Mark S. Blumenkranz, M.D.
Co-Founder & Chairman
Dr. Blumenkranz has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception in July 2006 and is a co-founder of Avalanche. Dr. Blumenkranz is a trained vitreoretinal surgeon and Chairman of the Department of Ophthlamology at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University. Prior to that, he served on the faculty of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. Previously, from October 1985 to August 1992, Dr. Blumenkranz founded and served as Director of the Vitreoretinal Fellowship Program at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Blumenkranz served on the scientific advisory board of Eyetech, a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Blumenkranz currently serves on the boards of directors of Vantage Surgical Systems Inc., Oculogics, Inc., Presbia Holdings, Digisight Technologies Inc. and Oculeve, Inc., all privately held biotechnology or medical device companies. Dr. Blumenkranz received his A.B. in Biology, his M.M.S. in Biochemical Pharmacology and his M.D. all from Brown University, followed by a residency in ophthalmology at Stanford University. Dr. Blumenkranz has been chosen to serve on our board of directors due to his experience as a director and founder of several biotechnology companies, as well as his significant medical expertise in ophthalmology and biotechnology.
John P. McLaughlin
Mr. McLaughlin has served as a member of our board of directors since February 2014. Mr. McLaughlin has been President and Chief Executive Officer of PDL BioPharma, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, since December 2008, and a director since October 2008. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Anesiva, Inc., formerly known as Corgentech, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, from January 2000 to June 2008. From December 1997 to September 1999, Mr. McLaughlin was President of Tularik Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From September 1987 to December 1997, Mr. McLaughlin held a number of senior management positions at Genentech, a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company. From 1985 to 1987, Mr. McLaughlin was a partner at a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in food and drug law. Prior to that, Mr. McLaughlin served as counsel to various subcommittees in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked on FDA-related laws. Mr. McLaughlin cofounded and served as Chairman of the board of directors of Eyetech, a biopharmaceutical company. He also cofounded and served as a director of PEAK Surgical, Inc., a privately-held medical device company. Mr. McLaughlin has served on the board of directors, audit committee and nominating committee of Seattle Genetics, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, since June 2007. He has also served on the board of directors of Axogen Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, since October 2012. He received his B.A. in Government from the University of Notre Dame and J.D. from the Catholic University of America. Mr. McLaughlin has been chosen to serve on our board of directors due to his significant experience as an officer and director at biopharmaceutical companies, including publicly-traded companies, as well as his substantial expertise in corporate licensing, legal and regulatory matters relating to healthcare.
Steven D. Schwartz, M.D.
Dr. Schwartz has served as a member of our board of directors since September 2010, and is a co-founder of Avalanche. Dr. Schwartz is the Ahmanson Professor of Ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he has served as an ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon since 1994 and as Chief of the Retina Division since 2002. Previously, Dr. Schwartz was a principal investigator in a number of early-stage clinical trials for retinal diseases, including the initial studies for ranibizumab (Lucentis), as well as products in gene and cell therapy. Between 2002 and 2005, Dr. Schwartz held various positions at Eyetech, a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Schwartz currently serves on the board of directors of the American Society of Retina Specialists. Dr. Schwartz has also served on a number of scientific advisory boards, including for Genentech, a publicly-traded biotechnology company, as well as for ophthalmology technology companies Ophthotech, Optos plc and Optimedica Corporation. Dr. Schwartz received his B.A. in from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.D. from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, followed by a Residency in Ophthalmology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a vitreoretinal fellowship at Moorefield’s Eye Hospital in London. Dr. Schwartz has been chosen to serve on our board of directors due to his substantial scientific expertise as an ophthalmologist and medical researcher, as well as his experience at several ophthalmology-focused technology companies.
Paul D. Wachter
Mr. Wachter has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2014. Mr. Wachter has been the Chief Executive Officer of Main Street Advisors, which he also founded, since 1997. Prior to forming Main Street Advisors, from June 1993 to March 1997, Mr. Wachter was Managing Director of Schroder & Co. Incorporated, an asset management company. From December 1991 to June 1993, Mr. Wachter was a managing director at Kidder, Peabody & Co., an investment banking firm. Since October 2010, Mr. Wachter has served on the board of directors and audit committee of Time Warner, Inc., a publicly-traded media company, and he also currently serves on the boards of directors of Virgin America Inc. and several private media companies, including Beats Electronics LLC and Haworth Marketing + Media. Mr. Wachter received his B.S. in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law. Mr. Wachter is a member of the New York State Bar and a Series 7 licensed stockbroker.
