Michael A. Callahan, MD Elected as a Member of the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame

Michael A. Callahan, MD

IRRF President Michael A. Callahan, MD has been selected as a member of the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame, an organization founded in 1997 to recognize those persons, living or deceased, who have made outstanding contributions to, or rendered exemplary service for healthcare in the State of Alabama.

Dr. ‘Mike’ as he is known to patients and friends, was chosen for this honor because of his commitment to provide the very best care to Alabamians across the state and also for his willingness to donate countless hours of charity service.  He serves as director of Oculoplastic Services at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), teaches intricate surgical procedures of phacoemulsification and intraocular lens insertion, and lectures on ophthalmic plastic surgery.

His desire to provide healthcare where needed has taken him to Nicaragua, along with other volunteers with the FOR Nicaraguan Health, Inc., located in Birmingham, Alabama.  There, he worked tirelessly in a one-room clinic outside the hospital in Granada performing about 20 surgeries per day.  He has expressed his desire to get people back to a point where they could at least make a living.  It is this drive to help others that has set him apart.

Dr. Mike Callahan also serves as President of the International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF) a position he has held since 2006.  Since that time he has guided the Foundation in its mission to support eye research on an international scale, but also at the state level.  As a result of his foresight and dedication to furthering cutting edge eye research, the IRRF has recently pledged a significant gift to the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences to advance the stellar eye research being conducted in Alabama.  This support has had a tremendous impact on the State as a whole, with widespread results that will positively affect the lives of many individuals and promote scientific knowledge in the local vision research community.

To date, the IRRF has granted more than $23 million to support eye scientists around the world.  Not only is this due to its exemplary board of directors, but also because Dr. Mike Callahan is at the helm.  He has dedicated himself to the betterment of all Alabamians and all mankind, wherever they reside.