Cardiff University Lecturer reignites research career with a fellowship to tackle vision loss
24 April 2025
Dr Louise Terry, Cardiff University Lecturer and Optometrist, has received a Daphne Jackson Trust Research Fellowship and sponsorship from the Macular Society, to support her return to research.
The Daphne Jackson Trust is a charity which helps people restart their careers in research, following a career break for family commitments, health issues, or caring responsibilities.
The charity was founded in 1992 in memory of Professor Daphne Jackson - the first female Professor of Physics in the UK – who recognised how many talented female researchers were forced to take up non-skilled roles following a career break, due to a lack of support and retraining opportunities.
Dr Terry graduated from Cardiff University with a first-class undergraduate degree in 2012, and a PhD in 2017, before accepting a lectureship role in the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences where she inspires and supports the next generation of optometrists.
"During her lectureship role Louise secured a Global Challenges Grant to develop connections between Ghana and Cardiff University, and more recently has visited the University of Cape Coast in Ghana with a team of researchers from Cardiff University to build a relationship between the two Schools of Optometry"
Following a career break due to maternity leave, Dr Terry applied for, and was awarded the Daphne Jackson Trust Research Fellowship, which would support her in returning to a research career that she loves, that will help shape the future of optometry and vision sciences.
Dr Terry’s three-year project will explore Stargardt disease, the most common inherited eye condition affecting the macula, the part of the light-sensitive retina responsible for central vision (akin to the film in a camera). It typically starts to affect vision in childhood and gets progressively worse, which is debilitating and incurable.
"I'm so grateful for this fantastic opportunity to kickstart my research following a career break. I'm really excited to get stuck in to the project"
This study will investigate the use of imaging retinal densitometry (IRD), a novel device co-developed at Cardiff University and used to measure the visual pigments in the macula, which tells us about how well the retina functions. She’ll be working closely with the device’s co-creator Prof Tom Margrain, as well as her supervisors Prof Marcela Votruba and Mrs Rhianon Reynolds.
The Macular Society said they are “delighted to be sponsoring a Daphne Jackson Trust Fellowship for the first time, and are keen to support liaison between people with macular disease and Louise during the fellowship.”
