
The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration is pleased to offer an annual STEM Scholarship in memory of James Fabian, Esq., former President of The Eye-Bank in the amount of $3,000.
Mr. Fabian was a highly-esteemed and dedicated member of The Eye-Bank’s Board of Directors for a total of 18 years, first as a Director, then serving as an officer until becoming President in 2015, a position he held until his passing in 2020. Throughout his tenure on the Board, he generously contributed his expertise toward guiding and supporting The Eye-Bank and its mission of providing individuals with the beautiful gift of sight through eye donation.
The Eye-Bank together with the Fabian family commemorate his enduring legacy with the following STEM Scholarship to help a qualified student pursue higher education in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics – fields that Mr. Fabian considered essential to the advancement and benefit of today’s society.
The STEM field is any discipline pertaining to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This includes, but is not limited to, astronomy, biology, chemistry/biochemistry, computer science, engineering, environmental science, geology, healthcare, mathematics and physics.
EYE-BANK STEM SCHOLARSHIP CRITERIA
To apply, students must meet all of the following requirements:
- Reside within The Eye-Bank’s service area: New York City, Long Island, and the lower Hudson Valley (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange Counties).
- Be a student who is accepted to, or enrolled in a STEM undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited 2 or 4-year college or university for the current academic year at the time of application deadline
- Complete the online Stem Scholarship Application by May 15, 2023.
- Use the scholarship award for continuing education at an accredited university, college, trade or technical school certificate program.
- Provide two letters of reference from current school (high school or college)
- Provide either a current official transcript and/or acceptance letter from the college, university or trade/technical school the applicant plans to attend.
- Research and propose a method in which an area within STEM – science, technology, engineering, mathematics—when applied might help to increase the number of eye, organ and/or tissue donations provided so that an increased number of individuals waiting for sight and life-saving transplants might receive them.
- Submit your paper/proposal in 3-4 typewritten pages, doubled-spaced (1,000 words), describing the method identified in item number 7. Include footnotes and bibliography. *
- Application forms together with required documents must be submitted online at www.eyedonation.org/scholarship/stem by May 15, 2023.
Applicants may contact The Eye-Bank in advance for more information or to request a list of resources. Please contact info@ebsr.org or (212) 742-9000.
We look forward to receiving your applications.
STEM SCHOLARSHIP WINNER.

2023 Winner
New York City resident Laura Medina is the 2023 winner of the Eye-Bank’s STEM scholarship. Laura is a rising senior at SUNY College of Optometry. She has spearheaded multiple programs aimed at increasing healthcare access, including traveling to Grenada, Mexico, and rural upstate New York to offer free eye exams and cataract surgeries to underserved communities as well as providing weekly vision screenings for underserved children in Philadelphia. Laura is the President of the Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity Club and the Vice President of the National Optometric Student Association (NOSA). In her STEM research paper, Laura proposed more personal and frequent relationship-building with eye care professionals and optometry students to raise public awareness about eye donation.

2022 Winner
Brooklyn resident Kaylin Camidge, a Macauly Honors Brooklyn College Alumnus, is the winner of the 2022 award in the amount of $3,000 given to students pursuing education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM). She is entering her first year of medical school at Georgetown University. In her application’s Social Science research paper, Kaylin proposed increasing awareness for eye donation and enrollment in the NYS Donate Life Registry through a public health canvassing initiative that improves education to diverse communities about the anatomical donation process.

2021 Winner
The first winner of The Eye-Bank’s recently established STEM Scholarship and 2021 recipient of the $3,000 award is Elyas Adam Masrour. A resident of Setauket, NY, Elyas is a sophomore at The University of Maryland College Park. His research submission detailed a proposed method of increasing awareness for eye donation and enrollment in the New York State Donate Life Registry by making available a “digital badge” to be virtually pinned to one’s online profile indicating that they are registered to become a donor and thereby influencing others to do the same. The STEM Scholarship, established in memory of former Eye-Bank President James Fabian, calls for creative applications of science, technology, engineering or math that would contribute toward increasing eye, organ and tissue donations.