CORE TEAM
CEO
George Mimura is CEO of AcuViz Australia and Salutaris Medical Devices (SMD). He worked on Wall Street for 25-years where he held Managing Director positions in equity, fixed income, and currency businesses while working in Sydney, New York, Tokyo, and London. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University.
Director of International Operations
Richard Pankhurst is a highly experienced professional who currently oversees international operations for Salutaris Medical Devices. He has 25+ years of experience advising and mentoring startups. During his tenure as a PwC partner, he transformed the global insurance industry. He has worked with C-level executives across the US, Australia, UK and China. Richard holds an MBA (Deans List) from Kellogg School, Northwestern University, and a BEC(Hons) from Macquarie University. He’s also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
COO
Ryan Lohrenz is COO of SMD. He designed and developed the current SMD-DA Applicator and Source. He has 10+ years of management, engineering, and medical product design, and development experience. Previously, Ryan acquired significant expertise with the 510(k) and CE marking process of new devices at Bioptics (presently Faxitron X-Ray). He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Director of Clinical Operations
Mary Drew serves as Director of Clinical Operations and has been with SMD since 2010. She leads the Pilot, Feasibility, and the current FDA-approved Pivotal Study. She has comprehensive experience in clinical trials in various therapeutic areas including; cardiology, endocrinology, pain, dermatology and women’s health. She received a M.S. in Clinical Research from Arizona State University and a B.S. in Microbiology from Minnesota State University.
MEDICAL EXPERTS
Head of Physics, University of Arizona
Dr. Russell Hamilton is a board-certified medical physicist specializing in radiation therapy and SalutarisMD founder. He is currently a tenured professor at the University of Arizona where he founded the medical physics graduate and residency program.
He graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Physics from the University of Illinois and earned a Ph.D. at Stanford University in theoretical astrophysics.
BALDASSARRE STEA, MD, PhD, FASTRO
Head of Radiation Oncology, University of Arizona
Dr. Baldassarre Stea is a board-certified radiation oncologist, tenured professor at the University of Arizona, specializing in the treatment of eye tumors and brain tumors. He developed the stereotactic radiosurgery program at the University of Arizona, and his research involves utilizing novel radiation enhancers and radio-sensitizing drugs for brain tumors. Dr. Stea oversees treatment of ocular melanomas with I125 plaques for southern Arizona.
Dr. Stea has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UCLA and his M.D. from George Washington University.
Chief of Ophthalmology, University of Hawaii
Dr. Gregg Kokame is Chief of Ophthalmology and Clinical Professor at the University of Hawaii School of Medicine. He is founder and director of The Hawaii Macula and Retina Institute and The Retina Center at Pali Momi with over 100 publications and over 60 national or international clinical trials. Dr. Kokame is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Honor Award - 1999, Secretariat Award - 2008, Senior Achievement Award – 2014), Macula Society (Gass Medal 2021), Retina Society, and American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) (Honor Award – 2001; Senior Honor Award – 2003). He was admitted to the American Ophthalmological Society in 2015 after acceptance of his thesis on treatment and multimodality diagnostic testing PCV (polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy).
Dr. Kokame received his M.D. from the UCLA School of Medicine with honors in Alpha Omega Alpha. He completed ophthalmology residency at the Jules Stein Eye Institute/UCLA, and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. He received his business degree in organizational development (Master of Medical Management) from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Illinois
Dr. Rama Jager, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.S., is a board-certified ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon. He is the President and Managing Partner of University Retina. He also serves as Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago / Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Jager has authored over 60 scientific papers, book chapters, and national meeting presentations with published abstracts. He has also co-authored three books in ophthalmology, Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Comprehensive Text and the third and fourth editions of the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Review Manual for Ophthalmology.
Dr. Jager graduated from Northwestern Medical School, followed by a residency at the University of Chicago and fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He received his MBA from Stanford Business School.
Professor of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco
Dr. Robert Bhisitkul, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, has over 20 years of experience as a retina surgeon and clinician scientist. His translational research interest is in pre-clinical development of novel technologies for ophthalmic disease. In clinical research, he is an investigator in major clinical trials of novel therapeutics, as well as studies of long-term outcomes of treatments for chronic eye disease. He is Fellowship Director for the UCSF Retina Surgery program. He is an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology, a recipient of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award, and an editorial board member of American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports.
Dr. Bhisitkul graduated from Stanford University then combined medical school at Stanford with his Ph.D. in Neurosciences at Yale University, followed by residency and fellowship training at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh Eye Center
Dr. Jay Chhablani is a vitreo-retina specialist and Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Eye Center. He was a Clinical Instructor at the Jacobs Retina Center at Shiley Eye Center, University of California, San Diego, USA (2010-2012) before joining the faculty at L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India (2012-19). He published three books and more than 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is on the reviewing boards of all high-impact journals, including Science Translational Medicine and Lancet.
Dr. Chhablani received his M.D. from PT JNM Medical College, India followed by a residency at Kasturba Medical College, India. He received a vitreoretinal surgery fellowship from Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai; an International Council of Ophthalmology fellowship at Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Switzerland; and a medical retina fellowship from University of California, San Diego.
CEO and CMO, Retina Foundation of the Southwest
Dr. Csaky is the T. Boone Pickens Director of the Clinical Center of Innovation for Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer of the Retina Foundation of the Southwest. His main area of interest is studying both clinical research and drug delivery development as it pertains to retinal diseases. In particular Dr. Csaky is involved in multiple clinical trials in retina treatment, is studying vision function assessments of patients with various stage of AMD and developing drug delivery approaches for the treatment of retinal diseases. In addition, Dr. Csaky has led several meetings with the FDA and NEI on evaluating novel endpoints for retinal diseases. Dr. Csaky is a member of the Macula Society, Retina Society, and American Academy of Ophthalmology, ARVO and the American Society of Retinal Specialists. He finished a retina fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University and a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Csaky completed an internship in medicine at Duke University, his ophthalmology residency at Washington University, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Essen Eye Clinic, Essen, Germany. He received his combined MD/PhD degree from the University of Louisville. Dr. Csaky has over 140 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SALUTARISMD
ROBERT SELBY, MD
Director
Dr. Robert Selby is board-certified in internal medicine and dermatology. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Dermatology. Dr. Selby is also an experienced biotechnology investor and a commercial real estate developer. He received his M.D. from the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
WILLIAM LOMICKA
Director
William H. Lomicka is the Founder and Chairman of Coulter Ridge Capital. He enjoyed a career at Humana, where he ended up as Senior VP-Finance & Treasurer. He also served as the Secretary of Commerce of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and founded several entrepreneurial companies. He earned a B.A. from the College of Wooster and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
JAPAN PARTNERS
ROB CLAAR
CEO, HekaBio
Founder of one of Japan’s first medical market intelligence firms (Junicon) and a CRO leading Japan in new category medical device submissions (Vorpal)
Three decades of focus on Japan’s healthcare ecosystem
Regulatory knowhow and strong Key Opinion Leader doctor networks
Worldwide trust network with leading innovators in pharmaceuticals and medical technology
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, ACUVIZ
(INVESTMENT HOLDING COMPANY)
WILLIAM MUMMA
Chairman and CEO
William P. Mumma is Chairman and CEO of AcuViz, the parent company of SMD. Previously, he was a founding investor and served on the board of SMD. Mr. Mumma ended his 30-year career on Wall Street as the CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), with prior senior executive roles at Nomura Securities and Bankers Trust. Since 2012, he has been the CEO and Board Chair of the Becket Fund, a public interest law firm based in Washington, DC.
ERIC TOOKER
Director
Eric Tooker serves as Vice President and General Counsel of Translational Drug Development, LLC, a specialty oncology CRO. Mr. Tooker has extensive experience in advising executive business teams throughout his 28 years as in-house counsel. Mr. Tooker earned a B.S. in education from Miami University-Ohio and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
ERIC YOUNG
Director
Eric Young is Founder and CEO of Cerego, a personalized memory management platform. He is also the Founder of Global Academy and Agos in Japan. Eric also enjoyed a career in finance as the CEO of WestLB Asia Securities and a senior fixed income and currency derivatives trader at Bankers Trust. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Yale University.
Director
Joseph Keating is the Founder and Managing Partner of the U.S. Intellectual Property Law firm of Keating & Bennett, LLP. For more than 25 years, Mr. Keating has been a U.S. patent attorney representing global multinational companies, in particular, Japanese companies and U.S. high-tech startup companies, in all aspects of Intellectual Property Law, with a specific emphasis on U.S. patent prosecution, litigation, and licensing; IP due diligence; antitrust and related matters.
