for health information management which combines genotypic and
phenotypic data. This project will be performed by a multi-disciplinary team of investigators who have worked
successfully together for nearly 10 years, and who have e...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9974137
- **Project number:** 2R01EY019474-09
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** John Peter Campbell
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $764,279
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2010-09-30 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9974137

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9974137, Clinical and genetic analysis of retinopathy of prematurity (2R01EY019474-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9974137. Licensed CC0.

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