Manager, Centre for Eye Research Ireland

Email: james.loughman@TUDublin.ie

Tel: (01) 220 5724

Current Positions   

• Professor of Optometry and Vision Science, Dublin Institute of Technology
• Director, Centre for Eye Research Ireland (CERI)
• Honorary Research Fellow, African Vision Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
• Director and National Chair, Optometry Giving Sight Ireland
• Member, Standing Committee for Public Health, World Council of Optometry
• Member, Leadership Team, Environment, Sustainability and Health Institute, Dublin Institute of Technology
• Chair, CREST Data Safety Monitoring Committee, Waterford Institute of Technology
• Member, Vision Research Group, TILDA, Trinity College Dublin

 

Qualifications

• Graduated as an Optometrist from DIT with first class honours. (June 1997)

• Completed PhD research studies titled “Clinical viability study of preattentive visual search in glaucoma” (August 2006)

Academic Achievements & Awards

• Successfully elected to Fellowship of the Association of Optometrists Ireland (July 1997)
• Allergan Ocular Pharmacology Award (July 1997)
• Harte Barry Award (July 1997)
• DIT Hothouse Research Commercialisation Award (November 2008)
• November 2013, Awarded Honourary Professorship, in recognition of outstanding academic achievement, by Dublin institute of Technology

Patented Inventions

• Improvements in or relating to visual performance and/or macular pigmentation. WO Patent 2,013,005,037

• Visual performance and/or macular pigmentation. US Patent 20,130,011,486

Professional Affiliations

• Fellow of the Association of Optometrists, Ireland (FAOI)
• Member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
• Founder member of Irish Vision Research Organisation
• Member of the Irish Contact Lens Society (ICLS)
• Member, Development Studies Association Ireland
• Member, Fighting Blindness Research Communications Workgroup
  
  

Professional Experience

• April 2013: Executive Management Team member, Environment and Health Sciences Institute, Dublin Institute of Technology
• March 2013: Chair of the CREST Data Safety Monitoring Committee, Waterford Institute of Technology 2013 – 2018
• October 2012: Principal Investigator Irish Aid/HEA Research Initiative – Human Resources Development for Eye Health
• September 2012: Vision Scientist, Vision Work Group, TILDA, Trinity College Dublin
• May 2011: Appointed to Fighting Blindness Research Communications Workgroup
• September 2010: Appointed Honorary Research Fellow, University of KwaZulu Natal
• July 2010: Appointed Senior Vision Scientist, Institute of Vision Research
• March 2010: National Optometry Centre, Dublin, Ireland – Audit committee member
• Jan 2009: Appointed Director, Macular Pigment Research Group
• October 2008: Principal Investigator Irish Aid/HEA Research Initiative – Mozambique Eyecare Project
• September 2007: DIT Lead Scientist investigating Visual Performance and Macular Pigment.
• September 2006: Appointed Research Coordinator for Department of Optometry, D.I.T.
• January 2006: Elected to management board for D.I.T. Healthcare, Lifestyle and Habitat project
• January 2005 – May 2005: Acting Head of Department of Optometry
• January 2004: Elected member of British Universities Committee of Contact Lens Educators 
• January 2003 to date: D.I.T. Optometry liaison to Institute of Ophthalmology and Mater Hospital, Dublin
• January 2001 to date: Lecturer in Optometry, D.I.T.
• July 1997 to date: Practicing Optometrist

Short Biography

James is a Professor of Optometry and Vision Science with over 20 years of clinical, academic, research and management experience. His primary clinical interests are in paediatrics and ocular disease. His academic and research interests are in preventive eye health technologies and interventions for the most common causes of blindness including myopia, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetes. He is founder and Director of the Centre for Eye Research Ireland (CERI), a research lab in Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) dedicated to providing state of the art solutions for blindness prevention. He is Principal Investigator on 2 major clinical trials. The Myopia Outcome Study of Atropine in Children (MOSAIC) is the first clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of low dose atropine for myopia control in European children. This trial is funded by the Health Research Board and Fighting Blindness. He continues to expand his pioneering work by exploring the neuroprotective capacity of select nutrients in glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The European Nutrition in Glaucoma Management (ENIGMA) trial is currently recruiting participants to explore the role of macular carotenoids for glare disability in glaucoma. Since 2008, he has been Director and Principal Investigator of two Africa based international development projects, including the Mozambique Eyecare Project and Human Resources for Eye Health, which spans 11 African countries and now continues to work in child eye health with the Brien Holden Vision Institute and Orbis in Africa. 

He has published over seventy scientific articles in leading peer reviewed journals, over one-hundred peer-reviewed abstracts, numerous scientific letters and commissioned articles, and been invited to chair and deliver keynote speeches and continuous education lectures at various national and international conferences. He has secured in excess of €8.6 million in research and commercialisation funding since 2007, and is currently working to develop preventive health technologies and systems, and build eye health capacity in Ireland and in developing countries. 

In 2009, he established and continues as Director and National Chair of the Irish registered charity, Optometry Giving Sight (Registered Charity: CHY19004), which specifically targets the prevention of blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error.   

Clinical Specialities

Macular Pigment, AMD, Glaucoma, Myopia Control, Visual Attention, Psychophysical Techniques, Advanced Investigative Techniques, Epidemiology, Eyecare in Developing Nations