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Jeremy Guggenheim

Dr Jeremy Guggenheim

(he/him)

Professor in Myopia Research

School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

My research is aimed at discovering the causes of short-sightedness (myopia). Approximately 1 in 3 people in the United Kingdom suffer from myopia, and the condition increases the risk of a number of serious eye disorders. I have contributed to collaborative efforts with researchers from across the world, leading to the discovery of more than a four hundred genetic variants that increase susceptibility to myopia.

Nobody yet knows how most of these genetic variants play a role in myopia development, nor how best they can be used to target and improve treatment.

Publication

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

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2003

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2001

Articles

Research

Research Topics and Related Projects

MyoTeat: Myopia - from genes and environment to cellular responses and treatment

 

Collaborators: Dr Marita Feldkaemper and Dr Siegfried Wahl (Eberhard Karls University Tübingen), Prof. Caroline Klaver (Erasmus Medical University), Prof. Falk Schroedl (Paracelsus Medical University), Rigmor Baraas (University of South-Eastern Norway), Christina Zeitz (Sorbonne Université) and Frank Schaeffel (Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmo-logy Basel), TRB Chemedia Internat, Signify Netherlands, Norway National Institute of Public Health.

 

This Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network funded by the European Union and UK EPSRC aims to understand the mechanisms responsible for myopia development and to use this knowledge to develop better treatments to prevent or slow myopia progression.

 

Translating myopia genetics discoveries into strategies for early detection and mechanistic insight

Collaborators: Dr Cathy Williams (University of Bristol, UK) and Professor Kyoko Ohno-Matsui (Tokyo Medical and
Dental University, Japan).

This study is funded jointly by the Welsh Assembly government and the eye research charity, Fight for Sight. It aims to discover if genetic information can help detect patients with high myopia who are at most risk of developing sight-threatening changes such as myopic maculopathy.

The Consortium for Refractive Error and Myopia (CREAM)

Collaborators: More than 30 teams of researchers from across the world.

The CREAM consortium carry out collaborative projects designed to identify genetic risk factors for refractive errors. Projects are co-ordinated by working groups, involving teams of researchers with expertise in genetics, biostatistics and ophthalmology.   I co-Chair of the Astigmatism Working Group (with Joan Bailey-Wilson, NIH/NHGRI, USA) and the Longitudinal Studies Working Group (with Cathy Williams, Bristol, UK).

The UK Biobank Eye and Vision Consortium is a team of researchers working collaboratively to identify risk factors for eye diseases in the UK and to develop new treatments, by studying participants of UK Biobank.

Past Postgraduate Student (with degree and year submitted)

Michael Frost                 PhD                  2000

Natalie Davies               PhD                  2002

Jane Farbrother              PhD                 2003

Carolina Chan                PhD                  2005

Rosalind Creer               PhD                  2006

Tetyana Zayats MD        PhD                  2009

Yen-Po (Paul) Chen MD   PhD                2010

George McMahon          PhD                  2010

Chris Dillingham             PhD                  2012

Rupal Shah                    PhD                  2018

Yvonne Huang Yu MD    PhD                  2018

Neema Ghorbani Mojarrad PhD              2020

Alfred Pozarickij              PhD                  2020

Denis Plotnikov  MD       PhD                  2020

Teaching

Currently I am module leader for the Investigative Technqiues undergraduate course. I also teach Professional Awareness and Research Skills.

Biography

Educational and Professional Qualifications

1989-1992:      PhD, Cardiff University, UK

1988-1989:      PQE (Optometry), British College of Optometrists

1985-1988:      BSc (Hons) Optometry, UWIST (Cardiff University)

Career Overview

2013-2015 Assoc. Prof. & Assoc. Head, Optometry, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2012-2013 Assoc. Prof., School of Optometry, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2011-2012 Reader, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

2006-2011 Senior Lecturer, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

1994-2006 Lecturer, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

Honours and awards

2012/2013 College of Optometrists, Biennial Arthur Bennett Prize for Outstanding Research Anywhere in the World

2022 Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology (ARVO) Gold Fellow Award

Professional memberships

1989 - present: Member of the College of Optometrists (MCOptom)

Academic positions

2013-2015 Assoc. Prof. & Assoc. Head, Optometry, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2012-2013 Assoc. Prof., School of Optometry, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2011-2012 Reader, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

2006-2011 Senior Lecturer, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

1994-2006 Lecturer, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK

Committees and reviewing

University Committees

2015 - present:  School Research Committee

2015 - present:  School Research Audit Ethics Committee (Chair)

2017 - present:  College Data Strategy Committee

Editorial Boards

2012 - present:  Editorial Board Member, Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics (OPO)

2012 - present:  Editorial Board Member, Translational Vision Science & Technology (TVST)

2023 - present:  Associate Editor for Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS)

Grant Panels

2020 - present:  Fight for Sight UK grants assessment panel

Grant Reviewer

MRC, BBSRC, NIHR, Fight for Sight, Macular Society, College of Optometrists

Specialisms

  • Genetic Epidemiology
  • Myopia
  • Gene-environment interaction