SAMSARA VISION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director
- Co - Founder and CEO of Innovatus Capital Partners
David Schiff is the co-founder and CEO of Innovatus Capital Partners, a boutique specialty finance asset management firm focused on private credit and asset-based investments and serves on the investment committee of all Innovatus investment vehicles. He participates on the boards of several portfolio companies across healthcare, consumer and equipment businesses and has managed capital for limited partners across institutions, pension funds and endowments over the last twenty-five years. Prior to founding Innovatus, Mr. Schiff was a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners and the Portfolio Manager of the Asset Based Value Funds from 2008 to 2016 that had over $2 billion of equity under management.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Worldwide Clinical & Medical Affairs
Dr. Rebecca Kammer brings over 20 years of experience in academia, low vision patient care, clinician education, endpoint development, and professional consulting. She is a world-renowned expert in low vision models of patient care and has conducted cutting-edge clinical trial research in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and other retinal conditions. Prior to joining Samsara Vision, Dr. Kammer served as the Vice President of Clinical Operations at jCyte Inc, where she led the clinical studies for a cell therapy for retinitis pigmentosa. She also owned her own consulting firm that supported clinical studies of therapies and devices for visual impairment and retinal diseases. This support included extensive experience with the first-generation implantable miniature telescope. During this consulting phase, Dr. Kammer mentored clinicians in the practice of low vision rehabilitation while simultaneously founding the low vision service within UC Irvine's Gavin Herbert Eye Institute department of ophthalmology. Her earlier professional years included teaching optics and low vision at optometry schools and leading the low vision clinical department at the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO). Dr. Kammer holds a bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering from University of LaVerne, a Doctor of Optometry degree from SCCO and a PhD in Higher Ed.
Job Titles:
- General Manager
- Vice President, Research & Development
Eli Aharoni has been with Samsara Vision since its formation and is responsible for the Company's operations at its Petah Tikva, Israel facility. He has over 30 years of experience leading research and development programs, and a strong background in program management and mechanical engineering. Mr. Aharoni also has over a decade of experience in the Class III medical devices industry. Prior to joining Samsara Vision, his extensive background includes being Commander of a large research and development center in the Israeli military industry.
Mr. Aharoni holds a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Chief Commercial Officer - Europe
Jason joined Samsara Vision in August of 2021 and brings over 24 years Ophthalmic Medical Device, Pharmaceutical and OTC business experience. Jason has lived and worked in Canada, USA, Switzerland and Czech Republic. He has successfully held many roles of increasing responsibility in Sales, Sales Management, Country, Regional and Global Marketing, Country General Management, and as the Franchise Head for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Russia for Alcon. Jason is the winner of sales, marketing, and management awards including as the General Manager of the top market in the company for sales growth and expense management. Jason earned his Bachelor's in Communications from Saint Mary's University in Canada and an MBA from the University of Toronto in Canada.
Jonathan H. Talamo, M.D. is internationally known as an experienced surgeon and thought leader in the ophthalmology field, particularly in the areas of corneal disease, cataract and refractive surgery. Also an experienced health care executive, Dr. Talamo was until January 2020 as the Chief Medical Officer/Worldwide VP of Clinical and Medical Affairs, Johnson and Johnson Vision and prior to that as the Chief Medical Officer at Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. With more than 25 years of clinical practice experience in Boston, MA, he served on the Harvard Medical School faculty as well as a founder, board member and medical director of a large Ophthalmic ASC (Surgisite Boston) and The Laser Eye Center of Boston, LLC. Dr. Talamo is a past recipient of Honor and Senior Achievement awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Investor Contact
Josh Fox joined Samsara Vision in January 2021 as CFO after serving as a senior advisor to Montminy & Co. and, earlier, as managing director, head of real estate, lodging, and leisure investment banking at Stout. In addition, Mr. Fox brings nearly 25 years of diversified investment banking and legal experience, having advised public and privately held companies on a wide range of topics including mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, financial restructuring, and strategic alternatives. He earned his Bachelor's in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law. Mr. Fox is registered with FINRA and holds the Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Worldwide Marketing
Mike Besserman joined Samsara Vision in January of 2021. Mike brings to Samsara Vision 18 years of commercial, ophthalmology marketing and sales experience stemming from time at both Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Alcon Laboratories, where he specialized in the cataract, dry eye, glaucoma and retina space. He has built and led several teams as a U.S. commercial sales leader and spent over five years helping to build and grow a Key Account Management Team focused on the largest and most complex ophthalmology accounts in the U.S. in both marketing and director roles. Most recently prior to Samsara Vision, he held roles in marketing and sales leadership for Novartis Retina, where he was part of the build and launch of the newest Anti-VEGF for wet age-related macular degeneration. Mr. Besserman earned his Bachelor of Arts in communication and marketing from Towson University.
Job Titles:
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Mr. DeNelsky has served as a member of our board of directors since 2015. Mr. DeNelsky has over 20 years of healthcare investment experience across all sectors including medical devices and diagnostics. Prior to founding LSAF in 2013, Mr. DeNelsky worked for 12 years at various hedge funds as a healthcare analyst and portfolio manager. Mr.DeNelsky managed Sapphire Capital, a healthcare only hedge fund that returned mid-high teens returns from 2005-2007 and attracted over $230 million in capital. Mr. DeNelsky served as lead director of Amicas (NASDAQ: AMCS), a healthcare technology company, from 2001-2010. Prior to his direct investment experience, Mr. DeNelsky was a Senior Equity Analyst at CS First Boston, Deutsche Bank and Furman Selz covering a variety of healthcare services companies. Before coming to Wall Street, Mr. DeNelsky worked in the healthcare industry for a healthcare consulting, mergers and acquisitions and valuation firm based in Washington D.C.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Mr. Clidiere has served as a member of our board of directors since 2016. Mr. Clidiere brings more than forty years of executive experience in marketing, sales and acquisition management within the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. Launching his career at Pfizer, Inc., Mr. Clidiere held various roles in the areas of sales, marketing, operations and business development in several of their international offices. In 1983, he joined Alcon Laboratories, where he spent the next 28 years in executive management positions including General Manager & President of Alcon Spain, President of Alcon France , Area President of Alcon Latin America, Area President of Alcon Europe, Middle East & Africa and, until 2011, Vice President Strategic and Commercial Integration Alcon/Novartis. Mr. Clidiere is a member of the board of ORA Clinicals, and HKI International.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- President
Thomas Ruggia joined Samsara Vision as the Chief Executive Officer in July 2020. With nearly 20 years of ophthalmology business experience, he has a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the health care environment in the United States and abroad, as well as significant experience in the development and commercialization of vision products with differing regulatory and pricing structures.
Before joining Samsara Vision, Mr. Ruggia spent five years at Johnson & Johnson, working at Johnson & Johnson Vision and The Janssen Pharma Co, respectively. Most recently at Johnson & Johnson Vision, he was the Vice President WW Customer Experience and Ocular Surface Disease, responsible for two global commercial teams working in customer strategy, customer service, and field technical service. At Janssen, he was the commercial strategy leader in ophthalmology assigned to an asset in development for AMD. Previously, Mr. Ruggia spent fourteen years at Alcon, a division of Novartis, working in a variety of ophthalmology sales and marketing roles with escalating responsibility. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from The College of New Jersey in 1998.
Since 2019, Tracy M. Valorie is the owner and president of TMV Associates LLC, a strategic consulting firm to pharmaceutical and medical devices companies with a focus on early stage and start-up activations. With more than 25 years' experience in general management, commercial development, strategic planning, and brand and customer marketing, Ms. Valorie found success at Bausch + Lomb, were she was most recently the Sr. Vice President, General Manager Bausch + Lomb, a Valeant Company US Pharmaceuticals and Surgical Business, and Sr. Vice President, General Manager Women's Health. She also spent 21 years supporting the ophthalmologic and other business lines at Pfizer.