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International Federation of Eye & Tissue Banks > Tissue > Employment

Tissue Banks International is a non-profit network of eye and tissue banks. We provide corneas and other eye tissue for sight-restoring transplant surgery. Many of our transplant banks also recover such tissues as bone, ligaments and tendons (musculosketal tissue) that restore mobility, as well as skin used in burn and reconstructive surgery, heart valves to correct cardiac conditions, and saphenous veins to remedy circulatory problems.

TBI began with one eye bank, the Medical Eye Bank of Maryland, in 1962. Back then, people had to wait months, sometimes years for the tissue that would restore their sight. Today the TBI network numbers 33 U.S. locations in the states and the District of Columbia. Many recover other non-ocular kinds of tissue. In areas with a TBI transplant bank, there are virtually no patient waiting lists for tissue. For more information about tissue, please see our Tell Me About Tissue page.

TBI also maintains a global outreach program, the International Federation of Eye and Tissue Banks (IFETB). Its mission is to reduce corneal blindness which afflicts more than 10 million people -- most younger than 30-- around the world. Learn more about the IFETB here.