In this season of Thanksgiving, we express our gratitude not only for the opportunity to care for our patients but also for the inspiration they provide for our research.
Dr. Sharon Fekrat and her patient, Mrs. Scott E. Hughes, exemplify this sentiment. Mrs. Hughes and her identical twin sister inspired Dr. Fekrat's iMIND research group after Mrs. Hughes sister developed Alzheimer's disease while she did not. Intrigued by this difference, Dr. Fekrat performed an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography imaging on both sisters and discovered significantly different results.
The iMIND group, which stands for Eye Multimodal Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disease, has found that by imaging retinal tissue using noninvasive and widely available imaging cameras, it may be possible to detect various neurodegenerative conditions in the retina before symptoms appear and may confirm accurate diagnoses earlier in the disease continuum.
Mrs. Hughes is now 103 years old, while her twin sister passed away several years ago from Alzheimer's. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the patients who have inspired research at Duke and beyond. We are truly grateful for you.