School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Research Interests

I joined the School in January 1999 from the Open University, where I was Senior Lecturer in Physics and Co-Director of the Oxford Research Unit. I am currently School Research Mentor and Head of the Structural Biophysics Group within the School. My research programme is aimed at investigating the ultrastructure of connective tissues and in particular, the basis of transparency of the cornea. The methods used include the complementary techniques of X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy together with a range of biochemical methods. X-ray work is carried out at the Diamond synchrotron source near Oxford, and at the ESRF, Grenoble. Much of the recent work has been involved with exploring the fine structure of the cornea and sclera, the swelling properties of these tissues, and the basis of their optical and/or mechanical function. My research is currently funded by a £1.4million MRC grant to understand what governs the shape and transparency of the cornea. The role of proteoglycans in maintaining corneal ultrastructure has been one particular focal point, and we have examined proteoglycan distribution and organisation in normal cornea and sclera as well as in corneal dystrophies, mucopolysaccharidoses and keratoconus. We have also obtained unique information about the organisation of collagen fibrils in the cornea. Recently, we have carried out a detailed analysis of the collagen annulus that comprises the limbus, and have started an ambitious project aimed at quantifying the collagen orientation throughout the normal and myopic globe.

X-ray diffraction provides information about the packing of collagen molecules within fibrils, and about the size and arrangement of the fibrils themselves. The information is quantitative, and pertains to tissue in its physiological state. The data have therefore allowed us to make a unique contribution to the theoretical calculations of corneal light transmission and we are currently using the techniques to explain the scattering characteristics of the cornea in pathological conditions or following various surgeries including LASIK and photorefractive keratectomy.