# Objectively and dynamically measured human behaviors and their role in myopia development

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2020 · $188,271

## Abstract

Candidate: Dr. Harb, a pediatric optometrist, has an overarching long-term goal of pursuing research that is
translatable to clinical practice. In addition to pursuing a PhD in Vision Science, the shorter-term goals of
additional training are to acquire: (1) an in-depth knowledge of current thinking in myopia development and
treatment options from mechanistic and clinical perspectives, (2) proficiency in advanced statistical analyses to
allow for novel data analysis, and (3) diverse career development opportunities. Environment: The UC
Berkeley School of Optometry offers a rich environment for vision research, with approximately 30 Vision
Science faculty members covering diverse research backgrounds. Dr. Harb’s mentors (Wildsoet, Levi, Banks)
have demonstrated significant support towards her research and career development and Dr. Harb’s
comprehensive training plan (grant/scientific writing, technical skills, clinical duties, coursework, mentoring
students and professional activities) will provide ample career development during the award period.
Research: The recent rapid rise in the prevalence of myopia is incompatible with a genetic explanation,
leading to increased interest in environmental factors. However, a significant deficiency in studies attempting to
quantify the visual environment has been the reliance on questionnaires, which are both inaccurate (Ostrin
2015, Chan 2016) and limited in their ability to capture potentially critical details such as the dosing of
exposure, which has proven influential in animal studies (Lan 2014). Therefore, it is plausible that as yet un-
discovered aspects of the visual environment and/or human behaviors, not captured in questionnaires will
prove to be strong risk factors for the development of myopia. The overall objective of this application is to
exploit objective technological methods and dynamic data analytics to assess human indoor/outdoor
behaviors, including nearwork, to explore associations with the presence and/or magnitude of myopia and
influence of gender/sex. Specific aims of the proposed project are: 1) To create a set of tools using objective
technologies that integrate dynamic analytic techniques to capture key aspects of human behavior of potential
relevance to myopia development, 2) To investigate the impact of nearwork behaviors on myopia presence,
magnitude and progression in young adults and children and 3) To investigate the impact of indoor/outdoor
behaviors on myopia presence, magnitude and progression in young adults and children. These aims will be
accomplished through the utilization of several objective, technological-based methods and dynamic data
analysis. The study will be conducted in both young adults and children, and will inform the rationale for a
future multi-centered longitudinal study investigating behaviors in children prior to the onset of myopia (in a
future R01 proposal). Myopia is a leading cause of preventable blindness, with significant economic and
disease...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9994297
- **Project number:** 5K23EY027851-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Elise N Harb
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $188,271
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9994297

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9994297, Objectively and dynamically measured human behaviors and their role in myopia development (5K23EY027851-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9994297. Licensed CC0.

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