Congratulations to Dawn DeCarlo, OD, PhD, director of the UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation and professor in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, for being named the recipient of the Sight Savers America (SSA) 2022 Hall W. Thompson Hero for Sight Award. 

In 2021, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences welcomed five new providers – Elise Agostinelli, OD; Sarah Berry, OD; Jeff Chaiprakob, MD; John Morgan, MD; and Jeffrey Tapley, MD.

Marissa Locy, OD, has been named assistant professor in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. In 2017, Dr. Locy joined the department as a clinical instructor and has continued to work in UAB's Low Vision Rehabilitaion Clinic as well as a general services clinic at UAB Callahan Eye, where she provides comprehensive optometric services to adults and children in need of low vision care, contacts, and dry eye care.

Originally from Montpelier, Ohio, Dr. Locy graduated from the UAB School of Optometry, where she received the Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society Silver Medal, an award given to the top graduating student. She completed her fellowship in Medical Optometry and Vision Rehabilitation..

The Downs lab recently published an article describing a new method for representing the directional tissue stiffness imparted by aligned collagen fibrils in computational models of optic nerve head biomechanics. This is a challenging issue, especially in eye-specific models that the lab builds, because the collagen fiber orientation is both heterogeneous and depth-dependent through the thickness of the peripapillary sclera in each eye.

Dr. Brett Gerwin
Class of 2007

After graduating from the UAB ophthalmology residency in 2007, I completed fellowships in vitreoretinal surgery and ocular oncology before starting my solo practice in Tennessee. When I look back on my professional journey, I am thankful for the way the residency program at UAB prepared me for a successful career. The training was not only comprehensive in scope but also very hands on and provided an appropriate amount of autonomy for residents.

Dr. William Gannon
Class of 2017

When I think of my time as a resident, one word comes to mind – community. In general, ophthalmology residencies are typically smaller when compared to most other programs. UAB is actually on the larger side, taking five residents a year. So, you really do need to depend on your co-residents to learn, grow, and care for patients well. I had the best co-residents. We created a team environment among ourselves, and I truly believe that helped us thrive and succeed, not only in residency, but in our current careers.

Dr. Beverly Bishop
Class of 1997

I remember my years as a resident at UAB as a roller coaster of emotions. The first year started with great anticipation and some fear of the unknown. After getting to know the other residents and the amazing staff at UAB, that fear turned to excitement about learning everything I could about ophthalmology and feeling blessed to be able to help restore and preserve patients’ vision. It was a great feeling to be able to help patients in such an impactful way that often was lifechanging. My years at UAB gave me an excellent foundation that has served me well in my career over the past 25 years.

Dr. Tom Mitchell
Class of 1987

There are so many great memories that come to mind when I think of my time as a resident at the Eye Foundation, now UAB Callahan Eye. I remember my first day, walking into the building as a neophyte and plunging headfirst into the world of ophthalmology. It was daunting. The one thing that I will always remember is that the experience was one of hard work, daily growth and learning, and collegial and positive interactions with fellow residents and faculty.

Brian Samuels, MD, PhD, will serve as interim chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Samuels is a clinician-scientist who currently serves as the Dennis Endowed Professor in Glaucoma Research and director of the Glaucoma Division and the Glaucoma Fellowship.

Samuels completed his medical and PhD degrees through the combined degree program at Indiana University in 2004. He received his PhD in medical neurobiology and completed his ophthalmology residency training at UAB, followed by both a clinical and research fellowship in glaucoma at Duke University. After fellowship, Samuels joined the faculty at Indiana University and remained there for three years.

Since rejoining the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2013, Samuels has continued to develop a reputation internationally as an outstanding glaucoma specialist and scientist, and his clinical and research interests overlap significantly. Samuels’ research laboratory focuses on identifying how the brain controls pressure inside the eye and brain. Further, he has established himself as one of the leading experts in understanding how differences in eye and brain pressure can lead to glaucoma and other ophthalmic diseases.

He is currently the primary investigator on three NIH grants, including the P30 core grant from NIH/NEI that has continuously funded UAB’s vision research community since 1979. In 2018, he received the Research to Prevent Blindness Clinician-Scientist Award, one of two given nationally that year. In addition to his independent research, Samuels also collaborates with world leaders in the vision science community both at UAB and outside institutions such as the Georgia Institute of Technology, Duke, Vanderbilt, Harvard, and NASA. He continues to develop and grow a multifaceted translational research program.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and to work closely with the leadership of the Callahan Eye Hospital as we continue to focus on our mission of providing exceptional vision care to our patients throughout the southeast region, developing innovative research aimed at preventing and curing blindness, and teaching the next generation of eye care specialists,” says Samuels. “Additionally, I look forward to growing the department and building on the culture of diversity, inclusion, and respect that we have established.”

After ten years serving as chair, Christopher Girkin, MD, the Eyesight Foundation of Alabama chair, will be stepping down on Jan. 1 to focus on his ongoing research and clinical interests.

Priscilla Fowler, MD, has been named associate professor in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Dr. Fowler is also the director of the Cornea Service and specializes in refractive cataract surgery, endothelial keratoplasty, infectious diseases of the cornea, and severe dry eye/ocular surface disease. Prior to joining Callahan Eye Hospital Clinics in 2012, Dr. Fowler successfully practiced comprehensive ophthalmology for nearly eight years in Destin, Fla.

She serves on the medical advisory board for Global Sight Network, Alabama Eye Bank, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and strives to increase public knowledge about eye diseases and blindness prevention by participating in health fairs and other community events.

Dr. Fowler completed her fellowship training in Cornea and External Disease/Refractive Surgery at the Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Penn., and is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, the Cornea Society, the Alabama Academy of Ophthalmology, and the American Medical Association.

Seth Fortmann, a MD/PhD student in the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at UAB, has been named the recipient of a F30 NIH Fellowship Award from the National Eye Institute. This grant, which underwent study section review and was scored favorably by expert scientists, totals $208,840 and will fund Fortmann’s training through May 2025. Fortmann is currently conducting research alongside Maria B. Grant, MD, in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, where he is studying the molecular mechanisms that underlie prevalent retinal diseases, specifically age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences is proud to announce that it received official notification and final funding approval for a four-year integrated residency program.

This change will add an integrated internship year to the current three-year ophthalmology training for residents. “This has been several years in the making, and we are excited about this addition to our program,” said Russell Read, MD, PhD, Program Director of the UAB Ophthalmology Residency Program. “The department will be able to determine what rotations our interns will perform and allow us to create an outstanding experience that will directly lead to a superior training experience that will, we hope, become a major factor in our ability to recruit future residents.” 

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences hosted its first-ever virtual Symposium in June. Eighty attendees joined us for virtual presentations by our residents and featured speakers – Sonal Tuli, M.D., M.Ed., Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Florida; David Guyton, M.D., Zanvyl Krieer Professor in Ophthalmology at Wilmer Eye Institute; and Glenn J. Jaffe, M.D., Robert Machemer Professor of Ophthalmology, Vitreoretinal Faculty at Duke University Eye Center, and Chief of the Retina Division at Duke Reading Center.

MoneyGeek.com recently published an article featuring expert advice from Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., Nathan E. Miles Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Free vision screening and eye testing are now being offered as part of a new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences to patients at some Cahaba Medical Care primary care clinics.

Krupa Patel, MD, has been named associate program director for the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences’ residency program. Patel, who has been part of the department faculty since 2019, specializes in pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus. Originally from Ohio, Patel completed medical school at Northeast Ohio Medical University and her ophthalmology residency from Summa Health before finishing her pediatric ophthalmology fellowship at Indianapolis at Riley Hospital for Children.

Patel will work alongside Russell Read, MD, PhD, providing residents robust training opportunities, as well as overseeing the newly-announced integrated intern residency year.

Congratulations to Shervonne Poleon, who has been named the recipient of the 2021 Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award.