OIS Podcast | Ophthalmology's leading Podcast

Chuck Hess, VP & General Manager, US Surgical, Bausch + Lomb, says the partnership between clinicians and industry in ophthalmology has been a fruitful relationship. His experiencing in working with surgeons began early in his career, spending time in the operating room with what he calls “some of the greats in all of ophthalmic surgery”, and using his engineering background to develop surgica...

Michele Garufi, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Nicox, has done whatever was needed to get the company where it is today, with two promising product candidates in their advanced pipeline, as well as two out-licensed products.  When it was time for Garufi to launch Nicox, there was no venture capital presence in the healthcare sector in his home country of Italy. So he and his Nicox co-founders lo...

Stuart Abelson is President, Chairman, and CEO of Ora, a contract research organization (CRO). He is also the son of an ophthalmologist, and says watching his dad’s hard work and passion still fuels him today.  In this episode, Abelson explains to our host Rob Rothman, MD, the role of a CRO in conducting clinical trials for innovative companies. He said, “A lot of times these companies have the id...

When Alcon spun out of the grasp of Novartis , the company’s relationship with physicians around the world needed repair, according to Michael Onuscheck, president, global business and innovation at Alcon. “There was a separation between what the company was doing, and what the physicians and the community really needed us to do as leaders in the industry,” he said. In this episode of the OIS Podc...

Nicholas Curtis, CEO of LENSAR, got some of his entrepreneurial spirit seeing his grandfathers (“pappous” in their Greek homeland) and father own and operate bars and restaurants. A football scholarship took him to Northwestern University in Chicago, and the rest has been what he calls “a circuitous route, with some serendipity.” Curtis traces his route in this episode of the OIS podcast, through...

Arthur T. Suckow, PhD, became CEO of DTx Pharma through a path that taught him what he needed for this position, but before taking the title he had to prove to himself that he was ready. A recently completed series B financing of $100M and a growing team of executives, are solid evidence that he in fact was.  In this episode Dr. Suckow tells host Firas Rahhal, MD, how his time spent working at Joh...

Balamurali "Bala" K. Ambati, MD, PhD, MBA, is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s youngest doctor, having graduated from medical school at age 17.  In this episode, Dr. Ambati explains to our host Paul Karpecki, OD, that this accelerated pace gave him a head start meeting great people, exploring the field, doing deep dives in research, and building a good network. Dr. Am...

In this episode “serial entrepreneur” Mina Sooch, President and CEO at Ocuphire Pharma, talks with our host Firas Rahhal, MD, about her experiences of “starting things, building things, and hopefully creating exits.” She says, “An important quality in innovating is the desire to take an asset that’s under-appreciated, add value and showcase that, and bring that to patients”. Because she’s held dif...

This episode of the OIS Podcast was a featured panel discussion with the following industry executives from the Dry Eye Innovation Showcase.  Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO , moderates the conversation with: Doug Faunce, PhD, Allergan/AbbVie Sajjad Roshanali, Johnson & Johnson Vision Rob Kissling, MD, Bausch + Lomb Mark Hagler, Sun Pharma Jehan Tamboowalla, Novartis The panelists shared candid insigh...

For this week’s episode of the OIS Podcast we are sharing the “Clinical Perspective” panel discussion from our recent Dry Eye Innovation Showcase. The following KOLs delivered some fascinating strategies on addressing this massively underserved patient population.  Ashley Brissette, MD Ana Alzaga Fernandez, MD Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS  Laura Periman, MD Yuna Rapoport, MD, MPH Rahul S. Tonk, MD,...

In this episode of the OIS Podcast, Tracy Valorie tells host Ehsan Sadri, MD, that one of the most important things in business relationships is building trust. She explains that you can’t always make everybody happy in a business situation, but if you come at it from a strong place of trust you can make something exciting happen. Valorie knew in 7th grade that she wanted to explore science, and h...

Our newest host, Rob Rothman, MD is shaking things up to bring fresh voices and ideas to the OIS Podcast.  In what turned out to be the most fascinating podcast discussion to date, we had the privilege to speak with Bruce Ksander, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, who has also contributed to the highly-acclaimed book, Lifespan .  Bruce opened our eyes, dropped our jaw...

On this special episode of the OIS Podcast, we’re sharing the panel discussion from our recent Gene Therapy Innovation Showcase. We have Peter Francis MD, PhD from 4D Molecular Therapeutics; Jeffrey S. Heier, MD of Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston; Arshad Khanani, MD of Sierra Eye Associates; Jose-Alain Sahel, MD, of UPMC Eye Center; and Glenn Yiu, MD, PhD, from UC Davis Health.  Our panelists ass...

On this week’s episode of the OIS Podcast, Robert Rothman, MD, is joined by Vince Anido, Chairman and CEO of Aerie Pharmaceuticals.  Vince shares his vision for Aerie, and how his lean, efficient team carefully strategizes every move they make to cultivate products that benefit patients. We learn background on both Vince and Aerie, and how two of Aerie’s products, Rhopressa and Rocklatane, were br...

On this week’s episode of the OIS Podcast, Firas Rahhal, MD, is joined by Calvin Roberts, MD, CEO of Lighthouse Guild.  Cal has over 36 years under his belt in the eye care sector ranging from academia, private practice, and industry. He shares the positive and the negative of transitioning from a private practice on Park Ave over to being the Chief Medical Officer of Bausch + Lomb. Listen in for...

This week on the OIS Podcast, Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO, speaks with the new CEO of TearClear, Robert Dempsey, to uncover what has been necessary for him to succeed in the space.  Listen in as Robert discusses the importance of assembling a trustworthy crew before zeroing in on goals and objectives. Learn how his professional experiences have helped him build out a unique Medical Advisory Board for...

We have a great conversation for you this week on the OIS Podcast: Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO, joins Kim Brazzell, PhD and Chief Medical Officer at Kala Pharmaceuticals, to discuss Kim’s experience developing EYSUVIS, the first FDA-approved prescription therapy specifically developed to address the short-term treatment needs of people living with dry eye disease. Kim gives us tips for navigating the...

This week on the OIS podcast, we have an exciting conversation between Ehsan Sadri, M.D. and Shervin Korangy, President and CEO of BVI Medical. Listen in as Shervin shares highlights of his professional evolution. He tells us how his unique path of living overseas and working on Wall Street has impacted how he thinks about building and managing teams, and how the impact extends to planning the nex...

This week on the OIS podcast, Dr. William Link of Flying L. Partners leads a fantastic panel featuring five successful Ophthalmic investors who share the important lessons 2020 bestowed on the industry that can help you build out your 2021 portfolio.  Special thanks to: Arjun Arora, Director, KKR; Ali Behbahani, MD, General Partner, NEA; Anat Naschitz, Managing Director, OrbiMed; Bruce Robertson,...

This week OIS is “ExSighted” to bring you a candid conversation with the dynamic trio that formed ExSight Venturess: Our host, Dr. Firas Rahhal, is joined by his partners Dr. Michael Nissen, and James Murray, JD. to describe why two practicing physicians and a lawyer decided to launch a specialized fund focused on investing in early-stage ophthalmology start-ups. The group also talks about their i...

OIS Podcast host Firas Rahhal, MD, of ExSight Ventures and Retina Vitreous Associates sits down with not one but two members of Outlook Therapeutics’ C-Suite staff, Terry Dagnon and Jeff Evanson. We learn about what kind of collaborations and strategies are necessary behind the scenes at Outlook and learn more about the company’s road to bringing ONS-5010/Lytenava (bevacizumab-vikg) – potentially...

This week on the OIS podcast, Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO of Kentucky Eye Institute sits down with Jerry St. Peter, Co-Founder, CEO, and Director of Eyevance. Together they take a look back at Jerry’s impactful career in Ophthalmology. Jerry shares pearls of wisdom around building businesses, wading through acquisitions, and talks about the importance of surrounding yourself with quality people to sta...

This week on the OIS podcast, host Firas Rahhal, MD, Partner at ExSight Ventures & Retina Vitreous Associates Medical Group facilitates an illuminating discussion on the topic of retina start-ups with a focus on providing tips to anyone interested in joining the retina space.    Our guests include Andrew Stewart, AVP, US Commercial Retina of Allergan; Jay Duker, MD, Chief Strategic Scientific...

This week we’re bringing you a unique discussion that marries investments in Life Sciences and the field of Ophthalmology! Our host Firas Rahal, MD and guests Rob Rothman, MD and Ron Weiss, MD connect on this episode to discuss how two areas of interest converge in a symbiotic relationship that helps keep innovation at the forefront of Ophthalmology.

This week the OIS podcast touches on several topics within the realm of Glaucoma. We’re pleased to bring you this fascinating conversation hosted by Dr. Ehsan Sadri featuring guests Ike Ahmed, MD; Janet Serle, MD; Paul Singh, MD. This conversation covers proactive diagnostic technologies, approaches to both traditional and innovative therapies, and advancements that have defined the Glaucoma secto...