By Diane Hollingsworth, Executive Vice President of External Relations
Feb. 26, 2020 — Every two years, the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) selects nominated corneal surgeons who have been identified as emerging leaders to participate in the EBAA Physician Leadership Program. The program fosters the skills and confidence for these physicians to become active in eye banking, promotes professional growth and leadership development, and encourages collaboration between surgeons and the eye banking community.
Past program participants have gone on to serve as eye bank medical directors and on EBAA boards and committees, present at conferences and more. Two physicians nominated by Eversight were chosen to participate in this program: Ahmed Omar, M.D. and Nambi Nallasamy, M.D. Both recently visited their nearest Eversight location in advance of the formal EBAA program in March, getting closely acquainted with our operations and our team.
Dr. Omar is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Case Western Reserve University and a cornea specialist at University Hospitals of Cleveland Medical Center in Cleveland. He completed his ophthalmology residency in Egypt, was awarded a scholarship from the Egyptian government to conduct Ph.D. research at Mayo Clinic and then completed fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Omar returned to Egypt to teach his colleagues how to perform corneal transplants and began a government-sponsored program providing corneal transplants for underprivileged Egyptians. In addition to participating in this EBAA program, he is working with our Research & Innovations team on a collaborative project and with our Global Development team in hopes of further developing eye banking in Egypt.
Dr. Nallasamy is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. He completed his ophthalmology residency at Duke Ophthalmology and fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Since joining Kellogg Eye Center, Dr. Nallasamy has worked closely with Eversight and quickly become involved by helping coordinate a DMEK and DSAEK wet lab for cornea fellows and ophthalmology residents. Dr. Nallasamy is committed to the future of corneal surgery and eye banking, and is credited in more than 50 publications. It is evident that he is well on his way to becoming a leader in corneal transplant and research.
Eversight is proud to partner with both of these phenomenal surgeons to further their eye banking education. Last month, Dr. Omar visited the Eversight Center for Vision and Eye Banking research in Cleveland and Dr. Nallasamy visited Eversight headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich. Both surgeons participated in meet-and-greets with staff and President/CEO Dave Bosch, toured the facilities and heard detailed presentations from each department about how Eversight works to make vision a reality every day.
Please join me in welcoming Drs. Omar and Nallasamy to the Eversight family! We wish them all the best as they continue to cultivate their remarkable, sight-restoring careers in ophthalmology.
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About the author
Diane Hollingsworth, Executive Vice President of External Relations
Diane has been an integral part of the Eversight family for nearly a decade. She oversees our Partner Relations and Global Development teams as they work to provide the gift of sight to more surgeons and their patients worldwide. Under Diane's leadership, Eversight has helped train hundreds of surgeons to perform innovative transplant procedures, provided gratis donor tissue for international medical missions, and helped establish an independent, sustainable eye banking network in Pakistan—the first in the nation. As a grateful kidney recipient herself, Diane is personally connected and dedicated to our life-changing mission. She is based in our Chicago office and is an active Naperville Noon Lions Club volunteer, chairs the Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network Advisory Council and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
