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 that the spirit of her message in Cedar Point, Ohio, still drives us today.
With our mission as our focus, EBAA continued to make strides towards the restoration of sight worldwide over the past year. Here are some of our points of progress:
Addition of Affiliate Members
To form relationships with and learn from those on the forefront of emerging ocular technologies, EBAA added three companies to the newly created “Affiliate Member” category; OcuCell, Aurion Biotech, and EyeYon Medical. We also welcomed Gunther-Weiss Glassblowing, Eurofins Discovery, and InVita Healthcare Technologies to membership as companies that support donation and transplantation by providing essential services to our membership.
Rapid Response to FDA Guidances
FDA’s guidances regarding donor eligibility caused rightful widespread concern among our members and the broader donation and transplantation community. EBAA’s response, led by Director of Regulations and Standards, Jennifer DeMatteo, in collaboration with AATB and others, was swift to call out the implications of these proposed regulations on the ocular donor pool. As a result, FDA returned these guidances to draft status, where they remain at publication time. EBAA has submitted multiple comment letters and is awaiting a liaison meeting.
Emphasis on Accreditation
EBAA Accreditation is the gold standard for ocular tissue for transplantation and research, and is the only specialized, peer-reviewed, certification program exclusively for eye banking. It is consistently noted by corneal surgeons and eye bankers as their assurance of quality and safety. That’s why the association initiated an extensive educational campaign to surgeons and to hospital surgery center administrators to emphasize its importance. These promotional efforts will continue through 2026 and beyond.
New Certification Program
Responding to continued member interest, EBAA established a certification opportunity for non-technical eye banking staff; the Certified Eye Banker (CEB) program. The inaugural class of CEBs passed the exam in the fall. For potential CEBTs, EBAA increased the tissue processing techniques they may use for the practical portion of the CEBT exam.
New Comprehensive eyeLEARN Courses
Additional free courses were added to eyeLEARN’s instructional library, including the Medical Director Course, and the comprehensive Introduction to Eye Banking Course. These are available on-demand, and are an ideal resource for new eye bankers and medical directors.
Record-Setting Sponsorships
A focus on sponsorship recruitment by Director of Member Services, Genevieve Magnuson, created record-breaking exhibitor and sponsorship support for our Annual and Fall meetings. For the first time, the Cornea and Eye Banking Forum featured an exhibit hall, along with a networking reception after the program, giving attendees time to interact with one another and the exhibitors. This offering was successful and will continue in 2026.
Finalized Preferred Partner Program for 2026
Early in 2026, we will announce our new Preferred Partnership Program. “Preferred Partners” are companies and vendors offering EBAA members exclusive discounts and benefits for their services. Members can opt to take advantage of these offerings to save money and improve their operations.
As with any form of progress, there are always challenges. Advancements in technology, physician reimbursement, donor registration reluctance, eye bank consolidation, and more are real, ongoing issues facing eye banking as a profession. But EBAA does not shy away from these challenges, and will continue to confront them with the same enthusiasm for vision preservation that the Lions exhibited one hundred years ago.
