UCLA/American Uveitis Society 2nd International Workshop on Objective Measures for Use in Clinical Trials

PROJECT SUMMARY There is a need for the development of objective measures of intraocular inflammation to better detect and monitor uveitis. This proposal seeks funds to support early career researchers and trainees to attend the UCLA / American Uveitis Society (AUS) Second International Workshop on Objective Measures of Intraocular

Inflammation for Use in Clinical Trials. The goals of the 2024 Workshop will be to review the proposed outcome measures of intraocular inflammation, how these measures relate to clinical trial design; and the potential techniques for objective quantification of study variables. We will also review the progress toward standardization

and validation of those techniques over the five years since the 2019 UCLA/AUS workshop and to discuss plans for future studies that will advance this field further. These goals will be addressed through our Aims by providing a dynamic scientific venue for the discussion of evaluation of intraocular inflammation, supporting new

collaborations and discussions across a multi-disciplinary attendee population, and by fostering the career development of early career researchers and trainees. This Workshop will feature a diverse roster of attendees of ophthalmologists who participate in clinical research dealing with inflammatory eye diseases (uveitis

specialists, retina specialists, pediatric ophthalmologists); clinical trialists; and pharmaceutical and device industry representatives. With this Workshop, we will also be addressing one of NEI’s Bold Predictions, “Infrastructure for large-scale sharing and analysis of vision-related data, including definitions and

standardization of data elements and biomarkers across multiple data types, will enable knowledge discovery and predictive disease modeling”. We will also address the NEI’s Area of Emphasis of the Immune System and Eye Health by evaluating imaging biomarkers for disease surveillance and detection. By promoting the multi-

disciplinary exchange of ideas and by supporting early career researchers and trainees, we anticipate this Workshop will generate new collaborations and research opportunities for the next generation of investigators. In turn this will lead to further development of objective measures of intraocular inflammation, resulting in earlier

detection and improved monitoring of uveitis, which may prevent permanent vision loss and disability.