Advisors

Patricia Zilliox, PhD
Patricia Zilliox joined Theialife as a member of the advisory team, in October 2024. Previously Patricia served as CEO and President of Eyevensys, a Biotech developing non viral gene therapy for Retinal diseases such as Wet AMD and Dry AMD.
Previously, Patricia was Chief Drug Development Officer of the Clinical Research Institute, a division of the Foundation Fighting Blindness in Columbia, MD, USA. From late 1998 until May 2011, Dr. Zilliox was head of clinical development at Alcon Laboratories, managing clinical development programs in all areas of eye diseases such as glaucoma, allergy, dry eye, infectious diseases of the eye, and retinal diseases such as dry- and wet-AMD.
Dr. Zilliox previously worked for Alcon in Paris, France, where she was responsible for the execution of Alcon’s European ophthalmology clinical trials. Patricia is also acting as independent Board director for several Biotech companies.

Robert Gross, MBA, MD
Robert Gross MBA MD is a seasoned paediatric ophthalmologist and pharmaceutical development leader in with over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry. He has excelled in scientific brand support, study design, and physician education. Dr. Gross has held key roles at Alcon Research, Ltd., including Sr. Director of Medical Product Information and VP of Medical Information Services, where he managed global medical information and compliance processes.
Clinically active, he specializes in pediatric eye conditions, emphasizing patient and parent education.
His education includes an MD from UT Southwestern, a Clinical Fellowship at Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and an MBA from the University of North Texas. He serves on the clinical faculty at UT Southwestern and Texas Tech Health Science Center.

Thomas Hohman, PhD
Thomas Hohman, PhD, brings over 30 years of experience in retinal disease research and drug development.
He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California and completed a fellowship at the National Eye Institute, part of the NIH. Hohman began his career at Wyeth-Ayerst, advancing treatments for diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy.
At Novartis he was the clinical lead for the development of ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n-AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). As the Retina Therapeutic Area Head at Alcon, he gained regulatory acceptance for new endpoints in geographic atrophy (GA) and advanced treatments for GA and DME.
As the vice president of retina translational research at Allergan he managed studies of novel treatment for nAMD and GA. Post-retirement, he founded a consulting company guiding pharmaceutical companies and academic labs in developing novel retinal disease therapies.

Matt Chapin
Matt Chapin was the SVP of Asset Development & Partnering at Ora, Inc., where he supports startups, biotech firms, and investors with financing, licensing, and development strategy. With over 27 years at Ora, Matt has held various positions across clinical and preclinical research and development, product strategy, regulatory affairs, development program management, marketing, and business development.
He has been instrumental in guiding both large pharmaceutical companies and emerging startups through critical stages, from preclinical phases to FDA interactions and IND/Phase 2 trials. His efforts have included leading preparations, submissions, and representations at FDA regulatory meetings. He also serves on the advisory board of InFocus Capital Partners, contributes to ophthalmic publications, and is a co-inventor on multiple patents. Additionally,
he writes a quarterly column for the Review of Ophthalmology and judges The Winning Pitch Challenge at ASRS.