Medical Directors Symposium

Michelle K. Rhee, MD, is the Medical Director of The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration in New York City.  She is an associate clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  She is the president of the Eye and Contact Lens Association, formerly known as CLAO.  Dr. Rhee completed subspecialty training in diseases of the cornea and refractive surgery at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary following a residency in ophthalmology at the Eye and Ear Institute of Pittsburgh.  She earned her medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine where she was part of the Humanities and Medicine Program which offered early acceptance to a selected group of undergraduates.  Dr. Rhee graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University.  Before pursuing a career in medicine, she studied piano, cello, and music composition at the Juilliard School in New York City.

George O. D. Rosenwasser, MD, CEBT, has been associated with eye banking since 1984. He is the author of the first atlas and text on eye banking and has been a member of various EBAA committees, including Medical Advisory Board, Technician Education Committee, Scientific Programs Committee, and the International Relations Committee. He is also a member of the steering committee for the Corneal Preservation Time Study. He completely revised the Technician Education Seminar in 2009 and has given many of the lectures from 2009-2019.  He practices Cornea and External Disease in Hershey, PA, and is the Medical Director for the Gift of Life Donor Program Eye Bank.  Dr. Rosenwasser received the R. Townley Paton Award from EBAA in 2015.

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 is an active member of EBAA, serving on various committees. He currently serves as a member on the EBAA Accreditation Board and the Policy and Position Review subcommittee, and is an Associate Editor of the Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation Journal. Dr. Hou is also the immediate past 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

David B. Warner, MD, is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology with the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He has served as the Medical Director of the Arkansas Lions Eye Bank & Laboratory, located at UAMS, for nine years. He completed a Corneal, External Disease and Refractive Surgery fellowship at the University of Florida after his residency in Ophthalmology at UAMS.

Anthony Aldave, MD, is a Professor of Ophthalmology and Chief of the Cornea and Uveitis Division at the Stein Eye Institute. As a member of the EBAA Medical Advisory Board, Dr. Aldave and colleagues reported an increase in donor-transmitted fungal infections following corneal transplantation in 2013. He has maintained an interest in this topic since, recently publishing an invited editorial on the role of antifungal prophylaxis after receipt of a positive donor rim fungal culture and completing a study investigating the incidence, treatments and outcomes of donor-transmitted fungal infection following DMEK.

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.