Macular Pigment Research Group makes advances in Waterford

The Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG) is based at Carriganore House, which sits in a beautiful setting of Waterford Institute of Technology’s West Campus in the south east of Ireland. A team of 20 specialists, with multidisciplinary skills, occupy this unique facility. They share a common goal however; they work towards understanding the role of human nutrition for improving eye and brain health. The facility offers dedicated working space for all its researchers and the multidisciplinary team has access to world-class facilities including state-of-the-art vision laboratories, cognitive function testing suites, analytical, microbiological and biotechnological laboratories.

This year, Mr Paudie Coffey TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, officially opened two new state-of-the-art laboratories at the MPRG. The labs will support the group’s ambition to generate viable industry for the south-east by developing more efficient methods of harvesting lutein, a nutrient essential for optimal vision and protection against the world’s leading cause of blindness – age-related macular degeneration (AMD).