SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RHODE ISLAND A comparatively simple eye exam that could detect Alzheimers disease many years before severe clinical symptoms appear is about to undergo a clinical trial sponsored by University of Rhode Island, Butler Hospital in Providence and BayCare Health System, a system of 15 hospitals and other centers in central Florida.

The so-called retinal screening tests someday could be administered by optometrists and ophthalmologists at considerably less cost than todays PET scans, which can detect the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, associated with Alzheimers, before symptoms appear. Such scans cost thousands of dollars and are not typically covered by most insurance plans.

When our study is completed, we want to make the technology available so that optometrists and ophthalmologists could screen for the retinal biomarkers we believe are associated with Alzheimers disease and watch them over time, said Peter Snyder, URIs vice president for research and economic development and professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, and a principal investigator in the $5-million study.

If clinicians see changes, they could refer their patients to specialists early on, Snyder said. We believe this could significantly lower the cost of testing. We may then identify more people in the very earliest stage of the disease, and our drug therapies are likely to be more effective at that point and before decades of slow disease progression.

Dr. Stephen P. Salloway, director of Butlers Memory and Aging Program, affiliated with Brown University, said the study closely aligns with the mission of Butler Hospital and Brown University to develop new approaches to detect Alzheimers risk early and keep the brain healthy so memory loss never occurs. Also key to the research in Rhode Island will be Jessica Alber, Ryan Research Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at URIs Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, who will lead the Butler team.

According to Mondays announcement of the study, researchers are seeking to enroll 330 people between the ages of 55 and 80 ranging from very healthy and low-risk adults, to persons with concerns about their memory, as well as patients with mild Alzheimers disease.

Participants will be examined at four different times over three years, according to the announcement, and each study visit includes an eye exam, a medical history discussion, some tests of how people think and how well they remember new information, the retinal imaging that is very much like the kind done at the eye doctors office, and measures of mood, walking and balancing, sleep habits and other types of medical information.

Eligible individuals in the Rhode Island area interested in participating in the study should contact Butlers Alzheimers Prevention Registry, butler.org/alzregistry, or call 401-455-6402. Those living near Tampa, St. Petersburg or Clearwater, Florida, should call Catrina Montgomery at (727) 298-6077. Dr. Stuart Sinoff, medical director of Neurosciences for BayCare Health Systems West Region in Pinellas County, is the studys principal investigator in Florida.

The retinal-screening study is the latest indication that Rhode Island has emerged as a leader in Alzheimers research, with numerous studies at centers including URI, Rhode Island Hospital, Butler Hospital and Brown University, home to the Carney Institute for Brain Science. Sciences may not always be collaborative, but ongoing cooperation in the Ocean State is providing promise in the invariably fatal disease.

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