Category Archives: Employee Spotlight

blond, green-eyed woman with hair pulled in ponytail and headband standing in front of grey brick wall and wearing blue "Southern Eye Bank" scrubs
News & Events, Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Neely Burns

Say hello to Neely Burns…

Neely Burns employee spotlightWhat is your job title?
I am a recovery technician.

How long have you worked for SEB?
I have worked at SEB for a year as of yesterday!

How does your work help donation?
I help with donation by procuring the eye tissue of generous donors with the upmost care to be used for transplant and research.

Why is your work important to you?
My work is important to me because every time I go in, I know I will be impacting the lives of at least two families and hope that I further both of their journeys to healing.

Adam Leimer employee spotlight
News & Events, Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Adam Liemer

Say hello to Adam Liemer…

Adam Leimer employee spotlightWhat is your job title?
Technical Director

How long have you worked for SEB?
10 years

How does your work help donation?
I help facilitate donation by preparing and managing a great team that handles everything from the recovery of the gift, laboratory evaluation for the safety of our recipients, and all of the way until we provide the gift for the surgeon to transplant.

Why is your work important to you?
The work we do is important to me for both professional and personal reasons. To see the great effect that this can have for people to regain or improve their sight and also to see the comfort it provides our donor families to know their loved ones are still living on through other people are the most satisfying aspects of what our team does at Southern Eye Bank. On a personal level, before my grandma passed away, she began to lose her vision. The only thing my grandma loved to do in her spare time was read, and I have never stopped thinking about how much a corneal transplant could have helped her. She was the most selfless person I have ever known, and I truly want to be able to help give that to our recipients, as I know how much it would have meant to her.

 

Deloy Rester
News & Events, Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Deloy Rester

Say hello to Deloy Rester…

Deloy ResterWhat is your job title?
Referral Coordinator

How long have you worked for SEB?
I have worked here for 5 and a half years.

How does your work help donation?
I screen to determine suitability then approach the families for authorization to perform the recoveries.

Why is your work important to you?
As a referral coordinator, I find it rewarding to be allowed to facilitate the final wish of a donor and their family in giving the Miracle of Sight to a recipient in need.

Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Alyson Ronan

Say hello to Alyson Ronan…

Alyson Ronan Employee SpotlightWhat is your job title?
Lab Coordinator

How long have you worked for SEB?
I have worked for Southern Eye Bank for 5 wonderful years.

How does your work help donation?
As a lab coordinator I am able to review the social and medical history of the donor in order to verify the gifts that were donated can be used for transplant into a recipient. I also evaluate the donor tissue and process it for surgical use for the surgeons. All of my day-to-day responsibilities are to make sure that we handle the donor gifts in a respectable manner and place them with the most suitable recipient to ensure a successful transplant.

Why is your work important to you?
It is an honor to be able to work for Southern Eye Bank because I am able to give the donor family a sense of closure and ability to know their loved one has given a very special gift of sight to a recipient. I am also able to give a recipient a chance to see the world around them again. I am just a small piece of the big puzzle to give the gift of sight. I find that my life is so much more enriched from my career and being able to help others.

Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Megan Lopez

Say hello to Megan Lopez…

Megan Lopez Employee SpotlightWhat is your job title?
Laboratory Coordinator 

How long have you worked for SEB?
I was a recovery technician for about 1.5 years. I briefly left SEB but I returned in 2016. I have been in my current position for about 4.5 years.

How does your work help donation?
The laboratory coordinators are the behind-the-scenes people who make sure that the generous gifts these donors and their families have selflessly given us are able to find homes with recipients who are in need of corneal transplants. We are the brief layover between the tissue recovery process and the actual transplantation process. We make sure that the tissue is safe for transplant and then work with various domestic and international partners (surgeons, researchers, other eye banks, etc.) to try to make sure all gifts can help someone in need.

Why is your work important to you?
I love being able to help facilitate corneal transplants for those in need of such a life changing procedure. Since my job requires me to review donor medical records in order to make sure every tissue is safe for transplant, I get to know at least a little bit about every donor’s story even though I never had the opportunity to meet them. Finding recipients for their gifts and helping our donors’ legacy live on by helping someone else regain their vision is really rewarding, and I am so thankful to get to be a small part in that every day.

Kat Angers Heart of Donation
Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Kat Angers

Say hello to Kat Angers…

Kat Angers Heart of Donation

What is your job title?
Referral Coordinator

How long have you worked for SEB?
5 years

How does your work help donation?
Being on the front end of referrals, I am able to reach out to the families and explain to them how important donation is in helping others.

Why is your work important to you?
Having lost my dad suddenly, I have a clear understanding of what the families are going through.  My dad was a donor and it gives us great pride and peace of mind to know that he was able to help so many people.  I feel that experience helps me convey to the families how important donation is.

Terry Scheel Southern Eye Bank Heart of Donation
Employee Spotlight

Employee Spotlight: Terry Scheel

Say hello to Terry Scheel…

Terry Scheel Southern Eye Bank Heart of Donation

What is your job title?
I am a Recovery Technician, which means I travel to the donor’s location of passing and perform the procedure of procurement on the donated tissue. I also function in the role of referral coordinator, when needed. This function entails initiating personal contact, via phone, with the donor’s families, and obtaining consent for donations.

How long have you worked for SEB?
In August of 2013, I began working here as a secondary job. Upon my retirement from being a paramedic for 31 years, it then became my full-time job.

How does your work help donation?
If we, as organ procurement agencies, did not do this valuable job, citizens in need of life-changing/saving transplants may not receive the tissues they so desperately require. We provide an opportunity for recipients to have the potential to live a fuller life post-transplant.

Why is your work important to you?
My entire adult life and careers have been committed to helping and changing lives of the people that live and visit my community. Being a recovery technician for these life-changing surgeries continues to fulfill that commitment I cherish.