Clinical Trials in Eye Care: An Optometrist's Perspective

Optometrist Dr. Darryl Glover interviews clinical research optometrist Dr. Carol Aune, who shares how she transitioned from a comprehensive practice to running trials full-time through Oculus Research. She explains why clinical trials are essential for every drug, drop, lens, and device prescribed, and how changes to FDA rules have enabled qualified optometrists to serve as principal investigators. Dr. Aune outlines how practices can get started by joining existing research teams as sub-investigators, building an experienced research staff, and using clinicaltrials.gov to find local studies and referral options. She discusses common trial waves (dry eye, blepharitis, presbyopia drops, myopia control), key challenges (time, strict protocols, regulatory paperwork), costs (primarily coordinator staffing), and emerging innovations, including genotype-targeted therapies, biologics, DNA-repair mechanisms, and a cataract treatment drop, plus early AI potential for image grading and data transcription. #clinicalresearch #optometrist #clinicaltrials Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:29 Meet the Hosts 04:10 Why Clinical Trials Matter 05:20 Clinical Trials in Dr. Carol Aune's Practice 06:29 How to Get Started in Clinical Trials 09:15 Experience and Team Setup 11:01 Clinical Trials Startup Challenges 13:57 The Costs and Time Reality in Clinical Trials 16:45 How Oculus Research Helps 18:50 Future Innovations 22:25 Finding Trials Online 23:46 AI and Oculomics 27:30 Diversity in Enrollment 29:31 How to Connect and Wrap Up -------------------------- Let’s Connect! Defocus Media on Social Media: 👁️ Instagram:   / defocusmedia   👁️ Facebook:   / defocusmedia   👁️ LinkedIn:   / defocus-media   👁️ Twitter:   / defocusmedia   👀 Website: https://defocusmediagroup.com/ 👀 Want to stay up to date on the latest trends and hottest topics in eye care? 📧 Sign up for our newsletter! https://share.hsforms.com/1rhZdAHr_Ss... -------------------------- DISCLAIMER: All content in this video and description, including infor­ma­tion, opinions, con­tent, ref­er­ences, and links, is for infor­ma­tional pur­poses only. The Author does not pro­vide any med­ical advice on the site. Noth­ing con­tained in this video or its description is intended to estab­lish a physician-patient rela­tion­ship, to replace the ser­vices of a trained physi­cian or health care pro­fes­sional, or oth­er­wise to be a sub­sti­tute for pro­fes­sional med­ical advice, diag­no­sis, or treatment. You should con­sult a licensed physi­cian or appropriately credentialed health care worker in your com­mu­nity in all mat­ters relat­ing to your health. Also, some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. All non-licensed clips are used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.