Research and Innovation
by Satina Richardson
Edmund Arthur, OD, PhD, FAAO, was awarded a National Institute of Health R21 grant from the National Institute on Aging. The $408,375 two-year pilot grant aims to develop a novel, non-invasive, and cost-effective retinal vascular biomarker for early Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) risk detection and disease monitoring.
Read more: Arthur to investigate affordable early detection of Alzheimer's disease
In a preclinical model, School of Optometry researchers Timothy Gawne, Ph.D., and Thomas Norton, Ph.D., studied how adjusting visual cues through chromatically simulated myopic blur could be useful in slowing the progression of myopia, or nearsightedness. Read more on UAB News
Safal Khanal, OD, PhD, FAAO, assistant professor at the UAB School of Optometry, received the 2022 Career Development Award from the American Academy of Optometry (AAO). Khanal is the School’s first faculty member and one of only six faculty members nationwide to receive this honor since its inception in 2015.
Read more: Khanal becomes first optometry faculty to receive AAO Career Development award
by Satina Richardson
Marina Gorbatyuk, PhD, has been awarded a three-year, $445,500, R01 grant co-funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Eye Institute (NEI).
Read more: Gorbatyuk R01 to study effects of vesicants on ocular tissues
Yuchen Wang, PhD, assistant professor of vision science at the UAB School of Optometry, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pathway to Independence Award known as an R00 grant. The goal of this award is to further study the molecular mechanisms underlying retinal synapse formation and function which are critical for retinal visual processing and vision.
by Satina Richardson
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is one of the first, if not the first, academic centers in the United States to acquire a new, state-of-the-art microscope that will advance vision science discoveries at the university. This microscope is the only one of its kind in the southeast region and one of few available in the United States due to the newness of the technology.
Read more: Microscope to advance vision science discoveries at UAB
by Satina Richardson
Jeffrey Walline, OD, PhD, delivered the 2021 Springer Lecture. This was the 23rd year for this esteemed event, which is supported by the Nathaniel E. Springer Memorial Fund established in 1999 by the Springer family and Donald Springer, OD, in memory of his father. Springer was instrumental in founding the School of Optometry.
Jillian F. Ziemanski, OD, PhD, FAAO, is the 2021 recipient of the Korb-Exford Dry Eye Career Development Grant by the American Academy of Optometry Foundation. The grant is designed to support an individual to further their knowledge in the broad area of dry eye disease.
Read more: Assistant professor awarded dry eye career development grant
by Satina Richardson
Jason Nichols, OD, MPH, PHD, FAAO, has been named UAB’s senior associate president for research. Nichols’ existing responsibilities include leading entrepreneurial and clinical trial initiatives in the Office of Research, serving on the Center for Clinical and Translational Science Executive Committee, and ongoing return to research operations planning. He will now also assume leadership duties of the merged offices of Research Development & Internal Programs as well as Research Engagement & Partnerships.
Read more: Nichols named UAB’s senior associate vice president
by Caleb Jones
Yuqiang (Bob) Bai, PhD, a researcher in the lab of Jason Nichols, OD, MPH, PHD, FAAO, has been awarded an NEI/NIH R21 grant to develop an interferometry system with unprecedented sub-micron resolution to understand tear film structure and function in dry eye disease. The grant is for two years, totaling $370,101.
Research funding to the University of Alabama at Birmingham from the National Institutes of Health exceeded $325 million in 2020. The university received $325,573,502, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. That placed UAB 27th in the list of universities receiving funding from the NIH. Among public universities, UAB ranked 12th.
The 2020 Springer Lecture honored Toronto-based optometrist Barbara Caffery, OD, PhD, FAAO. During her lecture, titled “Corneas, Contact Lenses and the Vale of Tears,” she noted the current leading matters of concern being faced by optometrists as well as the role of optometrists in unveiling the natural history of eye disease.
Read more: Caffery featured as 2020 Springer Lecture honoree
The American Public Health Association (APHA) has recognized Jason Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO, UAB associate vice president for research and professor at the UAB School of Optometry, with its 2020 Vision Care Section (VSC) Outstanding Scientific Paper Award.
Researchers who made a knock-in mouse-model of the genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa 59, or RP59, expected to see retinal degeneration and retinal thinning. As reported in the journal Cells, they surprisingly found none, calling into question the commonly accepted — though never proved — mechanism for RP59.
Michael Savage, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, has been awarded an NEI/NIH F32 grant to study the relationship between neuronal orientation and color selectivity in the primary visual cortex.
The grant is for three years, totaling $136,823. It has been 20 years since one of these competitive postdoctoral grants from NEI was won by someone in the UAB School of Optometry.
Lawrence Sincich, Ph.D., associate professor and interim director of the graduate program in the School of Optometry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has received a grant renewal of $1.02 million from the National Institutes of Health, continuing his research on imaging and microstimulation of photoreceptors, the cells in the eyes that allow people to see.
Timothy Kraft, PhD, professor and interim associate dean for research in the UAB School of Optometry, has received a grant renewal of $464,046 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), continuing research about the comprehensive quantification of cone dynamics. The cost for all 4-years is $1.77 million, and this notice is the award of year two of the four years.
Read more: Kraft receives grant renewal for cone dynamics research
Researcher Om Srivastava, PhD, professor at the UAB School of Optometry, hopes to slow the progression of age-related cataracts, the most common causes of blindness in the world.
Read more: Srivastava awarded R01 grant to study cataract development
An R01 grant awarded to Lei Liu, PhD, FAAO, UAB School of Optometry associate professor, by the National Eye Institute/National Institutes of Health, will study the use of virtual reality and intelligent tutoring to make low vision rehabilitation more accessible and affordable.
Marina Gorbatyuk, PhD, associate professor of vision science, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health $297,000 R21 grant to study an animal model for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and improve the sight of patients with the condition.
Read more: Gorbatyuk gets funded for diabetic retinopathy research
Jillian Ziemanski, OD, MS, FAAO, research assistant professor at the UAB School of Optometry, has been awarded a 5-year K23 grant for $717,250 from the National Eye Institute to evaluate mechanisms of autoimmunity in patients who have dry eye disease due to primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS).
Read more: Ziemanski awarded NEI K23 grant to study Sjögren’s-related dry eye disease
The UAB School of Optometry’s pediatric eye clinic was named the November Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) site of the month for recruiting the highest number of pediatric patients for clinical trials. The studies, being conducted in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Optometry and Ophthalmology, focus on conditions like lazy eye, eye turns and myopia.
Read more: Pediatric eye clinic named PEDIG site of the month
A team of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Optometry have been awarded a $1.5 million R01 grant to investigate ways to reduce the development of myopia, also known as nearsightedness.
Timothy Gawne, Ph.D., associate professor of optometry and vision science, was awarded the grant by the National Eye Institute based on research that suggests exposure to narrow-band red light can slow axial elongation.
With the addition of EyePrint PRO and the purchase of an sMap3D scleral topographer, the UAB School of Optometry now has the most advanced scleral contact lens technology available in its UAB Eye Care clinic. This means that almost all patients who need them can be fitted with a customized scleral contact lens.
Read more: Optometry has the most advanced scleral contact lens technology available
Faculty members from the University of Alabama at BirminghamSchool of Optometry have received Pilot Award Grants from the Vision Science Research Center (VSRC), to support new project ideas that could have great potential to advance understanding of ocular disease.
Read more: Optometry professors receive VSRC pilot grant support
A researcher at the UAB School of Optometry has been awarded a $1.25 million R01 grant from the National Eye Institute to study the regulation of protein synthesis in photoreceptors of mice with inherited retinal degeneration.
This research, led by Marina Gorbatyuk, PhD, associate professor of vision science, will not only lead to a better understanding of vision loss in humans, but will also promote the development of new strategies for stopping retinal degeneration.
Read more: Faculty member awarded grant for retinal degeneration research
In exchange for biomedical research in vision science, the National Institutes of Health are repaying the student debt of four faculty members at the UAB School of Optometry.
The faculty members who have contracts with the NIH Loan Repayment Programs, established by Congress to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers, are: Anna Ablamowicz, O.D., clinical assistant professor; Stephanie Cox, O.D., clinical assistant professor; Andrew Pucker, O.D., Ph.D., assistant professor; and Jillian Ziemanski, O.D., M.S., clinical assistant professor.
The programs repay up to $35,000 annually of a researcher’s qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research.
Read more: Faculty conduct innovative research in exchange for student loan repayment relief
Two UAB School of Optometry faculty recently spoke to Birmingham pediatricians about the recommended guidelines for treating myopic pediatric patients and shared research about slowing myopia progression over time.
Katherine Weise, O.D., professor at the School of Optometry, and Andrew Pucker, O.D., assistant professor, spoke to grand rounds attendees at Children’s of Alabama on Thursday, June 22. Their presentation, “Controlling Nearsightedness: Headlines, Hyperbole, and Hypotheses vs. The Evidence,” also included information about the newly developed Myopia Control Clinic at UAB Eye Care.
If one or both parents of a child is myopic, or nearsighted, odds are the child will also develop myopia, explained Weise.
Two research presentations by UAB School of Optometry faculty and students were identified as some of the newest and most innovative topics at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).
The presentations are part ARVO’s list of Emerging Trends and Hot Topics, which is compiled by ARVO committee members. The 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting was held May 7-11 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Read more: Research presentations identified as hot topics at ARVO annual meeting
A faculty member and a doctoral student at the UAB School of Optometry were awarded university funding for their research on dry eye disease.
Andrew Pucker, O.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, and Cameron Postnikoff, MASc, a doctoral student in the School of Optometry's Vision Science Graduate Program, received $10,000 as part of the UAB Faculty Development Grant Program for their proposal, “Tear Transcriptome Associations with Dry Eye Disease.”
The UAB School of Optometry's Clinical Eye Research Facility is recruiting subjects for a contact lens comfort study. Participants who are happy contact lens wearers and those who have stopped wearing contact lenses for any reason may be eligible to participate. The study will involve a series of commonly used clinical tests. Photos of participants' eyes will be taken.
Minimum Eligibility Requirements:
Read more: Research Facility recruiting contact lens wearers for study
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A study of 4,500 U.S. children over 20 years has identified a single test that can predict which kids will become nearsighted by the eighth grade: a measure of their current refractive error.
The refractive error, or eyeglasses prescription, results from mismatches in the size and optical power of the eye that lead to blurry vision.
The study also counters the notion that near work such as frequent reading or sitting too close to the television can bring on myopia, or nearsightedness.
Read more: Multi-center study concludes one test can predict nearsightedness in children
UAB School of Optometry, under the leadership of Drs. Wendy Marsh-Tootle and Kristine Hopkins, was awarded approximately $500,000 in grant funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial-Attention and Reading Trial (CITT-ART). UABSO is one of eight clinical sites nationwide participating in this study.
Read more: Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial-Attention and Reading Trial (CITT-ART)
