Trillium Vision Foundation
Restoring Sight Through Global PhilanthropyTrillium Vision Foundation was created to help restore vision globally by building a community of people who are motivated by global philanthropy.
More than 12.7 million people globally suffer from corneal blindness. Most who are corneal blind live in low- and middle-income countries, where the condition goes beyond not being able to see. It also creates obstacles to staying in school, maintaining employment, and providing for one’s family. Navigating these challenges takes an emotional and financial toll, leading to cycles of poverty and reductions in life expectancy, often by as much as one-third.
Trillium Vision Foundation is aiming to help put an end to this situation. By including surgeons and their fellows in philanthropic medical trips around the globe, we are building a community of people passionate about and dedicated to helping the corneal blind around the world.
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Our Vision at Trillium is to be the leading conduit in creating a world where everyone has access to the care they need to see clearly, and where the emerging generation of corneal surgeons are empowered to connect, innovate and improve the lives of millions of people around the globe.
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Trillium’s mission is to provide global access and high-quality vision care for those with limited access, while also developing the next generation of corneal surgeons through a culture of seeing, doing, and teaching. We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to see the world clearly and without hindrance, regardless of their socio-economic status or geographic location.
Through our commitment to this mission, we aim to build a platform that focuses on training and mentoring emerging corneal surgeons, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation among them. By creating a common mission to connect these future leaders in the field, we seek to inspire them to share their knowledge and experience, to push the boundaries of what’s possible in corneal surgery, and to provide better care to those in need around the world.
We believe that by combining access to high-quality vision care with the development of the next generation of corneal surgeons, we can help to transform the world’s approach to eye health.
“One can lose function of other parts of their body, but if they lose their sight, they practically lose all functionality and become immobilized by not being able to see.”
— Luis Acevedo, Trillium Vision Foundation Patient
TIME TO GO BEYOND
TRILLIUM VISION FOUNDATION INAUGURAL GLOBAL OUTREACH TRIP
Restoring Sight in El Salvador through Seeing - Doing - Teaching
Trillium Vision Foundation’s inaugural mission trip was accomplished back on September 28th-29th, 2023 in San Salvador. Trillium self-funded this trip to include partnering surgeons Dr. Lloyd Williams, Cornea Attending from Duke University with current Cornea Fellow Dr. James Tian. We were honored to have global partner Dr. Jalika Mustafa, practicing ophthalmologist and Deputy Health Minister from Sierra Leone also join the local surgical team to help further our mission.
During this trip, we were able to provide the gift of sight to 19 Salvadoran patients in need, successfully completing these surgeries in less than 24 hours with the help of 6 surgeons.
Trillium was able to facilitate partnerships with multiple domestic eye banks, ophthalmic device and pharmaceutical companies to organize the team of surgeons and staff to treat the local patients in need.
“I’m excited to be participating with Trillium Vision as they work to build a culture of global philanthropy while helping restore sight to those in need.”
“Today we saw the patients for their 15 day post op, and they are perfect and happy. I am so honored to collaborate with Trillium Vision Foundation and glad to be part of the team.”
‘Es Bueno.’
Accompanied by a thumbs up, this was not the response I expected from a patient whose eye I was just suturing a few minutes ago.
He was the last case of the day, the father of one of the janitorial staff who had a unilateral acid injury to his eye. His fornix was filled with symblepharon, and his cornea was full of conjunctivalization. If we had more time, we could’ve attempted an autologous KLAL as well.
That day gave a whole new meaning to my definition of an OR day. Navigating logistical and customs challenges, we brought 19 corneas (12 PKs, 7 DSEKs) to El Salvador. We had an amazing community partner and an even more amazing organization, Trillium Vision.
And we decided to do all those transplants in 24 hours.
This was a country with no access to corneal transplantations. There was not enough funding to initiate an eye bank, and nearby eye banks in Central America cannot even support their own countries. People were blind from easily treatable disease, conditions and treatments you learn about in your first few months of residency.
My first case was a 19-year-old with acute hydrops from keratoconus. He had been living with painful cornea edema and complete opacification of vision for months. We were able to take extra time with the Maloney ring to minimize his post-operative astigmatism, as scleral lenses were out of the question. We did DSEKs on people blind from straightforward PBK. We then did PKs on people blind from PBK after we ran out of DSEKs.
We worked with an amazing community partner, Clínica Quesada. They supported us so well logistically, helping us with customs clearance, finding the best candidates, and giving the full support of their staff to get every last patient the transplant they needed. Doing 19 cornea transplants in 24 hours requires full buy in from everyone. Each scrub nurse in both rooms stood scrubbing the entire 12+ hours of surgery with only one single 20 min lunch break.
We didn’t just do surgery and leave. Rather we spent a significant amount of time training and staffing the local surgeons on our techniques. They were so eager and grateful to learn. They were fully practicing ophthalmologists for several years who had done maybe 1-2 corneal transplants total, and we doubled their expertise in cornea transplants with our trip.
I wish to express my deepest thank you to Trillium Vision. It was led by a bold vision from Eris, JD, and Jared. They tirelessly worked on this dream in their spare time, and I could feel their passion with every step. The organization was so professional and effective, and the level of respect they gave me felt undeserving. I was unbelievably lucky to be their first fellow, and I’m envious of all future fellows they’ll work with.
My mission trip to El Salvador far exceeded my expectations. It definitely kick-started my future in global ophthalmology.
- Dr. James Tian, Duke Ophthalmology Cornea Fellow
A SPARK OF SIGHT
TRILLIUM VISION FOUNDATION SECOND GLOBAL OUTREACH TRIP
IN MEMORY OF CHRISTINA D’ETTORRE
Advancing our Mission through Continuity of Care
On April 26th, 2024, the Trillium Vision Foundation welcomed Dr. Brian Shafer, Dr. Sila Bal, and Ranna Jaraha to our global outreach family. Together, we embarked on a heartfelt mission to restore sight to 15 more patients in El Salvador. For Dr. Shafer and Ranna, this was their first official global outreach trip, and we were deeply honored to have Dr. Bal share her extensive global experience with us. Her wisdom was invaluable in refining our processes and amplifying our impact.
Our commitment goes beyond just providing corneal tissue for keratoplasty; we strive to leave every community better than we found it. By assisting local clinics in building their infrastructure and expertise, we ensure they can continue to provide exceptional care to their patients. Continuity of care is a cornerstone of our mission, and during this trip, we had the opportunity to evaluate patients we treated on our first sight-restoring journey in September 2023.
This successful trip would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our partners: Christina D’Ettorre Foundation, BJ Montgomery Foundation, VisionGift, LifeShare, CorneaGen, AltruVision, Miracles in Sight, ImprimisRx, Innovia Medical, and the wonderful staff of Fundación Antonio Quesada. Their dedication and generosity enables us to bring the gift of sight and hope to those in need.
This global outreach trip is dedicated to the memory of Christina D'Ettorre, a woman born with an extraordinary passion for others and a profound desire to help those in need.
Christina was not only a beloved family member and a loving wife but also a brilliant businesswoman whose true essence was defined by her unwavering dedication to humanitarian causes. Every year, she made generous donations to non-profit organizations that aligned with her cherished ideals.
In her honor, the Christina D'Ettorre Foundation (CDF) was established to perpetuate and expand her legacy of giving. Christina's spirit lives on through the CDF, which annually contributes to organizations that embody her commitment to sustainable and perpetual support for both human and animal welfare, regardless of location or socioeconomic status. These contributions are made to those who have shown a steadfast dedication to driving positive, long-term change in healthcare and welfare, ensuring that Christina's legacy of compassion and generosity continues to make the world a better place.
Learn More About Our Recent Global Outreach Trip Featured On
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Jared Young
FOUNDER + MANAGING PARTNER
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Eris Jordan
FOUNDER + MANAGING PARTNER
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J.D. Osborne
FOUNDER + MANAGING PARTNER
FAQs
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Trillium Vision Foundation is dedicated to helping the next generation of surgeons become passionate about global philanthropic ophthalmology. We accomplish this goal by bringing an experienced attending corneal surgeon along with a surgeon in fellowship.
By creating a common mission to connect future leaders in the field, we seek to inspire them to share their knowledge and experience, to push the boundaries of what’s possible in corneal surgery, and to provide better care to those in need around the world.
We believe that by combining access to high-quality vision care with the development of the next generation of corneal surgeons, we can help to transform the world’s approach to eye health through the idea of see one, do, one, teach one.
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Yes, Trillium Vision Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 organization.
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Our trips are funded through the generous donations of our patrons and by our founders. Our first trip was completely self-funded by our co-founders.
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Absolutely! Trillium Vision Foundation works at clinics that have the education, experience, and resources to provide outstanding follow-up care and who have agreed to provide all post-op information to the foundation. We also regularly check-in with our patients and travel back to our locations to continue to work with future and prior patients.
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Absolutely not! Trillium Vision Foundation was created by three veterans of the ophthalmic industry who wanted to give back and help restore vision globally by building a community of people who are motivated by global philanthropy. By including surgeons and their fellows in philanthropic medical trips around the globe, we are building a community of people passionate about and dedicated to helping the corneal blind around the world. We are funded by our co-founders and the generous donations of our patrons. All donations are used directly to support our Mission and Vision and we have no paid employees, board members, or officers and no distribution of funds that do not directly allow us to provide global care to those in need.
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Yes! We actively look to partner with other organizations and believe we are all stronger when we work together. Each of our trips would not be possible without collaboration and cooperation between multiple foundations with similar Missions, Visions, and Values.
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We look for locations where we know there will be cooperation, collaboration, and continuum of care. Our priority is the patients that we are there to help, and without ongoing and lasting collaboration, we would be doing our patients a disservice. We are very fortunate to have many partners in corneal surgery who want to help and volunteer. To help further our Mission of building a community of people passionate about and dedicated to helping the corneal blind around the world, we include surgeons and their fellows in our philanthropic medical trips.
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There are a number of ways to get involved, and we can always use the support! If you are interested in getting involved with Trillium Vision Foundation, you can make a tax-deductible financial contribution by clicking here, you can make an in-kind donation by contacting us, or you can volunteer your time by contacting us.
GIVE THE GIFT OF SIGHT
Every donation is a powerful act of kindness that ripples through the lives of those in need, creating lasting change and fostering a world where compassion and generosity light the way to a brighter tomorrow.
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