US Board of Directors

CBM is recognised by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit charitable organisation described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is managed by the US-specific Board of Directors.

Sheila West, Ph.D. – Chair

Sheila joined the board of CBM US in 2020. She is the El-Maghraby Professor of Preventive Ophthalmology and Vice Chair for Research at the Wilmer Eye Institute. She has a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include trachoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and vision and function in older persons. Her research has informed all aspects of the present World Health Organization guidelines for trachoma control, and she has served on the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for NTDS at the World Health Organization. She is the 2017 recipient of the American Academy of Ophthalmology International Blindness Prevention award and the 2018 recipient of the Kuwait Federation for the Advancement of Science Health Sciences prize for her work in Africa.

Peter Lauffs – Board Member

Peter Lauffs joined CBM in 2025 as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of CBM. His responsibilities include finance, operations development, human resources and global program development and implementation. Peter holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and has extensive experience in healthcare. Before joining CBM, he held several leadership roles in operations and business development in both the NGO and for-profit sectors. He also founded a start-up in digital health.

Peter is committed to sustaining and creating value by focusing on the people and organisations CBM serves: beneficiaries and private and institutional donors. He aims to achieve operational excellence by aligning CBM’s teams and systems with strategic goals and beneficiary impact.

Peter has been engaged with people with disabilities since childhood. In recent years, together with his wife and their three children, he has volunteered in Christian projects in Lebanon, Georgia, and France. He enjoys hiking, mountain biking, skiing, sailing, and scuba diving.

Dr. M. Babar Qureshi – Secretary

Babar joined the board in 2020 and is designated as secretary of CBM US while also serving as the Director of the Inclusive Health Initiative with CBM International. He was born in Pakistan and did most of his schooling and professional training in Nigeria. He implemented and supervised key projects like the Comprehensive Eye Care Programme in Federally Administered Area Pakistan (European Union) and the Neglected Tropical Disease Elimination Programme in 5 countries (Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust). The passionate ophthalmologist is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and has been honoured inter alia by the Saudi Ophthalmological Society for his outstanding contributions to the prevention of blindness and global research (2016). He loves reading and spending time with his family.

Megan Collins, MD, MPH

Megan joined the board of CBM US in 2025. She is the Allan and Claire Jensen Professor of Ophthalmology and a practising paediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus surgeon at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Megan has joint faculty appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins School of Education, and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Megan’s research interests include paediatric vision screening, epidemiology of paediatric eye disease, school-based vision programs, public health ophthalmology, and ethics. She serves on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group for the World Health Organisation’s SPECS 2030 Initiative and is part of the working group for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness technical case report ‘The Value of Vision: The case for investing in eye health.’ Megan is actively involved with the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Association of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus; she also advocates for best practices in paediatric eye care at the state, national, and global levels. Megan loves reading, running, and spending time with her family.

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, M.D. – Board Member

Mary joined the board of CBM US in 2024. She is a Professor of Retina Science and Disease and Ophthalmology at Stanford University. Her research focuses on paediatric retina, retinopathy of prematurity, and age-related macular degeneration. She has held numerous academic positions, including Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Utah. Mary's work has been recognised with awards, including the Mildred Weisenfeld Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. She is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of ophthalmologists and researchers. She has been involved in various leadership roles, including serving on the Telehealth Steering Committee at the University of Utah. Mary lives in Palo Alto, California, and enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with her family.