A letter from our President/CEO
Eversight was proud to celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2022. Over the years, we have taken great pride in being responsible stewards of the gifts entrusted to us, honoring those who have provided these gifts to our care to improve the lives of others. 2022 was no exception.
In 2022, despite a global cornea storage media shortage, Eversight provided 11,676 tissues for transplantation, research and education around the world. We placed tissue and worked with physicians and researchers in 32 countries, and facilitated training for over 550 clinicians.
Additionally, Eversight was honored with three Top Workplaces national culture excellence awards in 2022 for excelling in the areas of Employee Appreciation, Employee Well-Being and being a Woman-Led organization. This is a testament to Eversight’s commitment to fostering an environment that elevates and empowers all our stakeholders, one that is anchored by our values of service, drive and trust.
Eversight’s innovative charge, combined with the support of all of you—contributors, Lions Clubs, donor families, recipients, surgeons, researchers, team members and more—will ensure we can continue to restore sight and prevent blindness in the years to come.
Thank you for believing in a better future for those living in darkness. Thank you for respecting the wishes of loved ones who desire to give the gift of sight. Thank you for supporting research that gives hope to those living with incurable blindness.
Thank you for 75 years of sight and helping to build a strong foundation for the future. We’re just getting started.
Diane Hollingsworth
President/CEO
PAST
Our mission began in 1947 with the establishment of the fourth eye bank in the United States, then known as the Illinois Eye-Bank.
PRESENT
See our current efforts and advancements in the areas of R&D, training, education, and global development.
FUTURE
Eversight’s leadership team has been laser focused on what success looks like, and the goals and strategies that will keep Eversight flourishing for another 75 years and beyond.
PAST
In the beginning
The start of life-changing work
Our mission began in 1947 with the establishment of the fourth eye bank in the United States, then known as the Illinois Eye-Bank. Over time, nonprofit eye banks were established in every state to meet the critical demand for corneal tissue to treat preventable blindness, including in Michigan where Eversight is headquartered today.
Lions Clubs’ influence
Robert Tilford, a pharmacist and president of the Ann Arbor Host Lions Club, proposed the formation of an eye bank at a meeting at his home in 1956. There was an overwhelming response and the following January, the club appropriated the money necessary to get started.
Meetings began with Dr. John Henderson of the University of Michigan’s Department of Ophthalmology, who from the outset was an enthusiastic promoter of the eye bank and its first medical director.
“The facilities of the fledging Eye-Bank were modest to say the least. There was no staff. Everything was done by members of the Board of Directors and other volunteers. There was one steel desk donated by the University Hospital in a small office opposite the morgue in the basement of ‘Old Main’ Hospital.”
Nearly 60 years later, other regional eye banks—many of which were also founded by local Lions Clubs—merged forming Midwest Eye-Banks and Transplantation Center, one of the largest networks of eye banks in the U.S. In 2015, that network became known as Eversight, all working together as a unified operation to deliver the highest quality services to surgeons and their patients and to continue to grow our impact around the world.
Today, Eversight remains a proud partner of Lions as we work toward our shared mission.
Then & now
By the numbers
In 1995, Midwest Eye-Banks worked with 2,032 donors and families who gave the gift of sight, recovered 1,799 tissues for sight-restoring transplants and 1,019 tissues for research and education.
Nearly 30 years later, Eversight’s impact has skyrocketed. The number of donors and families giving the gift of sight has nearly tripled. Sight-restoring transplants have quadrupled, as have tissues provided for research and education.
Follow the cornea
Before modern eye banking and donation practices, the process of donor tissue recovery and cornea transplantation was very different. In the 1940s and 50s, patients in need of sight-restoring transplants were placed on a waiting list as those in need of organs are today.
When a donor was identified, surgeons themselves procured ocular tissue and returned to the hospital for transplantation within 24 hours. After transplantation, recipients had to lay flat on their backs for days and did not obtain vision for many weeks after surgery.
Today, there is no cornea waiting list in the United States and patients can schedule their transplant like any other surgery. Eye bank recovery technicians are trained to specialize in the procurement of ocular tissue from donors, which now can be preserved for up to 14 days with storage media. Eye bank processing technicians evaluate and prepare tissues for specialized transplantation procedures that have become quicker and less invasive.
Eye banks are regulated by governing bodies and adhere to strict quality and safety regulations so that each donor is carefully screened and tested to ensure tissue safety for recipients. Corneal transplants are now considered microsurgery and can be performed in an outpatient facility. They are the most successful transplantation performed today and patients have good visual acuity within days of surgery.
Communication & recovery
Before the establishment of organ procurement organizations, eye banks across the country had to facilitate every step of eye donation and corneal transplantation. In Michigan for example, local Lions Clubs and Dr. Henderson created eye bank substations to better organize recovery logistics.
A substation was a collaborative partnership with a local hospital in a Michigan city or town, a practicing ophthalmologist who would perform recoveries, and a Lions Club that would identify eye donors and transport tissue to the Michigan Eye Collection Center. By 1970, more than 80 Lions Clubs were sponsoring more than 40 substations in Michigan. By 1980, an additional 47 substations were in operation across the state.
A gift that lasts a lifetime
Throughout high school and into college, Michael Maddin was having trouble reading. When seeing an ophthalmologist, he was diagnosed with keratoconus, a condition that occurs when your cornea thins and gradually bulges outward into a cone shape. After wearing prescribed contact lenses that caused irritation, it became clear to Michael that the only way he could continue with his law degree and career would be by having cornea transplants.
Michael had his first cornea transplant in 1976 and his second in 1980 at the Kresge Eye Institute in Detroit. During the operations, he was awake and chatting with his surgeon, Dr. Cowden. He said he received two shots in his eye to numb it, and then Dr. Cowden cut off the old cornea tissue and sutured on the new tissue. His recovery took months and he had to wear an oval-shaped eye patch with small holes taped to the surrounding area of his eye.
Michael still has the same corneas nearly 50 years later. At the age of 83, he is an active hiker, the President Emeritus of his law firm, Maddin Hauser, a grandfather to four kids who keep him young, and a philanthropist in his community.
“Professionally, I couldn't have done what I have done,” Michael said. “Realistically, not having had corneal transplant surgery would have made a different life for me and my family.”
7,743
tissues provided for sight-restoring transplants
PRESENT
Donation & transplantation
The gift that keeps on giving
Thomas Umholtz’s wife, Lisa, was concerned that after his passing he would not be able to be an organ, eye and tissue donor because of the cancer he had. She was overjoyed to receive the call from Eversight that told her otherwise. Read more from Lisa.
5,989
donors & families gave the gift of sight
Research & development
Growing research capabilities
For 75 years, Eversight has provided precious post-mortem tissue to researchers investigating blinding eye conditions. In 2019, the Center for Vision and Eye Banking Research was established to allow Eversight’s researchers to conduct their own studies to find cures and treatments for blinding eye conditions.
Since the center’s establishment, Eversight researchers have published 20 scientific publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, including three publications in 2022. Since 2019, we have also provided more than 13,500 tissues to advance research and clinical knowledge.
In 2022, Eversight’s research center experienced an upgrade with the addition of three critical pieces of equipment.
The nano-drop helps our research team quantify DNA, RNA and protein from human samples. A tissue incubator enables the team to perform cell/tissue culturing experiments. And a Leica CM1950 Cryostat helps researchers perform micro-sectioning of tissues for histological purposes.
The addition of these technologies has increased Eversight’s capacity to advance groundbreaking discoveries.
3,933
donated tissues helped advance research & clinical knowledge
Long-standing commitment to science
Since 1980, Eversight has provided critical seed money to promising research projects at major academic centers. In 2022, Eversight awarded four Eye & Vision Research Grants to investigators at Wayne State University, University of Michigan, University of Maryland and Loyola University.
Eversight is grateful for the financial support of the Connecticut Lions Eye Research Foundation, Connecticut Eye Bank and Visual Research Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation, The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, Lowell Johnson Foundation, Albert G. and Olive H. Schlink Foundation, and William G. and Helen C. Hoffman Foundation. Their generous commitment to our mission and the importance of research advances our sight-saving work.
202
training & education sessions to 553 clinicians
The ripple effect
Eversight training and education events include webinars, in-person and virtual wet labs, operating room support, eye tissue and banking education and more.
In 2022 alone, Eversight staff hosted seven Eversight Webinars with 559 registrants, three Young Physicians Group meetings with 48 attendees, and 42 virtual and in-person wet labs with 209 attendees from around the world.
Eversight has continued to invest in future ophthalmologists, eye bankers and supporting clinicians because these professionals will go on to impact thousands of lives in their careers armed with new skills to better serve their communities.
The future of eye banking
In the fall of 2022, Eversight staff attended the World Cornea Congress, Cornea and Eye Banking Forum and American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Conference in Chicago. These three events are renowned among the eye banking and broader ophthalmology communities, and are attended by surgeons, fellows, researchers and other eye banking partners from around the world.
Eversight had a strong presence at these conferences to continue growing our understanding of market trends and the future direction of the industry. Eversight also partnered with Lions Eye Institute for Transplant to provide tissue for two wet labs at World Cornea Congress. Thirty-five cornea fellows were trained on an advanced cornea transplant procedure through these hands-on sessions.
International & global development
32
Number of countries Eversight partnered with in 2022
Medical mission work
Eversight received the inaugural International Award from the Global Alliance of Eye Bank Associations in 2022. Alongside our partner surgeons, we are dedicated to helping those in need around the world receive sight-restoring therapies they otherwise would not have access to.
In October 2022, Eversight, along with SEE International and Focus, supported a medical mission to Kigali, Rwanda with one of Eversight’s surgeons, Matthew Thompson, MD, of Tower Clock Eye Center in Wisconsin. Eight people were able to receive a sight-saving cornea transplant as a result of the cornea tissue Eversight provided for this medical mission.
FUTURE
The future is bright
Eversight has boldly overcome challenges in the past decade and blossomed into a robust clinical operation with a diverse customer base, engaged partners, dedicated supporters and employees who are passionate about the work they do and united in their desire to continue advancing our mission. This is no accident.
Eversight’s leadership team has been laser focused on what success looks like, and the goals and strategies that will keep Eversight flourishing for another 75 years and beyond.
The goal of our 2023 strategic plan was to be a thriving, agile and innovative organization driven by exceptional people, partnerships and practices, changing lives worldwide.
Today, Eversight is poised to be better than ever before.
Since our latest strategic plan was written in 2019, Eversight has faced a global pandemic and critical supply chain issues with agility and innovation. We’ve earned Top Workplace accolades for our people-first culture.
The momentum is palpable. This is the future of Eversight.
...and so much more.
We are just getting started.
With gratitude from the Board
It is hard to comprehend the impact that Eversight has had in our 75 years of operation. What began as the fourth-ever eye bank established in the United States has steadily evolved to meet the needs of modern medicine, becoming more agile and innovative with each passing year.
Remarkable people like you have joined our mission along the way and continue to leave a lasting impact on Eversight, the broader eye banking community and the field of vision research. Eversight is serving more people across borders and around the world than ever before, making vision a reality and keeping hope in sight at an unprecedented pace.
It may be harder still to imagine how our reach will continue to grow in the decades to come. We’ve come so far and accomplished so much. Admittedly, no one has a crystal ball to predict what happens next, but I have a pretty good idea.
The Eversight community will grow stronger and better every single day. Eversight leadership will accelerate our mission impact by investing in people, partnerships and technology. We will face every challenge with vigor and boldly overcome obstacles. All driven by our audacious vision of seeing a world without blindness.
The Board of Directors thanks our 2022 contributors for supporting Eversight’s mission, and those who have been with us for any of the past 75 years. I invite you to review our strong financial report for the year, and to recommit to our shared mission well into the future. After all, we’re only just getting started.
Patty Jo Herndon
Board Chair
We thank you, our contributors.
Our history of making an impact.
