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Prior to joining Stuart, David served as Vice President, Finance & Accounting and Principal Accounting Officer at Chimerix, Inc., where he led the company’s finance and accounting functions and played a key role in strategic corporate initiatives. His experience includes Chimerix’s IPO and follow-on financings, which raised more than $600 million in capital, as well as M&A activities, including the company’s $935 million all-cash acquisition in 2025. Earlier in his career, David spent eight years with Ernst & Young, where he advanced to Senior Manager serving clients across multiple industries.

David is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Master of Accounting and a B.S. in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bob held leadership and advisory positions with the Florida Society of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Vanderbilt University Eye Institute. He was also an accomplished entrepreneur, having served as Chief Executive Officer of Ascent Surgical Partners, an ambulatory surgery center management company, and Chairman of MedAmerica HealthCare Suppliers, a medical supplies company exporting to Central America. Dr. Baratta received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was elected to the Board of Directors of FPIC Insurance Group in 1996 and was elected its Chairman in 1999. FPIC Insurance Group was listed on the NASDAQ exchange (NASDAQ: FPIC) until its sale in 2010. Dr. Baratta was responsible for the turnaround of that business, its subsequent sale and successful return of value to shareholders.

Both Research to Prevent Blindness and the Foundation Fighting Blindness have recognized Dr. Pennesi with career development awards to support his ambition to conduct transitional research that will bring treatments for diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa from the laboratory to the clinic. Additionally, he is the recipient of the 2011 ARVO/Alcon Early Clinician Scientist, the Alcon Young investigator Award in 2014, and the Casey Eye Institute Resident teach award. His research focuses on developing novel treatments for inherited retinal diseases.

Dr. Luchs is Board Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the American College of Surgeons. He is also a member of the Castroviejo Corneal Society, and a founding member of both the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (AECOS) and the Society of Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgeons (CEDARS).

He has numerous publications on cornea, external diseases, and refractive surgery to his credit, including 2 books, and has lectured nationally, and internationally. In 2015, he received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Achievement award.

Dr. Wykoff is passionate about translational research and clinical trial design, and serves as principal investigator for numerous national clinical trials. He has published over 250 peer reviewed manuscripts and frequently speaks at national and international academic meetings. His research interests pertain to angiogenesis, retinal vascular diseases, atrophic retinal diseases, cell and gene therapy applications, and vitreoretinal surgical topics. He has been awarded the AAO Secretariat and Achievement Awards as well as the ASRS Young Investigator Award, Honor and Senior Honor Awards.
He is active on the ASRS Board of Directors where he serves as Chair of the Practice Management Committee. He is President (2021-2023) of the Vit-Buckle Society. He is also an elected member of the Retina Society and Macula Society, was a founding member of the Ophthalmology Retina Editorial Board and is the Chief Medical Editor for Retina Specialist.

Dr. Wykoff serves on multiple scientific and medical advisory boards, safety monitoring committees, and global steering committees for retina endeavors spanning the innovative process from early to late-stage developments. He is foundationally involved with entrepreneurial activities focused on bringing the value of clinical trials to new centers across the globe, on improving the efficiency of clinical trial design, and on optimizing the quality of data collected from prospective studies. His guiding philosophy is to build and strengthen innovative, ethical teams focused on developing new approaches to improving outcomes for patients with blinding diseases.

As a National Eye Institute and National Institute of Health RO1-funded principal investigator, Dr. Kaiser leads a team involved in the evaluation of vascular biology in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). In addition, Dr Kaiser is actively involved in clinical research having served as Study Chairman for numerous major, multi-center, international clinical trials, and principal investigator in over 60 trials evaluating new treatments for AMD, DR, and other retinal disorders. He is the director of Center for Ocular Research and Evaluation (CORE). Dr. Kaiser has been honored to receive the Lew R. Wasserman Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness and the Macula Society’s Young Investigator Award. Complementing his research endeavors, Dr. Kaiser serves on numerous scientific advisory boards and addresses his research interests as an invited speaker at national and international conferences. He is a major contributor to the medical literature having authored 7 textbooks, 30 book chapters, and more than 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He is Editor-in-Chief of Retinal Physician, Associate Editor of International Ophthalmology Clinics, and serves on the editorial boards of American Journal of Ophthalmology, Retina, Retina Today, and Ocular Surgery News. Dr. Kaiser has been recognized by American Society of Retina Specialists Honor and Senior Honor Awards, along with the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement, Senior Achievement, and Lifetime Achievement Awards. He has been listed as one of the “Best Doctors in America” every year since 2002 and named one of the “150 Top Innovators in Retina” by Ocular Surgery News, selected as a charter inductee of the Retina Hall of Fame in 2017, and appeared on the biannual Ophthalmologist’s “Power List” in 2016, 2018, and 2020 as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology. He is the team ophthalmologist for the Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association).

A pioneer in laser eye surgery to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, Dr. Pepose was one of an elite group of eye surgeons that conducted the nationwide clinical trial of the LASIK procedure for the correction of farsightedness and astigmatism. Dr. Pepose is involved in numerous clinical trials related to emerging implants, procedures and therapies for cataracts, glaucoma and other vision related conditions.

Dr. Pepose is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Cogan award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Dr. Pepose has contributed extensively to the scientific literature, holds two patents, and has been the recipient of competitive National Eye Institute research support. He serves on the editorial board of several prestigious ophthalmology journals and is associate editor of The American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Dr. Pepose earned his medical degree and Ph.D. from UCLA and completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the premier ophthalmology program in the country. He completed his subspecialty training in cornea and external diseases at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Dr. Holland 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 been the Secretariat of the Annual Meeting for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He was awarded the Life Achievement Honor Award at the 2012 American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting. Dr. Holland has served as the Chair of the Eye Bank Association and was the former Chair of the Medical Advisory Board for the Eye Bank Association of America. He is the past President of the Cornea Society and previously served on its Board of Directors.

Dr. Holland has been awarded the Castroviejo Award from the Cornea Society in 2013. He has also received both the Senior Achievement Award and The Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He was awarded the Binkhorst Medal by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in 2008. He was a recipient of the 2002 Paton Society Award given by the Eye Bank Association of America. Among other honors, Dr. Holland has been listed in the “Best Doctors in America.” He has a national and international reputation for his knowledge and expertise in the field of cornea and external disease. He is frequently invited to attend lectures both nationally and internationally. Dr. Holland is the author of over 200 articles in peer review journals and has edited Cornea, the most widely read textbook on corneal disease and surgery.

As the Director of Cornea Services at the Cincinnati Eye Institute, Dr. Holland has attracted worldwide referrals for medical and surgical corneal problems and for stem cell transplantation. His clinical interests include Corneal Transplantation, Cataract Surgery, Ocular Surface Transplantation, and Refractive Surgery.