Abstract
The European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium is a recently formed consortium of 29 groups from 12 European countries. It already comprises 21 population-based studies and 20 other studies (case–control, cases only, randomized trials), providing ophthalmological data on approximately 170,000 European participants. The aim of the consortium is to promote and sustain collaboration and sharing of data and knowledge in the field of ophthalmic epidemiology in Europe, with particular focus on the harmonization of methods for future research, estimation and projection of frequency and impact of visual outcomes in European populations (including temporal trends and European subregions), identification of risk factors and pathways for eye diseases (lifestyle, vascular and metabolic factors, genetics, epigenetics and biomarkers) and development and validation of prediction models for eye diseases. Coordinating these existing data will allow a detailed study of the risk factors and consequences of eye diseases and visual impairment, including study of international geographical variation which is not possible in individual studies. It is expected that collaborative work on these existing data will provide additional knowledge, despite the fact that the risk factors and the methods for collecting them differ somewhat among the participating studies. Most studies also include biobanks of various biological samples, which will enable identification of biomarkers to detect and predict occurrence and progression of eye diseases. This article outlines the rationale of the consortium, its design and presents a summary of the methodology.
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Acknowledgments
The E3 consortium thanks Cécile Delcourt, Jean-François Korobelnik, Marie-Bénédicte Rougier and Marie-Noëlle Delyfer for organizing the meetings in Bordeaux in 2011, 2012 and 2013, Stefano Piermarocchi for organizing the meeting in Rome in 2014 and Chris Hammond, Paul Foster and Tunde Peto for organizing the meeting in London in 2015. These workshops have received financial support from Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Laboratoires Théa, Novartis and OOgroup.
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C Delcourt received research grants from Laboratoires Théa and is board member for Bausch + Lomb, Laboratoires Théa and Novartis; JF Korobelnik is consultant for Alcon, Allergan, Bayer, Horus, Novartis, Roche, Théa, Zeiss; P Foster received honoraria from Carl Zeiss Meditech and Allergan (UK) and travel grants and unrestricted research grants from Alcon; A Mirshahi received research grants from Novartis and Bayer; L Bretillon received research grants from Laboratoires Horus Pharma, Laboratoires, THEA, Laboratoires Fournier/Abbott, travel grants from Laboratoires Horus Pharma, honoraria from Laboratoires Chauvin Bausch & Lomb, and is consultant for Novartis; F Topouzis received support from a project sponsor from Pfizer, Novartis, Alcon and Laboratoires Thea, honoraria for speaking at symposia from Alcon and is board member for Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, Humphrey, Zeiss, Allergan, Pfizer, Laboratoires Théa and Novartis; EH Souied is board member for Novartis, Bayer, Thea, Allergan; J Sahel is founder of Pixium Vision and Gensight Biologics and is consultant for Pixium Vision, Gensight Biologics, Sanofi Fovea, Genesignal and Vision Medecine; R Silva is member of Advisory board for Allergan, Bayer, Alimera, Novartis, THEA, Alcon. Other authors have no potential conflict of interest.
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Please see “Appendix” section for European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium members.
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Appendix: European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium members
Appendix: European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium members
First name | Last name | Institution | City | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
Niyazi | Acar | Inra-University of Burgundy | Dijon | France |
Eleftherios | Anastosopoulos | University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki | Greece |
Augusto | Azuara-Blanco | Queen’s University | Belfast | UK |
Arthur | Bergen | Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences-KNAW | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
Geir | Bertelsen | University of Tromso | Tromso | Norway |
Christine | Binquet | University Hospital of Dijon | Dijon | France |
Alan | Bird | Moorfield’s Eye Hospital | London | UK |
Lionel | Brétillon | Inra-University of Burgundy | Dijon | France |
Alain | Bron | University Hospital of Dijon | Dijon | France |
Gabrielle | Buitendijk | Erasmus Medical Center | Rotterdam | Netherlands |
Maria Luz | Cachulo | AIBILI/CHUC | Coimbra | Portugal |
Usha | Chakravarthy | Queen’s University | Belfast | UK |
Michelle | Chan | UCL Institute of Ophthalmology | London | UK |
Petrus | Chang | University of Bonn | Bonn | Germany |
Annemarie | Colijn | Erasmus Medical Center | Rotterdam | Netherlands |
Audrey | Cougnard-Grégoire | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Catherine | Creuzot-Garcher | University Hospital of Dijon | Dijon | France |
Phillippa | Cumberland | UCL Institute of Child Health | London | UK |
José | Cunha-Vaz | AIBILI/CHUC | Coimbra | Portugal |
Vincent | Daien | Inserm U1061 | Montpellier | France |
Gabor | Deak | Medical University of Vienna | Vienna | Austria |
Cécile | Delcourt | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Marie-Noëlle | Delyfer | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Anneke | den Hollander | Radboud University | Nijmegen | Netherlands |
Martha | Dietzel | University of Muenster | Muenster | Germany |
Maja Gran | Erke | University of Tromso | Tromso | Norway |
Sascha | Fauser | University Eye Hospital | Cologne | Germany |
Robert | Finger | University of Bonn | Bonn | Germany |
Astrid | Fletcher | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | London | UK |
Paul | Foster | UCL Institute of Ophthalmology | London | UK |
Panayiota | Founti | University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki | Greece |
Arno | Göbel | University of Bonn | Bonn | Germany |
Theo | Gorgels | Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences-KNAW | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
Jakob | Grauslund | University of Southern Denmark | Odense | Denmark |
Franz | Grus | University Medical Center Mainz | Mainz | Germany |
Christopher | Hammond | King’s College | London | UK |
Catherine | Helmer | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Hans-Werner | Hense | University of Muenster | Muenster | Germany |
Manuel | Hermann | University Eye Hospital | Cologne | Germany |
René | Hoehn | University Medical Center | Mainz | Germany |
Ruth | Hogg | Queen’s University | Belfast | UK |
Frank | Holz | University of Bonn | Bonn | Germany |
Carel | Hoyng | Radboud University | Nijmegen | Netherlands |
Nomdo | Jansonius | Erasmus Medical Center | Rotterdam | Netherlands |
Sarah | Janssen | Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences-KNAW | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
Anthony | Khawaja | UCL Institute of Ophthalmology | London | UK |
Caroline | Klaver | Erasmus Medical Center | Rotterdam | Netherlands |
Jean-François | Korobelnik | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Julia | Lamparter | University Medical Center Mainz | Mainz | Germany |
Mélanie | Le Goff | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Sergio | Leal | AIBILI/CHUC | Coimbra | Portugal |
Yara | Lechanteur | Radboud University | Nijmegen | Netherlands |
Terho | Lehtimäki | Pirkanmaa Hospital District | Tampere | Finland |
Andrew | Lotery | University of Southampton | Southampton | UK |
Irene | Leung | Moorfield’s Eye Hospital | London | UK |
Matthias | Mauschitz | University of Bonn | Bonn | Germany |
Bénédicte | Merle | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Verena | Meyer zu Westrup | University of Muenster | Muenster | Germany |
Edoardo | Midena | University of Padova | Padova | Italy |
Stefania | Miotto | University of Padova | Padova | Italy |
Alireza | Mirshahi | University Medical Center | Mainz | Germany |
Sadek | Mohan-Saïd | Institut de la Vision | Paris | France |
Alyson | Muldrew | Queen’s University | Belfast | UK |
Michael | Mueller | Pirkanmaa Hospital District | Tampere | Finland |
Sandrina | Nunes | AIBILI/CHUC | Coimbra | Portugal |
Konrad | Oexle | Institue of Human Genetics | Munich | Germany |
Tunde | Peto | Moorfield’s Eye Hospital | London | UK |
Stefano | Piermarocchi | University of Padova | Padova | Italy |
Elena | Prokofyeva | Inserm U1018 | Paris | France |
Jugnoo | Rahi | UCL Institute of Ophthalmology | London | UK |
Olli | Raitakari | Pirkanmaa Hospital District | Tampere | Finland |
Luisa | Ribeiro | AIBILI/CHUC | Coimbra | Portugal |
Marie-Bénédicte | Rougier | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
José | Sahel | Institut de la Vision | Paris | France |
Aggeliki | Salonikiou | University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki | Greece |
Clarisa | Sanchez | Radboud University | Nijmegen | Netherlands |
Steffen | Schmitz-Valckenberg | University of Bonn | Bonn | Germany |
Cédric | Schweitzer | University of Bordeaux Segalen | Bordeaux | France |
Tatiana | Segato | University of Padova | Padova | Italy |
Jasmin | Shehata | Medical University of Vienna | Vienna | Austria |
Rufino | Silva | AIBILI/CHUC | Coimbra | Portugal |
Giuliana | Silvestri | Queen’s University | Belfast | UK |
Christian | Simader | Medical University of Vienna | Vienna | Austria |
Eric | Souied | University Hospital of Créteil | Créteil | France |
Henriet | Springelkamp | Erasmus Medical Center | Rotterdam | Netherlands |
Robyn | Tapp | Pirkanmaa Hospital District | Tampere | Finland |
Fotis | Topouzis | University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki | Greece |
Virginie | Verhoeven | Erasmus Medical Center | Rotterdam | Netherlands |
Therese | Von Hanno | University of Tromso | Tromso | Norway |
Stela | Vujosevic | University of Padova | Padova | Italy |
Katie | Williams | King’s College London | London | UK |
Christian | Wolfram | University Medical Center | Mainz | Germany |
Jennifer | Yip | UCL Institute of Ophthalmology | London | UK |
Jennyfer | Zerbib | University Hospital of Créteil | Créteil | France |
Isabella | Zwiener | University Medical Center | Mainz | Germany |
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Delcourt, C., Korobelnik, JF., Buitendijk, G.H.S. et al. Ophthalmic epidemiology in Europe: the “European Eye Epidemiology” (E3) consortium. Eur J Epidemiol 31, 197–210 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-015-0098-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-015-0098-2