Iowa Lions Eye Bank Celebrating 65 Years of History
First US Eye Bank
1944Dr. R. Townley Paton establishes the first eye bank in the United States--the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration in New York.
Ruth Fisher - IA Cornea Recipient
1954Ruth Fisher, a young woman from Kalona diagnosed with Keratoconus, a condition where the cornea bulges outwards into a cone shape, has one cornea transplant in July and a second transplant in October. Both transplants are performed by Dr. Alson E. Braley, head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa, with tissue obtained from the eye bank in New York.
Dr. Braley Proposes IA Eye Bank
1954Dr. Braley sees the need for an eye bank in the Midwest and presents the idea to the Lions Clubs of Iowa at their State Convention in Fort Dodge. The Lions accept the challenge by raising money for the eye bank and ensuring passage of legislation in Iowa allowing a person to will body parts to a medical school or an eye bank.
Iowa Lions Eye Bank Established
9/13/1955Iowa Lions Eye Bank (ILEB) is established with the support of the Iowa Lions Clubs. Dr. Alson E. Braley, head of the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology, becomes the eye bank’s first medical director. Ruth Fisher serves as the first executive director. The Iowa Lions Clubs appropriate $10,000 to start the eye bank program, which is located at the University of Iowa Medical Center (now University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics).
Eye Bank Committee Forms
October, 1955The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (now the American Academy of Ophthalmology, or AAO) forms a committee on eye banks at their annual meeting, with ILEB appointed as one of ten eye banks represented on the committee just one month after ILEB’s founding.