Eye Bank For Sight Restoration Inc

The Eye-Banks Ocular Tissue Research Program supplies donor eye tissue to medical scientists researching cures and treatment of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and diseases of the retina. The Eye-Bank also provides adult human Retina Pigment Epithelial (ah-RPE) cells to a growing number of researchers across the country who are conducting studies on the potential for transplanting RPE cells in the future. In 2024, The Ocular Tissue Research Program expanded its ability to fulfill requests for even more specific types of tissue for customized research. The Eye-Bank also hosted a third annual reception at the 2024 meeting of ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) which enabled us to meet in-person with researchers currently using our donor tissue and cultivate new opportunities for our Research Program to collaborate. In August, 2024, The Eye-Bank hosted its 7th Wing Chu, MD Cornea Fellow Day which provides a didactic session about eye banking and a wet lab for a DMEK surgical procedure to a group of cornea fellows in attendance. Throughout the year, The Eye-Bank routinely invites groups of ophthalmology residents from area hospital systems, to visit and tour the Ocular Laboratory which gives them an awareness of how quality tissue is provided for surgeries. Also in August, The Eye-Bank was inspected by the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) and achieved a three-year Accreditation Certificate, the highest ranking offered by the Association. EBAA Accreditation ensures safe, quality ocular tissue by confirming that its Medical Standards are consistently followed by all eye bank staff.

The Eye-Banks Public Education Program offers resources and materials about eye donation to the general public including brochures and a newsletter, eye-to-eye, which is circulated to more than 15,000 transplant recipients, friends and supporters of The Eye-Bank and an effective website that also offers valuable information in Spanish as well as English about eye donation and cornea transplantation; how to write to your donor family; and how to enroll in the NYS Donate Life Registry. In addition, The Eye-Bank increased its presence on social media platforms with videos featuring transplant recipients as well as cornea surgeons and dedicated staff members which help to inform the public about the importance of eye donation.

Through a long-established Professional Education Program and its team of regional hospital and community liaisons, The Eye-Bank provides information about eye donation and donor criteria to health care professionals at hospitals throughout The Eye-Banks service area, which includes New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. In 2024, The Eye-Bank continued to partner with Donate Life New York State and the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles in a pilot program to increase enrollments in the Donate Life Registry at DMV branch offices, an effort which relied on the hospital and community liaisons skilled outreach activities.

The Eye-Banks Marketing Program continued to inform the public about the importance of eye donation and enrolling in the Donate Life Registry through its highly-successful multi-media advertising campaign that reaches a New York metropolitan audience via radio and newspapers as well as social media platforms and email marketing. Both media and digital marketing placement included Spanish language outlets. The 2024 ad campaign Be a Hero at the DMV reinforced the opportunity for New Yorkers to enroll in the Donate Life Registry while conducting transactions at the DMV and provided additional support to the Pilot Program established by Donate Life NYS to achieve this shared goal.

The Young Ambassador Program invites cornea transplant recipients ages four to 17 to express themselves creatively through art and poetry and selected efforts are featured in The Eye-Banks annual Thanksgiving Card. The program also awards two annual $3,000 scholarships to qualifying student applicants pursuing higher education -- one for a successful public education project and one for a STEM research paper describing a way to increase eye donation.