Archived Records of Alan Howard’s Life and Work (1929-2020)

The Howard Foundation has sponsored an archivist at the Cambridge University Library to catalogue the records of Alan Howard’s life and work using material collected by Alan during his lifetime and given to the library by his son Jon at the end of 2021.

This project is of benefit to researchers in diet, nutrition, the representation of obesity, and the social and historical study of medicine and biological sciences, as well as researchers interested in entrepreneurialism and philanthropy. A professional standard catalogue for the collection preserved in Cambridge University Library also serves as a permanent legacy of the work of Alan Howard.

The records, which now fill seventeen archive boxes, constitute Alan Howard’s personal archive, including documents kept for his own use. The records include patents, correspondence, marketing materials, reports, publications, conference programmes, Howard Foundation records, press clippings, photographs, school notebooks, texts of speeches, CVs and a few items of personal memorabilia. Overall, the records document Howard’s biography, scientific training and research, commercialisation activities, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.

A second collection of photographs has been donated by Alan Howard’s daughter and son, Julie and Jon. These are held as part of the Library’s digital preservation programme and access will be possible in due course.

To access the physical repository, which is stored in the Manuscripts Reading Room, please click here for the library website about how to visit the reading room.

Click on the image below to see an overview and description of the physical archive.

Howard Chair in Human Nutrition

The Trustees of the Howard Foundation are delighted to announce the extension of the Howard Chair in Human Nutrition at the South East Technological University in Waterford, Ireland. This was awarded initially to Professor John Nolan in 2014, extended to ten years in 2016 and is now extended by a further five years to run until 2031. 
Professor Nolan published his first paper from research into eye disease in 2005. Dr Alan Howard met Professor Nolan in 2009 after which the Foundation sponsored further research focussing on the benefits from nutritional supplementation of the three carotenoids – lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin.
In 2011, Professor Nolan won the prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant to conduct the Central Retinal Enrichment Supplementation Trials (CREST). This work essentially confirmed the scientific discovery that the use of meso-zeaxanthin, in conjunction with lutein and zeaxanthin (the three nutritional pigments that are found at the back of the eye), can enhance vision in healthy subjects and in patients with age-related macular degeneration (the leading cause of blindness in the western world). In the same year, they founded BON, Brain and Ocular Nutrition, network of scientists which has its next international conference in Boston USA, 17-20 June 2024.
Dr Howard and Professor Nolan continued their joint research until the death of Dr Howard in 2020. This collaboration led to the creation of the Memory Investigation with Nutrition for Dementia (Re-MIND) trial, published in 2022, which showed benefits to patients with Alzheimer’s Disease from nutritional supplementation with the same three carotenoids together with vitamin E and omega 3 fatty acids.
Professor Nolan says: “I am extremely grateful to the Howard Foundation for their continued support of our research, and my position as Howard Chair in Human Nutrition. Dr Howard worked all his life as a scientist, conducting projects from one research grant to the next. He spoke to me always about the challenges of being a scientist and the instability due to funding requirements. This is why he wanted to support a Chair at SETU to allow me to continue my work and support other scientists at our research centre.”
Professor Nolan obtained his PhD at the Waterford Institute of Technology and won a Fulbright Scholarship to work at the Medical College of Georgia, USA. He returned to Waterford and formed the Macular Pigment Research Group. In 2016 he founded the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland which is now part of the South East Technological University in Waterford. 

Click on the picture below to read the full press release from SETU

The picture shows Jon Howard (Trustee), Professor John Nolan and Julie Lambert (Chair of the Howard Foundation)

Video talks about eye and brain health

The Howard Foundation has sponsored many years of research into nutritional supplements to alleviate both eye disease and Alzheimer’s Disease, directed by Professor John Nolan at the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland and listed in the Publications page. The ReMind trial, published in 2022, was co-directed by Professor Riona Mulcahy from the University Hospital Waterford.

Over the last few years, Howard Foundation Trustee Dr Anthony Leeds, has helped produce and host four series of increasingly popular video-recorded conversations with fellow scientists.

In the most recent series, Dr Leeds interviewed Professor Nolan when they discussed the evidence for the effect of carotenoids on both age-related macular eye disease and dementia. He also interviewed Professor Mulcahy to talk about the nature of dementia, its characteristics and options for prevention and management, including the evidence from trials of carotenoid supplements on memory and other aspects of brain function.

All four talks are available to view on YouTube through the links below. Further background to these talks is given following the links.


June 21st Dietary carotenoids and age-related macular degeneration – John Nolan

In this interview, Professor Nolan describes the role of dietary carotenoids in the retina of the eye and how these may be used to help maintain good function and slow the rate of disease progression in early Age-related Macular Degeneration with supplements of the three carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin.


June 29th Dietary carotenoids, eye and brain health – John Nolan

In this interview, Prof Nolan describes the extension of the work on carotenoids and eye health to the effect of nutrition supplementation on brain function and describes the evidence for use of the same carotenoid supplements given with the addition of vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acid. The most recent experimental work has shown benefits in improved memory and brain function, opening up the possibility of such supplementation improving some aspects of brain function in dementia.


July 26th Brain health, dementia and risk reduction – Riona Mulcahy

In this interview, Professor Mulcahy describes the work done in Waterford and sets it in the context of our current understanding of how to detect dementia in its early stages and how its progression can be slowed down by diet and lifestyle changes and how modern medicines, though expensive, can contribute to its management. The work undertaken in the Republic of Ireland showed benefit in improved memory and brain function with carotenoid supplements given with vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acid and opened up the possibility of such supplementation improving some aspects of brain function in dementia. 


August 2nd Brain health – healthy choices – Riona Mulcahy

In this interview, Professor Mulcahy continues the conversation about the nature of dementia, its characteristics and options for prevention and management. Professor Mulcahy then sets out our current understanding of how to detect dementia in its early stages and how its progression can be slowed down by diet and lifestyle changes and how modern medicines, though expensive, can contribute to its management. Prevention should include taking a ‘healthy diet’ (as recommended for good eye health) avoidance of being overweight, being physically active as well as being socially active – activities that challenge the brain are important. Cardiovascular risk factors – high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood cholesterol should be detected early and treated effectively.


Background to these video talks

Initially these programmes, produced by Dr Anthony Leeds and released on both YouTube and an Urdu language channel ‘Bittertruth’, were intended to inform audiences, including key opinion formers and government and health officials, in South Asia and the South Asian diaspora about obesity-related diseases. The possibilities for addressing the health problems with weight loss by a variety of methods, including formula diet programmes, were discussed. More recently the audience size has grown to over two million viewers and has extended globally to cover, to variable degrees, all regions of Asia, North and South America and countries in Europe.

In the most recent series, the range of subjects has been extended to include eye and brain health. Dr Leeds has taken advantage of his long-standing interest in eye disease and his regular attendance at the BON (Brain and Ocular Nutrition) conferences over the years to share that interest with viewers.


Professor John Nolan holds the Howard Chair for Human Nutrition at the South-East Technological University (SETU) in Ireland and is principal investigator at the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI), within SETU in Waterford.


Professor Riona Mulcahy is the Clinical Director of the University Hospital Waterford and Physician for the care of the elderly.


Carotenoids for Eye and Brain Health

On Monday 13th May 2024, the Howard Foundation sponsored an event at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). Professor John Nolan focussed the attention of the medical profession onto Nutrition and Health as he delivered an innovative lecture titled “Connecting Carotenoids from Eye to Brain: A New Vision for Management of Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Dementia.”

Click here to read a summary of the lecture.

Following the lecture, Professor Roger Kirby,  President of the RSM, chaired an expert panel consisting of Dr Gordon Plant, Mr Nigel Davies and Professor Riona Mulcahy who joined Professor Nolan to discuss the topic in detail and answer some insightful questions from the audience.

Panel from left to right: Professor John Nolan, Professor Riona Mulcahy, Dr Gordon Plant and Mr Nigel Davies

Click on the image below for the recording of the lecture on the RSM YouTube channel.

Supplement Certified gains ISO accreditation

In 2009, Dr Alan Howard began working with Dr John Nolan and his team at the Waterford Institute of Technology in South East Ireland, investigating the beneficial effects of nutritional supplementation with three macular carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin). While conducting MOST (Meso-zeozanthin Ocular Supplementation Trials), the team noticed some surprising results. Rather than suspecting an error in the analysis, Dr Howard suggested testing the supplements that were being used. This led to the realisation that supplements may not actually contain what manufacturers say they should contain and that this amount may also decline over time. John Nolan remembers “This was the turning point when we really started to care about the formulations and what was in the supplements.

This led to the team continually testing the supplementations that they use in their clinical trials and in May 2021, the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) announced the creation of a certification process to enforce carotenoid and omega-3 quality control.

On 18th April 2024, Supplement Certified ( www.supplementcertified.ie ), now a campus company at SETU (South East Technological University) in Waterford, Ireland announced its recent accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB). ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is an internationally recognized standard for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. This accreditation underscores Supplement Certified’s commitment to ensuring the highest standards of quality and safety in the dietary supplement industry.

Professor John Nolan, founder of the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) and co-founder of Supplement Certified, says “Over the past 25 years, the Howard Foundation has supported research work to show the beneficial use of targeted supplementation. It’s important to be able to demonstrate that these important nutrients are provided at the highest possible level of quality. This is where Supplement Certified comes in.

Pictured are (L-R) Dr. Warren Roche, Director of Data Science & Statistics, Tommy Power, Lead Scientist, Alfonso Prado Calbrero, Founder & Lead Technical Officer, and Prof. John Nolan, Founder & Lead Scientific Officer show the ISO Accreditation Certificate. Photographer: Shane O’Neill
The Supplement Certified team outside the Howard Biochemistry Laboratory. Photographer: Shane O’Neill 

2024 Lecture at the RSM

The 2024 Howard Foundation lecture, at the Royal Society of Medicine on Monday 13th May, will be given by Professor John Nolan, Howard Chair in Human Nutrition, South East Technological University, Waterford, Ireland.

Professor Nolan will describe how research has identified a common factor in the causes of two age-related diseases of the eye and brain and how clinical trials have shown substantial improvements in both visual function and in memory & brain function.  

Under the guidance of the founder, the late Dr Alan Howard, the Foundation has sponsored research led by Professor Nolan since 2009. This lecture, which will also be shown online, looks at some of the findings from these last fifteen years of research.

Click on the picture below for further information.

The Downing College Travel Bursary Scheme

At their meeting in April 2023, the Trustees of the Foundation agreed to fund a Travel Bursary Scheme at Downing College to run for four years. This is open to postgraduate students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. The scholarship contributes towards the cost of national and international travel to academic conferences or meetings.

The first recipient of the scholarship was Qi Wang who attended two conferences during the summer of 2023. Qi Wang spoke about the award: “Attending my first conference was an exceptional opportunity that allowed me to not only showcase my research work but also actively engage with fellow researchers within the broader applied superconductivity community. As a doctoral student, this experience held paramount significance, as it provided me with a platform to stay abreast of the latest developments and discoveries within my field, while also facilitating valuable networking opportunities with peers and experienced professionals.

Jon Howard meeting Qi Wang

Annual Alan Howard Memorial Lecture at SETU

The annual Alan Howard Memorial Lecture was given on Friday, 18 August from 10am to 1pm at Carriganore House, South East Technological University (SETU) West Campus, Waterford Ireland.

The Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI), led by Professor John Nolan Howard Chair of Human Nutrition, is based at Carriganore House where the Howard Foundation has supported research into the benefits of macular carotenoids for eye and brain heath over the past fourteen years.

The event featured the unveiling of a Waterford Civic Trust Heritage Blue Plaque in honour of Dr Mary Strangman who was born at Carriganore House in 1872.

Please click the image/link below to view the recording of this event.

Click above to view the recording from Friday 18 August 2023

The event began at 10am with a welcome address from Professor Veronica Campbell, the President of SETU, followed by Dr Marina Green, deputy director of the NRCI. Mrs Julie Lambert and Mr Jon Howard then spoke on behalf of The Howard Foundation. The memorial lecture about the life of Dr Mary Strangman was given in two parts: the first by Dr Eugene Broderick, historian with the Waterford Civic Trust, who spoke about her political life, and the second by Mrs Ann Fitzgerald, historian with the Waterford Women’s Centre, who spoke about her personal life.

The lectures were followed by the unveiling of the Heritage Blue Plaque outside Carriganore House.

The unveiling of the plaque by Mrs Mary O’Halloran (former First Lady Mayor of Waterford City)
Pictured are (L-R) Jon Howard (HF), Dr Marina Green (Deputy Director NRCI), Julie Lambert (HF), Cllr Joe Conway (Mayor of Waterford), Professor Veronica Campbell (President SETU), Dr Eugene Broderick (Historian, Waterford Civic Trust), Professor John Nolan (Director NRCI), Matt Shanahan (Waterford TD).

Click here to read the full press release on the SETU website

Dr Mary Strangman

Medical and public health pioneer, Dr Mary Strangman.
Photo courtesy The Poole Photographic Collection.

Born in 1872 at Carriganore House, Dr Strangman became a doctor, a champion of public health and better housing, a suffragist and the first woman to be elected to Waterford Corporation in January 1912.

In recognition of her notable achievements, particularly around public health, the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) and Waterford Civic Trust are set to unveil a plaque at her historical family home.

Click here to read the full announcement in the Waterford News.

Cedar 2022 – a tree sculpture by Ai Weiwei

In the early spring of 2020, the large blue Atlas cedar tree that had stood in the East Lodge Garden of Downing College for over 170 years had to be taken down. It had succumbed to a disease and had become unsafe. Internationally acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei offered to create a new ’tree’ sculpture from the wood of the felled tree as a gift to Downing College.  The artist’s generosity was supported by a donation from the Howard Foundation, which funded the fabrication of the sculpture in honour of Dr Alan Howard.   The sculpture by Ai Weiwei, named Cedar 2022, now stands in First Court opposite The Heong Gallery.  The Foundation were donors to The Heong Gallery when it was first opened in 2016 so it is very fitting that the tree is now positioned in the courtyard as a permanent artwork for visitors to the college and gallery.

A dedication ceremony was held on 16th May 2023 to unveil a plaque to commemorate both the tree and Dr Alan Howard, recognising his connection with Downing College as alumnus, nutritionist and benefactor. His son and daughter are pictured below.

Jon Howard and Julie Lambert from the Howard Foundation at the dedication ceremony

The tree sculpture was built by Ben King, normally a bespoke furniture maker, according to a design by Ai Weiwei.

See also the Downing College News. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs below were taken by Susan Lintott, Director of The Heong Gallery.

The Blue Atlas Cedar in the East Lodge Garden.
(photo Tim Marshall)
The new tree sculpture Cedar in First Court.
The memorial plaque is on the left.
(photo Tom Povey)
Ai Weiwei standing with the demolished sections of the tree.
Ai Weiwei discusses the creation of the sculpture with wood-worker Ben King
Ben in his workshop assembling the tree sculpture
Ai Weiwei sat on his completed tree sculpture
(photo Wang Fen)