School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Research Interests

My research is directed at understanding what causes myopia (short-sightedness). Myopia is a very common condition, affecting about 1 in 4 people. As well as the inconvenience of having to wear spectacles or contact lenses, myopia is a risk factor for a number of eye diseases. Unfortunately, this leads some patients with high degrees of myopia to lose their sight. However, it is hoped that because myopia is a slowly progressive condition, once we understand what causes myopia, it will be possible to arrest childhood myopia progression in the future.

Both genetic and environmental factors are implicated in causing myopia. In some cases, high degree myopia can be wholly genetic, which means that it is passed from generation to generation as a “dominant” or “recessive” condition with little or no influence from environmental factors. However, our research suggests that in general, genes act to make people more or less susceptible to high degree myopia, and that (undiscovered) environmental factors also have a contributory role.

For the past few years, my research group has been recruiting families with high degree myopia for genetic studies (The Family Study of Myopia). Because the genetics of myopia is so complex, we need the help of several hundred families in order to pinpoint the susceptibility genes involved.

Ultimately, we hope that it will be possible to discover why, and exactly how, eyes normally control their rate of growth, and what it is that leads eyes to become myopic. This should provide clues on how we can arrest myopic progression.