Future of Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation Panel

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.

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, California. Dr. Li is the immediate past Chair of the EBAA Board of Directors and has served on various EBAA committees including EBAA Accreditation Board, the Scientific Programs Committee and as Chair of the Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Li received the R. Townley Paton Award in 2021 for her contributions to the EBAA, sight restoration and corneal transplantation.

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.

M. Soledad Cortina, MD, is Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and attending physician in the Cornea Service at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Dr. Cortina serves as Director of the Keratoprosthesis Artificial Cornea Program, and Director of the Infirmary’s Comprehensive Ophthalmology Faculty Practice and General Eye Clinic. She is also co-director of the cornea fellowship program. Dr. Cortina joined the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary as a board-certified cornea specialist in 2010. She received her medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine, Argentina. Dr. Cortina completed her residency at Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine; a research fellowship at Louisiana State University’s Neuroscience Center; and a clinical fellowship in cornea at UIC’s Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. She currently serves as Medical Director for Eversight. Dr. Cortina currently serves as Vice-Chair of the EBAA Scientific Programs Committee and a member of the Accreditation Board and Medical Advisory Board. 

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.