Janene Sims, O.D., Ph.D., has been awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s 2021 Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award. The award recognizes a faculty member who has rendered outstanding service to the Birmingham community.
Sims is an associate professor in the UAB School of Optometry and director of Community Eye Care. In her role as director of Community Eye Care, Sims organizes local caregiving opportunities for students to learn in the clinical settings, including having them work with the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity Head Start and preschools, senior centers, area churches, schools and in the Black Belt.
Sims also is the organizer of Gift of Sight, the School of Optometry’s largest giving event of the year where treatment is provided to patients from homeless shelters, rehabilitation facilities and senior centers in the Birmingham metro area.
In 2020, Sims created EyeCare4Justice, an initiative to bring attention to matters of injustice and inequality.
“Dr. Sims has a heart for service. She works tirelessly as an educator, advisor, health care provider and advocate for justice and for the underserved every day,” said Kelly Nichols, O.D., Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Optometry.
