Division of Ophthalmic Epidemiology

The Division of Ophthalmic Epidemiology was founded in 2014 under the direction of Anne Lynch, MD, MSPH, who also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. Lynch has created research programs in many areas, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) Her team includes, Jennifer Patnaik, PhD (Epidemiologist), Brandie Wagner, PhD (Statistician), Emily Auer MPH (Epidemiologist), Nathan Grove MS (Statistician), several study coordinators, and image readers.

The AMD registry was started in 2014. Patients with AMD attending the retina clinic at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center are invited to be part of the registry. Close to 2000 AMD patients and controls have joined the registry. A medical and ocular history is collected from every patient. In addition, images of the eye are reviewed, and a blood sample is collected for measurement of systemic biomarkers from each patient. Several publications on the epidemiology of AMD, the complement system, proteomics, inflammation, and imaging, have resulted from the AMD registry. Moreover, research has been presented at many international and national meetings. In addition to Dr. Lynch’s group, lead AMD registry investigators include: Naresh Mandava MD, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Alan Palestine MD, and Talisa de Carlo Forest MD.

In April 2021, Dr. Lynch and her research group received an R01 award entitled “Biomarkers of Systemic Inflammation in Intermediate AMD” from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As part of this grant, the research team is addressing whether there are inflammatory systemic biomarkers that distinguish patients who progress from intermediate AMD to the advanced forms of AMD. Patients are being actively recruited from the retina clinic into this study.

In addition to AMD, the division is also home to a successful Colorado Retinopathy of Prematurity (CO-ROP) registry, with data from over 3,500 preterm infants screened for ROP included in the registry. Many publications and presentations have resulted from research on these databases by faculty-inspired research hypotheses.

The Division has a robust mentoring program and supports research by faculty, fellows, residents, graduate students, and medical students. To date, research has been presented at over 300 national and local ophthalmology meetings with over 160 manuscripts published in peer reviewed journals. Importantly, a strong group of mentees are being encouraged to pursue research in Ophthalmology.

Funding for the Division’s research comes from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01EY032456 (AML), a Research to Prevent Blindness grant to the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado, the Frederic C. Hamilton Macular Degeneration Center, Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center Research Fund, Greenwald family Research Fund, Helene and Marshall Abrahams Research Fund, and by NIH/NCATS Colorado CTSA Grant Number UL1 TR002535. We are also previous recipients of a grant from the Macula Society.

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