BUSINESS


An Taoiseach enda Kenny, T.D., at the launch of the Vision Research Centre at WIT. Photos: Aspect Photography


Taoiseach opens €4 million Vision Research Centre


Waterford Institute of Technology. Based in Carriganore House on WIT’s West Campus, this


A research and vision testing facility


will house WIT’s Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG) and is the only research facility of its kind in the world, marking MPRG’s position as a world leader in nutrition and vision. Much of the MPRG’s work relates to


the study of AMD (age-related macular degeneration), the leading cause of age-related blindness thought to affect up to 80,000 people in Ireland and costing the state up to €133 million per annum. The team of 10 full-time researchers based at the Vision Research Centre includes vision scientists, nutritionists, biochemists, statisticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. Opening the Vision Research


Centre at WIT, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D. said: “As a small country with a very open economy, we need to focus on a certain number of niche areas where we can genuinely compete with the best – and be successful –as is being demonstrated by the top-class people here at the Vision Research Centre. Through your


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n Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D. paid a visit to Waterford recently to launch the Vision Research Centre at


efforts here you are striving to improve the quality of people’s lives by attempting to minimise the degenerative effects of age-related blindness, while your scientific research effort also continues to make a significant commercial impact and is


already delivering quality jobs for the Irish labour market.” According to Dr. John Nolan, Principal


Investigator of the MPRG, “The uniqueness of our facility lies in our ability to measure vision at a super-sensitive level. Over the last ten years, we have been working to identify the best ways to measure vision in people with and without eye disease. In doing this, we have discovered that a nutritional pigment at the back of the eye, known as macular pigment, is key to enhancing visual performance and protecting against AMD.” The MPRG has several research


projects underway at present. The largest study, known as CREST (Central Retinal Enrichment Supplementation Trial), received €1.5 million of funding from the European Research Council (ERC) to examine the role of nutritional supplements in visual performance and the prevention of AMD. WIT is the only Institute of Technology to receive funding from the ERC. This research grant has enabled the MPRG to employ five additional research staff. The funding for these current


projects comes from commercial and foundation grants, and competitive funding from the European Research Council.


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