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The 20/20 Initiative: Bringing Clarity to Your Vision

$15 million of the campaign has already been raised through a commitment between the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, the International Retinal Research Foundation, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This significant commitment serves as a springboard, catapulting us to the next phase of our 20/20 Initiative: Raising $10 million from the community and individual donors.

A Legacy of Giving

In 1963, Alston Callahan, M.D., founded the Eye Foundation Hospital, now known as Callahan Eye Hospital, the first facility in Alabama dedicated to the care and the treatment of the eye. The hospital wasn’t built with a standard loan, but through the support of philanthropic giving. Callahan was able to raise all of the funds needed to build the hospital through grateful patients and charitable giving.

UAB Ophthalmology is a top 5 nationally ranked department, and Callahan Eye Hospital is the only freestanding Level One Trauma Center in the country and committed to serving the community with several satellite clinic locations. Together, this team is committed to making a difference. We are the only facility in Alabama that’s three-pronged mission focuses on ground-breaking discoveries, high-quality patient care, and a comprehensive education. We will continue this journey together, and we invite you to join us on the road ahead through the 20/20 Initiative.  

20/20 Initiative Priorities

Faculty Support

  • Funds to assist with recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty
  • Endowed chairs and professorships for faculty – a critical component for both recruitment and retention
  • Research funding, such as pilot grants for junior faculty and bridge funding for faculty investigators
  • Flexible funds to be used at the discretion of the chair of the department

Research and Innovation

  • Sopport medical discoveries, interdisciplinary research, and technological advances
  • Fund laboratory equipment

Enhance Facilities

  • Improving and updating our building and clinical space, as well as satellite clinics
  • Transformational naming opportunities within the building space

Resident Education

  • Funds for residents to attend professional and scientific conferences
  • Endowments to support residents’ scholarship opportunities
  • Flexible funds to be used at the discretion of the residency program director to support emerging priorities

Programmatic Support

  • Strengthening service opportunities for our faculty and patients through the Low Vision Clinic and the Connections Support groups.

Contact Us

Jennifer Philpot, MSHA
Senior Director of Development
UAB Heersink School of Medicine
Email: jlphilpot@uabmc.edu