Dr. John Nolan BSc, PhD
Fulbright Scholar
Vision Scientist

Dr. John Nolan was the first scientist to conduct and complete his PhD studies at the Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG, www.wit.ie/mprg).

Dr. Nolan's PhD study, entitled "Determinants of macular pigment in healthy subjects", was the largest cross-sectional study of its type in the world. One of the most interesting findings to emanate from Dr. Nolan's research was that healthy middle-aged offspring of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have a significant lack of an important dietary pigment in their eyes. This observation suggests that a lack of this dietary pigment (known as macular pigment, or MP) may contribute to the increased risk for AMD amongst the sons and daughters of sufferers to this disease, and that appropriate dietary modification may delay, or even prevent, the onset of disease.

Following his PhD studies on macular pigment, Dr. Nolan was awarded a Fulbright scholarship where he spent the 2005-2006 academic year working at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, working in Professor Max Snodderly’s vision science laboratory. This Fulbright-supported study was an initial investigation into the relationship between macular pigment and foveal architecture, and has identified that a distinctive feature of foveal architecture, namely foveal width, determines, in part, a person’s macular pigment level.

Since his return to the MPRG, where he has taken up the post of Deputy Director, he continues to oversee and supervise macular pigment-related projects. The goal of the MPRG is to enhance current understanding of AMD, with emphasis on the role that nutrition might play in the prevention, delay, or modification of this disease. Dr. Nolan has published over 15 peer-reviewed manuscripts on this topic. In addition to his responsibilities within the MPRG, Dr. Nolan lectures at the Waterford Institute of Technology, on research methodology. Dr. Nolan is also a member of the Waterford Regional Hospital (WRH) Research Governance Team (RGT), which was established to ensure the ethical suitability and safety of all research conducted at WRH.

Dr. Nolan’s main outside interests include football (Liverpool supporter), hurling (Tipperary supporter) and spending time with his family and friends.

Current affiliation: Macular Pigment Research Group, Waterford Institute of Technology, Cork Road, Waterford, Ireland; e-mail jnolan@wit.ie

Current position: Deputy Director of the Macular Pigment Research Group and Research Lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technology

Qualifications:
August 2005; awarded PhD for research project entitled “Determinants of macular pigment in healthy subjects.”
July 2002; awarded BSc in Applied Biology with Quality Management [Honours Degree, Merit Grade 1].

Other academic achievements:
September 2005 to June 2006
Fulbright Scholarship: carried out and completed post-doctoral research under the Irish/US Fulbright Program at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA.

Academic responsibilities:
November 2006 to date
Lecturer, for Research Methods Course, Waterford Institute of Technology

June 2006 to date
Deputy Director of the Macular Pigment Research Group, Chemical and Life Sciences Department, Waterford Institute of Technology www.wit.ie/mprg.

Scientific skills: Epidemiology research; Heterochromatic flicker photometry; Raman spectroscopy; Fundus photography; High performance liquid chromatography; Analytical techniques in Biochemistry; Microbiology techniques; Statistics

Research grants awarded (total funding to date = €2.75 million):
Project: ‘Serum and macular response to meso-zeaxanthin’ Funding: Macuvision Europe Ltd; duration: 2008-2011, (PhD studies).

Project: ‘Macular pigment and visual performance’ Funding: Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership, co-funded by Bausch & Lomb Inc.; duration: 2007 –2010, (PhD studies).

Project: ‘Spatial profile of macular pigment in relation to risk factors for age-related macular degeneration’ Funding: Health Research Board (HRB); duration: 2007 –2009, (PhD studies).

Project: ‘Apo e4 allele status, and its relationship with macular pigment optical density and lipoprotein profile, in subjects with and without a family history of age-related macular degeneration’ Funding: Technological Research Sector: Strand I; duration: 2005 –2007, (PhD studies).

Investigation of the effect of the Alcon Blue-filtering Intraocular Lens on Macular Pigment’ Funding: Alcon Laboratories, U.S.A. in August 2005; duration: 2006 –2008, (MSc. studies).

Project: ‘Changes in macular pigment optical density, and serum concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin, in response to weight loss’ Funding: Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) 2006; duration: 2006 –2008, (PhD studies).

Current research publications (5 most recent):
Foveal Anatomic Associations with the Secondary Peak and the Slope of the Macular Pigment Spatial Profile; Kirby ML, Galea M, Loane E, Stack J, Beatty S, Nolan JM; Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2008 Oct 20.

The rationale and evidence base for a protective role of macular pigment in age-related maculopathy; Loane E, Kelliher C, Beatty S, Nolan JM; Br J Ophthalmol. 2008 Sep

The utility of using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry (cHFP) to measure macular pigment in patients with age-related macular degeneration; Stringham JM, Hammond BR, Nolan JM, Wooten BR, Mammen A, Smollon W .Snodderly DM Exp Eye Res. 2008 Aug

Spatial Profile of Macular Pigment and its Relationship to Foveal Architecture; Nolan JM, Stringham J, Beatty S, Snodderly DM; Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 2008 May;49(5):2134-242.

Transport and Retinal Capture of Lutein and Zeaxanthin with Reference to Age-Related Macular Degeneration; Loane E, Nolan JM, Bhosale P, Bernstein PS, and Beatty S; Survey of Ophthalmology 2008 Jan-Feb;53(1):68-81.

Measurement of macular pigment using two different heterochromatic flicker photometers; Loane E, Stack J, Beatty S, Nolan JM; Current Eye Research 2007 Jun;32(6):555-64.

The relationship between dietary, serum and retinal concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin in a large Irish population; Nolan J, Stack J, Beatty S; Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 2007;48:571-582.

Risk for age-related maculopathy is associated with a relative lack of macular pigment; Nolan J, O’Donovan O, Stack J, Beatty S; Experimental Eye Research 2007;84:61-74.