Posted on February 5, 2007 at 9:45 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Christopher A. Girkin, M.D., M.S.P.H, professor of ophthalmology at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham), has been awarded the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama’s (EFSA) Eminent Scholar Award, for his accomplishments in research in glaucoma. This 5-year, $125,000 award supports Girkin’s bench and clinical research initiatives into diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. Girkin directs the glaucoma service in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and is one of the nation’s leading glaucoma researchers.

This award is in recognition of Girkin’s clinical and basic research program that has brought approximately $6 million in funding from governmental and philanthropic organizations to the UAB glaucoma service. Girkin’s research focuses on defining structural variation within the optic nerve that predisposes certain groups to blindness from glaucoma, such as African-Americans, who have much higher rates of blindness from this disease.

The nonprofit EyeSight Foundation of Alabama serves as a catalyst for improving eyesight, through education, research and access to care. Since 1997, ESFA has awarded more than $30 million to nonprofit organizations in Alabama. Of this amount, grants totaling more than $12 million have been awarded to UAB vision research projects.