Tim Willis

CEO, Chairman of the Board

Tim has worked in Dry Eye for more than 15 years. In that time, he developed the Soothe XP artificial tear product currently marketed by Bausch and Lomb. He helped develop and license Systane Balance to Alcon. Most recently, he was the founder, inventor, and CEO of TearScience, a medtech company started to diagnose and treat Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, the leading cause of Dry Eye. During his tenure at TearScience he raised $134M in funding, approved 4 products for the diagnosis and treatment of evaporative dry eye and launched them in over 30 countries and obtained regulatory clearance in over 50 countries. TearScience was acquired by Johnson and Johnson. Tim holds a BS in Electro-Mechanical Engineering and is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.

Ralph Stone, PhD

Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Stone was the VP of Consumer R&D at Alcon/Novartis where he developed and launched over 15 ophthalmic products including the Systane® dry eye artificial tear product line. A PhD chemist by training, Ralph has 35 years of ophthalmic R&D experience and is a recognized FDA expert in the field of ophthalmology. Ralph holds degrees from Middlebury and Bowdoin was well as a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Vermont.

Joe Huber

Chief Operating Officer

Joe has a decade of experience developing, financing, and launching early stage medical technologies. As a product manager at Midmark Corporation, he was responsible for the full lifecycle of a portfolio of dental, anesthesia, and vital signs devices, which saw years of profitable double-digit growth. Joe has since worked with startups in the device and consumer sectors, was a fellow at an early-stage venture capital fund, and interned at Silicon Valley Bank’s Bay Area Life Science Practice. Joe has a BS from the University of Louisville and received his MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Diethart Reichardt

Chief Marketing Officer & Board Director

Diethart is the former President of Allergan’s Consumer/OTC Products division, a global business focused on contact lenses, contact lens care, ocular lubricants, and dry eye products. During his  35 years there, he managed businesses of all stages, including capital equipment, disposables and medical devices, as well as pharmaceuticals and OTC products.

Kent Geer

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Mr. Geer is a former partner with Ernst & Young. Kent has more than 30 years of experience and track record serving numerous public and private companies in a variety of industries including biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceuticals and other technology companies. During his tenure, Mr. Geer was the audit practice leader for Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Services Group and was the market team leader for the technology industry practice. Kent holds a BS in Business from UNC Chapel Hill and is a CPA.

Tony Dzaibo

Senior Executive experienced leader in R&D, Regulatory Affairs, Quality, engineering, product development, operations and general management related to medical device, pharmaceutical and chemical specialties industries. Creativity and innovation demonstrated by 20 US patents. Key member of management team responsible for overall business strategy and business unit performance. Successful in building and managing diverse, multi-disciplinary teams in meeting goals and targets, executing projects on time and on budget; acting as a champion and as an agent of change. Computer literate. Negotiated contracts and participated on business teams in acquisitions, new technology sourcing and development. Consultant for CMC in start-up companies. Expert witness for ophthalmic formulations.

Mary Jo Potter

Director

Mary Jo Potter has been an active entrepreneur and investor for 30 years. Having sold a company to McGraw Hill, she became active in angel investing in Chicago, and upon moving to the Bay Area, she joined Keiretsu Forum, where she has been a member for 18 years. She has invested in a variety of entities but is now focused on the healthcare sector. Mary Jo is now Managing Partner of Healthcare Angels, a GP in Keiretsu Capital, an LP in Purple Arch Ventures (Northwestern University’s venture fund), LP in Portfolia, and a member of Band of Angels and Skydeck.

Mary Jo has held executive positions with Highperlink, Sibson/Segal, Omega, and Oxicon/McGraw Hill. Her clients have included Kaiser, Partners, Trinity Health, WEBMD, Sutter, and Genentech. She has held or is currently on many boards, including CHW/Dignity/Common Spirit, CHI, Christus, UC School of Public Health, Hope Unlimited in Brazil, GTU, Hanna Center, Compli, Les Concierges, Jean Paul in France, NACD (NCAL), Ocular Sciences/Cooper, International Women’s Forum, and Northwestern University School of Social Policy.

She has a bachelor’s from Siena Heights University where she also sat on the Board, a Master’s from Northwestern University where she is currently on the School of Social Policy board and has done an Executive program at Stanford in India. She is a member of Women Corporate Directors, the International Women’s Forum, and the National Association of Corporate Directors. In her ‘spare” time, Mary Jo enjoys tennis, cooking, travelling wherever airplanes fly, and working with disadvantaged young people.

Cynthia Schwalm

Director

Cynthia is a recently retired company-building biotechnology CEO specializing in commercial/operational strategy, with decades of leadership experience developing, expanding, and breathing life into various organizations such as top tier big pharma/biotech (J&J, Amgen), mid-size specialty pharmaceuticals (Ipsen SA) and start-up biotech environments. She has been characterized as a forward-thinking leader who advanced from health care provider to CEO while directing nearly every corporate function (medical, regulatory, all commercial operations, manufacturing, and all corporate business functions). Her reputation for taking decisive action and a holistic, maverick approach to inspiring change and adding value from the patient’s bedside to the boardroom has been instrumental in fueling growth for several publicly traded companies. Cynthia is a member of University of North Carolina’s Carolina Angel Network and serves on the board of the following organizations:

Eshelman Innovation Institute University of North Carolina
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC
Kadmon Group Inc.
Caladrius Biosciences Inc.
G1 Therapeutics Inc.

Jim Murphy

Independent Director

Jim Murphy is an accomplished, results oriented senior leader with over 25 years experience in the eye care industry. Jim began his career at Alcon in 1995 as a Surgical Equipment Manager in Boston. Over the years he held positions of increasing responsibility across all three divisions, Pharmaceuticals, Surgical Devices and Consumer Products/Contact Lenses.

He earned a reputation as a team builder who could turn around an organization or business and consistently meet or exceed expectations and performance plans. In 2002 he and his family moved to the Alcon Ft. Worth Texas Headquarters where Jim started a new Pharmaceutical Hospital Sales Division. In 2005, he was promoted to Director of Regional Marketing and Operations for Alcon’s CAFE Division (Canada, Australia and Far East) where he was responsible for building infrastructure and strategy to accelerate growth. This experience earned him a promotion in 2008 to lead Alcon’s Global OTC/Consumer Products Division.

In 2011, upon the completion of the Novartis acquisition of Alcon, Murphy was again promoted to lead the integration of the Alcon OTC and the Ciba Contact Lens Business. As the VP/GM of this new entity, Murphy seamlessly and successfully grew the U.S. business to over $1 billion in annual sales and delivered double digit growth versus market for three consecutive years.

Following this experience, in 2014, Murphy was then asked to turn around Alcon Japan, the company’s second largest market. As President of Alcon Japan, Jim joined the Alcon Executive Leadership Team and the Novartis Top 200 Leaders group. Here again, his experience across all three of Alcon’s business units proved to be invaluable, achieving or exceeding both financial and organizational objectives for the 5 years he managed the region.

Jim received his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Vermont and received a Master of International Management from the University of Denver. After living and traveling much of the world, Jim and his wife Katie now reside on the shoreline of Gloucester, MA. Jim spends his time these days consulting for investors and startups in the eye care industry. For fun he and his wife enjoy traveling, gardening, home renovating and spending time with their two granddaughters.

Tim Willis

CEO, Chairman of the Board

Tim has worked in Dry Eye for more than 15 years. In that time, he developed the Soothe XP artificial tear product currently marketed by Bausch and Lomb. He helped develop and license Systane Balance to Alcon. Most recently, he was the founder, inventor, and CEO of TearScience, a medtech company started to diagnose and treat Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, the leading cause of Dry Eye. During his tenure at TearScience he raised $134M in funding, approved 4 products for the diagnosis and treatment of evaporative dry eye and launched them in over 30 countries and obtained regulatory clearance in over 50 countries. TearScience was acquired by Johnson and Johnson. Tim holds a BS in Electro-Mechanical Engineering and is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.

Diethart Reichardt

Chief Marketing Officer & Board Director

Diethart is the former President of Allergan’s Consumer/OTC Products division, a global business focused on contact lenses, contact lens care, ocular lubricants, and dry eye products. During his  35 years there, he managed businesses of all stages, including capital equipment, disposables and medical devices, as well as pharmaceuticals and OTC products.

Charles Hamner, DVM, PhD

Known as the “Biofather of North Carolina”, Dr. Hamner served as the President of The NC Biotechnology Center. He is credited with building the thriving Biotech industry that drives the Triangle’s economy. Dr. Hamner, in working with several foundations and pharmaceutical companies, developed 22 pharmaceutical products currently on the market, 15 of which are OTC products.

Alan N. Carlson, MD

Dr. Carlson serves as Duke University Vice Chair of Departmental Development and Professor and former Chairman of Ophthalmology specializing in cataract, refractive, and corneal surgery. Dr. Carlson was selected among the top 6 refractive surgeons in university settings. His innovative work has been featured in publications such as Time Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and RedBook.

Edward J. Holland, MD

Dr. Holland is the Director of Cornea Services at Cincinnati Eye Institute and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati. He formerly served as the President for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery from 2011-2012. He was also a member of the Executive Committee and now serves as the Program Chair. Dr. Holland was a former member of the Board of Trustees for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He has also served on numerous committees and as the Secretariat of the Annual Meeting for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Holland has served as the Chair of the Eye Bank Association and was the former Chair of the Medical Advisory Board as well as a longtime member of the Board of Directors. He is the past President of the Cornea Society and previously served many years on its Board of Directors.

Michael Christensen, OD, PhD, FAAO

With decades of experience in Industry, Academia and Private Practice. Christensen is an expert on the tear film and ocular surface. He has dozens of publications and led Alcon’s clinical trial programs for Dry Eye. He is a Senior Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.

Michael S. Korenfeld, MD, ACOS

Dr. Michael S. Korenfeld, MD, ACOS is a Board Certified ophthalmologist. Dr. Korenfeld is a Founding Member of ACOS, and was inducted because of his 20 years of performing FDA clinical trials (over 30 in dry eye) and his ophthalmic surgical inventions, which are used in operating rooms around the world.

Gerd Geerling, MD

As the director of the UKD University Eye Clinic Düsseldorf, Germany Dr. Geerling specializes in the treatment of diseases of the anterior and exterior segment of the eye with a focus on: orthoptic and neuro-ophthalmology, diseases of the eyelids and tear canal as well as refractive surgery. His research focus is on corneal transplant procedures, dry eyes, and novel tear substitutes. Professor Geerling is also the chairman of the Dry Eye group of the BVA, Federal Association of German Ophthalmologists and since 2005, the editor of the Journal Current Eye Research.