Research
Faculty and students at the UAB School of Optometry are exploring ideas, answering key questions and making groundbreaking discoveries about vision that are changing the way patient care is delivered. Vision science is a multidisciplinary field — it spans biology, neuroscience, optical engineering, epidemiology, psychology, optometry, medicine and other areas to better understand how the eye works and why vision can fail.
Areas of Focus
As part of UAB’s world-renowned academic medical center and its broad scope of biomedical research, the UAB School of Optometry is investigating these key areas and providing training for future leaders and pioneers in vision science.
Research Buildings
UAB School of Optometry research laboratories are located in three different buildings within a two-block radius on the UAB campus.
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Henry Peters Building
The UAB School of Optometry’s main building, the 70,000-square-foot facility is located within the UAB Academic Health Center. Research laboratories and clinical research facilities are located on the fourth floor, and most of the UAB School of Optometry’s clinical patient-based research is conducted in Clinical Eye Research Facility within the Henry Peters Building. The Vestibulo-ocular Reflex lab houses interdisciplinary research and clinical service focused on the interaction between visual and other brain centers in relation to traumatic injuries, central nervous system degenerative diseases, aging and other factors.
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Volker Hall
Located near the Henry Peters Building and adjacent to Lister Hill Library for the Health Sciences, Volker Hall Education and Research Tower is an auxiliary teaching facility for students and is the home of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. UAB’s continuing strong commitment to vision research is evident in the $6 million renovation of the third and fourth floors of Volker Hall that have been named the UAB Eyesight Foundation of Alabama Eye Research Laboratories. Eight faculty in the Department of Optometry and Vision Science have lab space in Volker Hall.
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Shelby Biomedical Research Building
This facility located on 18th Street South houses two UAB School of Optometry faculty who are actively funded in research topics related to microbiology and infection. The Structural Biology Research Center is also heavily used by multiple schools and departments at UAB, including engineering, pharmacy, chemistry and others.
