Vision Science Research Group

Professor Roger Anderson

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Contact Details

Position: Professor

Location: Coleraine

Research Interests

- Prof. Anderson undertook his primary degree in optometry at the University of Wales in Cardiff, graduating 1986. His pre-registration year was completed at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and membership of the College of Optometrists obtained in 1987. This was followed by a period in clinical practice during which time he studied for a Master of Philosophy degree at the University of Wales. His PhD was undertaken in the School of Optometry at Indiana University, USA and the following two years spent as a Research Fellow in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Edinburgh, before joining the University of Ulster in 1995. Since 2007 he has also been Principal Optometrist (Research) and Professor of Visual Neuroscience at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.

- He is currently a serving member of the General Optical Council (GOC), a member of the College of Experts of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Life Sciences Committee of the Royal Irish Academy. In addition he serves as Chair of the Education Committee of the European Council for Optometry and Optics (ECOO).

Recent Publications

  • Redmond T, Garway-Heath DF, Zlatkova MB, Anderson RS. Sensitivity loss in early glaucoma can be accounted for by an enlargement of the area of complete spatial summation. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. (2010 epub ahead of print).
  • Redmond T, Zlatkova MB, Garway-Heath DF, Anderson RS. The effect of age on the area of complete spatial summation for chromatic and achromatic stimuli. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. (2010 epub ahead of print).
  • Anderson RS, Redmond T, McDowell DR, Breslin KM, Zlatkova MB. The robustness of various forms of perimetry to different levels of induced intraocular stray light. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2009 Aug;50(8):4022-8.
  • Vassilev A, Murzac A, Zlatkova MB, Anderson RS. On the search for an appropriate metric for reaction time to suprathreshold increments and decrements. Vision Research. 2009 Mar;49(5):524-9.
  • Wolsley CJ, Silvestri G, O’Neill J, Saunders KJ, Anderson RS. The association between multifocal electroretinograms and OCT retinal thickness in retinitis pigmentosa patients with good visual acuity. Eye. 2009 Jul;23(7):1524-31.
  • Beirne, R.O., Zlatkova, M.B., Chang, C.K., Chakravarthy, U., Anderson, R.S. ’How does the short-wavelength-sensitive contrast sensitivity function for detection and resolution change with age in the periphery?’ Vision Research. 2008 Aug;48(18):1894-901.
  • Wolsley, C.J., Saunders, K.J., Silvestri, G., Anderson, R.S. ’Investigation of changes in myopic retina using multifocal electroretinograms, optical tomography and peripheral resolution acuity.’ Vision Research. 2008 Jun;48(14):1554-61.
  • Zlatkova, M.B., Vassilev, A., Anderson, R.S. ’Resolution acuity for equiluminant gratings of S-cone positive or negative contrast in human vision.’ Journal of Vision. 2008 Mar 12;8(3):9.1-10.
  • Hogg R.E., Zlatkova M.B., Chakravarthy U., Anderson R.S. ’Investigation of the effect of simulated lens yellowing, transparency loss and refractive error on in vivo resonance Raman spectroscopy.’ Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 2007 May;27(3):225-31.
  • Hogg R.E., Stevenson M.R., Chakravarthy U., Beirne, R.O., Anderson R.S. ’Early features of AMD.’ Ophthalmology. 2007 May; 114 (5): 1028 - 1028e3.
  • Hogg R.E., Anderson R.S., Stevenson, M.R., Zlatkova, M.B. Chakravarthy U. In vivo macular pigment measurements: a comparison of resonance Raman spectroscopy and heterochromatic flicker photometry. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2007 Apr;91(4):485-90 .
  • Beirne R.O., Hogg R.E., Stevenson M.R., Chakravarthy U., Anderson R.S. Severity staging by early features of age-related maculopathy exhibits weak relationships with functional deficits on SWS grating acuity. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2006; 47:4624-31.
  • Zlatkova M.B., Coulter E.E., Anderson R.S. The effect of simulated lens yellowing and opacification on blue-on-yellow acuity and contrast sensitivity. Vision Research. 2006; 46:2432-42.
  • Anderson R.S. The psychophysics of glaucoma: improving the structure/function relationship. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research. 2006; 25:79-97.

Current Research

  • Professor Anderson’s research interests centre around non-invasive assessment of the visual system using chromatic and achromatic measures of spatial acuity and the relationship between structural and functional measures of visual integrity.
  • The separation of neural and optical limits to both foveal and peripheral vision is also a major area of interest. This has particular clinical application in eye conditions such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and in the ageing eye where different visual functions may be selectively affected and neural damage must be separated from the filtering effects of the eye’s optics.

Grant Activity

- Irish Aid and HEA. The Mozambique Eyecare Project. In collaboration with Dublin Institute of Technology, 2008. €1.5 Million

- The Wellcome Trust. Project Grant. Title: “Spatial resolution of the short-wavelength system in glaucoma. Anderson RS (PI), Hudson C and Rankin SJA, 1999-2001. £69,000

- The Wellcome Trust. Research Infrastructure Grant. Anderson RS, Hudson C, McKeefry D and Saunders KJ, 1999-2001 £130,000

- The Royal Society. Project Grant. Binocular summation for detection and resolution acuity in peripheral vision. Anderson RS, 2000-01. £10,000

- Essilor Europe. Project Grant. Title: Double blind comparative study of a new high index aspheric lens. Anderson RS, Delargy K, Jalie M, McDowell DR, Saunders KJ. 2001. £16,000

- PPP Healthcare Trust. Project Grant. Biomarkers to Age-related Macular Degeneration. Chakravarthy U. and Anderson RS. 2001. £298,000

- BBSRC Experimental Research into Ageing (ERA) Grant. Variations in the density and spatial properties of the achromatic and SWS-driven retinal ganglion cells with age. Anderson RS (PI) and Chakravarthy U. 2002-04. £107,000

- The Wellcome Trust. Collaborative Research Initiative Grant. Human vision: a psychophysical search for the S-cone OFF channel. Anderson RS and Vassilev A. 2002-04. £41,000

- NHS R+D Office. Career Development Fellowship Anderson RS and Silvestri G. 2004-2007. £145,000

- The Wellcome Trust. Clinical Research Infrastructure Grant. Proposal for a Northern Ireland Clinical Research Facility. Young I (PI), Anderson RS, et al. 2006. £4,000,000

Post-graduate students

- DR McDowell, MSc, 1996

- BJ Curran, MSc, 1997

- FA Ennis, PhD, 2001

- P.Vivekananda-Schmidt, PhD, 2001

- EE Coulter, M.Phil, 2005

- RO Beirne, PhD, 2005

- R Hogg, PhD, 2005.

- DR McDowell, D.Med.Sc, 2006

- T Redmond, PhD, 2009

- C. Wolsley, PhD 2010

Current PhD Students

  • J. Weisensee
  • P. Mullholland