UAB Optometry, Safal Khanal, Ph.D., Join $25 Million NIH-Funded Research Initiative to Combat Childhood Myopia

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry announced it has joined a national network of 14 clinical research centers for a landmark $25 million National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded initiative to combat childhood myopia, with assistant professor Safal Khanal, Ph.D., serving as the principal investigator for the UAB Clinical Center. Throughout the 5-year study, titled “Delaying the Onset of Nearsightedness Until Treatment (DONUT),” the university said researchers will evaluate whether daily use of low-concentration atropine eye drops can delay the onset of myopia or nearsightedness in children, the announcement noted.