Transforming noninvasive retinal imaging into practical tools for screening and referral
Wilson Wang, MD, resident at WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, received an award from the Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation (VRSF). The award is for his project titled “Clinically Actionable OCT-A Biomarkers: A Retinal Microangiopathy Index for Risk Stratification in Diabetic Retinopathy,” in collaboration with Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD.
The VRSF-funded research focuses on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A), a noninvasive imaging technology that allows clinicians to visualize and quantify the eye’s microvasculature. The goal is to develop a Retinal Microangiopathy Index (RMI)—a composite, easy-to-interpret score that integrates multiple OCT-A features into a clinically useful tool for decision-making.
This work aims to move retinal imaging beyond descriptive findings toward objective, clinical decision-support tools that can improve screening, referral, and risk stratification.
-Wilson Wang, MD
The initial application will focus on diabetic retinopathy, where early detection of microvascular damage is critical. This work supports the growing field of oculomics, using the eye as a window into systemic vascular health, with the potential to extend this approach to other vascular diseases.
About WashU Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 56% in the last seven years. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.