Our Eye2Brain colleagues Giovanna Guidoboni and Alon Harris gave a course on Using math modeling for the understanding of risk factors in glaucoma at the 12th european congress of the European Congress Society June 19-22 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The course was a big success and showed the power of inter-disciplinary collaborations to solve health challenges. Some more advanced results will be displayed at ICATTO2016 and at IHP.
Course synopsis
Glaucoma is a chronic progressive optic neuropathy that exhibits a complex multifactorial etiology. The only currently treatable glaucoma risk factor is elevated intraocular pressure (IOP); however, medical and surgical IOP lowering has yet to fully arrest the disease process in many individuals. Despite the abundance of suggested risk factors for glaucoma, little is known about the relative contribution of each risk factor and/or the extent to which different combinations of risk factors potentiate or reduce the overall glaucoma risk for a given individual or population. This critical void in our understanding of various risk factors and their interplay hinders the advancements in screening and treatment options and requires a fundamental shift in our current approach. In this course, we will discuss how mathematical modeling can be used in synergy with clinical and experimental studies to characterize glaucoma susceptibility and pathophysiology in a given individual displaying a particular combination of risk factors; this is a crucial step towards the development of personalized treatment and management options in glaucoma.
Course aims
The course has three main aims:
- Course Aim 1: to outline the clinical implications of mathematical modeling in ophthalmology;
- Course Aim 2: to review the current stage of mathematical modeling in glaucoma;
- Course Aim 3: to describe how mathematical modeling can aid developing personalized treatment and management options for glaucoma patients.