Jay S. Duker, MD, is the President & CEO and Board Director of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company that develops sustained-release medications to treat serious ocular disorders. Dr. Duker has devoted more than 30 years to the field of ophthalmology focused on improving eyesight and preventing blindness, holding roles in clinical research, business, and academic settings. Dr. Duker joined EyePoint in 2020. Prior to becoming President & CEO in July 2023, Dr. Duker served EyePoint as President and Chief Operating Officer, and as Chief Strategic Scientific Officer. He also served on EyePoint’s Board of Directors from 2016-2020 prior to his re-appointment to the Board of Directors in July 2023.
Between 2001 and 2021, Dr. Duker was the Director of the New England Eye Center (NEEC) and Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts Medical Center and the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He has published over 345 journal articles, concentrating on retinal imaging, retinal vascular diseases, and drug delivery to the posterior segment. Dr. Duker remains in clinical practice, seeing patients with medical retinal disorders and intraocular tumors.
Dr. Duker is the founder of three successful start-up companies; SurgiSite Boston, the fifth busiest independent ophthalmology-only out-patient surgery center in the United States, the Boston Image Reading Center (BIRC), and Hemera Biosciences, the developer of HMR59, an AAV-based gene therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration that is now in a ph2 clinical trial after being acquired by Janssen in 2020. Dr. Duker was on the Board of Sesen Bio and served as its Chair. Dr. Duker received an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.D. from the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.
Dr. Ando has had a distinguished career in the global pharmaceutical industry that has spanned nearly four decades. He began his career at Pfizer, Inc., where he held several senior clinical positions both in the U.S. and in Europe. Dr. Ando also served as President of the Astra Research Centre. He held various senior appointments at GlaxoSmithKline plc, including Research and Development Director for Glaxo Group Research. Dr. Ando then joined Pharmacia AB in 1995 as Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Executive Officer to lead Research and Development with additional responsibilities for manufacturing, information technology, business development and M&A. During his nine-year tenure as Head of Research and Development at Pharmacia/Pharmacia & Upjohn, 17 new drugs were approved by the FDA prior to Pharmacia’s acquisition by Pfizer for $60 billion. Dr. Ando retired in 2018 as Chairman of Novo Nordisk A/S and previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Cell Tech Group PLC from 2003 to 2005. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Nouscom A/G (a private company in Switzerland) and Nanexa AB (Sweden). Previously, he has served as Chairman of the Board for several European-based biopharmaceutical companies, and, until April 2020, he served as a board member of Molecular Partners (a public company listed on the Swiss exchange). He served as a Senior Advisor at EW Healthcare Partners from 2007 to July 2021. Dr. Ando received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Uppsala University in Sweden and Doctor of Medicine degree from Linköping University in Sweden.
During her more than 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Lurker has driven scientific and commercial innovation across both public and private companies, from start-ups to the Fortune 500, to bring innovative therapies and diagnostic solutions to patients.
Ms. Lurker joined EyePoint in 2016 as President and CEO and served in this position for seven years before transitioning to her role as Executive-Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining EyePoint, Ms. Lurker was President, CEO, and Board Director of PDI, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed healthcare commercialization company, which sold to Publicis Health. Before joining PDI, she was Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. She also served as President and CEO of ImpactRx, Inc., a privately held healthcare information company. Prior to ImpactRx, Ms. Lurker was Group VP, Global Primary Care Products, for Pharmacia Corporation, and a member of Pharmacia’s US Executive Management Committee. She began her career as a Senior Medical Representative at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she quickly rose to Senior Director of Worldwide Cardiovascular Franchise Management, overseeing numerous successful drug launches.
Ms. Lurker currently serves on the Board of Directors of Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals and Altasciences, LLC. She also sits on Advisory Boards for Novo Holdings, Stanford Medicine Master of Science in Translational Research and Applied Medicine. She has previously held positions on the Boards of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, PDI, Elan Pharmaceuticals, Conjuchem, and ImpactRx.
Ms. Lurker holds a B.S. in Biology from Seattle Pacific University and an M.B.A. from the University of Evansville. Dedicating her career to maximizing the potential of science to improve the lives of patients, Ms. Lurker is passionate about supporting the future of STEM and engaging with the critical thinkers and innovators of tomorrow.
Ms. DiCicco serves as an independent financial and board advisor to companies in the life sciences industry, often serving in the role of interim Chief Financial Officer. From 2019 to March 2022, she served as interim Chief Financial Officer for Renovacor, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company (NYSE: RCOR). Previously, she was Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Centinel Spine from 2017 to 2018, a privately-held company. Ms. DiCicco currently serves on the board of directors of Imvax, Inc a privately-held biotechnology company, and previously served on the boards of directors of SWK Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SWKH), Sincerus Pharmaceuticals, ExpressCells, II-VI, Inc. (NASDAQ: II-VI), Carmell Therapeutics, Syncardia Systems and CannaPharma Rx (OTC: CPMD). She previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Camber Spine Technologies and has held Chief Financial Officer roles at Nuron Biotech, Quench USA, Globus Medical and Kensey Nash Corporation. Her career started in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche in 1990. Ms. DiCicco received a B.S. in accounting from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and is a licensed CPA. She is also an appointed Board Leadership Fellow and Corporate Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Stuart Duty has served as a director of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. since March 2023. Previously, Mr. Duty was a Senior Managing Director of Guggenheim Securities, LLC, a global investment, and advisory financial services firm, from June 2012 to March 2023. He also served as Managing Director, Co-Head, Healthcare Investment Banking at Piper Jaffray Companies, a global investment firm, from 2007 to 2012, as the Chief Operating Officer of Oracle Partners, L.P., a private healthcare focused investment fund, from 2002 to 2007, as Managing Director, Co-Head, Healthcare Investment Banking at Piper Jaffray, Inc., an global investment bank, from 1992 to 2002, as Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking at Montgomery Securities, an investment bank, from 1993 to 1999 and as the Director of Business Development at Curative Technologies, Inc., a biotherapeutics company, from 1992 to 1993.
Mr. Duty holds a B.A. in Biochemistry from Occidental College and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. The determination was made that Mr. Duty should serve on our Board of Directors due to his extensive experience in the banking and finance industry.
Mr. Hassan joined Warburg Pincus LLC, a global private equity investment institution, in 2010 and currently serves as Director. Previously, Mr. Hassan served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Schering-Plough from 2003 to 2009. Before assuming these roles, from 2001 to 2003 Mr. Hassan was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacia Corporation, a company formed as a result of the merger of Monsanto Company and Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. He joined Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer in 1997. Mr. Hassan previously held leadership positions with Wyeth serving as Executive Vice President and was a member of the board from 1995 to 1997. Earlier in his career, he spent a significant tenure with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and headed the company’s U.S. pharmaceuticals business.
Mr. Hassan served as a director of Time Warner Inc. from October 2009 to June 2018 and as a director of Amgen, Inc. since July 2015. In the course of his career, he has held numerous directorships, including those at Avon Products, Inc. from 1999 to 2013, Bausch & Lomb from 2010 until its acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. in 2013, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. from 2013 to 2014. Mr. Hassan has chaired notable pharmaceutical industry organizations including The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) and as a member of The Business Council. He received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology at the University of London and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Landis served as a director for Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. from 2009 to 2017, serving as the chairman of its board of directors from 2011 until his departure in 2017. Dr. Landis previously served as Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences of Schering-Plough Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, from September 2003 until his retirement in October 2008. In that role, Dr. Landis led the global pharmaceutical sciences function of pharmacy, analytical chemistry, process chemistry, biotechnology, quality assurance, clinical supplies and devices. Prior to that, Dr. Landis served as Senior Vice President, Preclinical Development at Pharmacia Corporation from 1997 until 2003 and led the global preclinical functions of toxicology, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutical sciences, analytical chemistry and laboratory animal care. Dr. Landis also served as Vice President, Central Nervous System Psychiatry, Critical Care and Inflammation Development for Pharmacia & Upjohn from 1995 through 1997. Prior to that, Dr. Landis was employed by The Upjohn Company, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of analytical research, quality assurance and quality control. He is a current member of Purdue University’s Drug Discovery Board. Over his career, Dr. Landis served on several other boards of directors, academic advisory panels and professional boards. Dr. Landis earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Analytical Chemistry from Purdue University and a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Kent State University.