School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Research Interests

As Head of School I have many administrative duties within the School and the University. This ranges from overall account responsibility to getting Dr Who filmed in the school. I have a number of scientific administrative roles at both the national and international level (see biography).
These include:- Member of Science Board for the Science & Technology Facilities Council,
Chair of the Photon Science Governing Body for the New Light Source Project,
Chair of the Environmental & Cultural Heritage beamtime award committee for the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

Member of the governing body of the University of  Newport.
I also work closely with various organisations including the RNIB, and I am involved with the links between Artes Mundi and the University.

Most of my research involves interdisciplinary projects with other Universities and research institutes. The main theme of my research is investigation of order and disorder in the structure of biological systems. The disorder can be inherent within a material or can be an effect of ageing, post mortem deterioration or environmental effects.

I study the interactions in biological materials from the living through historical to archaeological contexts. Although the systems that I investigate are hierarchical, the organisation at the level of nanostructures is often key to the performance of mesoscopic and macroscopic structures. My group has been involved in the study of important historical collagen based materials such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Domesday book, which has attracted significant media attention.

Main projects that have been funded:-

• The three dimensional structure of collagen
• Biomechanical properties of collagen
• Fibrillin elastic properties
• Analysis of historic parchment
• Mineralisation, development and diagenesis of bone structures
• Manipulation of interfibrillar interactions in collagen based tissues
• Ultraviolet irradiation of collagen – chitosan complexes
• Fibrillar structure of cellulose
• Structure function relationships in collagen chitosan blends