J. Crawford Downs, Ph.D. and collaborators recently had an article chosen as one of 10 Editor’s Selections for commentary in this quarter’s (1st quarter 2021) International Glaucoma Review (IGR). IGR has the most complete collection of abstracts from the glaucoma literature which are otherwise not available. It is the only journal that presents a three-monthly critical review of selected glaucoma literature. It catalogs all glaucoma-related publications for the period. 

The Downs lab recently published an article describing a new method for representing the directional tissue stiffness imparted by aligned collagen fibrils in computational models of optic nerve head biomechanics. This is a challenging issue, especially in eye-specific models that the lab builds, because the collagen fiber orientation is both heterogeneous and depth-dependent through the thickness of the peripapillary sclera in each eye.

J. Crawford Downs, Ph.D., has received a four-year, $1.88 million grant from the National Eye Institute to further explore the underlying mechanisms of glaucoma and bring the relationship between age, intraocular pressure and glaucoma development into focus.

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The BrightFocus Foundation has awarded a glaucoma research grant of more than $149,000 to J. Crawford Downs, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, for his work on a new wireless system to measure and control fluid pressure around the optic nerve.

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Professor

Areas of Interest
ocular biomechanics, glaucoma

Laura Dreer, Ph.D., associate professor of ophthalmology, will participate in WBHM’s Issues and Ales panel discussion on Thursday, July 23, from 5:30-8pm. The topic is “Concussions and the Price of Playing Football.”

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Associate Professor; Director, Psychological & Neuropsychology Clinical Research Services

Areas of Interest
adjustment to chronic health conditions; development of health promotion interventions for patients and family caregivers

Assistant Professor

Areas of Interest
primary eye care, ocular disease, contact lenses, and pediatrics

In a dynamic field like ophthalmology, where advancements are constant, residency programs must evolve to meet the demands of modern medical practice. Russell Read, MD, PhD, has witnessed significant transformations during his 16-year tenure as Residency Program Director for the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, reflecting on the journey and discussing the program's evolution.

Assistant Professor

Areas of Interest
glaucoma, cataract surgery, veterans affairs

Over the past 14 years, Christine A. Curcio, Ph.D., a professor in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology, has collected images from hundreds of donor eyes in her search for the basic mechanisms underlying age-related macular degeneration.

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Curcio Named 2021 Dean’s Excellence Award Winner in Research

Racette Receives 2021 UAB Graduate School Dean's Award for Mentorship

Marissa Locy Named Assistant Professor

Priscilla Fowler Named Associate Professor

C. Douglas Witherspoon Named Professor Emeritus

From left, Massimo Fazio along with co-investigators Alecia Gross and Christopher Girkinby Hannah Buckelew
Massimo Fazio, Ph.D., an associate professor in both UAB’s Departments of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, together with Christopher Girkin, M.D., and Alecia Gross, Ph.D., received a five-year, $2.9 million R01 to support his project, “The mechanotranscriptome of the optic nerve head following acute experimental ocular hypertension in living human eyes.” The grant is funded by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Massimo Fazio, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and his colleagues Luigi Bruno, PhD, and Gianfranco Bianco, PhD, developed a dynamic Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer (d-ESPI) for measuring time-dependent, three-dimensional surface displacements of ocular tissue with nanometric precision.  

Massimo A. Fazio, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering has received the 2017 Wolfram Innovator Awards for the field of Mechanical Engineering, Image Processing, and Biotechnology.

Associate Professor

Areas of Interest
investigating intraocular pressure (IOP) and structural changes in the eye in relationship to age, race, and ocular diseases like glaucoma

Associate Professor

Community Partner
Retina Consultants of Alabama

Approximately 25 percent of eyes deemed to be normal based on dilated eye examination by a primary eye care ophthalmologist or optometrist had macular characteristics that indicated age-related macular degeneration, according to a study published by JAMA Ophthalmology.

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The first annual Callahan Eye Hospital vs. Callahan Eye Hospital Clinics softball game was a huge success!

On Saturday, April 22, 2017, Callahan Eye Hospital held its First Annual Family Fun Day at Memorial Park Recreation Center in downtown Birmingham with plenty of food, music, and a softball game.

In 2021, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences welcomed five new providers – Elise Agostinelli, OD; Sarah Berry, OD; Jeff Chaiprakob, MD; John Morgan, MD; and Jeffrey Tapley, MD.