Medical Administration
Keith Carter, MD, FACS
Dr. Carter is the Lillian C. O'Brien and Dr. C.S. O'Brien Chair in Ophthalmology and has served as the Chairman and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa since 2006. He is also a Professor of Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, as well as a Professor of Otolaryngology.
Click here to view Dr. Carter’s department web page.
Email: info@iowalionseyebank.org
Mark Greiner, MD
Dr. Greiner is Medical Director and researcher for ILEB. He is also Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Robert and Joell Brightfelt Professor of Cornea Research at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. As a clinician-scientist, his practice specialty is Cornea and External Diseases. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Eye Bank Association of America.
Click here to view Dr. Greiner’s department web page
Email: mark-greiner@uiowa.edu
Matthew Rauen, MD
Dr. Rauen received a Bachelor of Science degree in biological research from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and completed his medical degree, ophthalmology residency, and cornea, external disease, and refractive surgery fellowship from the University of Iowa. He serves on the EBAA Accreditation Board and on the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO) content committee in the field of cornea surgery and serves on the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Government Relations Committee.
Click here to view Dr. Rauen's Wolfe Eye Clinic profile page
Email: mrauen@wolfeclinic.com
Administration
Esther Baker, BA, MA, MBA
Esther joined Iowa Lions Eye Bank as executive director in January 2019. Esther has a background in non-profit management and program administration, strategic planning, external relations, communication, change management and program evaluation. Previous roles include executive director of Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa, external relations director of the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, deputy director of the Iowa Tobacco Research Center/Quitline Iowa, and public relations director of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in telecommunications and Master of Communication. She has also received a Master of Business Administration from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa.
Email: esther-baker@uiowa.edu
Carol Kempf
Carol joined the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in September 2003. Her administrative responsibilities include special mailings and correspondence, support to staff members, assistance to the executive director, and coordination of a variety of eye bank operations. She greets and assists all visitors, including couriers, Lions relay volunteers, delivery personnel, special guests, and various other professionals.
Email: carol-kempf@uiowa.edu
David Mixon, MSBA
David has received both a bachelor's degree in computer science and master's degree in business analytics from the University of Iowa. He is the senior database administrator for ILEB and is responsible for the website and database design, development, and implementation, and brings data-driven decision making capabilities to ILEB. David also helps streamline, automate, and centralize our data to make it available in ways that will help us continue to lead growth and change in our industry. Prior to joining the eye bank, he worked as the IT director for Perfect Game Inc., for eight years.
Email: david-mixon@uiowa.edu
Adewale Alarape, BA, BS
Adewale is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s in accounting. He joined the ILEB team in 2014 as the organization’s accountant where he is responsible for managing budgets as well as the accounts payable and receivable. Adewale has worked as an accountant in various departments within the university including the Mossman Business Services (MBSB), Accounts Payable, Purchasing and Travel, and was involved in the UIOWA flood team as it relates to the University of Iowa flood reimbursement from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Email: adewale-alarape@uiowa.edu
Compliance & Quality Systems
Kris Halter, BSE, PMP
Kris is a University of Iowa graduate with a bachelor’s in industrial engineering. He began working for the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2017 as the director of compliance & quality systems and is responsible for the overall quality and compliance systems, regulatory compliance, and process improvement efforts of the organization. He previously worked in robotics, remote imaging, and medical training device research fields, along with process improvement and change management in the private manufacturing industry, and as an IT project manager at the University of Iowa.
Email: kris-halter@uiowa.edu
Oscar Perez, BS
Oscar received his Bachelor of Science in business administration, with an emphasis in management, from Rockford College in Illinois. He has served as the quality systems coordinator of the Iowa Lions Eye Bank since 2009 and is primarily responsible for quality and regulatory eye banking procedures through review, tracking and revision. Oscar’s career began as a process engineer and then quality engineer for a manufacturing company.
Email: oscar-perez@uiowa.edu
Clinical Operations
Adam Stockman, BA, CEBT
Adam graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s in economics and is the director of clinical operations for ILEB. He oversees both the donor eligibility and processing departments. Adam is a skilled technical trainer and was an active member of the Eye Bank Association of America’s (EBAA) Technician Education Committee for several years including four years as faculty for the annual technician education seminar. In addition to his service on the Technician Education Committee, Adam has also served on the Exam Committee, the Statistical Reporting Committee, and is an active inspector as part of his service with the Accreditation Board. He began working at the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2003 as a recovery technician.
Email: adam-stockman@uiowa.edu
Monica Freiburger, BA, CEBT
Monica graduated from Coe College with her bachelor's in biology. She serves as the donor eligibility manager where she is responsible for the coordination and support of the daily operations. Monica began her journey at the eye bank in 2008 as a recovery technician, and then transferred to a full-time position in donor eligibility. She was awarded the Jachin Misko Memorial Scholarship for Technical Advancement in Eye Bank in 2014 and is CEBT certified. Monica is currently serving on the EBAA Technician Education Committee to collaborate by improving the technical aspects in eye banking.
Email: monica-freiburger@uiowa.edu
Kay Jandik, BS, ASCP
Kay graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a chemistry minor, along with a Bachelor of Science degree in clinical laboratory sciences from the Carver College of Medicine. She is also a certified laboratory medical technologist (ASCP.) She joined the eye bank in 2017 and is currently a donor eligibility specialist where she screens donor charts along with completing various lab duties. Prior to her work at ILEB, Kay was a laboratory technologist for ten years and then an ophthalmology technician for ten years at the Iowa City Veteran’s Hospital.
Email: kathryn-jandik@uiowa.edu
Ryan Quesnell, BBA
Ryan graduated from the University of Iowa earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration and serves as medical service corps officer in the Iowa Army National Guard. He is a donor eligibility specialist and is in charge of screening our donor charts and completing various lab duties. Ryan started working in eye banking in 2012 as a recovery technician. Prior to this position, he brought with him two years of clinical dental experience and over three years of military trauma medicine leadership.
Email: ryan-quesnell@uiowa.edu
Scott Van Oss, COA, CEBT
Scott is a donor eligibility specialist at ILEB and is responsible for screening donor charts and completing various lab duties. He was awarded the Jachin Misko Memorial Scholarship for Technical Advancement in 2017 and completed his CEBT certification the same year. In the past, Scott worked as a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant for a pediatric ophthalmologist in addition to working as a clinical technician with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Email: robert-vanoss@uiowa.edu
Shannon Bodell, CEBT
Shannon began working for the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2010 as an on-call tissue recovery technician while attending classes at Kirkwood Community College. She then advanced to a full-time position as a laboratory technician in 2013, has experience in donor eligibility and is CEBT certified. Shannon is now the Processing Services Manager where she is responsible for, and assists with, the coordination and support of the daily operations of the eye bank’s lab. She is also a part of the EBAA Technical Procedures Manual Committee where she reviews the EBAA procedure manual and updates as necessary.
Email: shannon-bodell@uiowa.edu
Syed Hashmi, MBA
Syed has earned an MBA degree as well as a certified quality auditor certification. Syed is the primary tissue operator, whereby meeting all tissue requirements; final properties and logistics with end user surgeons, including pre/post cut evaluations and reporting results. He started working at the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2011 as a tissue operator in our processing department.
Email: syed-hashmi@uiowa.edu
Rashmi Mallik, BS
Rashmi is originally from Nepal and moved to the United States in 2012 where she graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology. She joined the eye bank in 2018 as a tissue processing specialist. Currently, she is a tissue circulator in the processing department.
Email: rashmi-mallik@uiowa.edu
Anna Wilcox, BS
Anna graduated from Iowa State University with her bachelor’s degree in nutritional science and global resource systems. She is currently a clinical/technical specialist with ILEB where she is a circulator as well as a tissue processor and active participant in our research projects. Anna began working at the eye bank as a recovery technician in September of 2016.
Email: anna-wilcox@uiowa.edu
Chelsea Green, BA, BS
Chelsea graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with her bachelor’s degrees in psychological research, minority studies, and a minor in pre-med. She joined the eye bank in 2017 as a tissue processing specialist. Chelsea operates as a tissue processor as well as a tissue circulator for the eye bank.
Email: chelsea-green@uiowa.edu
Research & Business Development
Greg Schmidt, BS, CEBT
Greg is a graduate of Mount Mercy College with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. He is the director of research and business development where he oversees the research program, supervises distribution, and is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with local and national corneal transplant surgeons. Greg began working for the eye bank in March 2000.
Email: gregory-schmidt@uiowa.edu
Ben Aldrich, PhD
Ben received his PhD from Kansas State University. His position at ILEB is to engage in research activities that will improve our understanding of corneal tissue. The overarching goal of this research is to improve the quality of tissue utilized in sight restorative surgery and help reduce vision loss. He joined the eye bank as a research associate after holding positions in the Department of Biology and Department of Anesthesia at the University of Iowa.
Email: benjamin-aldrich@uiowa.edu
Jessica Skeie, PhD
Jessica graduated from the University of Iowa with her PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2010. She has been conducting research with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa since 2005. Her research interests have included endothelial cell changes in the choroid of patients with age related macular degeneration, bioinformatics of proteomic shifts in retinal diseases, and potential use of genetic engineering for curing inherited retinal diseases. She joined the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2016 where she now uses bioinformatics to study the impact of diabetes on corneal endothelial cells.
Email: jessica-skeie@uiowa.edu
Darryl Nishimura, BS, PhD
Darryl holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Rochester and a Doctor of Philosophy in genetics from the University of Iowa. His major research interests have included the study of various eye disorders including glaucoma, retinal degeneration and corneal dystrophy. These studies have utilized genetics, molecular biology, bioinformatics and proteomics to identify a number of genes involved with eye disease as well as to study their function within the eye. Darryl joined the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2018 where he now uses a similar research approach with a goal of reducing vision loss.
Email: darryl-nishimura@uiowa.edu
Laken Pins, BSHCA
Laken graduated with her Bachelors of Science in health care administration. She is the distribution manager for ILEB and is part of the business development team where she is responsible for daily distribution tasks and maintaining relationships with our surgeons. Laken previously worked at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as a nursing assistant on the Internal Medicine floor as well as the Burn/Trauma Unit, and a secretary for the GI Hepatology department. She joined the eye bank in January 2017.
Email: laken-pins@uiowa.edu
Constituent Relations
Ashley Funkhauser, BA
Ashley is an alum of the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and joined ILEB in January 2018. She has also held positions within the University of Iowa as assistant director of alumni relations for the Tippie College of Business and marketing coordinator for the volunteer department at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Ashley oversees the Constituent Relations team which handles public outreach, marketing, and communications for ILEB.
Email: ashley-funkhauser@uiowa.edu
Ashley Dockendorf, BA
Ashley graduated from The University of Iowa with a Bachelor’s degree in communication studies. She is currently constituent relations coordinator and works closely with hospitals, funeral homes, and other donation constituents in Eastern Iowa to promote awareness about eye, tissue, and organ donation. Ashley has worked in the non-profit sector throughout her career and joined the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 2017.
Email: ashley-dockendorf@uiowa.edu
Deb Schuett, BA
Deb is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the family service coordinator for the eye bank and has a passion for creating a variety of opportunities, programs, and events to honor all cornea and eye donors, compassionately serves to support and assist grieving donor families, and actively educates and encourages the grateful recipients of the gift of sight. Deb has worked in the healthcare profession throughout her career and initially joined the Iowa Lions Eye Bank staff in 2002 as an education coordinator.
Email: debra-schuett@uiowa.edu
Ellie Engelbrecht, BA
Ellie is an alumna of The University of Iowa with a Bachelor’s in health and human physiology and psychology. She is constituent relations coordinator and is responsible for working with our constituents in Central and Western Iowa. She joined the eye bank in February 2016 as a recovery technician and a part time research assistant before transitioning into her current position.
Email: ellie-engelbrecht@uiowa.edu