Catch up with what Optometry Times shared this week:

Ronald L. Benner steps down as AOA president, Steven T. Reed takes on role as acting president

By Jordana Joy, Associate Editor

With Ronald L. Benner, OD, stepping down as president of the American Optometric Association (AOA), the organization welcomes Steven T. Reed, OD, as its acting president. Benner cited personal reasons for stepping down and Reed was elected by the AOA Board of Trustees, according to a statement from the organization. Reed will be acting president of the AOA for the next 2 months. Plans to instate Reed as AOA president in June 2024 for a 1 year term during Optometry’s Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee are still intact.¹

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Optometric scope expansion bills are setting a new precedent across the country

By Jordana Joy, Associate Editor

With the demand in eye care that is projected to only keep growing over the next decade, the question of patient care has led optometrists in many states to begin distributing the weight of this need through introduction of scope expansion bills in their given state. Part of this demand comes from an increased number of ophthalmologists anticipated to age out of the field coupled with an aging patient population,^1,2 according to American Optometric Association (AOA) President Ronald L. Benner, OD.

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Ocugen announces dosing completion in second cohort of GARDian clinical trial for Stargardt disease

By Martin David Harp, Associate Editor, Ophthalmology Times

Ocugen has announced dosing has been completed in the second cohort of its Phase 1/2 GARDian clinical trial (NCT05956626) evaluating OCU410ST (AAV-hRORA) for Stargardt disease.

OCU410ST, is a modifier gene therapy candidate that utilizes an AAV delivery platform for the retinal delivery of the RORA (RAR Related Orphan Receptor A) gene and is being developed as a one-time treatment for life.¹

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ARVO 2024: The incoming prevalence of polygenic risk scores

By Emily Kaiser Maharjan, Assistant Managing Editor, and Jordana Joy, Associate Editor

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) may very well be on their way to eye care providers' practices, according to Nazlee Zebardast. In her overview of 2 posters presented during this year's Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting, she details the significant data garnered from studies that utilized PRS to determine genetic risk of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in study participants, among other glaucoma subtypes.

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Drug Farm receives FDA approval of IND application for DF-003 and proceeds with Phase 1b trial for patients with ROSAH syndrome

By Jordana Joy, Associate Editor

Biotechnology company Drug Farm has announced the US FDA’s approval of its Investigational New Drug application of DF-003 for patients with retinal dystrophy, optic nerve edema, splenomegaly, anhidrosis, and headache (ROSAH) syndrome. DF-033 is a first-in-class, oral, potent, highly selective alpha-kinase 1 (ALPK1) inhibitor, according to a news release. The trial will assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of DF-003 in treating ROSAH syndrome.¹

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