.

Professor James Wolffsohn

Deputy Executive Dean

School of Life and Health Sciences
Aston University
Birmingham B4 7ET
UK
email: j.s.w.wolffsohn@aston.ac.uk
telephone: +44 (0) 121 204 4140
fax: +44 (0) 121 204 4048

James Wolffsohn

Member of the Undergraduate Optometry Programme

Member of the Ophthalmic Research Group

Member of research strand: 'Development of novel drugs, formulations and tissues to support healthy ageing' - Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing 

Member of research strand: 'Technologies supporting healthy ageing' -  Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing 

 

Career History

  • 1993 Honours degree in Optometry (first class), University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST)

  • 1994 Membership, College of Optometrists (CoO)

  • 1994 General Optical Council (GOC) registration
  • 1997 PhD (Cardiff University)
  • 1998 Fellowship, American Academy of Optometry
  • 1999 Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Optometry (Melbourne University)
  • 2001 Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (Aston University)
  • 2001 Fellowship, Higher Education Academy
  • 2002 Fellowship, International Association of Contact Lens Educators
  • 2006 Fellowship, British Contact Lens Association
  • 2000 Aston University: Lecturer
  • 2002 Aston University: Senior Lecturer
  • 2006 Aston University: Reader
  • 2007 Aston University: Personal Chair in Optometry
  • 2009 Masters in Business Administration (Aston University)

Teaching responsibilities

 

Second Year Undergraduate

  • Contact Lenses (Module Leader)

Third Year Undergraduate and Graduate Diploma in Optometry

  • Anterior eye (Module Leader)

  • Elective Studies (Module Leader and Supervisor) 

Ophthalmic Doctorate

  • Therapeutics - Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (Module Leader)

  • Therapeutics – Disorders of the Eye (Module Leader)

  • Therapeutics – Practice Based Learning (Module Leader)

Professional & Academic Experience in Research

Publications and Grants:

Over eighty research papers, 13 book Chapters and two books principally in the areas of contact lenses, intraocular lenses, accommodation and low vision. Over 100 Abstracts published at Conferences in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. Over £1.7 million in research grants from grant awarding bodies such as: Advanced Medical Optics, Advantage West Midlands, BAE Systems, Bausch and Lomb, Birmingham Optical Group, College of Optometrists; CIBA Vision, DERA, EPSRC, Hoya Corporatin, Johnson and Johnson, Lenstec and Royal National Institute of the Blind.

International and National Standing

British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) President (2005-6) and Council (2001-7).

Royal Society and BA Festival of Science Exhibits (2008).

British University Committee of Optometry (2004 onwards).

Aston Optometry Lead (2005 onwards).

International Association of Contact Lens Educators - Leadership status (2002 onwards).

British Universities Committee of Contact Lens Educators (2000 onwards) - president (2003).

Editorial Board Member for Contact Lenses and Anterior Eye, Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, Clinical and Experimental Optometry and Journal of Optometry. 

Reviewer for all the major clinical vision research journals.

Assessor for projects submitted to UK (SPARC, NHMRC), Canadian (NSERC), Australian (ARC) and Netherlands (ZonMw)funding bodies along with organisations such as Thresher Research Fund, Stroke Association and Macular Disease Society.

Research collaboration with laboratories in USA, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia.

Invited speaker at 14 international conferences. BCLA Dallos Award.

External Appointments

External examiner for eight thesis awarded by Universities of Aston, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and Melbourne. External examiner Dublin Institute of Techology (2005-8) and University of Ulster (2006-9). Fellowship consultant to BCLA (2007 onwards).

Aston University Appointments

Optometry Lead, responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research. Currently the Optometry staff includes 16.7 academics, a clinical faculty of 10, 29 visiting clinicians and 9 support staff. Research (internal) supervisor for 17 PhD degrees. Past Senate and Council member (2007). Member of Research and Enterprise Committee, Member of School Board, Member of School Management Committee

Current and Prospective Research Areas

(see also http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lhs/research/groups/opo/)

  • Accommodating and multifocal intraocular lenses. Collaboration: Prof Sunil Shah; Prof Krish Singh (Cardiff University); PhD student Phillip Buckhurst;
  • Service quality in Optometric Practice and Optical Instrumentation. PhD student Sarah Humphries;
  • Ocular Allergy and Dry Eye. Collaboration: Prof Jean Emberlin and Dr Claire Potter (University of Worcester) 
  • Development of new Optical Instrumentation. Collaboration: Dr Mark Prince; PhD students Tom Drew and Joe Davies.
  • Accommodative and pupil mechanism Collaboration; Prof Kazuhiko Ukai (Waseda University, Japan); Dr Sei-ichi Tsujimura (Kagoshima University, Japan); Dr Toshi Mihashi (Topcon, Japan); Prof John Barbur (City University, London) and PhD student Amy Sheppar.

Publications Since 2001

  1. Mallen, EAH Wolffsohn, JS Gilmartin, B and Tsujimura S (2001) Clinical evaluation of the Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 autorefractor in adults. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 21, 101-107.
  2. Wolffsohn, JS Gilmartin, B Mallen, EAH and Tsujimura S (2001) Continuous recording of accommodation and pupil size using the Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 autorefractor. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 21, 108-113.
  3. Wolffsohn,JS Edgar,GK and McBrien,NA (2001) Using diplopia as a warning of an inappropriate visual (ocular) accommodative response (WIVAR). Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. 72, 652-658.
  4. Tsujimura,S Wolffsohn,JS and Gilmartin, B (2001) A linear chromatic mechanism drives the pupillary response. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 268, 2203-2209.
  5. Hurcomb,PG Wolffsohn,JS and Napper,GA (2001) Ocular Signs of Systemic Hypertension: A Review. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 21, 430-440.
  6. Wolffsohn,JS Napper,GA Ho,S-M Jaworski,A and Pollard,TL (2001) Improving the Description of the Retinal Vasculature and Patient History Taking for Monitoring Systemic Hypertension. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 21, 441-449.
  7. Wolffsohn,JS (2001) Contact lens related red eye. Continuing Education Optometry, 4, 110-112.
  8. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Mallen,EAH Gilmartin,B Wolffsohn, JS (2002) A new non-contact optical device for ocular biometry. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 86, 458-462.
  9. Wolffsohn,JS Dinardo,C Vingrys,AJ (2002) Benefit of coloured lenses for age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 22, 300-311.
  10. Wolffsohn,JS and Hurcomb,PG (2002) Hypertension and the Eye. Current Hypertension Reports, 4, 471-476.
  11. Wolffsohn, JS Hunt,OA Gilmartin,B (2002) Continuous measurement of accommodation in human factor applications. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 22, 380-384.
  12. Gilmartin,B Mallen,EAH Wolffsohn,JS (2002) Sympathetic control of accommodation: evidence for inter-subject variation. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 22, 366-371.
  13. Wolffsohn,JS Purslow,C (2003) Clinical monitoring of ocular physiology using digital image analysis. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 26, 27-35.
  14. Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin, B Li, R W-H, Edwards, MH Chat, S W-S Lew J K-F Yu B S-Y (2003) Near-work Induced Transient Myopia in Pre-Adolescent Hong Kong Chinese. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 44, 2284-2289.
  15. Davies,LN Mallen,EAH Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin, B (2003) Clinical evaluation of the Shin-Nippon NVision-K 5001 autorefractor. Optometry and Vision Science. 80, 320-324.
  16. Wolffsohn,JS Peterson,RC (2003) Current knowledge on electronic vision enhancement systems (EVES) for the visually impaired. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 23, 35-42.
  17. Peterson,RC Wolffsohn,JS Rubinstein,M Lowe,J (2003) Benefits of electronic vision enhancement systems (EVES) for the visually impaired. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 136, 1129-1135.
  18. Tsujimura,S Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2003) Pupil responses to coloured afterimages are mediated by the magno-cellular pathway. Vision Research. 43, 1423-1432.
  19. Hunt,OA Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2003) Evaluation of the measurement of refractive error by the PowerRefractor: a remote, continuous and binocular measurement system of oculomotor function. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 87, 1504-1508.
  20. Wolffsohn,JS Thomas,R Gilmartin,B Mallen,EAH (2003) Refractive error, cognitive demand and nearwork-induced transient myopia. Current Eye Research. 27, 363-370.
  21. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Gilmartin,B Wolffsohn,JS (2003) Drug-induced bilateral transient myopia with the sulphonamide sulfasalazine. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 23, 567-570.
  22. Wolffsohn,JS O’Donnell,CO Charman,WN Gilmartin,B (2004) Simultaneous continuous recording of accommodation and pupil size using the modified Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 autorefractor. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 24, 142-147.
  23. Wolffsohn,JS (2004) Incremental nature of anterior eye grading scales determined by objective image analysis. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 88, 1434-1438.
  24. Wolffsohn,JS Eperjesi,F (2004) Predicting prescribed magnification. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 24, 334-338.
  25. Wolffsohn,JS Karras,M (2004) Clinical audit cycle of low vision rehabilitation services. Optometry in Practice. 5, 115-114.
  26. Eperjesi,F Wolffsohn,JS Bowden,J Napper,G Rubinstein,M (2004) Normative contrast sensitivity values for the back-lit Melbourne Edge Test and the effect of visual impairment. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 24, 600-606.
  27. O’Donnell,C Wolffsohn,JS (2004) Grading of corneal transparency. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 27, 161-170.
  28. Purslow,C Wolffsohn,JS (2005) Ocular surface temperature – a review. Eye and Contact Lenses. 31, 117-123.
  29. Purslow,C Wolffsohn,JS Santodomingo-Rubido,J (2005) The effect of contact lenses on ocular surface temperature. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 28, 29-36.
  30. Mitchell,J Wolffsohn,JS Woodcock,A Anderson,SJ McMillan,C Ffytche,T Rubinstein,M Amoaku,W Bradley,C (2005) Psychometric evaluation of the MacDQoL individualised measure of the impact of macular degeneration on quality of life. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. 3, 25.
  31. Mallen,EAH Gilmartin,B Wolffsohn,JS (2005) Sympathetic innervation of ciliary muscle and oculomotor function in emmetropic and myopic young adults. Vision Research. 45, 1641-1651.
  32. Wolffsohn,JS Eperjesi,F Napper,G (2005) Evaluation of Melbourne Edge Test (MET) contrast sensitivity measures in the visually impaired. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 25, 371-374.
  33. Ames,S Wolffsohn,JS McBrien,NA (2005) The development of a symptom questionnaire for assessing virtual reality viewing using a head mounted display. Optometry and Vision Science. 82, 168-176.
  34. Wolffsohn,JS Eperjesi,F (2005) The effect of relative distance enlargement on visual acuity in the visually impaired. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 88, 97-102.
  35. Davies,LN Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2005)The influence of cognition on ocular accommodation and cardiovascular function in emmetropes and late-onset myopes. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 46, 1791-1796.
  36. Harle,DE Wolffsohn,JS Evans,BJ (2005) The pupillary light reflex in migraine. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 25, 240-245.
  37. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Gilmartin,B Wolffsohn,JS (2005) Refractive and biometric changes with silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Optometry and Vision Science. 82, 481-489.
  38. Peterson,RC Wolffsohn,JS (2005) The effect of digital image resolution and compression on anterior eye imaging. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 89, 828-830.
  39. Zou,H Zhang,X Xu,X Bai,L Wolffsohn,JS (2005) Development and psychometric tests of the Chinese-version Low Vision Quality of Life questionnaire. Quality of Life Research. 14, 1633-1639.
  40. Yuuki Okada,Y Ukai,K Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B Iijima,A Bando,T (2006) Target Spatial Frequency Determines the Response to Conflicting Defocus- and Convergence-driven Accommodative Stimuli. Vision Research. 46, 475-484.
  41. Wolffsohn,JS Hunt,OA Naroo,SA Gilmartin,B Shah,S Cunliffe,IA Benson,MT Mantry,S (2006) Objective accommodative amplitude and dynamics with the 1CU ‘accommodative’ intraocular lens. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 47, 1230-1235.
  42. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2006) Changes in ocular physiology, tear film characteristics and symptomatology with 18 months silicone hydrogel contact lens wear. Optometry and Vision Science. 83, 73-81.
  43. Davies,LN Bartlett,H Mallen,EAH Wolffsohn,JS (2006) Clinical evaluation of the Tiolat ICare Rebound Tonometer. Acta Ophthalmologica. 84, 206-209.
  44. Wolffsohn,JS Anderson, SJ Mitchell, J Woodcock, A Rubinstein, M Ffytche, T Browning A Willbond, K Amoaku, WM Bradley, C (2006) Effect of Age-related Macular Degeneration on the Eger Macular Stressometer Photostress Recovery Time. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 90, 432-434.
  45. Wolffsohn,JS Naroo,SA Motwani,NK Shah,S Hunt,OA Mantry,S Sira,M Cunliffe,IA Benson,M (2006) Subjective and objective performance of the Lenstec KH-3500 ‘accommodative’ intraocular lens. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 90, 693-696.
  46. Tsujimura,S Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2006) Pupil response to colour signals in cone-contrast space. Current Eye Research. 31, 401-408.
  47. Wolffsohn,JS Ukai,K Gilmartin,B (2006) Dynamic measurement of accommodation and pupil size using the portable Grand Seiko FR-5000 autorefractor. Optometry and Vision Science. 83, 306-310.
  48. Wolffsohn,JS Peterson,RC (2006) Anterior ophthalmic Imaging. Clinical and Experimental Optometry. 89, 205-214.
  49. Wolffsohn,JS Peterson,RC Nick,J Winterton,L Lally,J (2006) Clinical performance of daily disposable soft contact lenses using sustained release technology. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 29, 127-134.
  50. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2006) Comparison between graticule and image capture assessment of lower tear film meniscus height. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 29, 169-173.
  51. Hunt,OA Wolffsohn,JS Garcia-Resua,C (2006) Oculomotor triad with single vision contact lenses compared to spectacle lenses. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 29, 239-245.
  52. Peterson,RC Wolffsohn,JS Fowler,CW (2006) Optimization of Anterior Eye Fluorescein Viewing. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 142, 572-575.
  53. Wolffsohn,JS Davies,LN (2007) Advances in anterior segment imaging. Current Opinions in Ophthalmology. 18, 32-38.
  54. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2007) Adverse events over 18 months of silicone hydrogel contact lens wear. Eye and Contact Lens. In press.
  55. Gupta,N Naroo,SN Wolffsohn,JS (2007) Is randomisation necessary for measuring defocus curves in pre-presbyopes. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 30, 119-124.
  56. Gupta,N Wolffsohn,JS Naroo,SN Davies,LN Gibson,GA Shah,S (2007) Development of a Near Activity Visual Questionnaire to Assess Accommodating Intraocular Lenses. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 30, 134-143.
  57. Purslow,C Wolffsohn,JS (2007) The relationships between physical properties of the anterior eye and ocular surface temperature (OST). Optometry and Vision Science. 84, 197-201.
  58. Torii,M Okada,Y Ukai,K Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2007) Dynamic measurement of accommodative responses while viewing stereoscopic images. Journal of Modern Optics.� In press.
  59. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2007) Conjunctival epithelial flaps with 18 months silicone hydrogel contact lens wear. Eye and Contact Lens. In press.
  60. Peterson,RC Wolffsohn,JS (2007) Sensitivity and reliability of objective image analysis compared to subjective grading of bulbar hyperaemia. British Journal of Ophthalmology. In press.
  61. Wolffsohn,JS Mukhopadhyay,D Rubinstein,M (2007) Image enhancement of real-time Television to Benefit the Visually Impaired. American Journal of Ophthalmology. In press.
  62. Wolffsohn,JS Davies,LN (2007) Ocular imaging. Expert Review of Ophthalmology. In press.
  63. Wolffsohn,JS Davies,LN (2007) Ocular imaging. Expert Review of Ophthalmology. 2, 755-768.
  64. Dunne,MCM Davies,LN Wolffsohn,JS (2007) Accuracy of cornea and lens biometry using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography. Journal of Biomedical Optics. 12: 064023.
  65. Torii,M Okada,Y Ukai,K Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2008) Dynamic measurement of accommodative responses while viewing stereoscopic images. Journal of Modern Optics.  55, 557-567.
  66. Santodomingo-Rubido,J Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2008) Conjunctival epithelial flaps with 18 months silicone hydrogel contact lens wear. Eye and Contact Lens. 34, 35-38.
  67. Gupta,N Wolffsohn,JS Naroo,SN (2008)Optimising measurement of subjective amplitude of accommodation with defocus curves. Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. 34, 1329-1338.
  68. Mollan,SP Wolffsohn,JS Nessim,M Laiquzzaman, Sivakumar,S Hartley,S Shah,S (2008) Goldmann, Ocular Response Analyser, Pascal and Tonopen XL tonometry in keratoconic and normal eyes. British Journal of Ophthalmology. doi:10.1136/bjo.2007.136473
  69. Sheppard,AL Dunne,MCM Wolffsohn,JS Davies,LN (2008) Theoretical evaluation of the cataract extraction-refraction-implantation techniques for intraocular lens power calculation. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 28, 568-576.Gupta,N Wolffsohn,JS Naroo,SA (2009) Visual performance with silicone-hydrogel multifocal compared to aspheric monovision contact lenses. Optometry and Vision Science. In press

  70. Peterson,RC Wolffsohn,JS (2009) Objective grading of the anterior eye. Optometry and Vision Science. In press

  71. Wolffsohn,JS Hunt,OA Basra,AK (2009) Simplified recording of soft contact lens fit. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. In press

  72. Davies,LN Wolffsohn,JS Gilmartin,B (2009) Autonomic Correlates of Ocular Accommodation and Cardiovascular Function. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. In press.