Helping people suffering from sight loss

Ophthalmologist and biotechnology executive Dr David Guyer is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of EyeBio, which was acquired by Merck in July 2024. In addition to EyeBio, he has established successful ophthalmology companies Iveric Bio and Eyetech Pharmaceuticals. At the latter company, David developed and commercialised the first anti-VEGF drug for retinal diseases.

Dr. Thomas Ciulla joined Ikarovec as President and CEO in May 2025, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience in ophthalmology, biotech, and academia. His career spans innovations in angiogenesis, drug delivery, gene therapy, and rare and autoimmune diseases, with a proven track record of FDA approvals and value creation in both early-stage and publicly traded companies. Recognized for building strong teams and strategic partnerships, Dr. Ciulla excels at translating scientific and clinical insights into business strategy and effectively communicating complex value propositions to investors, analysts and industry partners.

Dr Jean-Philippe Combal is Co-Founder and CEO of Vivet Therapeutics, which is developing gene therapies for rare diseases, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for gene therapy platform company SpliceBio SL. He gained his gene therapy and ophthalmology expertise, via roles at GenSight Biologics and Sanofi-Fovea, and has been instrumental in multiple fund raising, IPO & licensing deals.

Dr Katie Binley has three decades’ of gene therapy expertise playing key-roles at Oxford BioMedica as Head of Research developing early stage products from bench-to-clinical transition for several ocular indications. She later was Project Lead for a Parkinson’s gene therapy program and joined Ikarovec from a Head of Pre-clinical role at PepGen, a University of Oxford spin-out addressing the delivery challenge of nucleic acid therapies for DMD.

Oliver specialises in life science investments and in 2014 joined UKI2S, an early-stage seed/series A fund backing companies developing complex science and engineering led solutions to global challenges including therapeutic, medtech, agritech and industrial biotech companies. He sits on the board of several companies. Previously he managed commercialisation of technologies at Imperial Innovations and worked at Ark Therapeutics as well as managing a team of biotech buy-side analysts.

Martin joined Parkwalk, the largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin outs, in 2016. He is responsible for new investments and managing existing portfolio companies across the deep tech portfolio. Prior to Parkwalk, he spent time as an equity analyst at leading investment banks in London and Hong Kong and worked as an investment manager at leading European hedge funds, he obtained a BA in Chemistry at Oxford.

Chris joined LifeArc in 2021, and he previously held key business development roles in the investment and charity research industries, sourcing, assessing and converting life science opportunities. He was an Associate at the trans-Atlantic venture investor Advent Life Sciences, and worked for ten years in the University technology transfer sector with UCL Business and Cancer Research Technology. He earned an M.Biochem from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Cambridge.

Charles C. Wykoff, MD, PhD is Director of Research at Retina Consultants of Texas and Chairman of Research, Retina Consultants of America. He earned his BS from MIT, PhD from Oxford University while on a Marshall Scholarship, MD from Harvard Medical School, and retina training at BPEI. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts and serves on multiple scientific and medical advisory boards, safety monitoring committees, and global steering committees for endeavors spanning the innovative process from early to late-stage developments. He serves on the ASRS Executive Committee and Board of Directors, is a founding member of the Ophthalmology Retina Editorial Board and is a member of the NEI Audacious Goals Steering Committee.

Dr. Carl D. Regillo is Director of the Retina Service at Wills Eye Hospital and Professor of Ophthalmology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed his ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital, followed by four years of military service as a vitreoretinal surgeon. Dr. Regillo has served as principal investigator for numerous major international clinical trials investigating treatments for macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and other retinal conditions. He has authored over 300 scientific papers and received multiple distinguished awards, including Charter Inductee status in the Retina Hall of Fame.

Dr. Dean Eliott is Director Emeritus of the Mass Eye and Ear Retina Service and Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, where he also serves as Co-Director of the Diabetic Eye Disease Center of Excellence. He completed his medical training at Vanderbilt University and vitreoretinal fellowship at Duke University before joining Harvard Medical School faculty. Dr. Eliott specializes in diabetic retinopathy, AMD, complex vitreoretinal surgery, and innovative treatments including stem cell therapy and vision-restoring devices. He has published over 300 research works and actively participates as principal investigator in multiple clinical trials for retinal diseases.

Dr. Anat Loewenstein is Professor and Director of Retina at the Division of Ophthalmology, and Vice President for Ambulatory affairs at Tel Aviv Medical Center and Sydney Fox Chair of Ophthalmology at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. She currently serves as President of EURETINA (European Society of Retina Specialists) and has pioneered cutting-edge technologies including home OCT monitoring and artificial intelligence algorithms for retinal disease detection. Dr. Loewenstein specializes in drug administration to the retina, early AMD detection, and played a pivotal role in developing of multiple technologies. She has published over 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Case Reports in Ophthalmology while maintaining leadership roles across multiple international retinal organizations.

Dr. Christine A. Curcio is Professor Emerita of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is internationally recognized for pioneering research in human retinal neuroscience and AMD pathobiology, particularly her foundational work on photoreceptor mapping, drusen composition, and histologic validation of clinical retinal imaging. Dr. Curcio has published over 280 scientific papers with more than 38,000 citations and contributed to the development rod-mediated dark adaptation as a functional risk indicator for AMD. She has received numerous prestigious awards including the 2025 Proctor Medal from ARVO and the 2020 Research to Prevent Blindness David F. Weeks Award.

Dr. S. Patricia Becerra is Senior Investigator and Head of the Section of Protein Structure and Function at the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Navarra, Spain, and completed postdoctoral training at multiple NIH institutes focusing on enzymology and molecular virology. Dr. Becerra is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking research on PEDF (Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor) and its therapeutic applications for retinal diseases. Her work on PEDF structure-function relationships and neuroprotective mechanisms has led to clinical trials for age-related macular degeneration, with over 140 publications advancing the field of retinal therapeutics.

Dr. Rajendra Kumar-Singh is Professor of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology at Tufts University School of Medicine with secondary appointments in Neuroscience and Ophthalmology. He earned his PhD in Ocular Genetics from Trinity College, University of Dublin, and previously served as Scientific Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Hemera Biosciences, which was acquired by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kumar-Singh specializes in gene therapy for retinal diseases and complement system research, having invented soluble sCD59 (HMR59) therapy for geographic atrophy. His research focuses on developing novel gene delivery systems and anti-angiogenic treatments, with particular expertise in complement-mediated retinal diseases.