Exceptional myopia research earns UAB researcher national recognition as an outstanding young scientist

Written by: Satina Richardson and Tehreem Khan
Media Contact: Tehreem Khan

Safal Khanal, O.D., Ph.D.Over 2 billion people worldwide suffer from nearsightedness, also known as myopia, and the number continues to rise rapidly. In recognition of his cutting-edge research on myopia, Safal Khanal, O.D., Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Alabama at BirminghamSchool of Optometry, has been awarded the Irvin M. and Beatrice Borish Award from the American Academy of Optometry.

"It is a distinct honor to receive this award and join the ranks of esteemed leaders in the field," Khanal said. "This recognition is a testament to my efforts and a reflection of the collective support of my mentors, colleagues, students, family and friends. I hope this award will open new avenues for academic collaborations and further success."

Khanal's research focuses on the development, progression and treatment of myopia - a fast-growing global epidemic with a significant threat to public eye health.

"Myopia develops at a young age due to the eye growing excessively long for its optics," Khanal said. "In addition to causing blurry vision, the abnormally elongated eyeball stretches tissues at the back of the eye and causes several sight-threatening - and largely untreatable - complications later in life."

Khanal asserts that, to prevent or treat myopia, it is critical to understand what causes it first. The current focus of his laboratory is on understanding how the eye regulates its growth and refractive development, and what causes this regulatory mechanism to malfunction, leading to refractive errors like myopia.

Many children today are developing myopia at an early age, and it is progressing rapidly throughout adolescence and into early adulthood.

"Children with myopia carry the lifelong risk of vision loss from myopia-related complications," Khanal said. "Unfortunately, traditional strategies such as glasses, contact lenses and refractive surgeries do not reduce these risks because they do nothing to slow eye growth."

During his career, Khanal aspires to dedicate his efforts toward conducting innovative, high-impact research and educating and mentoring the next generation of clinicians and scientists with the hope of finding a cure for myopia.

"In science, it is rare to have an opportunity for a discovery that can make an immediate impact on the lives of billions of people," Khanal said. "Knowing this opportunity exists within my research greatly excites me and pushes me every day."

Ongoing studies in his lab are investigating optical, environmental and neural mechanisms of myopia development through a combination of imaging, electrophysiology and molecular techniques in animal models and humans. Soon, his lab will begin two new clinical trials to investigate the efficacy of newly developed myopia control interventions in children. Successful outcomes from these trials will help establish clinically effective treatment strategies to control the rapidly growing myopia problem and mitigate its global impact.

Khanal is active in several national and international professional organizations as a leader, influencing eye and vision research policies. Other than the AAO, he serves on the scientific committees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and on the editorial boards of Scientific Reports and Frontiers in Neuroscience's Visual Neuroscience section. Khanal's awards include AAO's Career Development award, the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision's Dodt award, and the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research's Emerging Vision Scientist award.

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