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NEI Mourns Jean Arnwine

Jean Arnwine

The National Eye Institute mourns the death of Jean Arnwine, a dedicated member of the vision community who was serving as a medical missionary in Haiti during the devastating earthquake. Jean was a clinical trials research coordinator at Texas Retina Associates in Dallas. She had been providing eye care with a mission team from Highland Park United Methodist Church when she suffered injuries during the earthquake and died on January 15. She is being remembered today at a memorial service in Dallas.

Jean spent more than a decade coordinating a wide variety of NEI-supported clinical trials and mentoring study staff. She most recently served as a lead coordinator among the dozens of clinical centers participating in the Age Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS 2), the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT), and the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network (DRCRnet). She was also a member of the executive committee of the Complications of AMD Prevention Trial (CAPT), where she was frequently consulted by the coordinating center to offer recommendations on new policies and data-gathering procedures.

“Jean had a great deal of experience and a wonderful way with patients,” said Emily Chew, M.D., deputy director of the NEI Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications and chair of AREDS 2. “I am sure that the rapport she developed with study participants and members of the research team greatly contributed to the success of the numerous NEI trials that she coordinated. She will be sorely missed.”

Posted: January 20, 2010