The Role of the Eye Bank Medical Director

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.