A manuscript summarizing the results of Dr. Seddon’s study was published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, (IOVS): Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Optical Coherence Tomography Features Preceding the Onset of Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), Optical Coherence Tomography Features Preceding the Onset of Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Daniela Ferrara, Rachel E. Silver, Ricardo N. Louzada, Eduardo
A. Novais, Gilian K. Collins, and Johanna M. Seddon. Ophthalmic Epidemiology and Genetics Service, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington Street #450, Boston, MA 02111. USA. (July, 2017) Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017/58:3519-3529. DOI:10.1167/iovs.17-21696
The Mildred Weisenfeld Award for Excellence in Ophthalmology was established in 1986 by the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) to honor Fight for Sight (FFS) founder, Mildred Weisenfeld. Though she lost her sight to retinitis pigmentosa two years before the FFS was begun, Weisenfeld served as Executive Director for 50 years. The Weisenfeld Award is presented to an individual in recognition of distinguished scholarly contributions to the clinical practice of ophthalmology.
Dr. Johnna M. Seddon and Dr. Martine J. Jager, whose lecture dedicated to Dr. Seddon, “Introducing Johanna M. Seddon, the 2017 Recipient of the Mildred Weisenfeld Award,” was published in IOVS, December 2017, Vol. 58, 6510-6512. DOI:10.1167/iovs.17-23542
In 2017, Dr. Johanna Seddon, an internationally recognized ophthalmologist and clinician-scientist, was presented with the Weisenfeld Award at the annual ARVO meeting held in Baltimore, Maryland. As Dr. Jager states in her lecture, “Dr. Seddon pioneered the field of epidemiology and genetic epidemiology in ophthalmology. She has been at the forefront of scientific research into the leading cause of visual loss and blindness, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and the determinants and risk factors for this disease since the 1980s.”
The International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF) supported Dr. Seddon’s project, Evaluation of Macular Degeneration Sub-Phenotypes as Biomarkers for Progression and Treatment. Her team evaluated optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging and created a longitudinal imaging database with at least one year of follow-up time. The accurate identification and assessment of individual AMD subphenotypes, particularly specific subtypes that are observed in early and intermediate stages of disease, are crucial to the identification of reproducible and intermediate biomarkers of AMD progression.