Christine A. Curcio, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at UAB, was awarded the Prix Soubrane de la Recherche en Ophtalmologie for her work on retinal aging and age-related macular degeneration at the sixth annual Macula of Paris Congress held Jan. 14, 2011, in France. The prize, a limited edition bronze medal, was given to Curcio by Gisèle Soubrane, M.D., Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology and chair emeritus at the University of Paris East-Creteil. Curcio's collaborative work with Northwestern University and other UAB investigators developed a natural history and biochemical model for the cholesterol deposition occurring behind the retina throughout adulthood, contributing to the principal AMD lesions.
Curcio is a permanent member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Eye Institute. In 2002, she became the first recipient of the Roger Johnson Prize for Macular Degeneration Research and a Gold Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2010. Curcio has been at UAB since 1990.