The College of Optometrists

09 December 2005

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City University has today opened the new Henry Wellcome Vision Research Laboratories. The laboratories were developed following a grant awarded by The Wellcome Trust and will provide a centre for Optometric and Visual Science research projects by both staff and students .

The laboratories were officially opened during a day of events at the University with tours of the facilities, noted speakers from the world of Optometry and Visual Science, and presentations by City University researchers on their work.

Head of the Department of Optometry and Visual Science, David Thomson commented:
“This is a fantastic day for the Department and an exciting day for City University. We have a thriving department that leads its field in research and teaching and we would like to thank the Wellcome Trust for making these new laboratories possible.”

The Department of Optometry and Visual Science at City University aims to increase knowledge of the visual system in relation to human disease, with a view to alleviating pain and suffering and improving quality of life, and to improve scientific understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of seeing. The work is supported by a wide range of Grants from the UK Research Councils, the NHS and Industry. The Department received the excellent rating of 5 in the last Research Assessment Exercise.

Members of the Department publish the work in top-rated Journals such as Nature, The Journal of Neuroscience, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Current Biology, and Vision Research. Emphasis is placed on non-invasive techniques based on visual psychophysics and the measurement of involuntary signals such as visually evoked electrical potentials, eye movements, pupil responses and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Research areas cover topics concerned with fundamental visual processes, ophthalmic and physiological optics, vision care and clinical practice, visual neuroscience and the development of specialised instrumentation for non-invasive objective responses with emphasis on clinical applications.

Current research projects are investigating the neural basis of Amblyopia, vision in the ‘twilight zone’, and the design of coloured displays in Aircraft Cockpits. Members of the Department have developed standard tests of visual performance. For example, Test Chart 2000 turns a standard PC into a powerful test chart for use by optometrists, ophthalmologists, orthoptists and other eye care professionals. The CU dynamic colour vision test permits the accurate measurement of subtle colour deficiencies.