Joyce and her grandmother after surgery. Dr. Heiko Philippin examines Joyces eyes. (from right to left: Dr. Heiko Philippin, Jaffed, Joyce, Joyce’s grandma, Sister Lyimo).

Our People

Board of Directors

Our skilled and multi-disciplinary Board of Directors are passionate about healing hearts and bodies, healing families and communities throughout the world. The vision and direction they give to cbm is clear and compelling.

Dr. Peter Schießl – Chair

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Peter joined the board in 2018 and is currently Executive Director of CBM US. He is from Bavaria, Germany, and has a PhD in economics. He has held various executive positions in finance in the chemical industry. Before joining CBM in 2012, his career led him to Ecuador for 8 years, Switzerland for 3 years and Turkey for 3 years. As part of CBM Germany's executive board he is responsible for Finance and Fundraising. He is married and has two adult children. Peter is Catholic and practices the spiritual exercises of the St. Ignatius tradition. He enjoys hiking and the outdoors.

Dr. M. Babar Qureshi – Secretary

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Babar joined the board in 2020 and is designated as secretary of CBM US while also serving as the Director Inclusive Eye Health and Neglected Tropical Diseases with CBM International. He was born in Pakistan and did most of his schooling and professional training in Nigeria. He implemented and supervised several 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 honored inter alia by the Saudi Ophthalmological Society for his outstanding contributions on the prevention of blindness and global research (2016). He loves reading and spending time with his family.

Thorsten Schmidt – Treasurer

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Thorsten joined the board in 2020 and is acting as treasurer of CBM US. He is German and has an MBA in Banking and Finance and an MBA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He has held various positions as director of finance and risk management in the financial services industry and was partner in a mid-sized consulting company specialized in banking and process management before joining CBM Germany as Director Finance and Controlling in 2014. Since 2020 he is Director of Finance and Operations Development for CBM. He and his wife live close to Frankfurt/Main, they love fitness, reading and travelling and their soccer crazy 12-year old son.

Sheila West, Ph.D. – Board Member

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Sheila joined the board of CBM US in 2020. She is American and serves as the El-Maghraby Professor of Preventive Ophthalmology and Vice Chair for Research at the Wilmer Eye Institute, with 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.