Eyeluminaries

Hosts Jim Mazzo and John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, discuss the latest ophthalmic industry news and interview Eve Higginbotham, MD.

• Welcome to the Eyeluminaries podcast :10
• A review of the previous episode :30
• News and notes with John and Jim 1:20
• The FDA approved STAAR Surgical's EVO/EVO+ Visian implantable Collamer lens for the correction of myopia and myopia with astigmatism 1:28
• News on two new drop treatments for presbyopia, Visus' Brimochol PF and Allergan/AbbVie's Vuity 4:56
• Ocuphire's Nyxol reduced pharmacologically induced mydriasis 7:12
• Axim Biotechnologies rapid test for dry eye inflammatory biomarker 9:20
• Representation in medicine fails to reflect diversifying U.S. population 10:50
• Introduction of Eve Higginbotham, MD 12:25
• The interview 14:52
• The gender recession in corporate advancement during the pandemic 15:50
• What will change things and get us to a better place in ophthalmology? 17:20
• What needs to change in residency training programs? 20:50
• What barriers are there to getting sufficient time in the OR? 24:30
• Representation on corporate boards 25:15
• How do you get new technologies such as presbyopia drops into the training curriculum? 27:05
• The latest innovations in glaucoma 30:42
• How MIGS has changed practice 32:15
• What is the secret to being able to enjoy golfing? 33:00

  Eve J. Higginbotham, SM, MD, ML, is the vice dean for Penn Medicine's Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, senior fellow, Leonard David Institute for Health Economics and professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania.

  John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and in private practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California.

  Jim Mazzo sits on numerous ophthalmic industry corporate boards and committees after serving in executive roles with Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss and AMO.

  We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to [email protected]. Follow John Hovanesian on Twitter @DrHovanesian. You can reach Dr. Higginbotham via email at [email protected].

  Disclosures: Hovanesian consults widely in the ophthalmic field. Mazzo reports being an adviser for Zeiss, Bain Capital, Avellino Labs, CVC Capital, Anivive Lifesciences; executive chairman of Neurotech, Preceyes BV and TearLab; and sits on the board of Crystilex, Lensgen, IanTech, Centricity Vision and Visus.

Steven Schwartz, MD, sits down with hosts, Jim Mazzo and John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, to discuss the advances and disappointments in retinal disease treatments, innovations in cataract surgery and more.

• Welcome to the Eyeluminaries podcast :10
• A review of the previous episode :42
• News and notes with John and Jim 1:57
• Alcon announces fourth-quarter earnings statement 2:03
• FDA approves J&J Vision AcuVue Theravision contact lens with ketotifen 6:25
• Enhanced monofocal IOLs gaining popularity in Europe 8:47
• Ophthalmologists participating in clinical trials 11:30
• About Steven Schwartz 12:53
• The interview 13:40
• Discussion of current innovation in cataract surgery including use of AI, imaging and robotics 14:25
• Discussion on Schwartz's involvement in Neurotech MacTel cell-based treatment 15:51
• Advances and disappointments in retinal disease treatments? 20:50
• How do companies come back from disappointing trial results? 21:28
• Why do retina discoveries take so long to develop? 25:00
• New dry AMD treatments in development? 26:29
• Drug delivery technologies and will retina specialists use them? 29:33
• What do you predict we'll be doing differently in medicine 2 years from now and why? 32:31
• What's the difference between a retina and cornea specialist? 34:15
• Conclusion and preview of next guest, Eve Higginbotham, MD 36:17
• Steve, thank you very much 37:37
• Look forward to seeing you next time 37:47

Steven Schwartz, MD, is the Ahmanson professor in ophthalmology and the chief of the retina division at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and the director of the Diabetic Eye Disease and Retinal Vascular Center.

John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and in private practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California.

Jim Mazzo sits on numerous ophthalmic industry corporate boards and committees after serving in executive roles with Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss and AMO.

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to [email protected]. Follow John Hovanesian on Twitter @DrHovanesian. You can reach Dr. Schwartz via email at [email protected].

Disclosures: Hovanesian consults widely in the ophthalmic field and specifically with Alcon, Ivantis and Sight Sciences, who are discussed in this episode. Mazzo reports being an adviser for Zeiss, Bain Capital, Avellino Labs, CVC Capital, Anivive Lifesciences; executive chairman of Neurotech, Preceyes BV and TearLab; and sits on the board of Crystilex, Lensgen, IanTech, Centricity Vision and Visus. Schwartz is the co-founder of Horizon Surgical; member on the National Eye Institute Audacious Initiative Scientific executive committee and reports receiving grants from Neurotech, Optos/Nikon, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine; and investigator fees from Neurotech and Optos/Nikon and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

In this episode, hosts Jim Mazzo and John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, discuss the latest news in eyecare, then speak with Eric Rosenberg, DO, about the current state and future of digital ophthalmology.

Intro :10

Brief recap of episode 2 with Nicole Fram :55

News and Notes 1:31

Generic of Allergan's Restasis by Mylan Pharmaceuticals and discussion of generics in the ophthalmic space 2:05

Aramis Biosciences in phase 2 neuromodulator dry eye program and discussion of dry eye 5:12

Jim discusses Aetna's prior authorization for cataract surgery 6:54

Bilateral same day cataract surgery discussion 8:48

Eric Rosenberg, DO, introduction 10:48

What is digital? What is the meaning of digital? 11:38

Goals of the Digital Ophthalmic Society 17:33

Barriers to adoption of digital 22:34

What will DOS be discussing at Eyecelerator@ASCRS? 23:56

What Rosenberg hopes the DOS will achieve in the future 27:38

Thank you, Eric 29:42

Roger Ohanesian to receive Chang/Crandall Humanitarian Award at ASCRS 30:01

Sneak peek at the next episode 32:18

For more information:

John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and in private practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California.

Jim Mazzo sits on numerous ophthalmic industry corporate boards and committees after serving in executive roles with Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss and AMO.

Eric Rosenberg, DO, is a cornea, cataract, and refractive surgeon at SightMD.

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to [email protected]. Follow John Hovanesian on Twitter @DrHovanesian. You can reach Dr. Rosenberg via email at [email protected].

To learn more about the DOS, visit: https://www.digitalophthalmicsociety.com/.

Disclosures: Hovanesian consults widely in the ophthalmic field and specifically with Alcon, Ivantis and Sight Sciences. Mazzo reports being an adviser for Anivive Lifesciences, Avellino Labs, Bain Capital, CVC Capital and Zeiss; executive chairman of Neurotech, Preceyes BV and TearLab; and sits on the board of Centricity Vision, Crystilex, IanTech, Lensgen and Visus. Healio could not confirm relevant financial disclosures for Rosenberg at the time of publication.

Nicole Fram, MD, MPH, is a wearer of many hats and seems to be able to wear them all well. In this episode, she sits down with hosts, Jim Mazzo and John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, to discuss taking over as managing partner for Advanced Vision Care and Samuel Masket, MD, balancing her many professional roles, and shares her point of view on new and upcoming products and technologies in eye care.

• Welcome to the Eyeluminaries podcast :10
• News and notes with John and Jim 1:07
• Alcon completes acquisition of Ivantis 1:11
• FDA approves Genentech's Vabysmo for AMD, DME 3:54
• Sight Science's TearCare system for MGD receives 510(k) clearance 6:32
• About Nicole Fram 9:54
• The interview 11:23
• What is it like to take over a practice from Sam Masket? 13:02
• Being a mom who is running a practice, sitting on boards, being an OSN section editor now, and chairing or sitting on all these committees, how on earth do you do it all, Nicole? 15:51
• Are you getting better at saying no to some things? 18:05
• I know COVID made us kind of rethink everything, which included meetings. But what do you think the future of these meetings are? 19:32
• What do you think about the way this market is going to evolve? How is pilocarpine going to compete with some of these other products? And how do we differentiate between these different offerings? 22:39
• How are you deciding which companies' technologies you decide to spend your very valuable time on? 29:25
• What do you think about the ICA lens? Is that going to take some of what you used to do with LALs? Where's that going to fit in potentially? 31:53
• Thank you, Nicole Fram 36:12
• Thanks for listening 36:50

Nicole Fram, MD, is the managing partner of Advanced Vision Care and a clinical instructor of ophthalmology at the Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles.

John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and in private practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California.

Jim Mazzo sits on numerous ophthalmic industry corporate boards and committees after serving in executive roles with Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss and AMO.

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to [email protected]. Follow John Hovanesian on Twitter @DrHovanesian. You can reach Dr. Fram on Twitter @NicoleFramMD.

Disclosures: Hovanesian consults widely in the ophthalmic field and specifically with Alcon, Ivantis and Sight Sciences, who are discussed in this episode. Mazzo reports being an adviser for Zeiss, Bain Capital, Avellino Labs, CVC Capital, Anivive Lifesciences; executive chairman of Neurotech, Preceyes BV and TearLab; and sits on the board of Crystilex, Lensgen, IanTech, Centricity Vision and Visus. Healio could not confirm relevant financial disclosures for Fram at the time of publication.

In this episode, David W. Parke II, MD, sits down with hosts, Jim Mazzo and John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, to discuss stepping down as the American Academy of Ophthalmology CEO, the highlights of what he accomplished during this time, and his thoughts on the future of ophthalmology.

• Welcome to the Eyeluminaries podcast :10
• News and notes with John and Jim 1:30
• Allergan's Vuity presbyopia-correcting drop gains FDA approval 1:36
• Glaukos' two phase 2 clinical trials for dry eye disease and presbyopia 3:30
• Acufocus' receives "approvable" letter on IC-8 IOL 5:42
• Harrow Health acquires four ophthalmic drugs from Novartis 8:40
• Welcome David Parke 10:54
• What's it like having three generations of ophthalmologists in your family? 11:27
• Why leave the AAO presidency now? What's the significance of 2022? 13:29
• Tell us some of the highlights what are you most proud of during those past years 16:18
• What are your thoughts on the consolidation from private equity? 19:55
• As you look ahead to the future of ophthalmology, what worries you the most and what excites you the most, David? 25:17
• What are your thoughts on the future of meetings? 31:23
• Tell our listeners a little bit about what Verana Health does and what you'll be doing there 35:49
• Thank you, David Parke! 40:26
• Thanks for listening 41:00

John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and in private practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California.

Jim Mazzo sits on numerous ophthalmic industry corporate boards and committees after serving in executive roles with Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss Meditec and AMO.

David W. Parke II, MD, is chairman of the board at Verana Health and former CEO of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to [email protected]. Follow John Hovanesian on Twitter @DrHovanesian.

Disclosures: Hovanesian consults widely in the ophthalmic field and specifically with Acufocus, Allergan, Glaukos and Novartis who were mentioned in this episode. Mazzo reports being an adviser for Anivive Lifesciences, Avellino, Bain Capital, CVC Capital, Zeiss Labs; executive chairman of Neurotech, Preceyes BV and TearLab; and sits on the board of Centricity Vision, Crystilex, IanTech, Lensgen, and Visus. Parke reports a financial interest in Verana Health.

In each episode, your hosts John A. Hovanesian, MD, and Jim Mazzo explore the latest news and trends with newsmakers and visionaries in eye care.

Hovanesian is OSN Associate Medical Editor and in private practice at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Beach, California

Mazzo sits on numerous ophthalmic industry corporate boards and committees after serving in executive roles with Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss Meditec and AMO.