Back to Main

Faculty Detail Faculty Entry   
Name THOMAS T NORTON  
Campus Address WORB 606 Zip 4390
Phone 205-934-6742
E-mail tnorton@uab.edu" id="FacultyDetail1EmailAddress"><a href="mailto:tnorton@uab.edu">tnorton@uab.edu</a>
URL http://main.uab.edu/Sites/optometry/people/faculty/9842/
 
 

Department Affiliations(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Minority Health & Research Center
Secondary  Neurobiology  Neurobiology Professor

Biographical Sketch 
Education:
1961-1965 B.A., Yale University
1965-1970 Ph.D., UCLA
1970-1972 NIH Postoc, Neurophysiology, Penn.
1972-1978 Assistant Professor, Duke University
1978-present Department of Vision Sciences, UAB

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Society for matrix Biology  member   
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology  member, Fellow   
International Society for Eye Research  member   
Society for Neuroscience  member   
 

Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Animal Models of Myopia - Retinal Control of Eye Size
Description
We use animal models to study the neurobiological mechanism that operates in the developing juvenile eye to match the axial length to the eye’s optical power, producing an eye that is in good focus (emmetropia.) The goal of this research is to learn how emmetropia is normally produced and how the emmetropization mechanism combines with the genetics of normal eye growth to produce myopia or hyperopia in humans. Our main lab tools are real-time PCR and proteomics; immunohistochemistry is an interest. We also are investigating visual conditions that produce myopia, and how mildly elevated light levels work to slow myopia development, possibly involving the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) and dopaminergic amacrine cells.

Postdoc Positions Available
Date Posted Position Title
No records
 

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Frost, M. R. and Norton, T. T. Alterations in protein expression in tree shrew sclera during development of lens-induced myopia and recovery. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 53: 322-336, 2012.  21541268 
Amedo, A.O. and Norton, T. T. Visual guidance of recovery from lens-induced myopia in tree shrews (Tupaia glis belangeri). Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 32: 89-99, 2012.  22035177 
Gao, H., Frost, M. R., Siegwart, Jr., J. T., and Norton, T. T. Patterns of mRNA and protein expression during minus-lens compensation and recovery in tree shrew sclera. Molecular Vision. 17: 903-919, 2011  21541268 
Siegwart, Jr., J. T. and Norton, T. T. Perspective: How might emmetropization & genetic factors produce myopia in normal eyes? Optom. Vis. Sci. 88: 365-372, 2011.  21258261 
Siegwart, Jr., J. T. and Norton, T. T. Binocular lens treatment in tree shrews: effect of age and comparison of plus-lens wear with recovery from lens-induced myopia. Experimental Eye Research 91:660-669, 2010.  20713041 
Norton, T. T., Amedo, A. O., and Siegwart, Jr. J.T. The effect of age on compensation for a negative lens and recovery from lens-induced myopia in tree shrews (Tupaia glis belangeri). Vision Res. 50 (6):564-576, 2010.
 		 20045711 
 

Keywords
myopia, retina, sclera, signaling, emmetropization mechanism

© 2003 University of Alabama School of Medicine. Copyright Information. UAB Disclaimer.
Contact the MEIS Help Desk if you experience problems with this site.