Eversight

EVERSIGHT IS A 501(C)3 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION WITH THE MISSION TO RESTORE SIGHT AND PREVENT BLINDNESS THROUGH THE HEALING POWER OF DONATION, TRANSPLANTATION AND RESEARCH. THE EVERSIGHT NETWORK IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RECOVERING, EVALUATING AND PROVIDING HUMAN EYE TISSUE FOR TRANSPLANTATION; ADVANCING RESEARCH INTO THE CAUSES AND CURES OF BLINDING EYE CONDITIONS; PROMOTING DONATION AWARENESS THROUGH PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION; AND PROVIDING HUMANITARIAN AID TO PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD IN NEED OF CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION. FOUNDED IN 1947, EVERSIGHT MAINTAINS ITS COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE AS AN ACCREDITED MEMBER OF THE EYE BANK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (EBAA) AND BY MEETING THE HIGHEST QUALITY STANDARDS SET BY THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THE NONPROFIT OPERATES 24/7/365 IN CONNECTICUT, ILLINOIS, MICHIGAN, NEW JERSEY, OHIO AND SOUTH KOREA, AND COLLABORATES WITH SURGEONS, RESEARCHERS, ACADEMIC MEDICAL CENTERS AND EYE BANKS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD. EVERSIGHT WORKS WITH THE

RESORING SIGHT EVERSIGHT CONTINUES TO TAKE MEANINGFUL STEPS TOWARD TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF VISION CARE BY SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE EYE BANKING INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROVIDING PRICELESS CLINICAL EDUCATION. IN 2023, EVERSIGHT PROVIDED THE GIFT OF SIGHT TO MORE THAN 9,200 PEOPLE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD. EVERSIGHT PROVIDED 42 CORNEAS FOR SIGHT-RESTORING TRANSPLANTS GRATIS OR AT A REDUCED FEE FOR UNINSURED PATIENTS. EVERSIGHT'S WORK 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. IN 1985, THE ILLINOIS EYE-BANK AND MICHIGAN EYE-BANK FORMED A PARTNERSHIP ONE THAT WOULD EARN A REPUTATION FOR CLINICAL EXCELLENCE MADE POSSIBLE BY SOME OF THE FINEST MEDICAL DIRECTORS, STAFF AND BOARD MEMBERS IN THE EYE BANKING FIELD. THE SUCCESS OF THE ORGANIZATION ATTRACTED AFFILIATIONS WITH OTHER REGIONAL EYE BANKS FORMING ONE OF THE LARGEST NETWORKS OF EYE BANKS IN THE U.S. IN 2015, THE 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. EVERSIGHT PROVIDED MORE THAN 13,800 TISSUES FOR TRANSPLANTATION, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION GLOBALLY IN 2023. WE WORKED OR PLACED TISSUE WITH PHYSICIANS AND RESEARCHERS IN 33 COUNTRIES AND FACILITATED TRAINING FOR 865 CLINICIANS. TOGETHER WITH ALL OUR PARTNERS-ADVOCATES, DONOR FAMILIES, TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS, SURGEONS, LIONS, FELLOW EYE BANKS, HEALTHCARE LEADERS, PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORTERS AND MANY OTHERS-WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE VISION A REALITY FOR MORE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE.

FINDING A CURE IN THE PURSUIT OF ELIMINATING BLINDING EYE DISEASES, EVERSIGHT ESTABLISHED THE EVERSIGHT CENTER FOR VISION AND EYE BANKING RESEARCH IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, TO PROVIDE LEADING OPHTHALMOLOGY RESEARCHERS WITH THE RESOURCES THEY NEED TO FIND CURES AND TREATMENTS FOR EYE DISEASES SUCH AS AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION, DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AND GLAUCOMA. EVERSIGHT PROVIDED MORE THAN 4,500 TISSUES FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PURPOSES IN 2023. OUR IN-HOUSE RESEARCH TEAM ALSO PROVIDED EVERSIGHT PARTNERS WITH VALUABLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, AND PIONEERED NEW EYE BANKING PRACTICES. SINCE 2014, THE EVERSIGHT RESEARCHERS HAVE AUTHORED 47 PUBLICATIONS AND GIVEN 15+ PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, AND SUPPORTED 230+ PUBLICATIONS OF OUR COLLABORATORS. THE TEAM PUBLISHED EIGHT PEER-REVIEWED PAPERS IN 2023, COVERING TOPICS INCLUDING: BIOLOGIC THERAPEUTICS AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE; CORNEAL EPITHELIAL HEALING AND STEM CELLS; WET LAB METHODS FOR DMEK SURGICAL TRAINING; RETINAL HISTOLOGY IN RARE GENETIC DISEASE; LITERATURE REVIEW OF CHILDHOOD VISION LOSS; IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON EYE BANKING; DSAEK CELL LOSS IN PRELOADED DEVICES; AND MORE. WITH OUR MANY ACADEMIC PARTNERS, EVERSIGHT RESEARCHERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO A TOTAL OF 316 PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC PAPERS THAT HAVE GARNERED 6,000 CITATIONS AND COUNTING. EVERSIGHT HAS A LONGSTANDING TRACK RECORD OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, HAVING AWARDING MORE THAN 4 MILLION IN GRANTS TO DATE THAT STIMULATE PIONEERING CLINICAL AND BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH AIMING TO DEVELOP NEW WAYS TO RESTORE SIGHT, PREVENT BLINDNESS AND ULTIMATELY HELP PATIENTS LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST. SINCE 1980, OUR EYE & VISION RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM HAS SUPPORTED RESEARCHERS AT LEADING ACADEMIC MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS INCLUDING HARVARD, TUFTS, CLEVELAND CLINIC, CASE WESTERN RESERVE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, NORTHWESTERN AND MORE. BY DESIGN, EVERSIGHT'S GRANT PROGRAM PROVIDES CRITICAL, EARLY-STAGE FUNDING THAT IS INTENDED TO DRIVE FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY. MANY OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE STIMULATED LARGER-SCALE STUDIES AND WON FURTHER FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. IN THE 2024 FUNDING CYCLE, EVERSIGHT AWARDED FOUR GRANTS AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TO ADVANCE STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFICIENCY OF LOCAL ADOPTIVE TRANSFER OF PLASMACYTOID DENDRITIC CELLS (PDCS) IN IMPROVING CORNEA GRAFT SURVIVAL IN HIGH-RISK TRANSPLANTATION; DUAL-ACTING NANOFORMULATIONS FOR THE TREATMENT OF OCULAR BACTERIAL INFECTIONS; PATHOETIOLOGY OF EXTRACELLULAR RETINAL DEPOSITS THAT CAUSE IRREVERSIBLE BLINDNESS IN PATIENTS WITH AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD) BY DEFINING THE MECHANISM AND COMPOSITION OF RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIAL (RPE) LIPOPROTEIN SECRETION; AND OPTIMAL VECTORS AND METHODS FOR DELIVERING GENE BASE EDITING REAGENTS TO TREAT CORNEAL DYSTROPHIES CAUSED BY TGFBI GENE MUTATIONS. EACH YEAR, RECIPIENTS ARE SELECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW PANEL OF ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS AND OPHTHALMOLOGISTS. THIS DISTINGUISHED PANEL AWARDS PROPOSALS THAT ENCOURAGE MEANINGFUL SCIENTIFIC INQUISITION AND ALIGN WITH EVERSIGHT'S MISSION TO RESTORE SIGHT AND PREVENT BLINDNESS THROUGH THE HEALING POWER OF DONATION, TRANSPLANTATION AND RESEARCH.

SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL IMPACT EVERSIGHT WORKS TO ELIMINATE CORNEAL BLINDNESS WORLDWIDE THROUGH EYE BANK DEVELOPMENT, CLINICAL TRAINING AND TISSUE PROVISION. WITH MORE THAN 75 YEARS OF EYE BANKING EXPERTISE, WE DELIVER BOTH SHORT- AND LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 12 MILLION PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM CORNEAL BLINDNESS GLOBALLY. IN 2023, EVERSIGHT INTERNATIONAL PROVIDED MORE THAN 3,800 TISSUES FOR TRANSPLANT AND WORKED WITH SURGEONS IN 32 COUNTRIES OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, MAKING THE GIFT OF SIGHT POSSIBLE FOR MANY IN NEED. EVERSIGHT PROVIDED 99 CORNEA TISSUES FOR SIGHT-RESTORING TRANSPLANTS GRATIS OR AT A REDUCED RATE FOR MEDICAL MISSIONS AND UNINSURED PATIENTS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. IN MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS, EVERSIGHT GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT FOSTERS AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL LEADERS TO ESTABLISH CULTURALLY INFORMED EYE DONATION FRAMEWORKS AND SUSTAINABLE EYE BANKING INFRASTRUCTURE. OUR EXPERIENCED TEAM OFFERS VITAL CLINICAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO EYE SURGEONS AND EYE BANK TECHNICIANS ON THE LATEST CLINICAL METHODS, IMPROVING ACCESS TO LIFE-CHANGING TRANSPLANTS. THROUGH THE INCREDIBLE GENEROSITY OF OUR DONORS AND DONOR FAMILIES, EVERSIGHT GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT ALSO PROVIDES CORNEAL TISSUE FROM THE UNITED STATES FOR TRANSPLANT AND RESEARCH GLOBALLY, PROVIDING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AND RESTORING SIGHT TO PATIENTS IN NEED. OUR GLOBAL MISSION IS INFORMED BY AND ALIGNS WITH THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS), WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION GIVEN TO: 3 GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, 4 QUALITY EDUCATION, 8 DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH, 10 REDUCED INEQUALITIES AND 11 SUSTAINABLE CITIES & COMMUNITIES. ACCORDING TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, EVERY DOLLAR SPENT ON IMPROVING EYE HEALTH IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS GENERATES A FOUR-FOLD RETURN ON INVESTMENT. TO ADDRESS SYSTEMIC UNMET NEED, EVERSIGHT ACTIVELY WORKS WITH MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, GOVERNMENTS, VISION HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER NGOS IN REGIONS LACKING EYE BANKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, PAKISTAN AND SOUTH KOREA. WITH PROVEN EYE BANKING AND TECHNICAL TRAINING PRACTICES-AND HAVING PLAYED A PART IN THE ELIMINATION OF THE U.S. CORNEA TRANSPLANT WAITING LIST-EVERSIGHT IS UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TO WORK WITH COUNTRIES LACKING TRANSPLANT PROGRAMS TO HELP THEM ESTABLISH NATIONAL NETWORKS FOR EYE BANKING AND CORNEA DONATION WITH CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE DONATION MODELS AND STATE-OF-THE-ART CLINICAL CAPABILITIES. GLOBALLY, AN ESTIMATED 2.2 BILLION PEOPLE ARE IMPACTED BY BLINDNESS AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. NINETY PERCENT OF VISION-IMPAIRED PEOPLE LIVE IN LOW- AND MIDDLE- INCOME COUNTRIES. APPROXIMATELY ONE BILLION OF THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE COPING WITH BLINDNESS OR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT THAT CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS PREVENTABLE OR NOT SUFFICIENTLY ADDRESSED. VISION LOSS RESULTS IN SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC IMPACT WORLDWIDE DUE TO THE INABILITY OF PEOPLE WHO ARE VISION IMPAIRED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR FULLEST IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. EVERSIGHT ENVISIONS A WORLD WITHOUT BLINDNESS-A WORLD WHERE ALL PEOPLE IN EVERY COMMUNITY CAN LEAD INDEPENDENT, PRODUCTIVE LIVES THROUGH THE GIFT OF SIGHT. WHILE PROVIDING FOR IMMEDIATE GLOBAL CORNEA TRANSPLANT NEEDS WITH U.S. DONOR TISSUE, EVERSIGHT CONTINUES TO ADDRESS THE GLOBAL BURDEN BY EMPOWERING INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES TO TAKE MEANINGFUL, SUSTAINABLE STEPS EVERY DAY TO MAKE VISION A REALITY FOR ALL.