News Archive
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A lifetime of insights gained from a few hours without sight
For 23 diners in Birmingham last Thursday, Dinner in the Dark was a real eye-opening experience, especially since the diners were blindfolded. The event gave sighted individuals some understanding of what it means to be visually impaired. -
UAB researcher awarded $1.23 million grant for glaucoma research
J. Crawford Downs, Ph.D., vice chair of Research in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Ophthalmology, was awarded a three-year, $1.23 million grant from the National Eye Institute to explore intraocular pressure fluctuation as it relates to the development and progression of glaucoma, a potentially blinding disease that affects more than 2.2 million Americans. -
Under Pressure
Ernest Murry saw glaucoma steal his mother’s vision, just as it had robbed sight from many other family members. There was a time when it seemed the same might happen to him. “When I went outside to walk, I would have to pat in front of me to keep from falling,” he says. -
Ocular biomechanics expert joins faculty
Massimo Antonio Fazio, Ph.D., joins the UAB Department of Ophthalmology as an assistant professor. Dr. Fazio holds a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. -
UAB neuroscience junior named finalist for Truman Scholarship
Brian Austin Nykanen, a University of Alabama at Birmingham junior neuroscience major and a Cadet in the Army ROTC at UAB, is a finalist for the Truman Scholarship. -
Girkin to serve as program committee chair at AGS meeting
Christopher Girkin, M.D., EyeSight Foundation of Alabama Chair, UAB Department of Ophthalmology, is serving as chair of the program committee for the 2015 American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting, held in Coronado, Calif., February 26 – March 1. -
UAB Seeks Answers to Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) causes central vision loss in millions of Americans, interfering with everyday tasks such as driving, reading, and recognizing faces. -
What you need to know about pediatric glaucoma
One evening, five years ago, Brittni Powell did what a lot of young mothers do and gazed into her 2-month-old son’s eyes. What she saw had Brittni and her husband Byron heading immediately to a Montgomery-area hospital emergency department. -
Diabetic eye screenings via telemedicine show value for underserved communities
Eye screenings of people with diabetes in underserved communities revealed that one in five had early stage diabetic retinopathy, according to a new study by a research consortium including investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. -
Center for Low Vision honored for work with vision impaired
The UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation was honored as the Partnership of the Year by the Birmingham Area Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. This award recognizes an organization that demonstrates a genuine concern for the well-being of people with disabilities. -
Complex contact lenses from UAB Ophthalmology keep disabled vet rolling
Jeff Henson has been riding bikes for years. In 2012, he rode a bike coast to coast across the United States. Before that, the Army veteran did a long bike ride in France, and several in the American Northwest, always on a tandem bike and always from the back seat. -
New researcher joins ophthalmology
MiYoung Kwon, Ph.D., joins the UAB Department of Ophthalmology as an assistant professor. Dr. Kwon’s research focuses on understanding how eye disorders impact the way visual information is processed in the brain and how the brain learns to see the world in degraded viewing conditions. -
UAB research receives attention among European ophthalmologists
Two research projects from the UAB AMD Histopathology Laboratory, directed by Christine A. Curcio, Ph.D., were presented this week at the Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft, which is the German equivalent of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. -
UAB ophthalmologists participate in healthy aging webinar
Christopher Girkin, M.D., and Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., of the UAB Department of Ophthalmology, along with Torrey DeKeyser, executive director of the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, participated in a webinar on September 5, 2014, titled “How Our Eyes Age – The Impact on Everyday Life.” The webinar was hosted by Grantmakers in Aging, which is an organization that acts as a catalyst for philanthropy. -
$3.75 million endowed chair will boost vision research at UAB
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Ophthalmology will establish the Research to Prevent Blindness/Susan and Dowd Ritter Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology Research with a $3.75 million endowment, one of the largest in UAB history. -
Growth of Ocular Biomechanics evident at 2014 World Congress of Biomechanics
The growth of the field of ocular biomechanics was on display at the 7th World Congress of Biomechanics July 6 to July 11, 2014, and the UAB Department of Ophthalmology Program of Ocular Biomechanics and Biotransport was at the forefront of this exciting meeting. -
Rhodes named to prestigious Leadership Development class
Lindsay A. Rhodes, M.D., was named to Class of 2015. This prestigious program represents a commitment by the AAO to develop future leaders. -
Curcio honored for contributions to vision research
Christine A. Curcio, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is the recipient of the 2014 Ludwig von Sallmann Prize, awarded to an individual for significant contributions to vision research and ophthalmology. -
Leave fireworks to the pros, UAB eye doctors say
Fourth of July 2013: Family members were shooting fireworks in the backyard of Dianne Peterson’s home in Vincent, Alabama, as she walked out of the house. -
Cable guys: Inside UAB's high-tech, custom-built approach to eye science
The miracle of sight relies on a masterpiece of wiring. More than a million individual nerve cells scattered around the eye convert visual information into electricity. Then these individual cells are bundled together at the back of the eye into the optic nerve, which carries the signal to the brain.