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.

Tommy Pinkston, OD, class of 2012, has been named the 2020 Young Alumnus of the Year by the UAB School of Optometry Alumni Association. 

by Satina Richardson

In its seventh year, the Gift of Sight is the UAB School of Optometry’s biggest giving event. Organizers were determined to hold the event despite the COVID-19 pandemic and were able to provide free comprehensive eye exams and glasses to 227 low-income and underinsured patients.

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.

In recognition of the year 2020 and the significance of 20/20 in the field of optometry, the UAB School of Optometry is recognizing alumni whose careers have impacted communities, set precedents, or moved the profession forward in some way. With this in mind, meet Jim Marbourg, OD.

by Satina Richardson

The UAB School of Optometry has welcomed Natalie West, OD, and Keisha Brown, OD, as assistant professors.

by Satina Richardson

On November 7, 2020, Day Eye Care celebrated an epic milestone—100 years of providing eye and vision care. It was on this day in 1920 that Frances J. Day, Sr., OD, received his reciprocity license in Alabama allowing him to open the optometry practice.

Howard Day, OD, UABSO class of 1987, is Frances Day’s grandson. He shared that obtaining the license wasn’t easy. However, during the 1920s Birmingham was booming.

by Satina Richardson

Twin sisters Mary and Emily are fighters! The girls were born at 36 weeks and contracted a brain infection caused by parechovirus at three weeks old. When the girls were six months old their mother, Tara Monk, noticed her babies weren’t hitting their vision development milestones at the same time.

In recognition of the year 2020 and the significance of 20/20 in the field of optometry, the UAB School of Optometry is recognizing alumni whose careers have impacted communities, set precedents, or moved the profession forward in some way. With this in mind, meet Brandon Runyon, OD. 

In July 2019, he became the Chinle Service Unit’s Chief of Optometry.  Since then, he has continued to serve as the residency program coordinator in addition to supervising and coordinating eye care services for approximately 37,000 Native Americans (predominantly Navajo) between the hospital clinic and two satellite outpatient optometry clinics. He would have never guessed this is where he would be now. Practicing the full scope of optometric practice has been very rewarding, affording him the opportunity to encounter and manage some very challenging and/or uncommon conditions that would otherwise be seen in a specialist’s office.

In recognition of the year 2020 and the significance of 20/20 in the field of optometry, the UAB School of Optometry is recognizing alumni whose careers have impacted communities, set precedents, or moved the profession forward in some way. With this in mind, meet C. T. (Tommy) Crooks III, OD.

As schools choose virtual learning and device-based instruction to educate children during the COVID-19 pandemic, a child’s eyes are an important consideration.

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With 60 new students and two returning students, the UAB School of Optometry’s class of 2024 is the largest class in the school’s 51-year history.

By Janene Sims, OD, PhD, UAB School of Optometry associate professor

The year 2020 has had many challenges: racial injustice, police brutality, and COVID-19. Late summer gave us a glimmer of hope. Deaths due to the coronavirus are on the decline. Schools and businesses are slowly reopening. The US economy is trying to rebound. Professional sports are back in action. Universities and businesses are having important conversations regarding race and inequities. Just when you think that things are beginning to improve, we have another shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr. Blake was shot seven times in the back in front of his children. This outraged the citizens of Kenosha, so many took to the streets in protest.

By Satina Richardson

Jacob McKinstry’s mother recognized there was an issue with her son’s learning when his participation in three- and four-year-old kindergarten decreased. The school principal said he had ADHD, which wasn’t confirmed. He took a battery of tests that included an IQ test, an auditory test and two exams by ophthalmologists. Each test found no significant issues. His mother continued to research what could be happening with her son. Two and a half years later, following a Visual Efficiency Evaluation, vision therapy was recommended. 

UAB Eye Care is one of the first clinics in the country to have MiSight® 1 day contact lenses, a daily wear, single use contact lens that slows the progression of myopia (nearsightedness). The clinic is the clinical arm of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry.

By Brianna Hoge and Satina Richardson

Jessica Jasien, Ph.D., a summer graduate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, is setting her sights high after graduation.

By Ranjit Kaur, OD, 2020 Family Practice Resident 

The pandemic took a hard grip on the healthcare system, including Optometry. The last few months introduced us to challenges we were not quite prepared for as a healthcare system, and Doctors of Optometry have stood strong in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We focused on providing urgent and emergent care to our patients to reduce the burden on emergency departments, incorporating telemedicine into the practice in order to reduce exposure risk to the more vulnerable patients, and adopting a virtual clinical education platform for our students learning from home.

By UAB Eye Care Pediatric Optometry Services

As schools choose virtual learning and device-based instruction to enhance the education of children, the eyes are an important consideration. Below are facts, impacts, and recommendations for schools, teachers, and parents.