The 2025 EBAA Annual Meeting was held June 25-28, in San Diego. If you were unable to attend, here is an overview of the event. The Annual Meeting Package is also available on eyeLEARN. Mark your calendar to join us June 3-6, 2026, in Indianapolis, for #EBAA2026!
Welcome to “America’s Finest City”!
The San Diego Bay and city skyline provided a beautiful backdrop for the entirety of the 2025 EBAA Annual Meeting. Temperatures in the 70’s while most of the country was experiencing a heatwave didn’t hurt either!
#EBAA2025 kicked off with a leadership add-on session conducted by Karen Andrews, SPHR, titled, “Sharpening Your Focus: Leadership Skills for Success”, focusing on coaching for peak performance, communications and conflict management, and succession planning.
Karen, whose sister is a cornea recipient, later led the full group of attendees during a general session with the keynote, “The Power of Recognition in Eye Banking” and a breakout session, “Building Engaged and High Performing Teams.”
General Sessions
Over the course of the meeting, three General Sessions were held. These sessions were recorded and will be available for purchase on eyeLEARN. #EBAA2025 registrants have access to the recordings free of charge.
Included in these sessions were touching testimonies of the gift of sight from Monique Pascucci, a donor daughter, whose Father, Captain Robin Cervantes, generously gave the gift of sight and life. She shared the impact these gifts have had on her and her family and how his donation inspired her efforts to promote eye, tissue, and organ donation.
During the Thursday General Session Chuck Pivoney of The Eye Bank of Kentucky and Tina Mays of Cincinnati Eye Bank had the whole room reaching for tissues as they shared their eye banks’ teamwork in a story that hit home, “Honoring One of Our Own: Turning Tragic Loss into a Lasting Legacy.” Their tribute to Mikka Kostas, a beloved employee of the Eye Bank of Kentucky, was a reminder of the power of EBAA eye banks as a community during times of grief and loss.
Other general session topics included:
- The Power of Recognition in Eye Banking
- Chair’s Address (delivered by EBAA Chair, Jim Quirk, CEBT)
- OPOs and Eye Banks Navigating the Future of Transplantation
- 2025 Eye Donation Announcement
- Understanding and Identifying Sepsis
- Visionary Solutions: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Eye Banking
Concurrent Sessions
Outside of General Sessions, EBAA offered the opportunity for registrants to pick and choose individual sessions to attend based on their professional role or interests. These included:
- Donor, Partner, Community Relations Workshop
- Quality Assurance Workshop
- DSAEK 2.0: An Interactive Experience
- Activating Your Board and Medical Directors into Eye Bank Ambassadors
- Bringing a Device to Market
- Working with Medicolegal Entities to Advance Donation
- On the Case: Investigating Infectious Adverse Reactions
- Myth Busters: Debunking Myths Around Donation
- Technical Skills Workshop
- A Deeper Look: Corneal Tissue Evaluation
- Building Engaged and High Performing Teams
- DEI: Going Back to the Basics
- Hosting Wet Labs, Surgical Trainings, and Educational Experiences
Innovative Solutions Showcase
We held our first ever Innovative Solutions Showcase. This session featured presentations from vendors serving the eye banking and transplantation professions highlighting how their products and services can help EBAA members better serve surgeons and patients, resulting in better surgical outcomes. Our participating companies were Canadian Blood Services, Moria, and LighTopTech; the session was well-received and we look forward to expanding this opportunity next year.
Eye Donation Month Theme Announcement
During Friday’s General Session, EBAA announced the new theme for Eye Donation Month 2025: Everyday Heroes
This year’s theme 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.
The “face” of Eye Donation Month 2025, Christine Lichti, was on site to share her story. A registered nurse who often treats transplant patients, Christine is also a bilateral cornea recipient. Her Fuch’s Dystrophy was severely impacting her quality of life and ability to work, when she decided to get her transplants. Being on the “other side” of transplantation as a patient deepened Christine’s gratitude for everyday donor heroes.
Thursday Night Social: EBAA Cruise in the San Diego Harbor
On Thursday, attendees were treated to a night on the water with a sunset harbor cruise. The Spirit of California provided a lovely tour of the San Diego Harbor, passing under Coronado Bridge and past downtown San Diego, and several military bases and marinas.
The golden hour sunset views did not disappoint, giving members great selfie and photo opportunities. A San Diego style dinner was served featuring seafood and a taco bar, while a DJ played through the evening and dancing took place.
Thank you to San Diego Eye Bank for their sponsorship of this fun evening!
House of Delegates
Speaker of the House, Shannon Schweitzer, conducted this year’s House of Delegates Meeting. The first item of business was electing the next Board of Directors. Elected members were:
- Jameson Clover, CEBT, Vision Gift (At-Large Member)
- Chris Hanna, Utah Lions Eye Bank (At-Large Member)
- Samuel Ramos, CEBT, CTBS, Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank (At-Large Member)
Following elections was voting on proposed bylaws.
Bylaws Amendments:
Board Representation: Each eye bank as defined in Section 2.1, through their employees, consultants, or volunteer leaders, shall hold no more than TWO positions on the Board of Directors.
Passed
Governance Committee Composition: No eye bank will be represented by more than one member on the Governance Committee.
Passed
EBAA Chair: Formalizing that the position of Chair will alternate between an eye banker and a physician.
Passed
Certification Board: The Certification Board sets and maintains standards for the certification and recertification of eye bank professionals. It is responsible for an assessment process that evaluates their competence. Membership consists of six individuals.
- One member from each committee: Continuing Education, Exam, and Technician Education
- One Medical Director with experience in one or more of the above areas
- One member to represent the Association Board of Directors, and
- One member appointed by the Board of Directors and approved by the House of Delegates.
The Certification Board elects its own Chair. All members will serve two-year terms, and may be reappointed to serve up to six consecutive years; appointments to the last three categories shall be staggered to provide continuity.
Passed
Awards Luncheon
Friday afternoon EBAA hosted the Awards Luncheon. Guests enjoyed their lunch as awardees received tributes of speeches and presentations commemorating their well-deserved awards.
2025 EBAA Awards Honorees
Each year, EBAA honors some of the best in eye banking and corneal transplantation.
Leonard Heise Award
Noël Mick
Optics Award
Maria Chelko
Crystal Cornea Award
Michael A. Puente, Jr., MD
Gift of Sight Award
Nancy Biagioni
Scientific Symposium, Physician Luncheon, and Medical Director Symposium
The meeting concluded with Saturday’s highly anticipated Scientific Symposium sponsored by Sierra Donor Services, the Physician Luncheon, and Medical Directors Symposium.
The Symposium highlighted the newest research and innovation in eye banking. Fifteen abstracts and one invited session were presented during the symposium – the full program is available.
The Best Paper of Session Award, supported by AltruVision, was presented to Abhiniti Mittal, MD, of Oregon Health Services for her presentation, “Comparing the Characteristics and Feasibility of Donor DMEK Tissue Under age 50: A Retrospective Review.”
Closing out #EBAA2025 was the Medical Director Symposium. The session featured presentations on infectious disease transmission, adverse events reporting, accreditation updates, medical director dilemmas, and learning how to be an advocate for eye banking.
Thank you!
The EBAA Annual Meeting is a significant undertaking which wouldn’t happen without the help of many individuals. Thank you to all the sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and volunteers who make this event possible! We appreciate all the organizations who donated supplies, instruments, and ocular tissue for demonstrations. We are indebted to the faculty and moderators who facilitate these learning opportunities.
We’ll see you in Indianapolis!
