About the Authors

Giuseppe Querques

giuseppe.querques@hotmail.it

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology - Hôpital intercommunal de Créteil – Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France

Bénédicte M. J. Merle

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology - Hôpital intercommunal de Créteil – Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France

Nicole M. Pumariega

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America

Pascale Benlian

Affiliation APHP - Hôpital Saint Antoine - biochemistry and molecular biology department - F-75012 Paris; Université Lille 2, INSERM UMRS 1011, Lille, France

Cécile Delcourt

Affiliations INSERM, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, Bordeaux, France, Univ. Bordeaux, ISPED, Bordeaux, France

Alain Zourdani

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology - Hôpital intercommunal de Créteil – Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France

Heather B. Leisy

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America

Michele D. Lee

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America

R. Theodore Smith

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America

Eric H. Souied

Affiliation Department of Ophthalmology - Hôpital intercommunal de Créteil – Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, France

Competing Interests

This study was supported by a grant from Laboratoire Bausch & Lomb - Chauvin, Clinical Research, 416, rue Samuel Morse, CS 99535, 34961 Montpellier, Cedex 2, France. Dr Querques is a consultant for Novartis, Bayer, Allergan, has received travel expenses from Novartis, Bayer, Allergan. Dr Merle has received consulting support from Bausch & Lomb, grants from Fédération des Aveugles et Handicapés Visuels de France and Fondation Nestlé France. Dr Benlian has received consulting and lecture support from Bausch & Lomb - Chauvin, Novartis. CD: Bausch & Lomb - Chauvin (consulting, conferences), Laboratoires Théa (Clermont-Ferrand, France) (research funding); Alcon (conferences). Dr Souied is a consultant for Novartis, Bayer, Allergan, has received travel expenses from Novartis, Bayer, Allergan and serves on the Speakers' Bureau of Novartis. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GQ EHS. Performed the experiments: GQ EHS. Analyzed the data: GQ BMJM NP CD MDL AZ RTS EHS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: GQ BMJM NP PB CD HBL MDL AZ RTS EHS. Wrote the paper: GQ BMJM NP MDL RTS EHS. Review or approval of the manuscript: GQ RTS EHS.