Staff Directory

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

Dr. Sales is an assistant medical director and researcher for ILEB. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He treats patients experiencing corneal disease and ulcers, dry eye, eye infections, and red eye, and performs LASIK and laser vision correction surgery. Dr. Sales also has expertise in eye banking.

Click here to view Dr. Sales' department web page

Email: christopher-sales@uiowa.edu

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

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

Jessica originally joined Iowa Lions Eye Bank in September of 2019 as a senior systems administrator.  After a brief absence, she rejoined ILEB as a senior database administrator in May of 2022. Jessica develops, implements, and evaluates solutions that strategically advance eye bank and cornea service research for teaching and clinical translation for patient service. She also serves as the designated IT expert for the Iowa Lions Eye Bank.  Prior to joining ILEB, she spent 20 years of her career in information technology as a senior systems administrator for the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
 

Email: jessica-bramow@uiowa.edu

Kip joined the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in December 2020 as the compliance coordinator. Prior to joining ILEB, he was a quality analyst for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Patient Access Center. He has ASQ accreditation as a Certified Quality Technician.  Kip also has previous quality experience in the manufacturing sector.

Email: kip-hoffman@uiowa.edu

Monica graduated from Coe College with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Biology. She serves as the donor eligibility manager at Iowa Lions Eye Bank, where she is responsible for the coordination and support of the daily operations. Additionally, Monica serves as an Administrator On Call (AOC) for ILEB. 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 which led to her current position as the donor eligibility manager. She was awarded the Jachin Misko Memorial Scholarship for Technical Advancement in Eye Bank in 2014 and is a Certified Eye Bank Technician (CEBT). Monica is an active member of the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), having previously served on the Technician Education Committee, Exam Committee and the Continuing Education Committee. Monica is currently serving on the Statistical Report Committee and the Technical Procedures Manual Subcommittee.

                                       Email: monica-freiburger@uiowa.edu

Jen graduated from Grand View University with a Bachelor of Science in nursing. She began her eye banking journey in July of 2017 as a recovery technician, and then transferred to a full-time position in donor eligibility in May of 2019. Jen is responsible for screening donor charts and completing various lab duties.  Prior to working at Iowa Lions Eye Bank, Jen worked in an emergency department. 

Email: jennifer-l-johnson@uiowa.edu

Chelsea graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with her bachelor’s degree in psychological research and minority studies, with 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

Jamie is a processing services specialist with ILEB where she serves as a circulator and tissue processor.  Jamie joined the ILEB team during the summer of 2019. Prior to this she worked in the operating rooms of the Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Ambulatory Surgical Center and the main operating rooms at UIHC. 

Email: jamie-reinhardt@uiowa.edu 

Kailynn began working for ILEB in 2016 as a part-time cornea recovery technician, joining ILEB full time as the recovery services lead in August 2021. Prior to ILEB, she worked at Mercy Hospital for 3 years as a patient care tech and department support assistant. Kailynn also spent several years volunteering at a non-profit, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids. As our recovery services lead, she oversees ILEB’s recovery technicians statewide.

Kailynn is responsible for ILEB recovery technician recruitment, training, and scheduling, as well as inventory control, procurement of donor eye tissue, and other ILEB recovery operations.

Email: kailynn-gilbert@uiowa.edu

Research Scientist

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

Hanna graduated from Grodno State University in Grodno, Belarus with a Bachelors Degree in biology in 2000 and has been working in basic science research since then. She moved to Iowa in February 2013 and started to work on a Carver College of Medicine research team as a research associate in the Department of Internal Medicine before transferring to ILEB in June of 2020. Most of her research experience lies in the area of neurodegeneration and diabetes. 

Email: hanna-shevalye@uiowa.edu

Gabi graduated from Missouri Western State University in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a health science concentration. She is a clinical/technical specialist and helps with daily distribution tasks and business development. Gabi also works as a patient care technician in the emergency department at St. Luke’s Hospital. She joined the eye bank in March of 2020.

Email: gabrielle-carter@uiowa.edu

Tiffany joined the eye bank in December 2019 as a processing services specialist where she operated as a circulator as well as a tissue processor. Prior to her positions at ILEB, she worked for 15 years in numerous settings across Iowa and North Carolina as a rehabilitation and hospice nurse.

Email: tiffany-crider-jensen@uiowa.edu