The American Academy of Optometry Foundation named Jonathan Davis and Haley Hixon, both fourth-year students at the UAB School of Optometry, 2017 Practice Excellence Scholarship recipients.

The Foundation annually selects students from each North American college or school of optometry based on submission by each institution. Davis and Hixon are among 44 top-performing optometry students in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada who will receive awards totaling nearly $200,000.

The American Academy of Optometry Foundation has named Paul Brown, a third-year student at the UAB School of Optometry, a recipient of the 2017 Johnson & Johnson Vision J. Pat Cummings Scholarship.

The Foundation awards the scholarship annually to a second- or third-year optometry student at each North American school or college of optometry who best demonstrates the ideal eye care standards of practice, achievement in both academic performance and extra-curricular activities, and participation with other professional pursuits such as involvement with patients through internships, community service and volunteer activities.

Brown received a $1,000 scholarship and a personalized plaque as part of the award, which is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson and named after a leader in optometry who died in a 2009 plane crash.

After third-year optometry student Shannon Kirchmer achieved her longime goal of running her first marathon — the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama this past February — she realized she was just two minutes shy of qualifying for the 2019 Boston Marathon.

“I knew I could do it,” she says.

With her new goal of competing in the world’s oldest annual marathon, she sought the help of a coach through a Birmingham running group to help her with a training plan.

On Nov. 4, she ran a personal record of 3:20:25 (a 7:39 mile pace) in the CNO Indianapolis Monumental Marathon — qualifying her for the Boston Marathon.

Ten students at the UAB School of Optometry have earned the title of Student Fellow with the American Academy of Optometry.

The Student Fellowship program offered by the Academy encourages students to experience the Academy’s annual meeting in the hopes it will stimulate improved integration of all opportunities offered at the meeting, encourage future involvement and persuade students to become future fellows.

The Alabama Optometric Association has named Mark Swanson, O.D., professor at the UAB School of Optometry, its Educator of the Year.

Swanson was honored as the recipient of the 2017 award at the ALOA’s annual convention, held Nov. 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham.

“It’s an honor to receive this award from my colleagues, former students and friends in the state association,” Swanson says. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group to work with through the years.”

Age-related macular degeneration was the topic at the UAB School of Optometry’s annual Springer Lecture, presented by the 2017 Springer Award Honoree, Christine Curcio, Ph.D., professor at the UAB Department of Ophthalmology.

Curcio gave her lecture, entitled “Age-related macular degeneration discovery through histologically validated multimodal clinical imaging,” to School of Optometry faculty and students on Sept. 28 in Volker Hall on the UAB campus.

UAB Eye Care to Host Annual Fall Eyewear Trunk Show

Friday, Oct. 20, 2017
9 am - 4 pm

A faculty member at the UAB School of Optometry brought the topic of precision medicine to the 2017 American Academy of Optometry meeting, held Oct. 11-14 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

The 2017 Monroe J. Hirsch Symposium, organized by Michael Twa, O.D., Ph.D., associate dean for research and graduate studies at the School of Optometry, was held Thursday, Oct. 12 at the meeting and entitled "Precision Medicine and the Future of Healthcare."

When the waiting list for an appointment at the Vision Therapy Clinic at UAB Eye Care reached nearly 50 patients, it was clear that more space was needed, recalls Kristine Hopkins, O.D., M.S.P.H., associate professor at the UAB School of Optometry.

The clinical service had outgrown the space used to provide weekly care for about 36 patients—mostly children—with conditions that affect eye teaming, visual tracking and focusing.

Fourteen UAB School of Optometry faculty, six residents, one postdoctoral fellow and one graduate student are presenting at the 2017 American Academy of Optometry meeting, which is being held Oct. 11-14 in Chicago at McCormick Place. The presentations include research, lectures and workshops on a variety of optometry and vision science topics.

The annual Academy meeting includes nearly 300 hours of lectures and workshops, symposia and scientific lecture and poster presentations. It offers a wide variety of clinically relevant continuing education courses and cutting edge research in the clinical and vision sciences.

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.

The UAB School of Optometry Alumni Association named Douglas Clark, O.D., its alumnus of the year at the annual Continuing Education and Alumni Weekend, held Aug. 18-20 on the UAB campus.

Clark, who graduated from the School of Optometry in 1982, was named the alumnus of the year based on his service to the School of Optometry, to the profession and to his community. Each year, the board members of the Alumni Association select a member as the alum of the year based on these criteria.

The UAB School of Optometry Alumni Association inducted new officers, and scholarships were awarded to students at the annual Continuing Education and Alumni Weekend, held Aug. 18-20 on the UAB campus.

Two new faculty members have joined the UAB School of Optometry as clinical assistant professors.

Maggie Bailey, O.D., sees patients and works with students in Pediatrics, Primary Care and Community Eye Care at UAB Eye Care, which is the School of Optometry’s clinical operation.

The UAB School of Optometry has partnered with members of the vision community in recognizing July as Dry Eye Awareness Month.

As an optometrist in Greenville, South Carolina, Johndra McNeely, O.D., has organized several vision screenings for the Hispanic population in her community. Altogether, she helped to provide care for more than 140 patients, including some with advanced glaucoma that otherwise might have gone untreated.

The UAB School of Optometry announced that its new senior director of development will be Sommer Thompson, a development professional with more than nine years of experience at UAB.

Thompson, who most recently served as director of development at UAB’s Collat School of Business, will join the School of Optometry on July 10.

Four students at the UAB School of Optometry visited Capitol Hill on June 22 to meet with legislators and advocate for optometrists in Alabama.

Students Lauren Boudousquie, Jessica Boyd, Samantha Elliott and Natalie West joined School of Optometry faculty and other Alabama optometrists to meet with Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) and staff members from the offices of Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.).

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.

When Elizabeth Steele, O.D., joined the UAB School of Optometry nearly 13 years ago as a faculty member, she did not know how much she would love teaching.

“It was one of those crazy little choices you make that shapes your entire life,” she said Wednesday, June 21, to attendees of the American Optometric Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.