J. Randy Alexander

President and Chief Executive Officer

With an extensive background in ophthalmic surgical products, Mr. J. Randy Alexander is well known for leading several successful and innovative ophthalmic companies. Because of his expertise, he has been instrumental in the development and market introduction of contact lenses, intraocular lenses, viscolastic surgical products, femtosecond lasers and numerous other successful ophthalmic products that are currently marketed worldwide.

Mr. Alexander began his career at Bausch and Lomb where he was involved in introducing the soft contact lens to the consumer market. He has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Intermedics and IntraLase as well as holding senior positions at CILCO and Chiron Vision. During his tenure as CEO of several ophthalmic companies, Mr. Alexander has raised over $150 MM in Venture Capital while creating close to $ 1 BB in value. Currently as the President and CEO of ReVision Optics, he is developing a novel patented product for the treatment of presbyopia.

Mr. Alexander holds a Master's Degree in Biological Sciences from Marshall University.

Robert Anderson

Senior Relationship Manager
Silicon Valley Bank

Robert Anderson has dedicated his career to financial services for technology and life science companies. Currently he heads Silicon Valley Bank's Orange County office and is responsible for managing its operations and leading its technology and life science banking team. Anderson and his team offer a variety of lending, investment and global treasury management solutions tailored to private, venture-backed firms as well as small cap, publicly traded firms. He has extensive experience structuring unique debt facilities for both technology and life science companies and advising clients on international strategies, investments and cash management.

Anderson began his banking career with Silicon Valley Bank in 1993, and has since fulfilled a number of different roles with the company. He spent the first six years of his career with Silicon Valley Bank focusing on life science and health care companies of all sizes, both private and public, before obtaining his MBA. He rejoined Silicon Valley Bank in 2002, and became senior relationship manager in 2005.

Anderson earned a bachelor's degree in finance from San Diego State University, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame.

Bill Barton

Senior Vice President, International Markets

Bill Barton is senior vice president, International Markets of Alcon Laboratories, Inc., a subsidiary of Alcon, Inc., the world's largest eye care company. In this role, Mr. Barton is responsible for the management of International Markets and the Global Marketing Committee. Mr. Barton joined Alcon in 1989 (following the acquisition of CooperVision) as group product director, marketing, Surgical Products. Since that time, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in all divisions including vice president of marketing for Surgical from 1991 - 1995, vice president of marketing in Pharmaceutical from 1996 - 1998, and vice president of sales for Primary Care from 1999 - 2000. In 2001 he returned to the Surgical Division as vice president and general manager. He gained international experience from 2004 - 2007 as vice president/area president of Canada, Australia and Far East. Most recently he served as vice president/area president of U.S. and Global Marketing, a position he has held since 2007.

Mr. Barton began his career in ophthalmology with Allergan Pharmaceuticals in 1978, as a sales representative. In 1982, he joined Syntex Ophthalmics where he held various positions in sales and marketing. He joined CooperVision in 1985 which was later acquired by Alcon.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Southern Utah State University, as well as a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Utah. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Executive Program.

Robin Bellas

Partner

Robin has been a Partner at Morgenthaler since 1984 after working for ten years in general management in emerging growth companies. He was General Manager of the Electronics division of Harshaw before joining Morgenthaler. Earlier, Robin held marketing roles at Acurex, a venture-backed startup in Mountain View, California. After business school, Robin began his career at SHM Nuclear, a startup in Sunnyvale, California that was acquired by EMI Medical.

Robin has been responsible for Morgenthaler's investment in numerous health care and information technology companies that have completed public offerings or successful mergers. He is a Director of CareMedic Systems, ForSight Labs, ForSight Vision3, IPC The Hospitalist Company (IPCM), Transcend Medical and XTENT (XTNT). He is a founding Director of The Foundry medical device incubator, and was a Director of many of its startups, including Ardian Medical, Cabochon Aesthetics, Cierra Medical, and Satiety, Inc. In addition, he is a founding Director of ForSight Labs, Morgenthaler's second medical device incubator, focused on medical device solutions in ophthalmology.

Robin is a past Director of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists and of the Stanford Business School Trust. Before Stanford, he served as a line officer on nuclear fast attack and ballistic missile submarines. Robin received a BS in Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, and is a two-time Heavyweight Crew National Champion. He also has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mark S. Blumenkranz, MD

Professor & Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology
Stanford University

Mark S. Blumenkranz is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford University.  He received his Baccalaureate, Master of Medical Science, and M.D. degrees at Brown University, followed by a Residency in Ophthalmology at Stanford.  Dr. Blumenkranz is a noted vitreoretinal surgeon who served as Co-Director of the Retinal Service at Stanford for five years prior to assuming the Chairmanship in November of 1997.

Dr. Blumenkranz’s primary clinical interests center on medical and surgical treatment of vitreoretinal diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal detachment; macular diseases, including macular hole and epiretinal membranes; retinal infectious and inflammatory syndromes; and complications of cataract surgery, including intraocular lens problems.  Dr. Blumenkranz is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters in the area of vitreoretinal surgery, with special interests in surgical adjuvant pharmacology and new microsurgical and laser techniques.  He was instrumental in developing the successful laser vision correction program at Stanford and serves as a principal investigator on a number of clinical research trials at Stanford evaluating the effects of laser and pharmacologic agents on eye disease.

Dr. Blumenkranz is an associate examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology and a member of the Retina, Vitreous, Macula, and Gonin Societies.  He has served on the Editorial Board of the journals Retina, Graefe’s Archives for Ophthalmology, and Ophthalmology.  He is a past recipient of the Research to prevent Blindness Special Manpower Award, the Heed Award, the Rosenthal Award in Visual Sciences, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology Senior Honor Award.  Dr. Blumenkranz is active in various philanthropic activities related to his profession and serves on the Board of Northern California Prevent Blindness, the Bay Area Chapter of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and is Vice-President of the Board of Overseers for the Brown University School of Medicine.

David Cassak

Managing Director, Medical Devices
Windhover Information Inc.

David Cassak is a Managing Partner of Windhover Information and has been involved with the health care industry for more than 20 years.

Mr. Cassak earned a BA from Drew University and did graduate work at Columbia and Princeton, earning an MA, with honors from the former, before joining, Cassak Publications Inc., a family-run business that published trade journals for the hospital and alternate site distribution industries.  For much of the 1980s, he wrote and spoke frequently about the medical/surgical and hospital supply industries, before joining The Wilkerson Group, a health care consulting company, in 1988, as an editor of IN VIVO: The Business & Medicine Report.

In 1989, Mr. Cassak, along with his partner Roger Longman, led a buyout of the publications business of TheWilkerson Group, forming Windhover Information Inc.  In addition to IN VIVO, Windhover publishes other monthly reports, including START-UP: Windhover's Review of Emerging Medical Ventures and IN VIVO Europe Rx: Inside Europe's Biopharma Companies.  Windhover also has an extensive database of health care transactions which has been turned into a Web-based electronic system, Strategic Intelligence Systems (SIS).  SIS allows users to search for transactions by a variety of criteria, including deal structure, value, and therapeutic and scientific categories.  Windhover also has a conference business and is well-known for, among others, its Pharmaceutical Strategic Alliances (New York), Euro-Biotech (Paris), Marketing Pharmaceutical Alliances (Philadelphia), and Bio-Windhover (Washington) meetings.

Mr. Cassak writes extensively about the medical device and hospital supply industries for IN VIVO and START-UP and is a frequent speaker before various companies and industry trade groups.

Andy Corley

President, B&L Surgical
Formerly CEO Eyeonics

J. Andy Corley is corporate vice president and global president, Surgical Products, for Bausch & Lomb.  He was named to these posts in 2008.

In 1998, Mr. Corley co-founded eyeonics, Inc., which developed a new category of intraocular lens – the accommodating IOL – for use in cataract replacement surgery.  He gained FDA approval for innovative crystalens® in 2003, and spearheaded a five-year effort to change CMS policy to allow Medicare beneficiaries to choose presbyopia-correcting IOLs.  Eyeonics was acquired by Bausch & Lomb in 2008.

Mr. Corley has over 25 years of experience in the ophthalmic industry and has held various executive positions at American Medical Optics and Allergan Pharmaceuticals.  He was co-founder of Chiron Ophthalmics, where he was general manager of the Refractive Surgery division, and where he played a key role in the introduction of LASIK surgery.

He received the 2005 AeA Technology of the Year award and the 2005 Orange County Entrepreneur of the Year award.  Mr. Corley serves on the board of directors for Glaukos Corporation, and is a member of the advisory board for the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California – Irvine.

Mr. Corley received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree fromGeorgia Southern University,Statesboro, Ga., in 1978.

Emmett T. Cunningham, Jr., MD, PhD, MPH

Partner
Clarus Ventures, LLC

Dr. Cunningham joined Clarus Ventures with more than 20 years experience in the biomedical and biopharmaceutical sectors.  Prior to Clarus, Dr. Cunningham was the Senior Vice President, Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYET), where he helped build and lead the team that developed and commercialized Macugen, a first-in-class product for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.  Prior to Eyetech, Dr. Cunningham was at Pfizer, Inc, where he was responsible for the clinical development of early phase central nervous system compounds and the in-licensing of early and late-stage therapeutic candidates in ophthalmology.

Dr. Cunningham is an internationally recognized specialist in infectious and inflammatory eye disease with over 200 publications.  He is an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford University, was Clinical Professor and Director of the Uveitis service at NYU from 2002 to 2005, and was Director of both the Uveitis Service and the Kimura Ocular Immunology Laboratory at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) from 1995 to 2001.  Dr. Cunningham received an MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University, a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) for work done at The Salk Institute, and completed both a residency in ophthalmology and fellowship training in Corneal Disease and Uveitis at UCSF.

Dr. Cunningham is a member of the Board of Directors for SARcode Inc., a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of ESBAtech AG and Comentis Inc., and a Board observer for Ferrokin Biosciences, Pearl Therapeutics Inc., Taligen Therapeutics Inc., and Zogenix, Inc.

Edward Danse

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Danse was named President and CEO of Neurotech in 2005. He has 30 years of life science industry experience, with over 20 years in the ophthalmic industry. Previously he was President and CEO of the US ophthalmic pharmaceutical company ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) and was responsible for taking the Company public in 2000. Mr. Danse also held various senior positions in Allergan where he was responsible for establishing a high-growth, profitable business operation in Japan and Asia, including several successful corporate acquisitions. His early career was spent in business development roles at Coopervision, Bausch & Lomb and Schering-Plough. He has also served as a director on the boards of several development-stage ophthalmic companies. Mr. Danse holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.

Thomas Dyrberg

Senior Partner

Thomas Dyrberg is Senior Partner in Novo Ventures, Novo A/S. Thomas obtained his MD degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1981 and his DMSc degree, also from the University of Copenhagen in 1986.

He held research positions at the Hagedorn Research Institute, Denmark, and at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA. In 1990 he joined Novo Nordisk A/S, initially working in Health Care Discovery on various aspects of diabetes immunology and pathogenesis, and from 1996 in Health Care Clinical Drug Development as an International Clinical Project Manager.

Thomas joined Novo A/S in December 2000 and serves as ad hoc member of several grant expert review committees as well as on the boards of Allocure, Inc., hemofocus ApS, LifeCycle Pharma A/S, Lux Biosciences, Inc. and Ophthotech Corporation, and is former director of BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc.

Mark Forchette

president and chief executive officer

Mark J. Forchette, president and chief executive officer, has more than two decades of experience in ophthalmic sales, marketing and business unit management. Immediately prior to OptiMedica, he served as vice president of global marketing and sales for the vitreoretinal business unit of Alcon. In this position, he led the vitreoretinal unit through a period of substantial portfolio enhancement, infrastructure development and a significant increase in market share.

Prior to Alcon, Mr. Forchette was vice president of sales and marketing at Grieshaber & Co. Inc., where he led the privately-held Swiss company's domestic operations through major infrastructure and revenue expansion. Grieshaber, which was acquired by Alcon in 1998, remains a significant contributor to Alcon's successful vitreoretinal portfolio of products. Mr. Forchette received a B.S. in marketing from Auburn University and completed the Harvard Program for Management Development.

Joseph Gilliam

Mr. Gilliam is an Executive Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking group. He has approximately 10 years of experience in the full range of investment banking activities including financial advisory services, mergers and acquisitions, private and public equity and debt financings. Prior to JPMorgan, Mr. Gilliam was at The Beacon Group LLC, a strategic advisory and private equity firm.

Representative ophthalmology client/transaction experience includes:

• Sale of Visiogen to Abbott (announced)
• Warburg Pincus acquisition and financing of Bausch & Lomb
• Intralase sale to Advanced Medical Optics
• Advanced Medical Optics convert
• Cooper Companies acquisition and financing of Ocular Sciences
• Sola International's recapitalization, equity follow-on/high yield
• ECCA sale to Golden Gate/Moulin and acquisition financing
• Davis Vision's acquisition of Viva International
• Ongoing Projects Signal & Visibility
• Additional Syndicated Finance & Capital market financing transactions for Abbott, AMO, Cooper

Mr. Gilliam holds a BS in Finance, Accounting & Economics from Indiana University at Bloomington

 

 

Marty Glick

Marty is currently retired and focused on investing in, and consulting with, emerging private biotech companies. He has over 20 years of experience in biotechnology. He was VP Finance at Genentech where he was involved in structuring major alliances. He was EVP and CFO at Theravance where he led efforts to negotiate an industry leading alliance with GSK and raise over $100M in an IPO with a valuation of nearly $1B. He was also one of three co founders and a Board member of Eyetech Pharmaceuticals which developed and commercialized the first major new drug to treat the neovascular form of AMD, one of the leading causes of blindness in the developed world. Most recently he was a co founder of PEAK Surgical, an emerging private company with a novel medical device used in surgical procedures. He served as Chairman of the Board and acting CEO while he was at PEAK. Marty has an MBA (Finance) from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is a CPA.

Judy Gordon, DVM

Founder & President
ClinReg Consulting Services, Inc.

Founder and president of ClinReg Consulting Services, Inc., Dr. Gordon has over 20 years progressive clinical, regulatory, quality and R&D experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.  Her accomplishments include:

• Gaining FDA approval for multiple (10 original, 4 clinical modules) PMAs for Class III devices, including presentations to Advisory Committees.
• Directing clinical trials of biologics, pharmaceuticals, and Class I, II and III medical devices, from protocol development through clinical reporting to FDA.
• Successful management of QSR and notified body inspections, leading to FDA approval of manufacturing facilities and CE marking.

Dr. Gordon has served as the industry representative to both the Medical Devices Dispute Resolution Advisory Panel and the Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel of the FDA.

David Guyer, MD

Partner
SV Life Sciences

David Guyer joined SVLS in 2006.  He serves on the Boards of portfolio companies Link Medicine, Lux Biosciences, NeoVista, Neurotech and Ophthotech as well as the public company Optos.

Prior to these positions, David co-founded and served as CEO and director for six years of Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (former Ticker ‘EYET’), Inc. a biopharmaceutical company that specialized in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat diseases of the eye.  He led the firm through private financing rounds totaling approximately $170 million, a $157 million initial public offering and a secondary financing.  The company also developed and gained FDA approval for Macugen, a product to treat macular degeneration, which Eyetech partnered with Pfizer in a deal valued at over $750 million.  OSI Pharmaceuticals subsequently acquired Eyetech in a deal valued at $935 million.  Prior to founding Eyetech, Dr. Guyer was professor and chairman of the department of ophthalmology at the NYU School of Medicine.

David received a BSc from Yale College and an MD from Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Jeff Hoffman

Managing Director
JP Morgan

He has more than 18 years experience in the full range of investment banking activities including financial advisory services, mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, and venture capital investments.

At J.P. Morgan, Mr. Hoffman serves as the lead Client Executive for clients such as Abbott, Allergan, Bausch & Lomb, Biomet, Medtronic and Zimmer, among others.  Mr. Hoffman earned his BA and MBA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989 and 1993, respectively.

Robert Y. Kim, MD

Vice-President and Head of Clinical Ophthalmology
GlaxoSmithKline

Robert Kim is Vice President of Clinical Ophthalmology at Ophthiris, GSK's ophthalmic drug discovery unit. He is an ophthalmologist with a background in both biopharmaceutical and medical device development. Bob received his MD from Brown University's 7-Year Medical Education Program. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular and developmental biology at the National Eye Institute, followed by retina clinical fellowship training at the University of London's Moorfields Eye Hospital. He joined the faculty at UCSF in 1994. Bob transitioned to volunteer clinical faculty status in 1998 to complete an MBA at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and move into industry. At Zeiss Humphrey Systems (now Carl Zeiss Meditec), he led development of the Stratus 2nd generation optical coherence tomography imaging device that became the leading ophthalmic diagnostic instrument by sales. Following a stint at Earlybird, a venture capital firm, Bob moved to Genentech to lead the Lucentis phase 3 clinical program through to approval in 2006. He then moved to Genentech's Lucentis partner Novartis, initially to lead early-stage ophthalmology business development efforts and subsequently biomarker development efforts. Bob joined GSK in March 2009 to head Ophthiris' clinical group. He is currently also an Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at UCSF.

Kenneth Kirschner, PhD

Senior Director, Ophthalmics
Pfizer Specialty Care

Ken has been part of Pfizer since 2003.  He joined the Worldwide Ophthalmics group in January 2009.  He is the commercial leader for Pfizer’s activities in retinal disease including support of Macugen and Pfizer’s development alliance with Quark Pharmaceuticals.  Prior to his role with the Ophthalmics team, Ken worked in GI & Hepatology.  He was instrumental to the several successful business development efforts in this role and was subsequently involved in process and governance design for Pfizer’s business development activities.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Ken was a consultant with Strategic Decisions Group headquartered in Palo Alto, California.  As a consultant with SDG life sciences practice, Ken was involved in the evaluation and execution of both large scale acquisitions and individual compound licensing.  Ken was also previously an analyst with Cambridge Pharma Consultancy.

Ken has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.

Gilbert Kliman, MD

General Partner, Life Sciences
InterWest Partners

Dr. Gil Kliman joined InterWest's life sciences team in 1996.  He invests in a broad array of life sciences opportunities with a special interest in ophthalmology and medical devices.  He is a board member of Epocrates, Glaukos, LenSx Lasers, MacuSight, Neuronetics, Restoration Robotics, and ReVision Optics.  Prior to InterWest, Dr. Kliman was a healthcare investor at TA Associates and at Norwest Venture Capital.  As a practicing ophthalmologist he was the former west coast director of LCA Vision, and served as an assistant professor at Tufts New England Eye Center.

Dr. Kliman has a B.A. from Harvard University.  He received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA. from Stanford University.

Previous Representative Investments
IntraLase (ILSE) – acquired by Advanced Medical Optics (EYE)
Spinal Dynamics – acquired by Medtronic (MDT)

Ron Kurtz, M.D.

Co-Founder of LenSx Lasers

Ron Kurtz is a co-founder of LenSx Lasers and serves as its President and CEO. He previously served in various leadership positions at IntraLase Corporation, which he co-founded in 1997. Dr. Kurtz is also a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine, having joined its faculty in 2000. Previously, Dr. Kurtz served on the faculty at the University of Michigan, where he established the Ultrafast Laser Medical Group. Dr. Kurtz earned his B.A. in Biochemistry from Harvard College and his M.D. from the University of California, San Diego.

David Lawrence

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

David Lawrence joined Allergan in March 2003. David has held various roles at Allergan in the corporate and business development areas. In his current position, he responsible for management of and related aspects for Corporate Development/ Business Development group which includes mergers and acquisitions (products and companies), in-licensing (technologies, development-stage therapeutics, commercial-stage products), out-licensing and similar opportunities, e.g., co-promotion agreements and strategic supply/ sourcing agreements. In his role, David interacts regularly with Allergan's Executive Committee and Board of Directors, particularly as relates to strategy-related activities (analyses, preparation of strategic initiatives/ proposals, presentation of results/ recommendations).

Business areas of focus for the Corporate Development/ Business Development group are in key therapeutic or business areas of Ophthalmology, Neurotoxins, Neurology (principally in the area of movement-related disorders), Aesthetics, Obesity (principally medical devices), Medical Dermatology and Urology.

Before joining Allergan, David held various positions at generic and specialty pharmaceuticals firm, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and at drug discovery company, Ribapharm Inc. Key areas of responsibilities at these former positions were corporate and business development, corporate finance (capital raising),and investor relations. Prior to his approximate past 13 years in the pharmaceutical industry, David held numerous banking-related positions, principally in the area of corporate banking that included positions with Security Pacific Bank, Bank of America, and The Daiwa Bank, Limited (acquired by The Sumitomo Bank, Limited).

David is a member of the Board of Directors of BAROnova, Inc. David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (with high honors) in Business Administration from California State University Fullerton.

Ellen Foster Licking, Finance Bureau Chief

Elsevier Business Intelligence

Ellen is a bureau chief specializing in finance and deal-making for Elsevier Business Intelligence. Based in Palo Alto, CA, she regularly contributes biopharma content to EBI's flagship publications including IN VIVO, START-UP, and "The Pink Sheet." She has covered the industry for over 10 years, writing frequently about biotech and pharmaceutical deal-making and strategy, and emerging technologies.

Ellen joined Windhover Information (acquired in 2008 by Elsevier) in November 2005. Prior to that, she worked as a freelance writer based in Massachusetts. From 1998 to 2002, Ellen was the Science Editor at BusinessWeek magazine where she authored cover stories, special reports and a regular column, Developments to Watch.

Ellen holds a BA in biochemistry from Swarthmore College, an M. Phil. in biochemistry from Cambridge University, and an MS in biochemistry from Stanford University, where she studied in the laboratory of biochemist A. Dale Kaiser.

Richard L. Lindstrom, MD

Founder & Attending Surgeon, Minnesota Eye Consultants
Adjunct Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota, Department of Ophthalmology

Dr. Richard L Lindstrom, founder and attending surgeon of Minnesota Eye Consultants and Adjunct Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology, is a board-certified ophthalmologist and internationally recognized leader in corneal, cataract, refractive and laser surgery.  He has been at the forefront of ophthalmology's evolutionary changes throughout his career, as a recognized researcher, teacher, inventor, writer, lecturer and highly acclaimed physician and surgeon.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Dr Lindstrom completed his doctorate degree in medicine in 1972.  He conducted research, residency and fellowship training in cornea at the University of Minnesota and affiliated hospitals and extended his anterior segment surgery fellowship training at Mary Shiels Hospital in Dallas and was a Heed Fellow in Glaucoma at University Hospital in Salt Lake City.  In 1980, Dr. Lindstrom returned to the University of Minnesota, where he spent ten years on the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology, the last two as a full professor and the Harold G. Scheie Research Chair.  He continues as Adjunct Professor Emeritus, Chairman of the Vision Foundation, and Associate Director of the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank at the University of Minnesota.  He entered private practice in 1989, and has led the growth and expansion of Minnesota Eye Consultants serving as managing partner for 15 years.  He is also medical director of TLC Vision, Sightpath Medical, and Refractec.  He is Chief Medical Editor of the USA and International editions of Ocular Surgery News, which reaches 82,000 ophthalmologists worldwide.

William Link, PhD

Managing Director
Versant Ventures

Bill Link specializes in early-stage investing in medical devices at Versant.  Prior to co-founding Versant Ventures, Bill was a general partner at Brentwood Venture Capital.  He has a proven record of building and operating large, successful medical product companies.  With extensive knowledge of medical devices, particularly in ophthalmology, his operating experience spans more than 23 years in general management in the healthcare industry.

Perhaps Bill’s greatest operational success was as founder, chairman and CEO of Chiron Vision, a subsidiary of Chiron Corporation specializing in ophthalmic surgical products, which was sold to Bausch and Lomb in 1997.  Prior to Chiron Vision, Bill founded and served as President of American Medical Optics (AMO), a division of American Hospital Supply Corporation, which was sold to Allergan in 1986.  Later Bill served on the Board of AMO’s successor company, Advanced Medical Optics.  AMO was acquired by Abbott in 2009.

While at Brentwood, Bill invested in a number of early-stage companies, including eyeonics (sold), Genyx (sold), IntraLase (sold), Intra Therapeutics (sold), and OraMetrix (private).  His Versant investments include the following private companies: AcuFocus, Cameron Health, ForSight, Glaukos, Inogen, LenSx, NeoVista, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Rox Medical, Second Sight and Wavetec.  Bill also serves as a Director of Edwards Lifesciences.

Before entering the healthcare industry, Bill was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine.  Bill earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.

ROBERT K. MALONEY, MD, MA (Oxon)

Robert K. Maloney, MD, MA (Oxon) is a cofounder and Chief Medical Officer of Calhoun Vision, Inc. He also served as interim CEO for 6 months in 2008. He was cofounder of Vision Rx, a venture-backed medical diagnostic company. He has also consulted for VISX, IntraLase, AMO, Presbyia, Premier Laser Systems, and Refractec.

Dr. Maloney is a former Rhodes Scholar and Summa Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University. He was the first surgeon in western North America to perform LASIK surgery as part of the original FDA clinical trials. He is Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at UCLA, and director of the Maloney Vision Institute, in Los Angeles, California. Voted by his peers as one of America's top ten vision-correction specialists in a nationwide survey conducted by Ophthalmology Times, Dr. Maloney is also the recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Lans Award. He has published more than 100 articles, abstracts, and reports in professional journals and has delivered more than 200 invited lectures on five continents.

Dr. Maloney's research is focused on developing new technologies for vision correction surgery and on complications of vision-correction surgery. He has been a principal investigator for fifteen FDA clinical trials. Dr. Maloney has appeared frequently on television as the exclusive LASIK surgeon for the ABC hit series Extreme Makeover.

James Mazzo

Senior Vice President
Abbott Medical Optics

James Mazzo is senior vice president, Abbott Medical Optics, heading up the company's global vision care business.  He was appointed to his current role in February 2009.

Prior to joining Abbott upon the acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics, Mazzo served as its chairman and CEO.  He also held various senior executive-level positions for Allergan prior to its spin-off of Advanced Medical Optics, including president of Allergan's Europe/Africa/Middle East region.

Mazzo serves on the University of California at Irvine (UCI) Dean's Board of Directors' Executive Committee, UCI Dean's Board of Business and Engineering and is chairman of the UCI Foundation.  He is a trustee for Chapman University and the University of San Diego.  Additionally, Mazzo is a member of the International Intraocular Implant Club and sits on the boards of AdvaMed and OCTANe.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from California State University in Long Beach, California.

Dr. Schalon Newton

Santen's Vice President

Dr. Schalon Newton has been Santen's Vice President, Strategic Marketing & Business Development, since joining the company February 2006. He has been involved in the international ophthalmic arena for more than 20 years. Prior to his joining Santen, Dr. Newton was a principal at Louis Allen Worldwide where he consulted on organization change management. He also worked for over 21 years at Allergan, Inc. where he held various management positions in finance, sales and marketing, general management, and business development. Schalon holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge, a M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and an E.D.M. from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Newton is an active member of the American Academy of Management and has presented papers on leadership, management careers, and gender related career issues at the American Academy of Management, British Academy of Management, Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists, and International Academy of Management and Business.

Gary D. Novack, Ph.D.

President, PharmaLogic Development, Inc.
San Rafael, CA

Dr. Gary Novack founded PharmaLogic Development, Inc. in 1989 to provide services to the pharmaceutical and medical device community in product development. In the 20 years since its inception, he has played key roles in the scores of ophthalmic and dermatologic product approvals. These roles involve advising early stage firms on product planning, including research design and interactions with worldwide regulatory agencies, as well as late stage development and product approval. The products range from antibiotics to ocular hypotensive agents to treatments for agerelated macular degeneration, as well as novel delivery systems, and therapeutic use of neurotoxins.

Educated at University of California campuses, he was originally trained as a neuropharmacologist and an electrophysiologist. He has since earned board certification in clinical pharmacology, and planned, managed and analyzed over 100 clinical trials. Dr. Novack has authored over 300 publications and abstracts in clinical pharmacology, ophthalmology, dermatology and neurosciences.

Dr. Novack has been active in many professional societies, chairing ARVO's Commercial Relationships Committee and was recognized by the American Academy of Ophthalmology with an Achievement Award. He is a Director of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and is immediate past president of a section of the American Society for Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He has served as a Director of Inspire Pharmaceuticals, a Regent of the University of California, the President of the UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association, and is currently President of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

FLEMMING ORNSKOV, M.D., MPH

corporate vice president and global president

FLEMMING ORNSKOV, M.D., MPH, is corporate vice president and global president, Pharmaceuticals, for Bausch & Lomb. He was named to these posts in 2008. He is responsible for the company's prescription pharmaceuticals and generics, as well as its general eye health and vitamins businesses.

Most recently, Dr. Ornskov was first chairman, then CEO and president of LifeCycle Pharma, an emerging cardiovascular and transplantation specialty company. Prior to this, he served as CEO and president of biotech start-up Ikaria, Inc.

From 2002 to 2005, he was president of the Ophthalmics Business Unit for Novartis. Prior, he led Novartis' U.S. cardiovascular franchise. Dr. Ornskov has also held multiple leadership positions at Merck & Co.

He has several board positions, including serving as chairman of the board of Santaris Pharma A/S and Astion Pharma A/S..

Dr. Ornskov received a M.D. degree from University of Copenhagen, a M.B.A. degree from INSEAD and a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University.

Knut Sturmhoefel

Knut Sturmhoefel is Head of Alliance Management in the Business Franchise Neuroscience & Ophthalmology at Novartis Pharma since Feb 2008. He joined the global Business Development & Licensing group in 2005 with responsibility as Head of Search & Evaluation, covering various disease areas including ophthalmology, dermatology, gastroenterology, and urology. Knut has been part of the Novartis Ophthalmics team since he joined Novartis in Basel, Switzerland, in 2002.

Knut has over 14 years experience with biotech and pharma companies in preclinical and clinical R&D, project management, and business development. Before joining Novartis he worked for over 12 years in the US, including the US subsidiary of Merck KGaA, EMD/ Lexigen (now part of Merck-Serono), and Genetics Institute (now part of Wyeth). Knut's experience in the industry is backed by over 9 years of academic research at the National Institutes of Health in the US, the German Cancer Research Center, and the University of Constance. He obtained his PhD from the University in Heidelberg in biology/ immunology.

Charles Warden

Managing Director
Versant Ventures

Charles Warden has been an active medical device venture investor since 1992.  Charles works closely with entrepreneurial device companies from inception along the path to success.  Prior to joining Versant he was a general partner at Schroder Ventures Life Sciences (now SV Life Sciences) where he led SV’s medical device effort.

Previously, Charles worked with Boston Capital Ventures, where he concentrated on medical device and other healthcare investments.  Before becoming a venture capitalist, Charles was a consultant with Monitor Company, a strategy consulting firm.

Charles has served on numerous medical device company boards, including the following currently: AcuFocus, Celula, Concentric Medical, Glumetrics, Halscion, iTherapeutix, and WaveTec.  Prior board memberships include Insulet (Nasdaq: PODD), Confluent Surgical (acquired by Covidien), CardioFocus, Liposonix (acquired by Medicis), Neovista, Sadra Medical, and Heritage Health Systems (acquired by Universal American Financial Corp).  Since its inception, Charles has been actively involved with The Innovation Factory, a medical devices incubator.  He is also involved in ForSight Labs, an ophthalmic incubator.

Charles holds a Bachelor’s degree from Beloit College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Scott M. Whitcup, MD

Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer
Allergan, Inc.

Dr. Whitcup has been Executive Vice President, Research and Development, since July 2004.  Dr. Whitcup joined Allergan in 2000.  Prior to joining Allergan, Dr. Whitcup served as the Clinical Director of the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health.  As Clinical Director, Dr. Whitcup’s leadership was vital in building the clinical research program and developing new therapies for ophthalmic diseases.  Dr. Whitcup graduated from Cornell University and Cornell University Medical College.  He completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and in ophthalmology at Harvard University, as well as fellowship training in immunology at the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Whitcup is a faculty member at the Jules Stein Eye Institute/David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.  He holds an M.B.A from Wharton School of the University Pennsylvania.