Academic Staff

Declan graduated in 1988 with a degree in Ophthalmic Optics from UMIST (now University of Manchester) and became a Member of the College of Optometrists in 1989. His PhD was carried out under the supervision of Prof Janus Kulikowski, also in Manchester, and centred on the psychophysical and electrophysiological investigation of colour perception in primates. This protracted period in Manchester allowed him to to make repeated visits to Old Trafford where he could watch (occasionally) decent football. He completed his PhD in 1993 and for the following year was a post-doc in the Dept of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. From 1994-1997 he was a Research Fellow in the Dept of Anatomy, UCL. In 1997 he took up a Lecturship in the Dept of Optometry at the University of Ulster and subsequently the University of Bradford in 2001. In 2003 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer and to Reader in 2008.

His teaching responsibilites include module co-ordinator for Low Vision and Ageing (3rd Year Module) and for the Assessment of Binocular Vision (2nd Year Module).

Post-Graduate Student Co-ordinator and Seminars organiser for the Vision Science Research Group. 

Declan's research interests lie in primarily in colour perception, but he is also intersted in motion and speed perception, as well as in the mechanisms of visual short term memory. In the study of these different aspects of visual perception and cognition he applies a variety of methodologies including; psychophysics, electrophysiology (EEG and ERG), brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). His research has been supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Royal Society,  the College of Optometrists and the BBSRC. Current  PhD students: Naveen Challa and Vanda Nemes. Current collaborators: Prof A Morland, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, Drs I.Murray and N.Parry, Faculty of Life Sciences University of Manchester and Prof J. Kremers, Dept. Ophthalmology, University of Erlangen-Nuremburg, Germany. Declan is currently on the steering committee of the Yorkshire Vision Network.