A Multi-Organization Comparison of Distribution Workflow

Ellen Kerns, CEBT, has had the privilege of being in eye banking for 28 years and is currently responsible for coordinating domestic and international placements of donated ocular tissue for Advancing Sight Network. Aside from being in awe of donors and their families, the best part of her job is getting to interact with other eye banking professionals. She grew up in New Jersey (Exit 10) and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts and has gradually worked her way south.

Art Kurz has over 30 years of comprehensive and progressing responsibilities in the field of allograft tissue recovery, processing, R&D and distribution. Art has experience working within various clinical indications to include cardiac, vascular, wound care, trauma, ophthalmology and orthopedics. He is currently responsible for development and management of domestic and international business relationships and field services including tissue processing operations, customer service call center, supply and distribution contracts, independent representative recruitment and training, business development marketing, clinical development (R&D), and surgeon training programs.

Brian Philippy, BS, BCHe, CEBT, is the Director of Transplant and Research at the Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia. Brian is a consummate eye banker who started in Minnesota in 1997 and transferred to the Tidewater region of Virginia in 2005, where he serves in Quality, Technical, and Distribution roles. In addition to numerous consulting gigs, Brian also served as a Director of Operations for Vision Share (as well as other roles) between 2007 and 2015 (concurrent with Virginia director roles). Throughout these different appointments, Brian's personal passion is in the arena of distribution - finding homes for every transplantable graft and intentionally filling challenging research requests. Brian has served EBAA in numerous areas including serving on the Board of Directors, the Accreditation Board, Medical Advisory Board, and the Statistical Report Committee. Brian received the Leonard Heise Award in 2022 for his contributions to the EBAA and sight restoration.   

Ryan Simmons is an experienced Eye Bank professional and has worked in the industry for over 10 years. He began his career screening donors and speaking with donor families, which helped lay a solid foundation for his future work in eye banking. Ryan currently oversees the operations of the Donation Support Center, Donor Eligibility, and Tissue Distribution. He has an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and recently completed his masters degree in Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University.