Hosts Jim Mazzo and John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, are live at the Eyecelerator 2023 with five special guests to discuss the future and developments in eye care.

·       Welcome to the Eyeluminaries podcast :00

·       Preview of episode 15 :32

·       Review of episode 14, STAAR Surgical :40

·       Nick Curtis, CEO of Lensar 1:41

·       Lensar is a unique company with loyal customers. How have you achieved that? 3:21

·       What are the positives and challenges to not having a large organization as support? 4:09

·       Where do you see the company and its products evolving over the next 5 years? 8:01

·       Do you think the company is going to grow because you are taking share? Or because you are taking share and the market is going to grow? 10:06

·       What is the accelerator for market growth? 10:19

·       Who’s your favorite Chicago team? 12:03

·       Juliet Bakker, managing director and founder of Longitude Capital 13:11

·       What makes ophthalmology an appealing specialty to you from an investment and a personal perspective? 14:30

·       Give a sense of how you see Eyecelerator as an investor. 18:32

·       What did you learn from failed investments? 21:39

·       What are the signs of success that you look for? 23:03

·       Ramin Valian, vice president Eye Care Allergan/AbbVie 24:31

·       What is happening in ophthalmology at AbbVie? 25:21

·       What were the key learnings after launching Vuity? 27:52

·       Does ophthalmology have the same momentum as aesthetics? 30:12

·       Susan Siw Daniels, PhD, chief scientific officer at Avellino Labs 34:11

·       Why is your background perfect for Avellino? 35:06

·       What things did you see transform in other specialties that you see potentially happening in ophthalmology? 38:02

·       What data are you looking for to expand predictive testing and treatments in eye care in the future? 39:07

·       How do you get ophthalmologists more involved in genetic testing? 40:30

·       Julie Schallhorn, MD, MS 43:00

·       What’s new at the Eyecelerator? 44:42

·       What are the signs of success in a startup company? 47:44

·       What is your advice for people who want to balance their time with a medical career and personal life? 49:45

·       Preview of episode 16 53:28

·       Feedback, questions and guest suggestions at [email protected] 53:56

·       Thanks for listening 54:02

Juliet Bakker is a managing director and founder of Longitude Capital.

Nick Curtis is chief executive officer and member of the board of directors at Lensar.

Susan Siw Daniels, PhD, is the chief scientific officer at Avellino.

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 is an ophthalmic industry veteran with over 40 years as CEO/Chairman of both public and private companies, including Allergan, Avellino Labs, Carl Zeiss, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals and AMO. Additionally, he is an advisor for Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners and sits on numerous industry boards such as MDMA.

Julie Schallhorn, MD, MS, is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at UCSF.

Ramin Valian is the vice president of Eye Care Allergan/AbbVie.

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

Disclosures: Bakker serves on the boards of Ceribell, Engogenex, Nalu Medical and RxSight. Curtis is a member of the board of directors for Lensar. 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. Schallhorn sits on the Ophthalmic Technology Assessment Committee for Refractive Surgery for the American Academy of Ophthalmolgy and the Young Eye Surgeons Committee for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.