Dr. Brian Samuels

Dr. Brian Samuels is a glaucoma specialist and comprehensive ophthalmologist who sees general ophthalmology patients at UAB. His clinical expertise is in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, including medical, surgical, and laser therapy. His research laboratory focuses on understanding how the brain controls pressure inside the eye, and he is a leading expert in how differences in eye and brain pressure can lead to glaucoma and other ophthalmic diseases.

Dr. Samuels completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in medical neurobiology at Indiana University, where his thesis work earned him the Chancellor’s Scholars award. He completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a clinical and research glaucoma fellowship at Duke University, where he was named outstanding fellow and received the Hornaday Fellowship Award. He later joined the faculty at Indiana University, where he was named a KL2 Scholar.

Dr. Samuels rejoined the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2013. He is currently funded by an NIH/NEI K08 mentored clinician scientist career development award investigating how the hypothalamus controls intraocular and intracranial pressure. He also collaborates on a NASA grant studying why astronauts experience vision changes during extended space missions.