The successful student will work on a funded project investigating the uptake and outcomes of a referral pathway for people with vision impairment and depressive symptoms. This is a longitudinal research project evaluating patients’ experiences of psychological services following the identification of depressive symptoms within eye care settings. For further information

Visual field loss and falls

The HSRU is interested in investigating the gait-related risk factors and extent of injury resulting from falls in people with glaucoma and visual field loss

The development of a Diabetic Retinopathy-specific quality of life questionnaire

The HSRU is interested in developing and validating a questionnaire which will measure the impact of vision-threatening Diabetic Retinopathy on quality of life in patients with diabetes.

Medication adherence in patients with glaucoma

The HSRU is currently collecting data to improve its understanding of intentional and non-intentional non adherence to glaucoma medication. A PhD project will build on these findings to design, implement and evaluate a RCT to improve medication adherence in patients with glaucoma.

Blood glucose, blood pressure and lipids in people with Diabetes

A PHD student is needed to investigate the barriers to effective management of blood glucose, blood pressure and lipids in people with diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. Another PhD candidate is required to work on a RCT assessing the effectiveness of a novel self-management program on the management of diabetic retinopathy.

High-order properties of the retinal vascular structure and risk of cardiovascular diseases

A PhD student is needed to investigate a potential clinical application of high-order properties of the retinal vascular structure, such as vessel bifurcation/branching angle, vessel tortuosities or fractal dimensions, to predict risk of cardiovascular diseases as well as eye diseases, using multiple sets of population-based study data.

Novel genetic determinants of the retinal vascular structures

A PhD student is needed to explore novel genetic determinants of the retinal vessel structures, such as vessel calibres or vessel tortuosities. RetVIC will provide a large sample data set including genotype data from the study samples.

Dynamic retinal vessel assessment and retinal vacular structures

A PhD student is needed to investigate pathophysiological aspects of retinal blood flow and retinal vascular structure in relation to systemic and ocular conditions, using dynamic retinal vessel assessment.

A practice model for screening/ prevention of cardiovascular risks and cardiovascular disease using retinal photography

Recent evidence shows that retinal vessel signs have a strong link to cardiovascular risk factors and events. RetVIC is exploring the predictive value of retinal vessel signs on cardiovascular risks. A Master student is needed to pilot the translation of those research findings into a practice model for screening and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Subsequent to the success of the pilot study, a large scaled clinical trial is anticipated, which can be PhD projects on assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this model.