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 2, 2026.
Grant Recipient Resources
Recipients of the Pilot Research Grant must complete required reports throughout the award term. The forms are located on the Pilot Research Grant Resource Center.
2025 Grant Recipients
Lauren Berry, BS, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Enhancing Synthetic Corneal Grafts by Optimizing Intercellular Junction Integrity
Clemence Bonnet, MD, PhD, Stein Eye Institute, UCLA
Effects of Autocrine Wnt Signaling Activation on Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency Experimental Model
Pauline Dmitriev, MD, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan
Effect of ROCK Inhibitor Supplementation of Corneal Storage Solution on Corneal Endothelial Cells and Graft Survival
Hirotsugu Kasamatsu, MD, University of South Florida
The Efficacy of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell-Derived Secretome in Improving Allograft Survival in a Murine Model of Corneal Transplantation
Seokjoo Lee, PhD, Schepens Eye Research Institute/ Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Identification of a Protein Candidate Responsible for Maintaining Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Accumulation in Corneal Transplant Allograft Acceptance Through Proteomic Analysis of Serum Extracellular Vesicles
Kanwal Matharu, MD, University of Iowa
Understanding Antimycotics for Fungal Keratitis to Increase Sight Restoration
Siddharth Nath, MD, PhD, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Development and Validation of a Computer Vision Model to Detect Donor Tissue at Risk for
Primary Graft Failure
Khoa Tran, PhD, VisionGift
RNA-Seq Based Transcriptional Analysis of the Corneal Endothelium During Extended
Hypothermic Storage
