Eye Bank Medical Director Course

Chris Conwell, CEBT, CQIA (ASQ), is the Technical Programs Administrator for Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank. He began his tenure in 2011 as a per diem Tissue Recovery Technician, Chris now oversees ocular recovery training, corneal evaluation and processing training, and ocular related research & development. Chris is active in the EBAA as a member of the EBAA Technician Education Committee and as a faculty member of the Technician Education Seminar.

Jennifer DeMatteo, MCM, CIC, is the Director of Regulations and Standards for the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA). She oversees the EBAA Accreditation program, Medical Standards process and serves as their regulatory liaison. She received her bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Science degree in clinical microbiology from Hahnemann University (now Drexel University). She was responsible for directing the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and Employee Health programs and personnel in major tertiary hospital and ambulatory care settings.  Jennifer has been a Healthcare Epidemiologist for over 20 years and is certified in Infection Control & Epidemiology (CBIC).

Sean Edelstein, MD, is an Associate Professor at Saint Louis University Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Edelstein attended Medical School at University of Cape Town, South Africa, and completed his ophthalmology residency and fellowship in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery at Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Edelstein is the Associate Medical Director at Mid-America Transplant and is an active member in the EBAA, where he currently serves on the Accreditation Board and the Medical Review Subcommitee and has previously served on the Medical Advisory Board.

Hannah Flaig, CEBT, is a Laboratory Supervisor at The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration. She began her work in eye banking in 2019 as a Laboratory Technician responsible for the recovery, screening and distribution of eye donor tissue, and was promoted to Technical Trainer prior to her current position. She has a BS in Human Biology from University of California - San Diego, with a minor in cognitive science. 

Beverly Forsyth, MD, has a dual appointment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Medical Education. She has an BA from Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, and received her medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Dr. Forsyth completed her Internal Medicine residency at Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed her Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, she is a clinician-educator and she combines a clinical HIV practice with teaching and participation in scholarly work in medical education. She is also the Director of Education Infection Prevention and Emergency Management for the medical and graduate programs. Dr. Forsyth currently serves as a member of the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration's Medical Advisory Board and is on the Editorial Board for the EBAA Journal, Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation. 

Paul Graves, CEBT, CTBS, was born and raised in Alabama. He joined Advancing Sight Network in July of 1997 as a Transplant Coordinator. Over the years, he has been involved in all aspects of clinical eye banking, from Laboratory Manager to Director of Laboratory Services. Today, as the Vice President of Clinical Services, Paul oversees the clinical processing aspects of Advancing Sight Network, from performing tissue processing itself to developing new processing procedures to assist surgeons in the care of their patients. Paul is a Certified Eye Bank Technician and a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist.

Mark Greiner, MD, is the Robert and Joell Brightfelt Professor of Cornea Research in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Iowa, where he directs the Cornea, External Diseases and Refractive Surgery service and fellowship program. Dr. Greiner is the Medical Director of the Iowa Lions Eye Bank, and has served in various leadership roles within eye banking including on the Eye Bank Association of America’s Board of Directors and Research Committee. Additionally, he is a clinician-scientist with a translational research laboratory based at Iowa Lions Eye Bank.

Joshua Hou, MD, is an Associate Professor and the Lyon Chair of Ophthalmology in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences at the University of Minnesota. He received a BS in Chemistry from Duke University (Durham, NC), where he graduated summa cum laude. He received his MD from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO). He then completed an ophthalmology residency and a fellowship in Cornea and External Disease at the University of Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary. Dr. Hou currently serves as the Cornea Fellowship Director at the University of Minnesota and maintains a busy tertiary referral practice specialized in complex corneal transplantation and severe ocular surface disease. He is currently the Medical Director of the Lions Gift of Sight Eye Bank.  Dr. Hou serves on the EBAA Accreditation Board, the Policy and Position Review Subcommittee, and is the Associate Editor of the Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation Journal. Previously, he served as Chair of the EBAA Scientific Programs Committee. He leads an NIH funded laboratory at the University of Minnesota and his research interests include eye banking, tissue processing, and limbal stem cell deficiency.

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.

Shahri Jones, a native of San Diego, has been a dedicated member of the San Diego Eye Bank team for nine years. Starting her journey in eye banking in the Distribution department, she developed a passion for eye banking and donation. In her current role as the Learning Management System Developer, Shahri is instrumental in shaping the educational landscape of the organization. Drawing upon her extensive experience and innovative spirit, she creates engaging and dynamic educational content for both internal staff and external stakeholders. Through her work, Shahri strives to bridge the gap between theory and practice, empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to make a difference in the field of eye banking.

Joann Kang, MD, is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Director of Cornea and Refractive Surgery at Montefiore-Einstein. Dr. Kang received her Bachelor of Science with Honors from Cornell University. She then obtained her Doctorate in Medicine from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her ophthalmology residency at Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago and was elected chief resident in her final year. Following this, she completed a Corneal and External Disease fellowship at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary. Dr. Kang’s research focus is on corneal transplantation, Boston keratoprosthesis and sutured intraocular lenses. She has numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, review articles and abstracts in publication. She is also an editorial board member for BMC Ophthalmology and serves as a guest editor for Annals of Eye Science. As a member of the Admissions Committee at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Director of Resident Surgical Education at Montefiore, Dr. Kang has trained and mentored many medical students and residents. She is the recipient of multiple awards in recognition of her teaching and contributions to the department. She serves on national committees for the Eye Bank Association of America, the Eye and Contact Lens Association, and the International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology. She is also the Associate Medical Director and Medical Advisory Board Member of The Eye Bank for Sight Restoration in New York.

Jennifer Li, MD, is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the UC Davis Eye Center where she is the Director of the Cornea and External Disease Service and the Fellowship Director. Dr. Li received her medical degree and completed her residency at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and subsequently completed a fellowship in Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery at UC Davis. She is also the Co-Medical Director of Sierra Donor Services in Sacramento, CA.  Dr. Li is an active member of EBAA, serving on the Board of Directors, the Accreditation Board, the Scientific Programs Committee, and the Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Li previously served as the Chair of the Medical Advisory Board and is the Immediate Past Chair of the EBAA Board of Directors and Governance Committee.  She received the EBAA R. Townley Paton Award in 2021.

Amy Lin, MD, is a cornea specialist at the Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, and is also the Medical Director of the Utah Lions Eye Bank. Dr. Lin currently is Co-Chair of the Accreditation Board and serves on the Certification Board.

Shahzad Mian, MD, is professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School and serves as the Vice Chair for Clinical Sciences and Learning. Dr. Mian previously served as director of the residency training program between 2004-2019. Dr. Mian’s practice is focused in cornea and refractive surgery and research interests include corneal transplantation techniques, ocular graft versus host disease, and eye banking. Dr. Mian received the senior achievement award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2015, the Straatsma award for resident education in 2017 and the R. Townley Paton Award from the EBAA in 2019. Dr. Mian serves on the Board of Eye Bank Association of America, Cornea Society, and Eversight Eye Bank.  Dr. Mian also serves on the Residency Review Committee for Ophthalmology, and as the Senior Medical Director of Eversight Michigan. In addition to serving on the EBAA Board of Directors, Dr. Mian is the Chair of the Medical Advisory Board and a member of the Accreditation Board.

Dana Owens, CEBT, is the Director of Tissue Recovery for Eversight. Dana began her healthcare career as an EMT and Medic in the United States Army.  Soon after, she found her calling and purpose within the world of eye banking.  Dana has been involved in eye banking as a recovery technician, recovery manager, business development, research recovery development, and distribution manager and has been the Director of Tissue Recovery since 2022.  Dana currently serves as the Vice-Chair for the EBAA Technician Education Committee. 

Mudassir Razvi, CEBT, is currently Laboratory Manager at The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration, where he began in 2004 as a Laboratory Technician and subsequently held the positions of Technician Trainer and Technician Supervisor. He oversees technical training and tissue processing and contributes as faculty for The Eye-Bank's annual Wing Chu, MD Cornea Fellow Day.  Mudassir has served on multiple EBAA committees and is currently a member of the EBAA Technician Education Committee. He is a graduate of The College of New Jersey with a BS in Biology.

Elmer Tu, MD, is a board-certified ophthalmologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago/ Illinois Eye and Infirmary, where he serves as the Joel Sugar, MD Professor in Ophthalmology, Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, and Director of Cornea Service. Dr. Tu is a Medical Director for Eversight, and currently serves on the EBAA Medical Advisory Board and is currently Chair of the Medical Review Subcommittee.

Vanessa To is a senior recovery technician at the San Diego Eye Bank. She received a BS in Environmental Chemistry at the University of California - San Diego. She has worked at the eye bank for 4 years and initially got hired as a per diem recovery technician in December 2019. Along with recoveries, she aids in donor eligibility, tissue processing, and the creation of laboratory references and training aides. 

Evan Warner, MD, is a fellowship-trained cornea transplant surgeon and an Assistant Professor of Cornea, External Disease, and Refractive Surgery at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he trains cornea fellows and residents. He has serves on the EBAA Accreditation Board and Scientific Programs Committee, and serves as Medical Director of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin.