2024 R. Townley Paton Award Lecture: The Unsung Heroes of Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation

R. Townley Paton Award Lecture: The Unsung Heroes of Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation

Bennie H. Jeng, MD, Scheie Eye Institute at Penn Medicine

2024 Paton Award Recipient

When reflecting on advancements and progress in any field, it is important to realize that we stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us. In eye banking and corneal transplantation, there have certainly been many, many giants who have come before us and paved the way for the innovations that we enjoy today: these giants are certainly our heroes. But let us not ever forget the unsung heroes, without whom even the giants would not have succeeded. Let us remember the contributions of the donors.

The R. Townley Paton Award is presented annually to a physician who has made significant contributions to eye banking, sight restoration, and the EBAA. The 2024 R. Townley Paton Award Recipient is Bennie H. Jeng, MD, MS. Dr. Jeng was presented with the award during the 2024 Cornea and Eye Banking Forum, and then delivered the R. Townley Paton Award Lecture.

This product includes the award introduction by David Verdier, MD, and the R. Townley Paton Award Lecture delivered by Bennie H. Jeng, MD, MS.

Bennie Jeng, MD, MS

Chair of Ophthalmology

Penn Medicine

Bennie H. Jeng, MD, MS, is the Harold G. Scheie Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, and Director of the Scheie Eye Institute, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Washington University and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He then completed his ophthalmology residency and chief residency at the Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, followed by a fellowship in cornea and external diseases at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation/University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in 2003.

He returned back to the Cole Eye Institute to serve on faculty, during which time he was the recipient of a K-grant from the NIH and also earned his Master’s degree in Clinical Investigation from Case Western Reserve University. He subsequently returned to Proctor/UCSF as an Associate Professor and then Full Professor, where he served as co-director of the UCSF cornea service, Director of the Proctor/UCSF Cornea Fellowship program, and Chief of Ophthalmology at San Francisco General Hospital, as well as being an R01-funded researcher in ocular surface diseases. In August 2013, Dr. Jeng began his tenure as Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he served for nearly 9 years. He assumed his current position in July 2022.

Dr. Jeng has been very active with EBAA, dedicating his time and expertise to the association. He has served on the Research Committee since 2013 and is currently the Chair. He has also served on the Accreditation Board for nearly a decade and is currently Co-Chair. In addition, he has also been a longstanding member of the Medical Advisory Board and the Scientific Programs Committee (including as past Chair), and he has also served on the EBAA Board of Directors.

Dr. Jeng is also involved in the leadership of many other ophthalmologic societies, as President of the Cornea Society, Immediate Past-President of the Eye and Contact Lens Association, on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Ophthalmology, and on many AAO committees. He is a current member of the American Ophthalmologic Society as well as the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology. Dr. Jeng has published over 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and 30 book chapters, and he has delivered over 400 invited lectures nationally and internationally.