Christine A. Curcio, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology in the School of Medicine, has been named a recipient of the inaugural Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship for 2008. The award recognizes faculty members who have been outstanding mentors to students and trainees with whom they have worked. Students and trainees were invited to nominate faculty who they believe provided excellent mentorship through personal characteristics, teaching, and communication skills.

Dr. Curcio leads a group of researchers, including graduate students and post-doctoral research associates, in carrying out basic research on retinal diseases including age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older adults. The techniques used in her laboratory, located in the Department of Ophthalmology, include histopathology, electron microscopy, morphometry, immunohistochemistry, lipid histochemistry, lipid chemistry, protein chemistry, gene expression, and development of animal models. Her research program is funded by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., the International Retinal Research Foundation, and the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama.

Included in her nomination letters were testimonials from past and current trainees who have been mentored by Dr. Curcio, such as this: “Dr. Curcio constantly encourages developing much more than just laboratory skills and helps establish a foundation of a successful future in research. Next to a broad spectrum of lab techniques she also provides advice for the development of an efficient work organization. She always is approachable and is a patient advisor who understands an individual’s needs . . . She is an extremely skilled and profoundly knowledgeable researcher whose pioneering research has focused on understanding the human retina and devastating retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration”.