Faculty

Billy R. Hammond, Ph.D. Professor Neuroscience and Behavior and Cognitive/Experimental Psychology Programs Graduate Coordinator Ph.D., University of New Hampshire, 1994 Office: Room 511 Ph: (706) 542-4812 Fax: (706) 542-3275 Email: bhammond@uga.edu

Research Interests

The primary goal of my research program is to conduct basic and applied studies on the structure and function of the central primate retina and crystalline lens. A primary focus of the laboratory has been the study of the dietary carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, concentrated within the fovea (termed macular pigment or the macula lutea) and the epithelium of the lens.

Evidence from my studies and others has indicated a major role of the macular pigments in protecting the retina and lens and retarding the development of age-related eye disease. One major result of the work has been to highlight the importance of behavior in the etiology of chronic eye disease. This emphasis is also evident in other studies I have conducted on the role of lifestyle (e.g., smoking and dietary behavior) in promoting cataract.

I am also interested in interactions between the cardiovascular and visual systems. Currently, one of my graduate students is conducting a study on the relationship between blood pressure variations and critical flicker thresholds. Another one of my graduate students is using psychophysical methods to measure age-related variations in the anterior retinal blood supply.

Selected Publications

Stringham, J., Hammond, B.R. Nolan, J.M., Wooten, B.R., Mammen, A., Smollon, W. And Snodderly, D.M. (2008). The utility of using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry (cHFP) to measure macular pigment in patients with age-related macular degeneration. Experimental Eye Research, 87, 445-53.

Hammond, B.R. (2008). A possible role for dietary lutein and zeaxanthin in visual development. Nutrition Reviews, 66(12), 695-702.

Hammond, B.R., Bernstein, B. And Dong, J. (2009). The Effect of the AcrySof(R) Natural lens on Glare Disability and Photostress. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 148, 272-76.

Hammond, B. R., & Frick, J. E. (2007). Nutritional protection of the developing retina. The Hong Kong Practicioner, 29, 200-207.

Zimmer, J. P. and Hammond, B.R.. (2007). Possible influences of lutein and zeaxanthin on the developing retina. Clinical Ophthalmology, 1, 25-35.

Stringham, J., Hammond, B.R. (2007). The glare hypothesis of macular pigment function. Optometry and Vision Science, 84, 859-64.

Selected Professional Activities

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Adjunct Faculty, Foods and Nutrition Department, University of Georgia
Faculty, Gerontology Program, University of Georgia

Courses Regularly Taught

Undergraduate

• Sensation and Perception

• Health Psychology

Graduate

• Vision Science Seminar