Sign up for access to exclusive content, events, materials and updates from OWL.
Rarely will you find a value as great as an OWL membership! By becoming a member you establish yourself as committed to "Advancing Diversity in Leadership" and in standing as a leader for today's world. You'll also be affiliated with the best and brightest in Ophthalmology. Take a look here at some of our Champion members!
LEARN MOREOWL: Advancing Diversity in Leadership is delighted to announce the “Bridging the ‘O’s” initiative, bringing together all eyecare by expanding…
The 3rd edition of the Ophthalmic Business and Leadership Trends Survey was launched in May 2022 in collaboration with the Fundingsland Group. This comprehensive survey assessed…
A Conversation with Eris Jordan, OD, Vice President of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Aurion Biotech and OWL Champion Member…
Developing leaders is OWL's mission and our specialty! Get terrific experience and benefit from the best-of-the-best networking in Ophthalmology when you get involved in OWL:
OWL is a 501(c)3 organization, meaning any financial contribution is 100% tax-deductible. OWL focuses the investment of members’ dues on programs and events that will benefit members (our admin costs are low compared to other nonprofits).
Your company can align with OWL's mission by having a presence at our events and benefit from exposure on our social mediachannels and in our member communications. Organizations and companies that want to be involved at the highest level can enroll their associates as virtual members, receive educational programs and get sponsorship exposure by becoming an OWL Partner.
LEARN MOREThe OWL Awards are given annually at OWL's Signature Event during AAO. The finalists are distinguished and respected - always an impressive group!
Nominations for the OWL Awards open in the Summer. A Nominations Committee selects the finalists and then OWL members cast their votes in the Fall.
Contact Us for information on nominating a colleague as a ‘Rising Star’, ‘Catalyst’ or ‘Visionary’ in Ophthalmology.
LEARN MORE
VP, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs
Aerie Pharmaceuticals
Michelle Senchyna, Ph.D., currently serves as Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, at Aerie Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Aerie, Dr. Senchyna served as Executive Director of Ophthalmology at Allergan, where she oversaw the clinical development of pharmaceutical, consumer and device products for anterior and posterior segment diseases. Dr. Senchyna has also held leadership roles in R&D and Medical Affairs at Alcon and Panoptica, with focus on anterior segment and biomarker discovery, and she began her career as an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, School of Optometry with research focused on ocular surface diseases and contact lens biomaterial development. She is an author on more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, has given more than 60 presentations nationally and internationally, and holds multiple patents. Dr. Senchyna earned both a BSc. and Ph.D. from McMaster University.
More OWL ChampionsChief Executive Officer
TherOptix
Monty Montoya is an innovative healthcare leader with a history of building industry-leading cultures and companies. His extensive background in building winning organizational cultures, healthcare management, and business development spans over three decades. Much of Monty’s success derives from his ability to attract the best talent, connecting them to a clear purpose and to each other, and empowering them to drive change.
Before founding CorneaGen, Monty was the Chief Executive Officer of SightLife. He guided its growth from annual revenues of $800K to over $40M while driving positive change in the cornea care space. During his time with SightLife, he also launched global health programs, starting in India and expanding to multiple countries.
In his 20 years at SightLife, bringing sight-restoring transplants to the millions of cornea blind individuals waiting in need, Monty changed the cornea transplant space. Realizing that incremental change was not enough, he founded venture backed CorneaGen, as its CEO. CorneaGen is a mission-driven biotech organization developing a game changing cell therapy product that will restore sight to millions. To resource this incredible opportunity, CorneaGen partnered with leading venture capital firms including KKR’s, Falcon Vision Fund. As CorneaGen grew it began to develop ground breaking cell therapy technology that was ultimately spun out to a new company Monty helped found, Aurion Biotech. Aurion Biotech recently close a $120 million round of funding and is advancing its cell therapy product through the FDA regulatory process.
Today at TherOptix, Monty and his team are working to revolutionize ophthalmic drug delivery via novel drug-eluting contact lens platform that will provide more effective, sustained, and safer therapies for patients.
SightLife, CorneaGen and Aurion Biotech’s success and impact under Monty’s leadership garnered many accolades, including several Best Places to Work recognitions over the past 15 years. As CEO of SightLife, Monty won the Northwest EY Life Science Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2014, and as CEO of CorneaGen he received the Ophthalmology World Leaders Visionary Award in 2019.
More OWL Champions