TU Dublin researcher awarded HRB funding to investigate children’s eye growth
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Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) researcher Dr Síofra Harrington has been awarded funding from the Health Research Board (HRB) to investigate how everyday light exposure and sleep may influence eye growth and the risk of myopia in children.
The CLEAR study – Child Light Exposure, Axial Length and Refraction Study – How Lighting and Sleep Shape Eye Growth and Myopia Risk – is one of 29 investigator-led research projects funded through the HRB’s Investigator-Led Projects (ILP) scheme.
The latest awards represent a total investment of €12 million, bringing the HRB’s investment through the ILP scheme over the past five years to €36.4 million across 91 projects.
Commenting on the award, Dr Síofra Harrington said:
“We are delighted to receive this HRB award for the CLEAR study. Myopia is becoming increasingly common in children, yet we still do not fully understand how everyday light exposure and sleep influence the way their eyes grow. Through CLEAR, we will follow Irish children over time to build the evidence needed to inform healthier environments and help protect children’s vision.”
The HRB’s Investigator-Led Projects scheme supports innovative and internationally competitive research addressing major challenges in health and social care.
Commenting on the latest awards, HRB Chief Executive Dr Gráinne Gorman said:
“The ILP scheme is a core element of the HRB funding portfolio. Through these awards, we are investing in innovative and internationally competitive research that will generate new knowledge to address major health and social care challenges today and into the future.”
Dr Harrington is a lecturer and clinical supervisor in TU Dublin’s School of Physics, Clinical and Optometric Sciences and a researcher at the Centre for Eye Research Ireland (CERI). She is also a Fellow of the Association of Optometrists Ireland (FAOI) and a Fellow of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics (FEAOO), where she leads the Myopia Special Interest Group.
Dr Harrington is also Principal Investigator of the Ireland Eye Study, which examined the prevalence of ametropia, amblyopia and vision impairment among schoolchildren in Ireland. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, including numerous first-author and senior-author papers. She has also presented her research widely at national and international conferences.
The CLEAR study will be based at the Centre for Eye Research Ireland within TU Dublin’s Sustainability and Health Research Hub. Led by Dr Harrington, the multidisciplinary team includes co-applicants Dr George Amarandei, Professor Ian Flitcroft, Professor James Loughman, Dr Steve Meaney, Dr Michael Moore and Dr Gráinne Scanlon. Collaborators include Dr Paul Hynds, Sonja Francisco, Dr Megan Doyle and Eoin Kerin at TU Dublin, together with Professor Kathryn Saunders of Ulster University. The project is also supported by PPI and safeguarding collaborators Shauna Monahan, Gráinne Cotter and Laura Healy.
Through CLEAR, Dr Harrington and the wider research team will follow Irish children over time, examining the relationship between light exposure, sleep, eye growth and myopia. The study will use measurements including axial length – the distance from the front to the back of the eye – to better understand how children's eyes develop.
The four-year project aims to generate new evidence that could inform healthier environments and help protect children’s vision.
Read the Health Research Board's full announcement here.