Problem

Retinopathy is a diabetic complication with an estimated prevalence of 36.2% in Brazil, which makes it one of the main causes of blindness in this country.

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This project will be conducted in Brazil, in collaboration with the University of São Paulo School of Medicine. Brazil does not have a national screening program for diabetic retinopathy (DR). Thus, this project aims at preventing the progression from DR to blindness in resource-poor cities in Brazil. An assisted screening of the population in these areas will be performed by nurses using a retinal camera attached to cell phones. Diabetic subjects with vision-threatening DR will be identified and referred to ophthalmology centers to then receive laser therapy and prevent blindness. Brazil is a developing country which hosts the world’s sixth largest population of adults (20-79 years) with diabetes mellitus and the third largest population of children and adolescents (0-19 years) with type 1 diabetes.

 

Solution

"Screening for DR is the only way to identify those subjects with vision-threatening DR, who must be referred to a specialist to receive laser therapy and avoid blindness."

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Who

This project will be coordinated by

Maria Lucia Correa-Giannella, Associate Professor of the Endocrinology Department at University of São Paulo School of Medicine (Brazil). Prof. Correa-Giannella is leading a multidisciplinary, multicentric (states of São Paulo, Bahia and Sergipe) team involved in assisting individuals with diabetes as well as researching diabetic complications, including retinopathy.  The main team members are:

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Dr. Mozânia Reis Matos post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Frederico Novaes ophthalmologist and PhD fellow, Prof. Fernando Malerbi ophthalmologist, Prof. Lysandro Pinto Borges pharmaceutical, Prof. Suely Marie neurologist, Dr. Carlos Machado cardiologist, Dr. Melina Lannes endocrinologist and PhD fellow, Prof. Giuseppe Palmisano researcher in glycoproteomics, Prof. Marisa Passarelli researcher in glycation products, Prof. Nina Hirata machine learning, Mr. Bruno Matos physical educator and Master’s Degree fellow, Mr. Lorenzo Coutinho graduate student, Mr. Rafael Nohmi graduate student.

 

(Principal Investigation: Prof. Maria Lúcia Giannella; University of San Paolo; Brazil)