Alan Blake, CEBT, CTBS
President and CEO
ablake@advancingsight.org

Alan Blake is President and CEO of Advancing Sight Network. Alan has worked at the eye bank for over 16 years, beginning with his tenure as a transplant coordinator. His commitment to eye banking is seen in his membership and service in professional societies, including the European Eye Bank Association, the American Association of Tissue Banks, the Alabama Funeral Director Association, the Alabama Coroner Association, the Christian Ophthalmology Society, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He has made a lasting and global impact on vision, helping to create Advancing Sight Global – a long term preservation method and network system for maximizing the use for cornea donation leading to the distribution of over 20,000 corneas for vision-saving surgeries. Alan is a proud graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and holds certifications in eye and tissue banking.

Teresa Ham
Chief Administrative Officer
tham@advancingsight.org

After more than 15 years as a sales and marketing executive, Teresa Ham chose to apply her professional expertise to serve the nonprofit community. She joined the Advancing Sight Network team in 2002, and she currently serves as Chief Administrative Officer for the multi-state organization. Teresa brings both compassion and professionalism as she leads accounting, human resources, marketing, development and education for Advancing Sight Network. She also serves the donation community on a national level as chair of the EBAA Donor, Partner and Community Relations Committee and as a member of the Donate Life America Advisory council, where she serves as both state team liaison and EBAA liaison. Teresa serves as 2nd Team Leader for Donate Life Alabama where she passionately pursues organ, eye and tissue donation education at the state level. Teresa earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Huntingdon College.

Kyle Mavin, CEBT, CTBS
Chief Clinical Officer
kmavin@advancingsight.org

Kyle Mavin has extensive experience in eye banking leadership. Currently, he serves as the Chief Clinical Officer of Advancing Sight Network. Kyle is responsible for all aspects of technical operations, including recovery of ocular tissue, medical chart review, quality assurance, tissue processing, tissue placement and training. Kyle’s expertise includes the development and launching of clinical service lines, strategic planning and statistical operational analysis. His commitment to eye banking leadership is underscored by his service as past co-chair of the Eye Bank Association of America Accreditation Board and his clinical presentations at international conferences. With over 20 years of experience in eye and tissue banking, Kyle has intimate knowledge of all aspects of the field and has developed deep partnerships in the organ, tissue and eye banking global communities. Kyle holds certifications in eye banking (CEBT), musculoskeletal tissue banking (CTBS) and is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Eye Banking Association of America, American Association of Tissue Banks and International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories.

Dr. Gregory Grossman
Chief Scientific Officer
ggrossman@advancingsight.org

Dr. Gregory Grossman has over 18 years of clinical and research experience and serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of Advancing Sight Network. He provides administrative leadership and scientific oversight for the Precision Ocular Biobank and the Biotechnology Innovation Center. He received his biomedical PhD with honors in neuroscience from Kent State University and completed a fellowship in retinal disorders at the Cleveland Clinic’s Cole Eye Institute. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters and has been a sponsored presenter at symposiums throughout the world. Gregory has a broad range of experience in ophthalmology, having expertise in both anterior and posterior ocular diseases. He also has experience in eye banking, having managed clinical operations of the Cleveland Eye Bank, and serving as the Director of Research for a large eye banking system. Gregory holds certifications in eye banking (CEBT) and conducting clinical trials (CCRP), and is board certified in Medical Affairs (BCMAS). He is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the Eye Banking Association of America (EBAA), International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA) and the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AOPT). He also is a board member of BIO Alabama and serves on several national scientific and medical committees.

Sean Dameron
Senior Vice President of Administration

 

Sean joined Advancing Sight Network in 2019 after an 18-year banking career. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Administration with responsibilities including accounting, human resources, building and car maintenance, IT management and development of staff. Sean is passionate about helping others and creating a culture where they can maximize their potential. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management, a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in business administration.

Tom Cattell
Vice President of Information Services

Tom began working in Information Technology in 1996, and he became a parttime member of the Advancing Sight Network team in 1999. He is selftaught in IT and database development, and he joined the Advancing Sight Network as a fulltime staff member in 2007. He currently serves as Vice President of Information Services where he leads a team of information technology professionals. Tom earned his bachelor’s degree from Radford University.

Elizabeth Ellett
Senior Vice President of Regulations and Compliance

 

Elizabeth R. Ellett, MSHA, MT(ASCP), CQA(ASQ), ACHE, is the Vice President of Regulations and Compliance at Advancing Sight Network. Elizabeth received her Bachelor of Science from Auburn University, her Medical Technology Certificate from Baptist Health Systems and her Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from UAB. Elizabeth holds certifications with the American Society of Quality, American Society of Clinical Pathology, and Lean Six Sigma. She has served as both lead and general auditor for CAP and AABB for certification and recertification of Hospital Transfusion Services in the US and Canada.

 

Ellen Kerns
Senior Vice President of Transplant Services

 

Ellen is a veteran eye banker who joined Advancing Sight Network in 2011, bringing over 19 years of experience to the team. She has performed many roles, including recovery tech, donor coordinator, hospital development, technical director and document control, but distribution and client relations are her passion.  Ellen currently serves as the Vice President of Transplant Services. In this position, she oversees the distribution of all transplant tissue and serves as the primary point of contact for surgeons, schedulers and surgery centers.  She is grateful for the excellent team at Advancing Sight, all of whom are essential for the fulfillment of our mission.

 

Paul Graves
Senior Vice President of Clinical Services

 

Paul Graves was born and raised in Alabama. He joined Advancing Sight Network in July of 1997 as a Transplant Coordinator. Over the years, he has been involved in all aspects of clinical eye banking, from Laboratory Manager to Director of Laboratory Services. Today, as the Vice President of Clinical Services, Paul oversees the clinical processing aspects of Advancing Sight Network, from performing tissue processing itself to developing new processing procedures to assist surgeons in the care of their patients. Paul is a Certified Eye Bank Technician and a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist.

 

Becky McKim
Vice President of Finance

 

Becky joined Advancing Sight Network in 2012 and has over 20 years of experience in accounting. As Vice President of Finance, Becky oversees business planning and budgeting, tax reporting and audits and all of the financial aspects of Advancing Sight Network’s operations. Becky is passionate about efficiently managing finances so Advancing Sight Network can help others.

 

April Gilbert
Vice President of Clinical Services

 

April was born in Alabama and joined Advancing Sight Network in July of 2008 as a Certified Eye Bank Technician.April received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Chemistry from the University of Louisville in Kentucky.Prior to Advancing Sight Network,April worked for the University of Louisville Lions Eye Bank as a recovery coordinator and earned her CEBT while there.Over the years, she has been involved in all aspects of clinical eye banking from recovery, global placement, and laboratory services.Today, as the Vice President of Clinical Services, April oversees the clinical processing aspect of Advancing Sight Network, from performing tissue processing itself to developing new processing procedures to assist surgeons in the care of their patients.

Kim Perkins
Vice President of Donor Services

 

Kim holds an associate degree in nursing and has 15 years of experience as an emergency room staff nurse and charge nurse. She has used her skills at Advancing Sight Network since 2010, guiding families through the donation process and supporting our partners in the donation community. In her current role, Kim manages the Donor Services team, trains and develops team members, and builds relationships with community partners. Kim is ACLS and PALS certified and a former member of the Red Cross Disaster Relief Team.

Dima McCuiston
Vice President of Hospital Development

 

Dima educates healthcare workers, hospital staff, and the community about the importance of donation. She began her career at Advancing Sight Network in 2017 after 8 years as a pharmaceutical representative and trainer for Pfizer. Dima has a passion for helping people live healthier lives and likes to spend her free time being active with her family.

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