Brian Samuels, M.D., Ph.D., The EyeSight of Alabama Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology; Rafael Grytz, Ph.D., Dennis Endowed Professor of Glaucoma Research; Anupam Agarwal, M.D., Senior Vice President for Medicine and Dean, Heersink School of MedicineRafael Grytz, Ph.D., has been named the Dennis Endowed Professor in Glaucoma Research, an appointment approved by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama in April 2024. He was formally recognized on November 21, 2025, at the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine Fall Endowment Reception, held in the newly opened Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine & Data Science (ALGEN) building.
Appointment to an endowed professorship is among the highest honors awarded to faculty within the Heersink School of Medicine. These endowments acknowledge exceptional achievements while providing resources to advance innovative research, support scholarly productivity, and strengthen the recruitment and retention of top-tier investigators.
Grytz, a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, is an internationally recognized scientist whose work bridges biomedical engineering, ophthalmology, and computational modeling. His research focuses on the biomechanical mechanisms that drive growth and remodeling in ocular tissues. These processes are central to conditions such as myopia, glaucoma, and keratoconus. His laboratory leverages advanced imaging and simulation methodologies to investigate the interacting effects of aging, glaucoma risk, and myopia, with the long-term goal of developing predictive and patient-specific tools for diagnostics and treatment.
“I am grateful to Dr. Brian Samuels for entrusting this endowment to me. This support will help accelerate the translation of our preclinical discoveries into clinical applications that can meaningfully improve human health,” said Grytz.
A member of the department since 2012, Grytz holds a Master of Science and Ph.D. in civil engineering, both earned with distinction from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. His Ph.D. work was recognized with the prestigious Deutscher Studienpreis, awarded by the President of the German Parliament for research of significant societal impact. Following his doctoral training, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship and later served as a research associate at the Devers Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon.
The Dennis Endowed Professorship in Glaucoma Research will support Grytz’s ongoing efforts to advance the understanding of ocular biomechanics and to develop new strategies that reduce the risk and impact of vision-threatening diseases. The department celebrates this achievement and extends gratitude to the donors whose commitment makes such enduring investments in scientific discovery possible.