The UAB School of Optometry’s first graduating class marked its 50th anniversary. Bernie Scott, OD, Michael Raim, OD, and Ron Dachelet, OD, members of the 1973 class, attended the 2023 Convocation and Hooding Ceremony to recognize this milestone.

by Nathan Anderson

John Essinger, OD, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his practice, Vestavia Eye Care (VEC). An externship site for almost as long, training future optometrists has been rewarding. 

by Nathan Anderson

Cyril Nyankerh, OD, Vision Science Graduate Program (VSGP) student, was awarded the Members-in-Training (MIT) Outstanding Poster Award for the Visual Neuroscience section at ARVO 2023, the premiere gathering for eye and vision scientists at all career stages.

by Nathan Anderson

Steven H. Schwartz, OD, PhD, has been appointed to the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professorship, the State University of New York’s (SUNY) highest academic rank. He joins a select group of professors who have earned this distinction.

by Nathan Anderson

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi has awarded Keyur Savla, Vision Science Program doctoral student at the UAB School of Optometry, a Dissertation Fellowship of $10,000. Not since 2016 has a UAB student received this honor.

by Satina Richardson

Heidi Hernandez has earned a highly competitive residency at The Eye Institute of Salus University (TEI). The two-year neuro-ophthalmic disease residency accepts only one resident annually and is the only one of its kind in the nation. It is the first time a UAB optometry student has been chosen for this program.

by Nathan Anderson

Janene Sims, OD, PhD, and Andrew Rothstein, OD, will be inducted into the Center for the Study of Community Health as Center Scholars. Induction into this organization is based on the effort potential members make to reduce health risks in underserved communities.

by Nathan Anderson 

David Lee, OD, class of 1988 at the UAB School of Optometry (UABSO), will be inducted into the Alabama Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this spring.

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.

by Nathan Anderson

Robert Morgan, class of 2024 at the UAB School of Optometry (UABSO), has been elected treasurer of the American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) board of directors.

by Satina Richardson

Four UAB School of Optometry (UABSO) students have been selected by the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama (ASF) to serve as Alabama Schweitzer Fellows. This marks the first time that optometry students at UAB have been selected to participate in the program. 

Clinical learning during optometry school is critical. Over four years, students spend three years developing clinical skills as part of their curriculum. This year, however, a group of students decided to pursue an additional opportunity and now see patients once per month at Equal Access Birmingham (EAB).

Hannah Morrison has been awarded the $10,000 Optometry Cares 2023 Bernard Maitenaz Scholarship. To compete for the scholarship, the UAB School of Optometry student created a social media toolkit about the importance of comprehensive eye exams for children beginning at six months of age.

After his pediatrician found an abnormal red reflex in his eyes, baby Kash Kennamer was referred to an ophthalmologist who diagnosed the infant with aphakia. Then at four months old, Kash underwent cataract surgery. Following a referral from Callahan Eye Hospital, one week later, his parents brought Kash to UAB Eye Care’s new Pedi­atric Aphakia Clinic started by Natalie West, OD.

Resolutions can be difficult to keep. However, as the year starts, here are several related to your eyes and vision that are good for your ocular health!

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

More than 800,000 people a year visit their health care provider because of double vision, and around 50,000 people every year go to the emergency room because they have double vision.

Read more on UAB News

by Satina Richardson

For the ninth consecutive year, Community Eye Care, the community service arm of UAB Eye Care at the UAB School of Optometry (UABSO), hosted Gift of Sight. The weeklong event provided 216 patients in need with free comprehensive eye exams and glasses.

MARCH 27, 1924 - DECEMBER 2, 2022

It is with great sadness that the UAB School of Optometry announces the passing of Lester Caplan, OD, M.Ed, FAAO, professor emeritus, and a pioneer of clinical contact lens research. He died on December 2nd, at the age of 98.

by Satina Richardson

Valencia Wells, OD, class of 2009, is the UAB School of Optometry Alumni Association’s 2022 Young Alumnus of the Year. She sites this honor and receiving the same honor from the Alabama Optometric Association (ALOA) as being highlights of her career thus far.