Dr. Tobias Elze was awarded a NIH R21 grant. The topic of the project is “Associating retinal nerve fiber layer thickness with glucose metabolism and diabetic retinopathy”. In this project, the relationship between spatial patterns of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness (RNFLT), measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), and blood test levels as well as levels of DR severity is investigated in a population-based study. The project is aimed to provide the details to establish RNFLT as an alternative manifestation of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) that complements diagnostic blood tests and thereby, for instance, lay the foundations for the development of novel and more accurate T2DM progression monitoring or the prediction of the onset of DR. Please find the grant details and abstract here.
