Identification and management of early allergic eye disease in individuals at risk of keratoconus at Ulster University

Dr Julie McClelland, Prof Colin Willoughby, Dr Aaron Courtenay Monday, February 27, 2023 Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Coleraine United Kingdom Optometry Biological Sciences

About the Project

This project aims to investigate in detail associations between allergic eye disease and keratoconus in populations with established keratoconus and those with ocular signs and symptoms of allergies.

The project will also address the role community Optometrists can play in identification and management of allergic eye disease and other associated risk factors for keratoconus with a view to reducing the impact of this sight threatening condition. The successful applicant will be an eyecare professional.

Please note: Applications for more than one PhD studentship are welcome, however if you apply for more than one PhD project within Biomedical Sciences, your first application on the system will be deemed your first-choice preference and further applications will be ordered based on the sequential time of submission. If you are successfully shortlisted, you will be interviewed only on your first-choice application and ranked accordingly. Those ranked highest will be offered a PhD studentship. In the situation where you are ranked highly and your first-choice project is already allocated to someone who was ranked higher than you, you may be offered your 2nd or 3rd choice project depending on the availability of this project.

References

Recommended reading:
1.Almusawi LA, Hamied FM. Risk Factors for Development of Keratoconus: A Matched Pair Case-Control Study. Clin Ophthalmol. 2021 Aug 16;15:3473-3479. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S248724. PMID: 34429579; PMCID: PMC8378899.
2.Najmi H, Mobarki Y, Mania K, et al. The correlation between keratoconus and eye rubbing: a review. Int J Ophthalmol. 2019;12(11):1775-1781. Published 2019 Nov 18. doi:10.18240/ijo.2019.11.17
3.Sahebjada S, Al-Mahrouqi HH, Moshegov S, Panchatcharam SM, Chan E, Daniell M, Baird PN. Eye rubbing in the aetiology of keratoconus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2021 Aug;259(8):2057-2067. doi: 10.1007/s00417-021-05081-8. Epub 2021 Jan 23. PMID: 33484296.
4.Meyer JJ, Gokul A, Vellara HR, McGhee CNJ. Progression of keratoconus in children and adolescents. Br J Ophthalmol. 2021 Sep 3:bjophthalmol-2020-316481. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-316481. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34479856.
5.Kavitha V, Heralgi MM, Aafreen S. Comparison of posterior corneal elevation in children with and without vernal keratoconjunctivitis using a new tomographer. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 Aug;69(8):2060-2063. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_35_21. PMID: 34304178; PMCID: PMC8482881.
6.Meyer JJ, Gokul A, Vellara HR, McGhee CNJ. Progression of keratoconus in children and adolescents. Br J Ophthalmol. 2021 Sep 3:bjophthalmol-2020-316481. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-316481. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34479856.
7.Dudeja L, Chauhan T, Vohra S. Sequence of events leading to diagnosis of keratoconus and its impact on quality of life. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 Dec;69(12):3478-3481. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_399_21. PMID: 34826978.