Christina Y. Weng

About Christina Y. Weng

The past year brought us one step closer to our recruitment target for DRCR Retina Network’s Protocol AO, one of the most important ongoing clinical trials in the retina sphere. This prospective, randomized study assesses how a breakthrough technology – home OCT (optical coherence tomography, Notal Vision) – might guide the management of wet macular degeneration and further personalize patient care. The home OCT is a device that allows patients to self-scan their eyes in under a minute; an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm interprets those images and notifies the retina specialist if fluid is detected, facilitating timely and tailored treatment.

Regardless of outcome, our community stands to learn an incredible amount about the role of AI and remote monitoring which have tremendous implications across ophthalmology. This curiosity and the potential to improve outcomes for the estimated 20 million people worldwide with wet macular degeneration are immense motivators behind this work. It is an honor to lead this trial, and much credit is due to the DRCR Retina Network and Jaeb Center teams; all participating investigators, coordinators, staff, and patients; as well as our supporting partners and collaborators. We look forward to wrapping up enrollment in 2026 and sharing results in the near future!

On a related note, another exciting area to keep your eyes on is the emergence of tyrosine kinase inhibitors. By possibly offering longer duration of action in retinal vascular diseases, these therapeutics go hand in hand with technologies like home OCT. The two leading candidates in this space – EYP-1901 (EyePoint) and OTX-TKI (Ocular Therapeutix) – finished enrolling their respective Phase 3 programs in 2025, and topline results are highly anticipated later this year.