Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 6 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017, and its second less than 18 months later. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees and went public on NASDAQ in 2013. Mitch is lead inventor on over 60 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations, including co-chairing all three of SMI’s Ophthalmic Drugs’ Conferences. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs, unrelated to ophthalmology to his credit.

Dr. Jaya Chidambaram, BSc(Hons), MBBS, MRCOphth, PhD

Jaya is an Lead Medical Director in Roche Genentech and is the medical lead for the global Port Delivery System phase 3/3b clinical trial. She received her medical degree in Guy’s, Kings’ and St. Thomas’s Medical School, London, and her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After her ophthalmology specialist registrar training in London, she completed a Fellowship in Paediatric Ophthalmology at Great Ormond Street Hospital and worked as a Consultant Ophthalmologist in Manchester Royal Eye Hospital before joining the Roche Genentech ophthalmology clinical development team in 2019.
 

During Retinal Fellowship at University of Iowa, Dr. Franklin secured both HEED and HEED-Knapp scholarships. His research work on an anti-vascular agent as a candidate to treat retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration was awarded the best research project by an ophthalmic physician in training at the 1999 Association of University Professors in Ophthalmology meeting. Dr. Franklin has continued his interest and progress in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in his vitreoretinal practice. He is founder and CEO of ForwardVue Pharma, and also consults to develop retinal surgical visualization.

David J. Tanzer, MD is board certified, fellowship trained ophthalmologist from the United States and is the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President – Clinical and Medical Affairs with OcuTerra Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
With over 25 years of clinical, research, development, launch, and executive leadership experience in the ophthalmology space, serving with the US Navy, Abbott Medical Optics, Johnson & Johnson Vision, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Tanzer is focused on bringing transformational change to therapeutic offerings for patients suffering from retinal vascular diseases by developing OTT166, a safe and effective topical treatment.
 

Dr. Kalesnykas has extensive research experience in eye research and neuroscience developing neuronal based projects at the University of Eastern Finland and The Wilmer Eye Institute, The Johns Hopkins University, MD, USA. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Experimental Ophthalmology at University of Tampere, Finland.
Dr. Kalesnykas brings his scientific experience to the team as a consultant and contract researcher to several international companies in the area of histology, immunohistochemistry, stereology, and ocular models.
 

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 6 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017, and its second less than 18 months later. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees and went public on NASDAQ in 2013. Mitch is lead inventor on over 60 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations, including co-chairing all three of SMI’s Ophthalmic Drugs’ Conferences. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs, unrelated to ophthalmology to his credit.

Peter MacLennan, TCRS CEO, is an experienced professional with a track record of success in academia, pharma, biotech and CROs.
He has in-depth knowledge of clinical development with an emphasis on risk management, project governance, metrics, and budgeting.
With his TCRS colleagues, his task is to ensure that our clients’ objectives are delivered on time, on budget and to the highest standards of quality.
 

CEO of Ocunexus Therapeutics a clinical stage company developing products targeting the innate NLRP3 inflammasome in pathological autoinflammation
Chief Medical Officer Aerie Pharmaceuticals - 2 Rho Kinase Inhibitors for lowering of IOP in Glaucoma Approved and commercialized.
VP of R&D and Chief Medical Officer Bausch & Lomb 15 years 3 NDA’s;
Retisert - the first approved intravitreal Drug Delivery System for Posterior Uveitis
Zylet - topical steroid/antibiotic for ophthalmic infection/inflammation
Bezivance - 4th generation fluoroquinolone for ocular bacterial infection
Multiple device approvals; IOL’s, Cataract, Retinal, Refractive Surgical Equipment, Contact Lenses
Associate Professor, Ophthalmology, CPMC San Francisco, Private Practice Toronto, Clinical investigator consultant to the ophthalmic industry. 60 peer reviewed publications presented globally major meetings. O.D. at UC Berkeley, M.Sc. Comparative Ocular Physiology University Waterloo. On boards of 3 startups.
 

Victor Chong, Global Head of Medicine, Retinal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmBH.
 

Victor Chong is a retinal specialist who is specialized in macular diseases. He is currently the Global Head of Medicine, Retinal Health at Boehringer Ingelheim International GmBH, Germany and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at London Medical and Royal Free Hospital, London. He was the Head of Department at Oxford Eye Hospital and had held senior academic position at Institute of Ophthalmology, London, King’s College, London and Oxford University. He has published 3 books, 18 book chapters and over 150 publications. He is also the academic founder of a device company, aiming to treat intermediate AMD and early DME.
 

Grégoire Schwach joined Roche in Basel (Switzerland) in 2015, as head of drug delivery in Pharmaceutical Development and Supplies (Biologics Europe). As the leader of the ocular and drug delivery team since 2019, Grégoire carries also CMC Drug Product responsibilities for the ophthalmology pipeline. His team is taking care of the design and execution of the formulation and drug product development, including manufacturing process development. His current focus areas are within stable liquid formulations of biologics for intravitreal injection, sustained release technologies, and high concentration formulations of biologics. Before joining Roche, he worked in several positions in pharmaceutical drug development at Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark), and as head of polymer development at Phusis Matériaux Biorésorbables (Grenoble, France).
Grégoire is educated in Chemical Engineering from INSA Rouen in France. He specialized in polymers for therapeutic applications with a doctorate at the University of Montpellier in the team of Prof. Michel Vert. He moved on as a postdoc fellow at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) in the group of Prof. Robert Gurny. During his career, Grégoire co-supervised several Postdocs, PhDs and Master students, participated in two EU-funded consortium projects, and is the (co-)author of 20+ scientific publications and (co-)inventor of 11 patent families.
 

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 6 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017, and its second less than 18 months later. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees and went public on NASDAQ in 2013. Mitch is lead inventor on over 60 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations, including co-chairing all three of SMI’s Ophthalmic Drugs’ Conferences. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs, unrelated to ophthalmology to his credit.

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 6 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017, and its second less than 18 months later. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees and went public on NASDAQ in 2013. Mitch is lead inventor on over 60 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations, including co-chairing all three of SMI’s Ophthalmic Drugs’ Conferences. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs, unrelated to ophthalmology to his credit.

Dr. Taiel completed her doctorate in Medicine with board certified in Ophthalmology from Lariboisiere Saint Louis University, Paris, France, in 1993, and her Associate Professor degree in 1998. Dr Taiel completed her internship at academic Paris hospitals, was an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, served as an Ophthalmology Department Head, and ran Surgical and Medical Ophthalmology private practice. After 13 years of Ophthalmology public and private practice, Dr Taiel has been engaged in the Pharma Industry for 20 years; she brings extensive experience and expertise in drug clinical development, gene therapy, and medical affairs. She started her carrier at Servier company headquarter, and then worked in Ophthalmology area at Pfizer for several years; she then held international and management positions in various therapeutic areas, including both technical and supervision duties, at Eli Lilly Company for many years. Then, as VP Clinical Development, she led Clinical Development and Operations, to develop antisense oligonucleotides in Inherited Retinal diseases at ProQR Therapeutics. She then moved to GenSight-Biologics in 2018, to supervise the Medical Department and lead Gene Therapy programs in Inherited Retinal and Neuro-Ophthalmology diseases, as the CMO of the company.
Dr. Taiel has authored numerous protocols and articles published in peer reviewed journals, and made critical contributions to successful clinical development and launch of many products. She brings extensive years of experience from both academic medicine and pharma industry.

Aniz Girach, qualified as an Ophthalmologist (specialty in Retina), and worked in Cambridge (UK).
After having spent 11 years in the NHS, he joined the pharmaceutical industry with Eli Lilly, focusing on retinal diseases. He has in total 24 years industry experience in roles with Merck (as their Global Head of Ophthalmology) and Alcon, where he was Vice President of Clinical Development, and ThromboGenics, where he was the Global Head of Ophthalmology/Chief Medical Officer overseeing the development and approval of Ocriplasmin (Jetrea)—a first in class biologic therapy for retinal disease. In his role as Chief Medical Officer at Nightstar Therapeutics, he led and oversaw the development of their gene therapy programmes for inherited retinal diseases, prior to their acquisition by Biogen. In addition to being an Honorary Professor at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, USA, he is currently the Chief Medical Officer at ProQR Therapeutics, leading the development of RNA therapies for inherited retinal diseases.
He is a member of 3 Scientific Advisory Boards for international ophthalmic organizations currently, and reviewer for 5 peer-reviewed journals, including Eye and IOVS. He has edited 4 books and published over 70 abstracts/manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals in Ophthalmology, with numerous invited lectures at national/international ophthalmology meetings.
His special interests are Medical Retina, Vitreomacular Interface Abnormalities and Gene/RNA Therapy for inherited retinal diseases.

Aniz Girach, qualified as an Ophthalmologist (specialty in Retina), and worked in Cambridge (UK).
After having spent 11 years in the NHS, he joined the pharmaceutical industry with Eli Lilly, focusing on retinal diseases. He has in total 24 years industry experience in roles with Merck (as their Global Head of Ophthalmology) and Alcon, where he was Vice President of Clinical Development, and ThromboGenics, where he was the Global Head of Ophthalmology/Chief Medical Officer overseeing the development and approval of Ocriplasmin (Jetrea)—a first in class biologic therapy for retinal disease. In his role as Chief Medical Officer at Nightstar Therapeutics, he led and oversaw the development of their gene therapy programmes for inherited retinal diseases, prior to their acquisition by Biogen. In addition to being an Honorary Professor at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, USA, he is currently the Chief Medical Officer at ProQR Therapeutics, leading the development of RNA therapies for inherited retinal diseases.
He is a member of 3 Scientific Advisory Boards for international ophthalmic organizations currently, and reviewer for 5 peer-reviewed journals, including Eye and IOVS. He has edited 4 books and published over 70 abstracts/manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals in Ophthalmology, with numerous invited lectures at national/international ophthalmology meetings.
His special interests are Medical Retina, Vitreomacular Interface Abnormalities and Gene/RNA Therapy for inherited retinal diseases.

Dr. Taiel completed her doctorate in Medicine with board certified in Ophthalmology from Lariboisiere Saint Louis University, Paris, France, in 1993, and her Associate Professor degree in 1998. Dr Taiel completed her internship at academic Paris hospitals, was an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, served as an Ophthalmology Department Head, and ran Surgical and Medical Ophthalmology private practice. After 13 years of Ophthalmology public and private practice, Dr Taiel has been engaged in the Pharma Industry for 20 years; she brings extensive experience and expertise in drug clinical development, gene therapy, and medical affairs. She started her carrier at Servier company headquarter, and then worked in Ophthalmology area at Pfizer for several years; she then held international and management positions in various therapeutic areas, including both technical and supervision duties, at Eli Lilly Company for many years. Then, as VP Clinical Development, she led Clinical Development and Operations, to develop antisense oligonucleotides in Inherited Retinal diseases at ProQR Therapeutics. She then moved to GenSight-Biologics in 2018, to supervise the Medical Department and lead Gene Therapy programs in Inherited Retinal and Neuro-Ophthalmology diseases, as the CMO of the company.
Dr. Taiel has authored numerous protocols and articles published in peer reviewed journals, and made critical contributions to successful clinical development and launch of many products. She brings extensive years of experience from both academic medicine and pharma industry.

Francine Behar-Cohen is a retina specialist at Cochin Hospital, Paris University hospital. She heads an Inserm team of basic and clinician scientists since 2001. As an expert for ANSES (the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety), she was president of the GT_LED1 for the evaluation of the ocular toxicity of LED (2010) of 3D (2014) and for all LED applications (2018). From 2013 to 2017, she was the chairwoman of the Jules Gonin Eye hospital. She created Optis France, in 1999 that became Eyegate Pharma for ocular iontophoresis, Eyevensys in 2012, for non-viral gene therapy for retinal diseases. She serves as Chief Innovation Officer in Eyevensys.

Dr Raj Thakur is a Reader in Pharmaceutics at the School of Pharmacy (SoP), QUB and is the Founder, CTO and Director of Re-Vana Therapeutics. His research interest is in the design and physicochemical characterisation of advanced long-acting biodegradable drug delivery systems including minimally invasive medical devices for localised drug delivery. He is the Chair for Ocular Drug Delivery (OcDD) Focus Group supported by the mission of Controlled Release Society (CRS). He has authored over 160 scientific publications, including 60 full papers, 10 book chapters, five textbooks, several invited talks in national and international conferences and patents. To date, he has secured funding of approx. £5 million research funding.

Dr. Laurence Fitzhenry is a Lecturer in Chemistry at the Department of Science, Waterford Institute of Technology and Principal Investigator of the Ocular Therapeutics Research Group (OTRG) at the PMBRC.
He received his PhD in polymer and analytical chemistry from WIT in 2011, where he conducted his postdoctoral research on the development of contact lenses for the controlled release of pharmaceutical actives.
Laurence is the project co-ordinator for the MSCA-funded ORBITAL-ITN, a global consortium focused on training researchers in the development of innovative strategies for posterior segment drug delivery to the eye.

Virginia L. Calder, PhD,
Professor of Ocular Immunology,
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology,
London, UK.

Professor Calder is an immunologist with considerable research experience in inflammatory eye diseases (posterior uveitis, atopic and vernal keratoconjunctivitis). Immunosuppressive drugs can be effective but often have devastating side-effects, especially for the eye, when taken long term. Accessibility of drugs, especially to the back f the eye, and toxicity are also key challenges.
Professor Calder’s research has investigated underlying immune mechanisms and potential novel therapeutic targets, as well as testing drug efficacy. This involves utilizing relevant experimental models of disease and validating results with clinically well-defined donor specimens. She has considerable expertise in determining the toxicity and therapeutic efficacy of novel compounds in vitro and in vivo, in her research collaborations with Pharma.
 

Petra Kozma holds an MD and a PhD degree in visual neuroscience and is the author of over 50 abstracts and manuscripts. She has extensive experience in ophthalmology, vision science and ocular drug development including 16 years developing treatments for retinal diseases and glaucoma at Alcon and Oxurion. In 2009 she was a recipient of the Alcon Technical Excellence Award for the acceleration of drug development for geographic atrophy and establishment of a new clinical endpoint. At Oxurion she played an instrumental role in the FDA and EMA approval of the innovative, first in class product, Jetrea® as well as in obtaining reimbursement for the product in the UK and Germany. She is currently the Head of Clinical Development at Oxurion, leading the development of two novel therapeutics for the treatment of retinal diseases.

Ali Athab Al-Kinani is a senior lecturer in Clinical Pharmaceutics at Kingston University, London. He leads research groups in ophthalmic drug delivery where his research is tackling aging related eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma. Furthermore, Ali’s research is looking at improving drugs’ bioavailability on the ocular and anterior segment of the eye using novel delivery systems and formulations.

His high standard research was acknowledged nationally and internationally where he was an awardee of several national and international research awards such as the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS).

Mitchell A. (Mitch) deLong holds the position of vice president, Chemistry at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as well as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Since Mitch helped to found Aerie as a Duke University spinout in 2005, Aerie has filed 6 INDs and 2 NDAs, with its first FDA approval coming in 2017, and its second less than 18 months later. Aerie has grown from the initial 3-person team to over 300 employees and went public on NASDAQ in 2013. Mitch is lead inventor on over 60 issued US patents, about half of those at Aerie, and has over 100 publications, posters and presentations, including co-chairing all three of SMI’s Ophthalmic Drugs’ Conferences. Mitch earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Stanford University, and has two other marketed drugs, unrelated to ophthalmology to his credit.