Sima Mozdbar, OD

How did you first find out about Clin-STAR and the pilot grant program?

My research mentor first introduced me to Clin-STAR and encouraged me to learn more about the organization and potential funding opportunities. I initially signed up for email updates, and soon after learned about the Clin-STAR pilot grant program, which I felt was a great fit for me as a junior researcher engaging in transdisciplinary aging research. With the support of my mentor, I began the application process.

What inspired you to pursue aging research and how does your perspective as a non-geriatrician specialist contribute to your research activity?

I first became interested in aging research as an undergraduate student while working with Dr. Adreana Haley, studying modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline. As I pursued my Doctor of Optometry degree, I became interested in overlapping mechanisms between age-related eye diseases and neurodegeneration. When I joined the University of North Texas Health Science Center as assistant professor, I was further inspired by the remarkable work being done by my colleagues working on blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease which allowed me to bridge the gap between my interests. As a clinician, I currently possess the clinical expertise in ocular disease, anatomy, and pathophysiology, and I aim to expand my knowledge in Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive aging among diverse populations. Combined, these skills will enable me to pursue an integrated basic and clinical science approach to examining the utility of retinal biomarkers in providing novel diagnostics and potential therapeutics for AD to all communities beginning in primary care.

In your view, what does Clin-STAR mean to the field and what does it mean for you to receive a Clin-STAR pilot grant now?

By investing in early stage investigators with diverse backgrounds, Clin-STAR is fostering interdisciplinary research which is tremendously important in growing our knowledge about aging and age-related diseases. Receiving this Clin-STAR pilot grant is an incredible honor and the support serves as a critical step in allowing me to study my research objectives and advancing my growth as a clinician-scientist.

What’s exciting about your research’s potential impact to your career, field, and patients?

My long-term career goal is to bring novel solutions to patients from underserved communities suffering from cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease using non-invasive and scalable retinal biomarkers. It is exciting to think that, if validated, retinal biomarkers can play an important role as part of a multi-tiered neurodiagnostic process to screen for at-risk individuals to undergo additional confirmatory procedures. Retinal imaging is widely available and accessible, so employing it as a screening tool in a clinical setting could aid earlier diagnosis and treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

How have you collaborated with your mentor or co-investigators?

My mentors, Dr. Sid O’Bryant and Dr. Leigh Johnson, have equipped me with skills in design and implementation of clinical cognitive aging research methods focused on older adults as well as studying health disparities in cognitive aging. Their guidance has also been a valuable resource for professional development and grantsmanship. My proposed research is ancillary to their parent study, the Alzheimer’s Disease in Primary Care study, where I have had the opportunity to leverage their cohort and infrastructure to examine the utility of retinal biomarkers in a primary care setting. This collaboration has also paved the way for additional interdisciplinary projects, further strengthening my skillsets as a junior clinician-scientist.