Utah Lions Eye Bank
Utah Lions Eye Bank
Cornea & Eye Donation
The Utah Lions Eye Bank—an extension of the John A. Moran Eye Center—is a nonprofit organization and has facilitated the gift of sight worldwide through transplantation and research since 1972. By restoring vision, cornea donation changes not only the lives of recipients, but the lives of everyone around them.
Our Services
We are a full-service eye bank operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Utah Lions Eye Bank donation specialists serve donor families to ensure that every family has the information they need to make an informed decision about eye and cornea donation.
Our highly skilled technical staff works around the clock to ensure that every donation is safe, is of the highest quality, and is used in the manner that is consistent with sight restoration and conservation.
We provide these donations to surgeons for cornea transplantation surgeries and researchers to help advance research in eye care. We also partner with other eye banks and hospitals throughout the region.
Learn more about partnering with Utah Lions Eye Bank or register to become a donor.
Stories from Donors & Recipients
Read about these life-changing donations and learn how you can share your story.
Utah Lions Eye Bank In the News
National Honors
Chris Hanna, Utah Lions Eye Bank executive director, has been honored with the 2026 Leonard Heise Award from the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA). The award recognizes non-medical eye bankers for outstanding dedication to the EBAA and for exemplifying the precepts of Leonard Heise, a major contributor to the fight against blindness and one of the EBAA’s founders.
An Inspiring Gift
Utah Lions Eye Bank proudly served as a sponsor of the 2026 DonorConnect Foundation Heart of the West gala. Among the night’s inspiring stories: ULEB recently supported a family whose mom made an extraordinary gift—a directed corneal donation to her son. Dr. Amy Lin, the eye bank’s medical director who performed the corneal transplant, was acknowledged at the gala.
Donation Supports Advanced Technology
The Utah Lions Foundation has generously donated more than $63,000 to support the purchase of a new advanced OCT imaging system for the Utah Lions Eye Bank (ULEB)—an investment that will enhance the quality and precision of corneal tissue evaluation for transplantation.
With the new OCT technology, the ULEB can now obtain a comprehensive scan of the entire cornea, providing critical data that helps ensure each cornea is carefully assessed prior to processing.
Elmer Inman recently presented the donation to ULEB Director Chris Hanna on behalf of the Utah Lions Foundation, recognizing the organization’s long-standing dedication to supporting sight-restoring work in our community. We are deeply grateful for their generosity and partnership, which directly impacts our ability to serve patients in need of corneal transplants.
Thanking Our Supporters
At the Utah Lions Eye Bank, we express deep gratitude to all allies in our mission: our surgeons, our researchers, our recipients, our community partners, and the selfless and brave donor families. We are also an accredited member of the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) and a proud member of Vision Share.
