" What we’re developing is a screening test to know when older adults in our community need to be referred to a specialty center for more invasive and expensive diagnostic confirmatory tests. A screening test is not the same as a confirmatory diagnosis. Additionally, our tests allow for a false positive error because we’d rather catch/detect more people than not find individuals who may go on to have the disease. A screening test may identify persons at risk so that one day the optometrist can follow their records, notice changes in the retina, and then recommend a reference to a neurologist or memory disorder center for a next round of testing. I believe that we are not going to be able to slow progression of the disease nor develop an effective therapy without an earlier intervention, which is why this retinal screening has potential. "