Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Center for Preventive Ophthalmology and Biostatistics (CPOB)

Welcome to the Center for Preventive Ophthalmology and Biostatistics (CPOB)

The Center for Preventive Ophthalmology and Biostatistics (CPOB) leads and collaborates in ophthalmic clinical research through study design, protocol development, comprehensive data management, cutting-edge interpretation of fundus images, statistical analysis, and interpretation of data. The center was established in the Department of Ophthalmology in 1994 by Maureen Maguire, PhD, an internationally recognized leader in the design and execution of clinical trials in ophthalmology.

The CPOB has been the home for the coordinating centers of several multicenter studies sponsored by NIH or industry over the past 22 years, during which the staff has grown from 3 people to approximately 20. A major strength of the CPOB is the expertise of the members in appropriately applying clinical research methods to ophthalmologic applications. CPOB staff provides expertise in all phases of clinical research, including study design, study initiation at the clinical center, on-going quality assurance, study closeout, data analysis and manuscript writing.

Activities within the CPOB are in three broad areas:

  1. Coordinating Center activities for several multicenter clinical trials. These trials are sponsored both by industry and by the National Eye Institute, an agency within the National Institutes of Health;
  2. Biostatistical consulting for clinical and basic scientists within the Department of Ophthalmology and in other Penn departments on study design, data analysis and interpretation. These collaborations have yielded more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed literature over the past 5 years.
  3. Scheie Image Reading Center (SIRC) for expert interpretation of retinal images for multi-centered clinical trials.

For more information on these programs, click on the links above. Have questions? Contact us!