August 23, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry has received a $1.5 million gift from the prestigious W.M. Keck Foundation to support a new center for functional neuroimaging.

A major portion of the funds will be used to purchase an upright Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine. "The upright magnet opens the door to the next step in functional brain research," says Optometry Dean Arol Augsburger, O.D. "And it will certainly provide a bridge between human functional brain imaging research and basic neurophysiology."

The machine will be used as a tool to help map the brain by determining which areas of the brain are involved in vision and visual perception. The knowledge could lead to the development of low vision aids and visual prostheses, Augsburger says.

"By mapping the brain, researchers will be able to learn why and how we see, which will enable them to move rapidly closer to the time we will have ocular implants as an every day occurrence. The possibilities of other discoveries concerning vision and eye disease are unlimited."

The Keck Foundation gift provides crucial support for UAB's proposed Center for Functional Neuroimaging, which will be directed by researcher Lawrence Mays, Ph.D. With more than $30 million in external research funding, the UAB School of Optometry receives more outside research funding than any other optometric school in the world.