Each year, the EBAA awards the Pilot Research Grants to fund proposals specifically concerned with issues directly related to eye banking and/or corneal transplantation. Preference is given to pilot projects, well-defined short-term protocols, and initial studies directed toward new research initiatives.
Multiple grants of $7,500 each will be awarded. The recipients are selected during the Annual Meeting in June and the grants are awarded in July.
Grant Details
Award Amount
Maximum of $7,500 per proposal (Multiple proposals will be funded.)
Eligibility
- Physicians, including corneal surgeons, and other eye care specialists
- Basic scientists, including biomedical and social scientists
- Eye-bank technicians, nurses, post-graduate fellows, ophthalmology residents, and medical students who are supervised by a physician or basic scientist associated with an eye bank or academic institution
Application Deadline
The application deadline is March 3, 2025.
2024 Grant Recipients
Joshua Hou, MD, University of Minnesota/ Lions Gift of Sight
Photochemical Bonding of Descemet’s Membrane to the Ocular Surface for Treatment of Corneal Lacerations
Mark Mannis, MD, University of California, Davis
Bioelectrical Modulation to Improve Endothelial Survival of Donor Cornea
Elisha Monson, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Preventing Hyperglycemia-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Cell Death during Keratoplasty
Mohit Parekh, PhD, Schepens Eye Research Institute/ Mass Eye and Ear
The Role of Sex Differences and Genetic Background in the Migration Speed of Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD) Cells for Descemet’s Stripping Only
Christopher Sales, MD, University of Iowa
21st Century Corneal Perforation Repairs Processed by Eye Banks
Sonia Yeung, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS, University of British Columbia
Spatio-temporal Spectroscopic 3D Microscopy Imaging for Corneal Endothelial Tissue Assessment of Cellular Metabolism
Yuanyuan Zhang, MD, PhD, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Novel Corneal Regeneration by Cryopreservation of Human Urine-Derived Stem Cells on Amniotic Membrane
Asmaa Zidan, MD, Schepens Eye Research Institute/ Harvard Medical School
Efficacy of Calcitonin Gene-related Neuropeptide (CGRP) in Promoting Corneal Endothelial Cell (CEnC) Survival during Tissue Storage
