Eye Banks: over 200 experts, clinicians, and healthcare professionals gather in Milan to discuss sight-restoring transplants. A new impulse for the culture of donation, balancing safety, the promotion of eye banking, and scientific research.
In Italy, there is a dedicated network that raises awareness, conducts research, and works to restore sight by promoting cornea donation and transplantation. This is the Italian network of eye banks, which gathered in Milan on June 5 and 6, 2026, alongside the main national institutions of the Transplant Network and eye banking professionals from across the country, for the 18th National Congress of the Italian Society of Eye Banks (Società Italiana Banche degli Occhi – SIBO).
The event, held at the Enterprise Hotel, opened with addresses by SIBO President Francesca Pateri, the Director of the National Transplant Center Giuseppe Feltrin, the President of the Italian Association of Tissue Banks Diletta Trojan, and Lombardy’s healthcare authorities. These included the Regional Councilor for Welfare Guido Bertolaso, the President of the IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori Foundation of Monza Claudio Cogliati, and the Director General of ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda Alberto Zoli.
The starting point of the debate was raising awareness for cornea donation—the only path forward for the more than 8,000 transplants performed nationwide each year. This comes at a time when, particularly for the younger segment of the population, it is crucial to achieve informed public awareness to encourage saying “yes” to donation. The topic was discussed alongside SIBO, AIDO, FONDAZIONE TRAPIANTI, APMO, and AICHE—associations representing patients whose lives are transformed every year by the gift of donation, both through organ and tissue transplants. This selfless act also inspired SIBO to launch its latest cornea donation campaign, titled “So that every ‘yes’ can restore sight,” supported by Aimo and Aiche.
Above all, however, the 18th SIBO Congress served as an arena for scientific exchange surrounding the activities of Italian eye banks, with a two-day program dedicated to ophthalmologists, biologists, laboratory technicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals involved in the procurement, preservation, and distribution of ocular tissues. The congress also offered an important opportunity for multidisciplinary discussion on the evolution of Italian eye banks, with a focus on quality standards, process safety, risk management, and technological innovation applied to eye banking. The scientific sessions further explored the new frontiers of corneal tissue preparation, the use of amniotic membrane, and the prospects offered by biomedical research and digital technologies.
“These two days in Milan have been a truly special opportunity. I heartfeltly thank all the institutional representatives who turned out in large numbers to bear witness to the importance of the work that Italian eye banks carry out daily, as well as all the colleagues, ophthalmic surgeons, professionals, and researchers who attended. Today, eye banks represent a highly specialized network capable of combining clinical expertise, certified quality, and scientific innovation,” stated Dr. Francesca Pateri, President of SIBO and Director of the Regional Eye Bank – IRCCS San Gerardo di Monza, which was relocated to the ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda during those very same days.
The two-day event featured in-depth analysis, debates, and discussions, ranging from new transplantation techniques to organizational well-being within facilities that handle highly sensitive themes such as loss, grief, and donation as a gesture of comfort. It even addressed the need to tackle climate change within eye banking laboratories. “Behind every cornea donation lies a concrete opportunity to restore sight and radically improve the quality of life for many individuals,” concluded SIBO President Francesca Pateri.
