Principal Investigator: 

Dr Ruth Hogg

Name of the Study:

MACUSTAR: Development of novel clinical endpoints for interventional clinical trials with a regulatory and patient access intention in patients with intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – MACUSTAR.

Why is this Study important?: 

The items that are measured within clinical trials for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to decide whether a drug has worked or not, often mean studies have to be long and large numbers of patients recruited.  This makes the development pathway for new drugs slow and inefficient.

What is the Research question/aim?: 

This study aims to identify new measurements to make AMD studies more efficient.  Subtle measures of visual function and novel images of the retina will be taken at each visit.

Participants will be followed up for 3 years to see how the features at the back of the eye relate to the measures of visual function and whether particular measurements are best at predicting those who develop late stage AMD. 

What the Study involves:

The Study involves for each participant, up to nine study visits up to three years. Each visit will take approximately 3-4 hours. 

The study consists of two main parts: a cross-sectional part and a longitudinal part.

Cross-sectional part: Four groups of subjects with different stages of AMD (early, intermediate, late and no AMD) will be included.

Longitudinal part: a group of iAMD subjects will be followed-up for a three-year period.

PPI Involvement: 

No PPI Involvement.

Who can take part in the Study?:

Participants with different stages of AMD - Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Contact Information:

Dr Ruth Hogg

Centre for Public Health

ICS-A

Grosvenor Road

Belfast

BT12 6BA

Telephone:  +44 (0)28 9097 1654

Email:           r.e.hogg@qub.ac.uk

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