OIS Podcast | Ophthalmology's leading Podcast

This week we veer off the beaten path to bring you a unique panel discussion with industry leaders from Allergan, Santen, Genentech, and Aerie Pharmaceuticals. Each share expertise on drug development technologies and discusses insights on some of the hurdles they have had to overcome to successfully roll out products in pharma.

This week the OIS podcast brings you a thoughtful conversation with host Dr. Emmett Cunningham and guest Daphne Haim-Langford, PhD, Founder & CEO of Tarsius Pharma. Daphne takes us through her 20+ years in the Ophthalmology industry, complete with details about her latest clinical trials to tackle uveitis, the third leading cause of blindness.

This week we shift gears back to “R” for the OIS Retina Podcast with Dr Firas Rahhal and his esteemed guest Dr Steven Schwartz who raises the bar as a physician, an educator and of course an innovator. Steve shares his unlikely path into ophthalmology and how serendipity or luck surrounded him with great people which led to great opportunities. Steve shares an entertaining look at his career, the...

This week’s guest is a Harvard-trained physician-scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and serial innovator. The one and only Sean Ianchulev shares his story as an emigrant of communist Bulgaria who overcame many obstacles to become one of the top innovators in the field of ophthalmology. We learn why he committed to the uncertain winding path of innovation over the straight-line physician career/cli...

In this wide-ranging discussion, Dr. Joe Boorady shares his perspective on the state of ophthalmic care today, his experience transforming powerful ideas into high-impact realities, and the spark that lights his entrepreneurial fire. Interviewed by Paul Karpecki, OD, this week’s conversation is one you won’t want to miss.

On this week’s OIS Retina podcast, we have the privilege of talking to Steve Pakola, MD. Steve is an industry veteran who has held key leadership roles in preclinical and clinical development, regulatory affairs, and medical affairs. Currently, he serves as Chief Medical Officer at REGENXBIO, a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of...

With a medical career spanning 35 years, including as global head of immunology at Sandoz (now Novartis ), Patrik De Haes, MD, has cultivated deep experience turning scientific ambition into life-changing reality. In this unmissable episode, we talk to Dr. De Haes, now CEO of Brussels-based Oxurion, to get a deeper look at the business, research, and cultural elements that drive a product’s journe...

This week the OIS Podcast hits a milestone with Episode 250. To mark the occasion, we feature a discussion with Tim Clover from the recent OIS European Innovation Showcase. Tim talks about his journey with Rayner and some significant changes he’s made since joining in 2014.  Listen in (or watch) to learn more about Tim and his vision for Rayner’s expansion as a dominant player in eye-care. 

This week, we sat down with Savas Komban, an industrial engineer, serial entrepreneur, and CEO at Smartlens, the first electronics-free soft contact lens that measures eye pressure and its fluctuations throughout the day. Join host Ehsan Sadri, MD for a riveting conversation on the future of glaucoma care.

Our podcast guest this week is Jay Duker, Professor and Chairman of Ophthalmology at Tufts Medical Center.  Here, Dr. Duker shares his perspective on exciting clinical trials happening in the posterior space.  He also offers words of advice for clinicians interested in running a practice while holding a senior position in industry. Have A Listen.  

This week’s podcast guest is Christian Roesky, a chemist by training who found a passion for ophthalmology and spent the bulk of his career in management roles with B+L, Alcon and Abbott before taking the leap into the CEO position at Novaliq in 2016.  Christian provides an insider view of Novaliq’s platform technology to address various ophthalmic indications and shares some words of wisdom for o...

No – not that apprentice. This week we had the pleasure of speaking with Todd Brady, MD/PhD turned VC/EIR turned CEO of Aldeyra back in 2012.  Todd talks about how he transitioned from the lab over to the dark side back in the 90s when “Industry” was still a dirty word.  Todd found his calling as a company builder who has since taken Aldeyra public and into Phase 3 trials with novel treatments for...

This week Dr Sadri is joined by Ram Rao, CEO of LensGen, who developed a curvature changing fluid lens to correct presbyopia. Ram tells his story from the early beginning while collaborating with the late, great Roger Steinert, MD and realizing that they had to go back to the drawing board to reinvent the technology.  Rather than throw in the towel after hearing no repetitively from investors, Ram...

Seasoned start-up and medtech executive, Rob Thornhill joins us on this week’s OIS Podcast. Rob sold Tear Film to Alcon in 2018 and is back in the saddle as the CEO of Centricity Vision. Dr Sadri has Rob discuss the benefits of the Zepto device in delivering automated, precise, circular, and centered capsulotomies, how their business model evolved during COVID and the future direction for the comp...

This week, Firas Rahhal sat down (virtually) with none other than Mark Blumenkranz, who shares lessons learned the hard way which led to his proven “Innovation Recipe”. Mark also sheds light on the investing/incubating model for Lagunitas Biosciences and what he claims will be his final CEO role at Kedalion Therapeutics.

This week’s OIS Retina Podcast guest is French-born Patricia Zilliox, who boomeranged back to her homeland to become president and CEO of Eyevensys . Before that she’d spent 25 years with Alcon before joining the Foundation Fighting Blindness as chief drug development officer.  When a family matter brought her back to France, she was introduced to Eyevensys through the investment group BPI France....

If there’s one podcast you listen to all year – this is it! Dick Lindstrom explains how saying “Yes” to opportunities, led him into an extremely gratifying and successful career in ophthalmology – which was the furthest thing from his plan to take over the family construction business. This episode is packed with gems of insights on building an academic practice and working with industry to balanc...

This week’s guest is Kenneth Mandell, MD, PhD, an ophthalmologist by training with a PhD in molecular biology who has been blessed with some amazing mentors who guided him into a fascinating career in ophthalmology.  Ken’s educational and research pedigree includes: Tufts, Emory, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; he also has an equally impressive corporate resume....

In this third OIS Retina Podcast , host Firas Rahhal, MD, sits down with Paul Hallen, VP, Global Head, Retina and Glaucoma, at Alcon, who talks about how he grew with the company over 31 years and provides an engineer’s perspective on how far innovation in retina surgery has come, and where it’s heading.

Host Ehsan Sadri, MD, is joined by Jeffrey Nau, PhD, who shares insights from a career in ophthalmology that has led to his current role as the CEO of publicly traded Oyster Point Pharma. In this interview, Jeff addresses some of the recent setbacks from COVID-19, conducting business virtually, different indications the company plans to address, and opportunities that lie ahead.

This week’s podcast is a panel discussion, “Industry Insights and Innovating Internationally,” held last month during the OIS Israel virtual program. The discussion was led by William J. Link, PhD, and included Laurent Attias, Alcon; Prabhu Velusami, MD, Johnson & Johnson London Innovation Center; Frank Chen, Santen Ventures; Richel Liu, Rimonci Capital; and serial entrepreneur Barak Azmon, MD...

This week’s special guest on the OIS Retina Podcast is David Esposito, CEO of ONL Therapeutics . A West Point graduate who served as a platoon leader in the first Gulf War, Esposito began his career in ophthalmology as a pharmaceutical sales rep for Merck. This led to several executive positions and eventually to building and scaling private companies. His career came full circle when investors re...

The OIS Podcast takes another step forward by posting on both iTunes and YouTube. Listen to or watch this entertaining exchange between host Ehsan Sadri, MD, and John Hovanesian, MD, as Dr. Hovanesian enlightens us with some of his principles in life and business, the pain points that his company, MDbackline, is addressing, future trends in patient care, and intraocular lens technologies that he’s...

This week marks the official launch of the OIS Retina Podcast with host Firas Rahhal, MD, interviewing world-renowned retina specialist and serial inventor Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, as his first guest. Here are a few impressive facts about Dr. Humayun: • He’s the director of the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics at the University of Southern California and co-dire...

The big news for podcast listeners is the introduction of the OIS Retina Podcast. In this week’s episode you’ll get to meet the new host Firas Rahhal, MD, a Partner in Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group in Los Angeles and also a Partner in ophthalmology-focused ExSight Ventures. Dr. Rahhal and Ehsan Sadri, MD, host of the OIS Podcast, discuss what it’s like playing dual roles as physicians a...