UAB Callahan Eye Hospital has been designated as a treatment center for two rare genetic eye diseases that cause blindness.

The hospital has been named a site for delivering Luxturna, the first directly administered gene therapy approved in the U.S. Luxturna is used to treat a subset of patients suffering from either Retinitis Pigmentosa or Leber's Congenital Amurosis who have mutations in both copies of the RPE65 gene and remaining healthy cells as determined by their treating physician.

Brian Samuels, MD, a member of the Alabama Academy of Ophthalmology and the interim chair for the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, said: "Our location, in Birmingham, is an asset because of our reputation as a top national eye center and the accessibility of our city for those living in the Southeast."