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Mary Jane O’Neill Fellowship

Eye Bank Association of America

The Mary Jane O’Neill Fellowship in International Eye Banking was established in 2001 to provide medical or technical personnel from eye banks outside of the USA, and Canada, with the skills necessary to develop, operate, and maintain successful eye banks within their own countries, reducing blindness due to corneal disease or injury.

2027 Fellowship Information

The 2027 Mary Jane O’Neill Fellowship will bring an individual to the United States for a 2 week period in June 2027 to intern at an EBAA member eye bank and attend the EBAA Annual Meeting, June 10-12, 2027 in Austin, Texas. Once a Fellow is selected, the EBAA will work with the eye bank and the Fellow to determine the actual dates of the program.

EBAA and The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration in New York City established this fellowship to honor Mary Jane O’Neill, The Eye-Bank’s Executive Director from 1980 to 2000. During her long history in eye banking, Ms. O’Neill was a forward thinking visionary and championed international outreach, devoting significant efforts to establish and improve eye-banking services worldwide.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Direct eye-banking or corneal-transplantation relevance ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the most important predictor.

EBAA states that its research grants are intended for proposals specifically addressing issues directly related to eye banking and/or corneal transplantation.

Strong topics include:

Corneal transplantation
Donor cornea preservation
Corneal storage media
Donor screening
Corneal endothelial cell health
Graft rejection
Infectious contamination of donor tissue
Eye-bank tissue evaluation
Donor tissue quality
Corneal transplantation outcomes
Ocular tissue processing
Eye-bank technology

A general ophthalmology project without a clear eye-bank/transplantation connection would be a weaker fit.

2. Scientific, technical, or medical significance ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

EBAA explicitly evaluates the scientific, technical, or medical significance of the proposal, particularly its relevance to eye banking.

A strong application should clearly answer:

What important problem in eye banking or corneal transplantation will this research solve?

For example:

Poor donor endothelial-cell survival → identify mechanism → develop preservation strategy → improve graft quality → improve transplant outcomes

3. Originality and innovation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Originality is an explicit EBAA review criterion.

Recent awards demonstrate this preference. The 2025 High Impact Research Grant supported CorneaVision AI, an AI-based application designed to improve donor endothelial-cell image analysis and expedite eye-banking operations.

This indicates good potential for innovative approaches such as:

Artificial intelligence
Automated donor-tissue assessment
Novel preservation methods
New storage media
Corneal endothelial-cell therapies
Rapid contamination detection
Advanced imaging
Biomarkers of tissue quality
New graft-processing technologies

4. Clear aims and feasibility ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

EBAA specifically evaluates the logic of the aims and feasibility.

For a small EBAA award, the project should be focused and achievable.

A strong structure is:

Specific problem → hypothesis → 2–3 focused aims → measurable endpoint → expected outcome

Avoid proposing a large, multi-year clinical program when the award is designed for a one-year project.

5. Adequate experimental procedures ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The research methodology must convincingly demonstrate that the question can actually be answered.

Reviewers consider the adequacy of experimental procedures.

Important elements include:

Appropriate experimental controls
Adequate sample size
Valid laboratory methods
Appropriate statistical analysis
Reproducible procedures
Clearly defined endpoints
Appropriate tissue/sample handling
Alternative approaches when necessary

For studies involving human donor tissue, appropriate ethical/IRB protections are required where applicable.

6. Potential to produce new concepts or enable further research ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

EBAA explicitly considers the likelihood that the research will produce new concepts or provide a basis for further research.

This is particularly important for the Pilot Research Grant.

A strong pilot project should not simply produce a minor technical result. Ideally, it generates evidence that can lead to:

Pilot data → larger study → publication → NIH/other funding → clinical or eye-bank implementation

This makes a relatively small EBAA grant strategically valuable.

7. Investigator qualifications ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

EBAA considers the qualifications of the investigator to conduct the proposed research.

Eligible applicants for the Pilot Research Grant include:

Physicians
Corneal surgeons
Eye-care specialists
Basic scientists
Biomedical scientists
Social scientists
Eye-bank technicians
Nurses
Postgraduate fellows
Ophthalmology residents
Medical students under appropriate supervision.

Therefore, EBAA is relatively accessible to early-career investigators and trainees, provided they have suitable supervision and research infrastructure.

8. Access to essential resources ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

The availability of essential resources is an explicit evaluation criterion.

Strong applications should demonstrate access to:

Eye-bank tissue
Corneal specimens
Cell culture facilities
Ophthalmic imaging
Laboratory equipment
Appropriate clinical collaborators
Statistical support
Eye-bank technical expertise

For applicants who are not Paton Society members or not affiliated with an EBAA eye bank, a letter of support from a Paton Society member or EBAA eye-bank Medical Director is required.

9. Improvement in sight restoration and transplantation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The broader EBAA mission is to advance sight restoration, eye banking and corneal transplantation.

Therefore, proposals are strengthened when they demonstrate a realistic pathway to:

Better donor tissue
More usable corneas
Longer tissue preservation
Better endothelial-cell survival
Lower contamination risk
Reduced graft failure
Improved transplantation outcomes
More efficient eye-bank operations

Specialties

Ophthalmology

Eligibility Requirements

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Eye Bank Association of America

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: PO Box 220035 Chantilly, VA 20151

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