WEAVR Luncheon

Tuesday, May 6
11:30am - 1pm MT
Hyatt Regency
Salt Lake City

Everyone is welcome to attend the Women in Eye and Vision Research (WEAVR) Luncheon, held during the ARVO Annual Meeting. The event features guest speakers, plus food and beverages, and networking with your colleagues. 

Tickets can be purchased online with your Annual Meeting registration or on site (onsite availability not guaranteed).

Panel discussion

Tips and tricks for successful career progression

Join members of the WEAVR Leadership Committee for an engaging dialogue focused on career pathways and how these dynamic women overcame various hurdles throughout their journey. Come ready to explore various options for your professional path, learn about different industries and absorb words of wisdom that will support your individual journey.

Entrepreneurship

Claire Gelfman, PhD

Principal

CMG Consulting

At at CMG Consulting, Gelfman serves as scientific advisor for early-stage ophthalmology companies and non-profit organizations.  Previously, she was chief scientific officer at the Foundation Fighting Blindness, while also serving on the RD Fund management team ― the venture arm of the Foundation. Prior to this, Gelfman was vice-president of pharmaceutical development at Adverum Biotechnologies, an ocular gene therapy company developing treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited retinal diseases.  In addition, she previously led preclinical efforts at Ora, Inc. ― an ophthalmic CRO ― and at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, in the areas of ocular inflammation and retinal degeneration.  Gelfman received a postdoctoral grant from the National Eye Institute while at UC Davis, where she taught and mentored undergraduate and graduate students as well. She holds a BA in biology from Washington University in St. Louis, and a PhD in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin.

Academia: Clinical and leadership perspective

Leah Owen, MD, PhD

Ira A. Abrahamson, MD, Endowed Chair of Pediatric Ophthalmology
College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati

Division Director and Chief, Pediatric Ophthalmology

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Owen received her MD and PhD from the University of Utah, where she also completed an ophthalmology residency and concurrent post-doctoral fellowship in ophthalmic systems biology research with Margaret DeAngelis, PhD, FARVO, at the John Moran Eye Center. She completed her specialty training in pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus at the Storm Eye Institute, the Medical University of South Carolina. After training, she developed a surgeon-scientist practice at the John Moran Eye Center where she was a tenured associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Owen's clinical and surgical expertise includes treating complex strabismus, pediatric cataracts, amblyopia vision loss, adult strabismus double vision, and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Her NIH-funded laboratory builds on this clinical focus to identify protective in-utero and genetic molecular mechanisms for ROP toward eventual disease prevention.

Regulatory/Compliance

Cheryl Rowe-Rendleman, PhD
CEO and Managing Consultant
OMAR Consulting Group, LLC

Since 2006, OMAR (ophthalmic management and research) has specialized in regulatory and clinical consulting for drugs and devices in the US, Europe, and China. Rowe-Rendleman and her team of five specialists play a leading role in developing successful regulatory strategies to guide research from bench to bedside and onwards to market approval. She has extensive experience with clinical operations and strategic regulatory development, including previous positions as senior vice-president and head of Regulatory Affairs at Aviceda Therapeutics, consulting vice-president in charge of Device Strategic Development at Orbit Biomedical, clinical director at Ono Pharma, USA, and regulatory consultant in residence at several nonprofit and academic institutions. Rowe-Rendleman has personally directed or designed over 100 clinical trials for companies from the US, EU, and China. She interacts regularly with the FDA, EMA, and PMDA. In addition, she serves on the steering committee for The Forum for Collaborative Research (UC Berkeley) and is a member of the ARVO Foundation Board of Governors and ARVO's Bench to Bedside Steering Committee. She recently served as secretary of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AOPT) and is a Fellow of AOPT. Rowe-Rendleman received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and graduate degree from the University of Houston (Tex.). Her postgraduate fellowships were completed in neurobiology at the University of Texas Medical School, and in ophthalmology at the University of San Francisco Medical School. She is an inventor on three patents in the field of drug delivery.

Academia: Basic research and international perspective

Daisy Shu, PhD, FARVO
Scientia Senior Lecturer
School of Optometry and Vision Science
University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney

Shu received her optometry degree from UNSW and completed her PhD in the Lovicu Lab at the University of Sydney, followed by postdoctoral training in the Saint-Geniez lab at Harvard Medical School. Her research group focuses on uncovering the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying retinal eye diseases such as AMD and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). An active leader in the vision science community, she is the current vice-president of the International Society for Eye Research (ISER).

Industry

Cynthia Steel, PhD, MBA

Senior Scientist

Strategic Analysis

Steel has an extensive and diverse career spanning over two decades in both academia and industry. Her PhD and post-doctoral work centered around understanding mechanisms underlying elevated intraocular pressure in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. After a few years as a research assistant professor in ophthalmology at Loyola University, she made the transition to industry and joined Bausch + Lomb as a glaucoma medical science liaison. Since 2020, Steel has received an MBA from the University of South Florida, and has served in a variety of roles in both small and large companies focused on glaucoma therapeutics. She currently works as a support contractor for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). In addition, Steel serves on ARVO's Commercial Relationships Committee, the grants review committee of the American Association of University Women, and on the research committee of the Glaucoma Research Foundation.

Nonprofit/Foundation

Preeti Subramanian, PhD

Director, Vision Science Programs

BrightFocus Foundation

Subramanian oversees the Macular Degeneration Research and National Glaucoma Research programs at BrightFocus Foundation. She ensures a high level of scientific accountability within the BrightFocus award programs and engages and maintains a strong relationship with the scientific community. Before joining BrightFocus, Subramanian was a research scientist for over 10 years at the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health. She received her PhD in biochemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Va.), identifying a novel role for bioactive sphingolipid ceramide 1 phosphate (C1P) in mediating inflammation. She completed her postdoctoral training at the NEI, performing investigations on pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), an ocular protein with neurotrophic activity. Subramanian continued her research in vision science at the NEI, identifying and studying potential therapeutic agents for diseases involving RPE oxidative stress (e.g., age-related macular degeneration).

Moderator:

Malia Edwards, PhD, FARVO

Tom Clancy Professor of Ophthalmology
Associate Professor

Wilmer Eye Institute
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Current chair of the WEAVR leadership committee, Edwards is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists. Her research focuses on the role retinal glia, ocular vasculature and mast cells play in age-related macular degeneration and other retinal disease.  

Event proceeds

All proceeds from the WEAVR Luncheon support women in the visual sciences. Funds raised support travel grants and Developing Country Eye Researcher Travel Fellowships for female scientists to attend the ARVO Annual Meeting. Proceeds also underwrite the Women's Leadership Development Program.

View the sponsorship packages currently available.