Rick Eiswirth
President and Chief Executive Officer, Alimera Sciences
Richard S. Eiswirth, Jr. was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer effective January 2, 2019. Mr. Eiswirth previously served as President and Chief Financial Officer of our Company since January 2016; our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer from August 2010 until December 2015 and as our Chief Financial Officer from October 2005 to August 2010. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Eiswirth served as founding partner of Brand Ignition Group, engaged in consumer products acquisition activities. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Eiswirth served as President of Black River Holdings, Inc., a financial consultancy he founded in 2002. Mr. Eiswirth served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Executive Vice President of Netzee, Inc., a provider of Internet banking solutions to community banks from 1999 to 2002. Mr. Eiswirth held various positions with Arthur Andersen, where he began his career, from 1991 to 1999. Mr. Eiswirth serves as a director of Celtaxsys Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, where he also chairs the audit committee. Mr. Eiswirth previously served as chairman, audit committee chairman and member of the compensation committee of Jones Soda Co., a Seattle, Washington based beverage company, and as director and audit committee chairman of Color Imaging, Inc., a Norcross, Georgia based manufacturer of printer and copier supplies. Mr. Eiswirth was previously a Certified Public Accountant in Georgia. Mr. Eiswirth holds a B.A. in accounting from Wake Forest University
Brian Halak, Ph.D., B.S.E.
Partner at Domain Associates, L.L.C. and CEO of WindMIL Therapeutics
Brian K. Halak, Ph.D. has been a member of our board of directors since 2004. Dr. Halak joined Domain Associates, L.L.C. in 2001 and has served as a Partner of Domain Associates, L.L.C. since 2006. Dr. Halak currently serves as CEO of WindMIL Therapeutics, a company that Domain and Dr. Halak helped create. Prior to joining Domain Associates, L.L.C., Dr. Halak served as an analyst of Advanced Technology Ventures from 2000 to 2001. From 1993 to 1995, Dr. Halak served as an analyst of Wilkerson Group. Dr. Halak holds a Doctorate in Immunology from Thomas Jefferson University and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Halak has served on the board of directors of more than ten emerging companies in the life sciences industry in the past ten years. These companies include Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which completed a public offering on Nasdaq in 2014, Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public company listed on Nasdaq, and Esprit Pharma, Inc., a company Allergan acquired in 2007.
Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D
Managing Partner, Sofinnova HealthQuest
Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D., has been a member of our board of directors since 2012. Dr. Kong has been the Managing Partner of Sofinnova HealthQuest, a healthcare investment firm, since July 2013. He was a General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on life sciences, from September 2010 to December 2013. From 2000 to 2010, he was at Intersouth Partners, a venture capital firm, most recently as a General Partner, where he was a founding investor or board member for various life sciences ventures, several of which were acquired by large pharmaceutical companies. Since 2006 Dr. Kong has served on the board of directors of Melinta Therapeutics, Inc., where he was Chairman from 2008-2017. Dr. Kong has served on the board of Histogenics Corporation, a public regenerative medicine company since 2012, where he also serves as the chairman of the board. Dr. Kong also serves on the board of LabCorp, a public healthcare company, since December 2013 and Strongbridge Biopharma plc, a public rare disease biomedical company, since September 2015. Dr. Kong sits on the Duke University Medical Center Board of Visitors. Dr. Kong holds a B.S. in chemical engineering and biological sciences from Stanford University. He holds an M.D., Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and an M.B.A. from Duke University.
James R. Largent, M.B.A.
Lead Independent Director
James R. Largent has been a member of our board of directors since 2011 and became chairman on May 6, 2015, a position he held until December 2018. Mr. Largent has worked extensively within the medical industry. He most recently served as a medical and pharmaceutical consultant, including work with the U.S. ophthalmic device company, Eyeonics Inc. Also in his role as a consultant, he assisted a multinational pharmaceutical and medical device company in the evaluation of strategic targets. Prior to this, Mr. Largent served in various senior management positions at Allergan, Inc., including as vice president of strategic planning where he fostered licensing deals to build product pipelines. Earlier in his career, he was vice president of strategic marketing at Allergan Medical Optics, Inc. Mr. Largent also held positions of increasing responsibility in the marketing and sales departments at Allergan and Pharmacia Ophthalmics. In addition to serving on our board of directors, Mr. Largent is on the board of directors of SOLX Inc., a privately held company focused on the management and surgical treatment of glaucoma. He previously served on the board of directors of Tear Science, Inc., a privately held developer of diagnostic and therapeutic devices for the treatment of patients with dry eye disease. Mr. Largent earned a B.A. in chemistry and an M.B.A., both from the University of California, Irvine.
Dan Myers
Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, interim CEO of Leo Lens Pharma
Dan Myers is one of our co-founders and served as Chief Executive Officer and as a director from 2003 until his retirement in December 2018. Before founding our Company, Mr. Myers was an initial employee of Novartis Ophthalmics (formerly CIBA Vision Ophthalmics) and served as its Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1991 to 1997 and as President from 1997 to 2003. Mr. Myers holds a B.S. in Industrial Management from Georgia Institute of Technology. Mr. Myers has years of ophthalmic pharmaceutical experience. Mr. Myers served on the board of directors of Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. from 2009 to 2012. Mr. Myers is the interim CEO of Leo Lens Pharmaceuticals and serves on a number of industry boards.
Peter J. Pizzo, III
Chief Financial Officer, ControlRad
Peter J. Pizzo, III has been a member of our board of directors since 2010. and is the Chief Financial Officer of ControlRad. From 2005 until 2018, Mr. Pizzo served as the Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Carticept Medical, Inc., a private medical device company, and from December 2011 until its sale in 2018 as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Cartiva, Inc., a private orthopedic medical device company spinout from Carticept. From 2002 until its sale in 2005, Mr. Pizzo served as the Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Proxima Therapeutics, Inc., a private medical device company that developed and marketed local radiation delivery systems for the treatment of solid cancerous tumors. From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Pizzo worked for Serologicals Corporation, a publicly traded global provider of biological products to life science companies, ultimately serving as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. From 1995 to 1996, Mr. Pizzo served as Vice President of Administration and Controller of ValueMark Healthcare Systems, Inc., a privately held owner-operator of psychiatric hospitals. From 1992 until its sale in 1995, Mr. Pizzo served in various senior financial positions at Hallmark Healthcare Corporation, a publicly traded hospital management company, most recently as Treasurer. Mr. Pizzo holds a Bachelor of Science with Special Attainments in Commerce from Washington and Lee University. Mr. Pizzo is an audit committee financial expert as that term is defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.
John Snisarenko
Chief Commercial Officer, Oyster Point Pharma
John Snisarenko has been a member of our board of directors since July 2019. Mr. Snisarenko has more than 30 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including major retina and ophthalmology businesses. Mr. Snisarenko is currently the Chief Commercial Officer for Oyster Point Pharma where he is responsible for all commercial strategy and execution for Oyster Point Pharma’s growing clinical portfolio. Mr. Snisarenko worked at Shire (now Takeda) in 2017 as Group Vice President and Head of its ophthalmic business. and played a key role in the divestiture of the ophthalmic business to Novartis Pharma. Prior to joining Shire, Mr. Snisarenko led commercial activities for Genentech’s ophthalmology (Lucentis(r)) and rheumatology (Rituxan(r), Actemra(r)) franchises for 10 years. Mr. Snisarenko also held various positions of increasing responsibility at CIBA Vision/Novartis Pharma. Mr. Snisarenko has held numerous advisory board positions and was a board member for the Foundation Fighting Blindness in Canada. He holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Mary T. Szela, M.B.A., B.S.N.
Chief Executive Officer and President, Surefire Medical, Inc.
Mary T. Szela, M.B.A., has been a member of our board of directors since 2018. Ms. Szela is currently the Chief Executive Officer and President of Surefire Medical Inc., which develops infusion technologies for cancer care. With nearly 30 years of experience in both the commercial and clinical arenas, Ms. Szela has built billion-dollar businesses, turned around faltering businesses, ignited growth in stagnant businesses, and devised innovative, differentiated product strategies. Prior to joining Surefire Medical as its CEO and President, Ms. Szela served as CEO of Novelion Therapeutics, a rare disease company, where she orchestrated the merger of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals and QLT Therapeutics. Prior to Novelion, she was CEO of Melinta Therapeutics. Ms. Szela held ascending management positions at Abbott Laboratories, including President of the company’s $8 billion U.S. pharmaceutical business. Ms. Szela developed global brands such as Humira® and served as Vice President for global strategic marketing and services. In addition to serving on Alimera’s board, Ms. Szela currently serves as a member of the board of directors for Surefire Medical, Inc., Coherus Biosciences and Macrolide Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Szela earned an M.B.A. and a B.S. in nursing, both from the University of Illinois.