Macular Carotenoids Conference 2013

Professor John M. Nolan

Macular Carotenoids Committee Chair, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

​Professor John Nolan is the Principal Investigator of the Macular Pigment Research Group, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland (www.mprg.ie). He is a Fulbright Scholar, Howard and European Research Council (ERC) Fellow. His research group studies the role of eye nutrition for vision and prevention of blindness. In February 2013, John was appointed Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin. He has secured ~€4 million in research funding to date to support these studies. Professor Nolan has successfully supervised 14 students to MSc, PhD and MD level qualifications. He has presented at over 60 international scientific conferences and has published 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers on the topic. Professor Nolan is Chair of the international Macular Carotenoids Conference.

Professor Stephen Beatty

Macular Carotenoids Committee Member, Institute of Eye Surgery, Waterford, Ireland

​Professor Stephen Beatty graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1990, and trained as an ophthalmic surgeon in Dublin, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Geneva. He has been a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon with a special interest in retinal disease since 2001. Stephen Beatty has a strong track record in research, with over 120 peer-reviewed publications, and his research interest include cataract and age-related macular degeneration. Stephen Beatty was appointed Professor at Waterford Institute of Technology in 2010 and Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin in 2011.

Professor David Thurnham

Macular Carotenoids Committee Member, University of Ulster, UK

​Professor ​David Thurnham is Emeritus Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. He is also currently a consultant for the Howard Foundation; Sight and Life Magazine (DSM, Basle, Switzerland); SEAMEO Regional Center for Food and Nutrition, (University of Indonesia) and Honorary Senior Scientist, (MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, UK). His research has focussed on the importance of micronutrients in public health. He has had a long-term interest in the anti-oxidant properties of the carotenoids and has been particularly interested in the interaction of inflammation and micronutrients, especially vitamin A and iron.

Professor John Landrum

Macular Carotenoids Committee Member, Florida International University, Florida, USA

Professor John Landrum, is a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Florida International University in Miami, Florida. In 2007, Professor Landrum served as the chair for the prestigious Gordon Research Conference on Carotenoids and was vice-chairman in 2004. He has also served as chair of the Carotenoid Interactive Research Group, the Macula and Nutrition Group, and is the editor of the 2010 volume: Carotenoids: Physical, Chemistry and Biological Functions and Properties. He served as the treasurer for the International Carotenoid Society from 2005-2011 and is currently president-elect.  He became interested in carotenoids during the early 1980s soon after joining the University. During much of the past three decades, his research has focused on the study of carotenoids, specifically, the xanthophylls, lutein and zeaxanthin. Much of his work has been a collaborative study with Professor Richard A. Bone (biophysics), also at FIU. They were the first to apply modern methods to confirm the presence of lutein and identify zeaxanthin in the retina. Their early work utilized HPLC, UV-vis, and chemical derivatization and mass spectrometry to establish the unambiguous identity of the macular xanthophylls. In the early 1990s they identified meso-zeaxanthin as a principal component of the human macular pigment.  In 1997, their pioneering study demonstrated that dietary manipulation could produce highly significant increases of the macular pigment optical density.  In a case study in 2001, Landrum and Bone provided clear evidence that AMD is associated with reduced levels of xanthophylls in the retina. Dr. Landrum has modeled the conformational energetics of lutein and zeaxanthin using density functional methods which has provided an energetic basis for structural differences in these molecules.  In recent work, Professor Landrum’s group has shown that the composition of the macular pigment varies during the development of the retina following birth.  

Professor Richard Bone

Macular Carotenoids Committee Member, Florida International University, Florida, USA

Professor Richard Bone received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bristol, UK in 1965. He spent a brief period at the University of Reading, UK as a research assistant under Robert Ditchburn where he first developed an interest in macular pigment. In 1967, he moved to the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica and completed his Ph.D. in biophysics working under the direction of John Sparrock. He remained at UWI. as a faculty member until 1980 when he joined the Department of Physics at Florida International University where he is currently a Professor. He published his first paper on the topic of the macular pigment in 1971 and has continued to work and publish in this field throughout the intervening years. His important contributions, in collaboration with Professor John Landrum, include the first definitive identification of the macular pigment, the distribution of its components, lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin, in the retina, the first study on the effects of lutein supplementation on macular pigment optical density (MPOD), and the first comparison of macular pigment in healthy and AMD eyes. His most recent contribution has been the development of a subject-friendly heterochromatic flicker photometer for simultaneous MPOD and lens density measurement.

Professor Billy R. Hammond

University of Georgia, USA

Professor ​Billy R. Hammond is a Professor in the Brain and Behavior program at the University of Georgia.  He is also the Principal Investigator of the Vision Sciences Laboratory.  He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology/Anthropology/Psychology at the University of Oregon.  His doctoral degree was in Sensory and Neural Sciences at the University of New Hampshire and he completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Schepens Eye Research Institute and Harvard Medical School. He was a Professor at Arizona State University for several years before coming to the University of Georgia in 1999. His research focuses on behavioral and dietary antecedents of degenerative diseases of the eye and brain. He is also interested in visual and neural development, psychophysical assessment, and neuroimaging.

Dr. Emily Chew M.D

National Eye Institute (NEI), Bethesda, MD, USA

​Dr. Chew is currently the Deputy Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications at the National Eye Institute/National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, USA.  As the Chief of Clinical Trials Branch, she chairs the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS 2), which is testing supplements including xanthophylls (lutein/zeaxanthin) and omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids for preventing advanced age-related macular degeneration. She also chairs the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Eye Study, which has found both intensive glycemic control and treatment with fenofibrate (with simvastatin) to lower elevated triglycerides reduced the risk of diabetic retinopathy progression in persons with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Chew is the author of more than 200 research articles based on her studies of retinal disease, including articles published in Lancet, Nature Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, and Science as well as a number of ophthalmic journals. She also serves on the editorial board of several major journals, including Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science and Retina.

Dr Marie-Benedicte Rougier

University Hospital of Bordeaux, France

​Marie-Benedicte Rougier is a Medical Doctor (Ophthalmology) and a Physician Doctor (Neuroscience). She is currently associate professor at the University hospital of Bordeaux (France), working at the Retina, Uveitis and Neuro-Ophthalmology Department.(Neuroscience). In this role she is particularly involved in the care and the treatment of patients suffering from early and late Age Related Macular Degeneration. She is also interested in retinal imaging, and got some knowledge in the role of macular pigment and its measurement.In addition to her medical activities, she is also involved in clinical research activities in collaboration with the INSERM Unit 897. Thus, she takes part in the Alienor Study, a wide cohort study on ocular diseases and aging.

Professor Elizabeth Johnson

Tufts University, USA

Professor ​Elizabeth J. Johnson, Ph.D. obtained her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in nutritional biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She did her postdoctoral work at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Center on Aging at Tufts University where she is currently a research scientist. She is also an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Her research interests are in nutrition and age-related visual and cognitive function. She has been involved in numerous clinical and epidemiologic studies and has collaborations with academia, industry and government agencies. Dr. Johnson has membership with the International Carotenoid Society, Carotenoid Research Interactive Group, American Society for Nutritional Sciences, Macula & Nutrition Group and is a member of the Egg Nutrition Center Scientific Advisory Panel.

Professor Julie Mares

University of Wisconsin, USA

​Julie Mares has directed a research team for over twenty years which studies relationships of diet, physical activity and nutrition to the occurrence of eye diseases that become common in old age: such as cataract and macular degeneration. This team collaborates with a wide range of nutritionists, statisticians, epidemiologists, and ophthalmologists to conduct epidemiological studies in several large population samples in the United States for which extensive information about health, lifestyles and dietary practices and collected, along with photographs of the lens and retina. Broad and specific aspects of diet, nutritional status and lifestyle are compared by severity of age-related degenerations in the lens and retina. This is complemented with the use of non-invasive flicker photometry test to evaluate levels of plant pigments (the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin) in the macula of the eye and blood markers of the status of vitamin D, carotenoids and vitamin E. In studies of age-related macular degeneration, blood samples have permitted the assessment of common variation in genotypes related to status for carotenoids and vitamin D status. This allows the investigation of interactions between nutritional status and genetics in risk for age-related macular degeneration. Through this research, her team hopes to identify lifestyles and practices which can empower individuals to optimize eye health.

Professor Paul Bernstein

University of Utah, USA

​Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD joined the faculty of the Moran Eye Center of the University of Utah in 1995 where he currently divides his time equally between basic science retina research and a clinical practice devoted to medical and surgical treatment of disease of the retina and vitreous with special emphasis on macular and retinal degenerations.  Dr. Bernstein?s current research interests are focused on the biochemistry and biophysics of nutritional interventions against inherited and acquired ocular disorders.  His National Eye Institute funded laboratory is a leader in the study of the proteins involved in the uptake and stabilization of lutein and zeaxanthin in the human macula.  These dietary xanthophyll carotenoids play an important role in protecting the macula from light induced oxidative damage, and high ocular levels are associated with decreased risk of age-related macular degeneration.  In collaboration with Dr. Werner Gellermann of the University of Utah Physics Department, he has developed instrumentation to measure carotenoid levels noninvasively in the eye, skin, and other human tissues using resonance Raman spectroscopy.

Dr. Leopold Schmetterer

Medical University of Vienna, Austria

• ​Received PhD from Technical University of Vienna in 1989
• Head of Division of Ophthalmic Pharmacology at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
• Head of Division of Vascular Imaging at the Centre of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
• Continuous funding from Austrian Science Foundation since more than 15 years
• Published more than 200 original papers in international peer reviewed journals
• President elect of EVER and Member of ARVO programme committee

Professor George Britton

School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

​Since retiring from the University of Liverpool, George Britton continues to be active in the carotenoid field, advising on research projects and training programmes around the world, and writing. After obtaining his B.Sc. and Ph.D.in chemistry at Sheffield University, he ventured into the carotenoid field as a post-doc with T. W. Goodwin, became addicted to carotenoids, and pursued research on them at the University of Liverpool, Department of Biochemistry (later the School of Biological Sciences), publishing numerous papers and reviews. He is also author/editor of 17 books, notably the Carotenoids series, and the Carotenoids Handbook, published in 2004. George Britton served as President of the International Carotenoid Society from its inauguration in 1996 until 2002. He organised the International Symposia on Carotenoids in Liverpool in 1981 and in Edinburgh in 2005, and has been involved in organising and presenting several carotenoids workshops in Europe, Asia and South America.

Dr Robert Coen

St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

​Dr. Robert Coen, PhD, Reg Psychol AFPsS is Senior Neuropsychologist in the Memory Clinic in Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin specialising in the neuropsychology of dementia and ageing. Formerly Head of the Psychometrics Dept., Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Dublin, he has been an Associate Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology for the Open University, taught the Psychopharmacology course in University College Dublin, and is currently a staff member of the Dept. of Medical Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin. He has strong collaborative research links with Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN), the Psychology Department in Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and Beaumont and National Rehabilitation Hospitals. Current research projects that he has an involvement in include the Trinity, University of Ulster and Dept of Agriculture (TUDA) Cohort study and The Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing (TILDA). Research interests include development of cognitive screening tests, the facilitation of cognitive functioning in dementia by non-pharmacological means, autobiographical memory, and managing the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Professor Peter Humphries

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

• Retina International (IRPA) - Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
• Foundation Fighting Blindness (USA) - Focus Group on Genetics and Genetic Technology
• Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association (DEBRA) - International Medical and Scientific Advisory Board
• Member, Alcon Research Institute (USA)
• The Wellcome Trust - Neurosciences Panel, Vision Research Working Party, Genetics Advisory Group
• Communicating Editor, Human Mutation
• Editorial Board, Human Molecular Genetics
• The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) - Founder Irish Member
• Irish Society of Human Genetics (President)
• American Society of Human Genetics
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
• Fighting Blindness Medical and Scientific Advisory Board
• Fellow of European Molecular Biology Organization
• AMD (Age-Related Macular Dystrophy) Alliance International Scientific Advisory Panel.
• Medical Research Council (UK) College of Experts
• College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs Programme
• European Vision Institute
• Honorary Member Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland

Dr. James Loughman

Optometry Day Conference Committee Member, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

​Aside from optometry lecturing duties, for the past 10 years James has endeavoured to enhance the research capacity of the Optometry Department at Dublin Institute of Technology, principally through the development of collaborative synergies with other Institutions. He is currently involved in numerous active research projects involving 8 postgraduate students and collaborating partners from Dublin Institute of Technology, Waterford Institute of Technology, University of Ulster (Coleraine), Moorfields Eye Hospital (London), Universidade Lurio (Mozambique), The International Centre for Eyecare Education (South Africa) and the University of Kwazulu Natal (South Africa). Clinical studies currently include collaborative AMD and visual performance studies with the Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG) in WIT, glaucoma projects and cataract (visual performance) investigations. He is currently principal investigator for an Irish Aid funded 5-year initiative to address poverty and health complexes in Africa, through an innovative optometric training scheme.

James has recently established and is director and National Chair of the Irish chapter of Optometry Giving Sight, the only global fundraising initiative that specifically targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error (URE). James’ ambitions for the charity are (1) to provide an unprecedented opportunity for Optometry in Ireland (North and South) to make a coordinated and significant impact in the prevention of blindness, and (2) to support projects directed to the prevention and/or correction of refractive error in eyes as a cause of avoidable vision loss and blindness, thus relieving poverty and advancing education for the benefit of the community.

Professor Tos Berendschot

University Eye Clinic Maastricht, Netherlands

​Tos TJM Berendschot received a M.S. in Applied Physics from the University of Nijmegen in 1985, and Ph.D. from the University of Nijmegen in 1989. Currently he works at the University Eye Clinic Maastricht. His overall research theme is to study the functional morphology of  the human retina by non-invasive optical techniques. It also involves (spectroscopic) imaging of the human retina, analysis of clinical data and development of physiological models. Recent work involves the development of new non-invasive measurements techniques for both fundamental and clinical research in ophthalmology, and epidemiological studies on the relation between nutrition,macular pigment and age-related eye diseases.

Dr. Martha Neuringer

Oregon National Primate Research Center, USA

​Dr. Neuringer received her BA cum laude and her PhD at Harvard University, and then received an NIH fellowship to study nutrition and brain development at the Oregon National Primate Research Center.  For over 30 years her work has focused on the development and aging of the primate retina, with special interests in the structure and function of the fovea and macula as primate-specific characteristics and the role of nutrition in retinal health and disease. She was the first to define the role of omega-3 fatty acids in visual development. She has also has examined the function and metabolism of macular carotenoids and their role in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration.  She has established and characterized naturally-occurring nonhuman primate models of age-related macular disease, with the goal of developing optimal models for understanding disease pathogenesis and for conducting preclinical studies of potential therapies. 

Professor Frederick Khachik

University of Maryland, USA

Professor Frederick Khachik is a senior research scientist & adjunct Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. His research on carotenoids for the past 29 years has led to the structural elucidation of more than 50 carotenoids in fruits and vegetables;among these he has identified 34 carotenoids including 9 metabolites in extracts of human serum, milk, and tissues. He has characterized several metabolites of lutein, zeaxanthin, and a metabolite of lycopene in the human ocular tissues in support of their antioxidant mechanism of action in the prevention of AMD. He conducted the very first human bioavailability studies with lutein, zeaxanthin in 3 human subjects to show the elevated levels of these metabolites in the plasma of the subjects supplemented with these carotenoids. He developed two patented processes for isolation and purification of lutein and zeaxanthin from marigold flowers and plants that have made the commercial availability of these carotenoids possible. He obtained an IND from the FDA for conducting human supplementation with lutein and zeaxanthin that is used in the current AREDS2 clinical trial.

Professor Khachik established the safety and antioxidant mechanism of action of lutein and zeaxanthin in the ocular tissues of monkeys supplemented with chronic doses of lutein and zeaxanthin in a large NIH funded study. He collaborated with Dr. Emily Chew at the NEI who conducted the first long-term supplementation study with lutein and zeaxanthin in 45 human subjects at various stages of AMD. In collaboration with Professor Paul Bernstein (University of Utah), Professor Khachik identified Japanese quail and frogs as a suitable non-primate model for investigating the metabolism of lutein and zeaxanthin in the ocular tissue.

He has also developed methodologies for the total synthesis of all eight stereoisomers of lutein and zeaxanthin that can be applied to the synthesis of these carotenoids labeled with ¹³C or ²D for in vitro and in vivo metabolic studies. His publications include 62 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, 18 book chapters, and 10 patents.

Kemin Sponsored Speaker: Dr. Stuart P. Richer

University of Illinois, Chicago, USA

​Stuart P. Richer is an associate professor of Family and Preventative Medicine at Chicago Medical School and Clinical Optometry at ICO and UMSL Optometry Colleges. He is an assistant professor of Ophthalmology, UIC Department of Ophthalmology / Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was the principal investigator of the Veterans Lutein Antioxidant Supplementation Trial (LAST) and ZVF Study (Nov 2011). His special interests are aging, prescribing nutrients in the intervention of age related macular degeneration and other common chronic ocular diseases.

DSM Sponsored Speaker: Professor Jens Dawczyski

Professor at the University of Leipzig

Jens Dawczynski is Professor at the University of Leipzig and Deputy Director of the University Eye Hospital in Leipzig. His main interests have included studying the ocular fundus and its diseases. Currently he conducts research in humans to refine methods for imaging the retina and the macular pigment.

In 2011 he had published that the morphology of drusen can be altered by supplementation with lutein and he also is coauthor of a recent publication describing the results of the LUTEGA study, a supplementation study with xanthophylls and DHA in AMD patients.

Elektron Technology Sponsored Speaker: Dr. Scott Mackie

Director of Mackie Consultants and VisionCall

​Dr. Mackie is a respected figure in the world of Optometry. Dr. Mackie has been working within the optical industry for 30 years and has a proven track record being a creative thinker and identifying opportunities and making things happen; being able to deliver a message and communicate the benefits to stakeholders and to blend his experience in the area of commercialism with academia.

Guardion Health Sponsored Speaker: Dr. John A. Hovanesian

UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, USA

​Dr. Hovanesian has published two eye surgery textbooks —one on the subject of advanced cataract surgery and one on pterygium surgery. Dr. Hovanesian has been invited to lecture to surgeons on five continents, produced numerous surgical teaching videos, and written dozens of articles. He is faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, a board-certified ophthalmologist, and an internationally recognized leader in the field of corneal, cataract, refractive, and laser surgery.

He is the chairman of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's online cataract surgery education committee and an editorial board member for five other eye journals. He has been honored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery for contributions to his field and has been recognized by Wyanoke Publishing as one of the 250 leading innovators in the field of cataract surgery.