2025:
Year in Review
100 Years of Vision Dedication
2025 marked the hundred year anniversary of Helen Keller’s famous speech at the Lions Clubs International Foundation Convention, calling on the Lions to adopt vision loss as its primary focus for community service. While EBAA wasn’t formally established until 1961, one can argue that the Lions accepting Helen Keller’s challenge laid the foundation for our association, and the same spirit of her message from Cedar Point, Ohio, in 1925 still drives us today.
Letters From Our Leadership
Message from the Chair:
Jim Quirk, CEBT
Chair of the Board
Over the past year, EBAA has made meaningful progress advancing our mission and strengthening the foundation of our profession. Guided by member input, strategic planning, and commitment to continuous improvement, we are pleased to highlight three significant successes that position the Association, and the eye banking community, for long-term sustainability and growth.
President’s Address:
Kevin Corcoran, CAE
President & CEO
Welcome to EBAA’s 2025 Year in Review. Throughout this publication, you will learn about many of the projects and initiatives we developed for our members in 2025. It’s quite an extensive list. But even more valuable are the actions and decisions that happen behind the scenes; processes that our members never see but definitely benefit from.
Report from the Board:
Shannon Schweitzer, CEBT
Speaker of the House
2025 has been a busy year for EBAA and the Board of Directors. At the beginning of the year Jennifer and EBAA staff, like members, were Immersed in new FDA guidances. Suddenly, concerns shifted to ensuring proper support was given to eye banks as it pertained to sepsis and MTB. In April, we found ourselves at the Pharma conference in a futile attempt to seek information from FDA.
Regulations and Standards Overview
On January 6, 2025, the FDA published 6 guidance documents for donors of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps). Two of the new guidances, the Recommendations to Reduce the Risk of Transmission of Disease Agents Associated with Sepsis by HCT/Ps (Sepsis guidance) and Recommendations to Reduce the Risk of Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) by HCT/Ps (Mtb guidance), were issued as final guidance for immediate implementation, without public comment.
EBAA submitted comments January 17th to these final guidances and sent a detailed letter to FDA, asking for an extension on the implementation of the TB and sepsis final guidances, on the grounds that they represent such significant changes to eye banks’ processes that they cannot reasonably be implemented by the February 3 deadline.
Meetings and Educational Offerings
EBAA Annual Meeting
Eye bank professionals and corneal surgeons gathered in San Diego in June for the 2025 EBAA Annual Meeting for four days of education, hands-on experiences, governance, and networking. Check out this overview of the event.
The Annual Meeting Package is available on-demand.
The Accreditation Board (AB) released the minutes, updated policies, and an updated Accreditation Status Listing following their June 26, 2025 Board Meeting. The Medical Advisory Board (MAB) released the minutes, updated Medical Standards, updated Procedures Manual, and a Medical Advisory highlighting the standard that went into effect October 1, 2025. The Policy & Position Review Subcommittee (PPRS) of the MAB released updated COVID-19 screening recommendations.
Cornea and Eye Banking Forum
EBAA and Cornea Society hosted the 2025 Cornea and Eye Banking Forum on Friday, October 17, in Orlando. Research, innovation, and case studies were the stars of the program. It included presentation of 23 scientific abstracts, 7 case studies, and two award lectures, along with an exhibit hall and Networking Reception for the first time.
M. Soledad Cortina, MD, and Jessica Ciralsky, MD, moderated the day-long event. Simran Sarin, Medical Student from University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, received the Best Paper of Session Award for her presentation, “Increased Mitochondrial Function in Donor Corneas After Prolonged Storage in Novel Preservation Media.”
Marianne Price, PhD, MBA, delivered the R. Townley Paton Award Lecture, Disruption in Cornea: Lessons from the Past, Vision for the Future. The presentations are available on-demand.
Fall Leadership Meeting
EBAA convened the Accreditation Board, Medical Advisory Board and the Board of Directors. If you missed the MAB Meeting, register for the Medical Advisory Board Meeting Recording to listen to the recording for free.
Following their October 16 board meetings, the Accreditation Board released the Minutes, an updated Accreditation Status Listing, and updated inspection forms: while the Medical Advisory Board (MAB) released the Minutes, updated Medical Standards, and a Medical Advisory highlighting standard changes going into effect January 16, 2026.
Technician Education Seminar
The Technician Education Seminar was a global event. We welcomed 60 attendees to the virtual course from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Ireland, Great Britain, Korea, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
The virtual course featured over 30 on-demand sessions and videos, three live workshops, online discussions, and much more.
Certification
Since 1981, EBAA has administered the world’s only certification program for eye bank technicians. In 2025, EBAA announced that there are now two certification programs for eye bank professionals: Certified Eye Banker – Technical (CEBT) and Certified Eye Banker (CEB). Recent enhancements to the program included expanded options for the Practical Performance Competency Verification which is required for the CEBT exam. Options now include: Corneal Excision (In situ or laboratory), DMEK Processing, or Laboratory Microkeratome Lamellar Processing. These changes to the program enable technical and non-technical personnel to attain certification and widen the access and eligibility for those who are able to become certified.
The Fall exam was the first opportunity for individuals to apply to become CEBs. The first two eye bankers to become CEBs, are Elizabeth Fout, from Beauty of Sight, and Christina Vittoz from Cincinnati Eye Bank.
eyeLEARN
In 2025, EBAA hosted 18 webinars, four Community Chats, three Town Halls, and many on-demand sessions including the Introduction to Eye Banking Course and the Medical Director Course. Visit eyeLEARN to attend an upcoming webinar, learn an eye banking skill, view a surgical procedure, or watch an on-demand session!
Featured On-Demand Resources
On-demand resources are available for members to view at their convenience for CEU credit or overall educational knowledge. Explore the library of featured sessions to boost your eye banking and cornea transplantation expertise.
Webinars
EBAA hosts webinars throughout the year on topics of relevance to eye bank professionals. All webinars are free for members and their staff. Miss a session? Access them on-demand.
Member Discussions
EBAA hosted three Town Hall Discussions and Community Chats on Corneal Tissue Processing, Contracting with Non-Accredited Entities, Engaging Staff with Mission and Message, and Ocular Tissue Allocation and Distribution.
2025 Eye Donation Month
Everyday Heroes
Observed each November, Eye Donation Month is the Association’s largest collective awareness campaign each year. The purpose of Eye Donation Month is to:
- Raise awareness about cornea donation and transplantation
- Honor the gift of sight given by selfless donors and their families
- Celebrate cornea transplant recipients living transformed lives
- Educate about eye donation and encourage individuals to register as donors
This year’s theme was, “Everyday Heroes.” It celebrates how nearly anyone can be a cornea donor and therefore a superhero by giving the gift of sight. It also honors all the “everyday” superheroes who restore sight: donors and their families, eye bankers, corneal surgeons, champions of eye donation and more.
We featured two “faces” of Eye Donation Month. Christine Lichti, a nurse who was also a cornea transplant recipient. And Phil Hester, a cornea transplant recipient who draws comics – an appropriate tie-in to this year’s theme.
Celebrating Everyday Heroes Challenge
This year, EBAA ran the Celebrating Everyday Heroes Challenge – giving individuals the opportunity to honor their personal heroes, and see them reimagined as superhero comic book characters, drawn by bilateral cornea recipient and professional comic book artist, Phil Hester.
EBAA Research Grants
A key component of EBAA’s mission is the awarding of funds to promote scientific research and innovation in the fields of eye banking and corneal transplantation. During 2025, EBAA awarded two different grants to nine individuals/research teams.
EBAA High Impact Research Grant
The 2025 High Impact Research Award, valued at $50,000, was awarded to Beth Ann Benetz for the proposal, “CorneaVision AI: A software application for AI-driven enhanced donor endothelial cell image analysis to expedite eye banking operations.”
Beth Ann Benetz is a professor in the Case Western Reserve University Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Scientific Director of the University Hospitals Eye Image Analysis Reading Centers. These centers include the Retinal Image Analysis Reading Center and the Corneal Image Analysis Reading Center, which she helped develop into an internationally recognized leader. Professor Benetz also developed the Imaging Core module on the P30 Core grant for vision research that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded to CWRU; she served as the Imaging Core’s co-director from 2002 – 2007.
Pilot Research Grant
The Pilot Research Grant funds early-stage research, short-term protocols or pilot projects. Multiple awards up to $7,500 each are awarded each year.
2025 Grant Recipients:
- Lauren Berry, BS, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
- Clemence Bonnet, MD, PhD, Stein Eye Institute, UCLA
- Pauline Dmitriev, MD, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan
- Hirotsugu Kasamatsu, MD, University of South Florida
- Seokjoo Lee, PhD, Schepens Eye Research Institute/ Massachusetts Eye and Ear
- Kanwal Matharu, MD, University of Iowa
- Siddharth Nath, MD, PhD, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University
- Khoa Tran, PhD, VisionGift
Awards and Scholarships
Eye banking and cornea transplantation have grown from their humble beginnings through the dedication of countless individuals who shared their time and expertise with the profession. EBAA’s awards recognize these individuals.
Leonard Heise Award
Noël Mick
Retired – Previously Director of Communications
The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration
Noël Mick has made a dedicated career of 34 years in eye banking at The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration in New York City where she was the Director of Communications. In that role, she led their marketing program including its annual ad campaign which reaches millions of New Yorkers. She oversaw the website; print and electronic publications; and their Young Ambassador Program and the Hospital and Community Liaison Program. Her dedication and volunteer efforts for the EBAA span decades, beginning by serving on the Hospital Development Task Force and on the Meetings Committee which included planning the successful EBAA 50th Anniversary event. Noël served on the Constitution and Bylaws Committee before being elected to the Board of Directors for the first time in 2010. She was Secretary of the EBAA for two terms after which she was voted Chair-elect of the Association before becoming EBAA Chair from 2020-2022 and then Immediate Past Chair. Her term as Chair was especially challenging as the EBAA sought to serve its membership’s needs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
R. Townley Paton Award
Marianne Price, PhD, MBA
Executive Director
Cornea Research Foundation of America
Marianne Price, PhD, MBA, serves as Executive Director of the Cornea Research Foundation of America in Indianapolis. She holds a PhD in Medical and Molecular Genetics from Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Price directs the research and education programs of the Foundation and oversees the finances and operations. Dr. Price is a respected scientist, a sought-after speaker and a published author. She has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has presented to vision care audiences around the world. Dr. Price’s research is primarily focused on finding better treatments for corneal dysfunction and improving cornea transplant outcomes caused by eye diseases that progress over time, and also includes finding treatments for other ocular conditions including glaucoma, keratoconus, cataracts, refractive surgery and dry eye. Dr. Price has been involved with EBAA for years sharing her knowledge and expertise on the Research, Scientific Programs, and Statistical Report Committees, as well as serving on the Medical Advisory Board and the EBAA Board of Directors.
Crystal Cornea Award
Michael A. Puente, Jr., MD
Pediatric Ophthalmologist and Assistant Professor of
Ophthalmology
University of Colorado’s Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center
Gift of Sight Award
Nancy Biagioni
Retired/Volunteer
Gifted Back/Braille Institute
Optics
Award
Maria Chelko
Director of Communications
The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration
Mary Jane O’Neill Fellowship
Marina Chatzea, MD, CEBT
Scientific Associate
Athens Eye Bank
Corza Medical Scholarship
Samantha Schuller-Spears
Eye Bank Scientist
Lions Gift of Sight
