Research
Scholarship that serves the community it studies
Scholars produce case reports, case series, and retrospective chart reviews using deidentified data, mentored end to end, from question to submission.
Overview
What scholars work on
Research at every level begins with a clinical question that arose in the exam lane. Pre Med scholars typically produce a case report or poster; Clinical scholars work toward a manuscript. All projects are supervised by a physician mentor who owns the data pathway and the integrity of the analysis.
Datasets are prepared by the mentor and deidentified before a scholar ever sees them. Scholars do not hold electronic health record credentials and do not extract chart data themselves.


Ethics
Research ethics & IRB guidance
Belmont principles
- Respect for persons, informed consent, and protection for those with diminished autonomy
- Beneficence, maximize benefit, minimize harm, including reputational harm to communities studied
- Justice, the burdens and benefits of research must be distributed fairly
When IRB review applies
- Under 45 CFR 46.102, activity is human subjects research when it is a systematic investigation designed to develop generalizable knowledge involving living individuals' identifiable data or specimens
- Single case reports and quality improvement work are typically not generalizable knowledge research and usually do not require IRB review
- Retrospective chart review using fully deidentified data typically does not involve human subjects as defined by the regulation
- When a project is intended for publication or presentation, request a written IRB exemption determination before data collection, journals increasingly require it
- Never make the not human subjects determination yourself; the supervising physician documents it or seeks the determination
Examples
Project examples
Atypical presentations
Unusual glaucoma, uveitis, or retinal findings documented as case reports with imaging.
Surgical outcomes
Retrospective series on visual outcomes after combined cataract and microinvasive glaucoma surgery.
Health disparities observations
Aggregate, deidentified analyses of presentation stage, access delays, and follow up adherence.
Dissemination
Publications & presentations
- NMA Ophthalmology Section Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly
- American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Annual Meeting
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
- SNMA Annual Medical Education Conference
- Ophthalmic Surgical Wellness Institute (OSWI) meetings
- Pan African Glaucoma Association (PAGA)
Sites
List of participating practices
Daniel Laroche MD
Advanced Eyecare of New York
49 West 127th Street
NY, NY 10027
212 663 0473
Daniel Laroche MD
Advanced Eyecare of New York
215 43 Jamaica Avenue
Queens Village, NY 11428
718 217 0424
Carry the standard forward
Apply as a scholar, open your practice as a training site, or fund a scholar's summer.