Board of Directors

Dr. Yerxa currently serves as Opus Genetics’ President since October, 2024. Dr. Yerxa was Chief Executive Officer and President of Opus from September, 2021. Dr. Yerxa previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness (“FFB”) starting in October 2017, a foundation that drives research to provide treatments and cures for people affected by retinal degenerative diseases, where he established the Retinal Degeneration Fund, a venture philanthropy investment fund. Prior to joining FFB, Dr. Yerxa served as President and Co-Founder of Envisia Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on developing novel ocular sustained delivery therapies for the front and back of the eye. He also has previously held founding and executive positions in several ophthalmology-based research organizations, including Liquidia Technologies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products in pulmonary hypertension, Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (“Clearside”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the delivery of therapies to the back of the eye through the suprachoroidal space, Parion Sciences, Inc., a company that develops therapies to treat defects of the innate mucosal defense system in respiratory diseases, and Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing ophthalmic products. Dr. Yerxa has also served on the boards of directors of Clearside since March 2022 and Nacuity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage leader in innovative treatments for oxidative stress since October 2019. Dr. Yerxa holds 60 U.S. patents. Dr. Yerxa earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and his B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Bennett is the F.M. Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine and previously served as director of the Center for Advanced Retinal and Ocular Therapeutics (CAROT) at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to Dr. Bennett’s positions at the University of Pennsylvania, she has been an Investigator at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for more than a decade. She also co-founded life science companies Spark Therapeutics (acquired by Roche), GenSight Biologics and Limelight Bio. Dr. Bennett received her PhD in Zoology and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkley, and obtained an MD from Harvard University. She also completed postdoctoral fellowships in Radiobiology and Environmental Health at the University of California, San Francisco, Human Genetics at Yale School of Medicine and Development Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her BS in Biology from Yale University.

Dr. Magrath, MD, currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and a Board member of Opus Genetics, which was recently acquired by Ocuphire Pharma during his tenure there as CEO. Dr. Magrath is a board-certified ophthalmologist with extensive clinical, business, and financial experience. Most recently, Dr. Magrath was CEO of Lexitas Pharma Services, a leading contract research organization in ophthalmology. Lexitas experienced a substantial growth in headcount, expanded into multiple additional service offerings, including an image reading center and a significant shift into retinal diseases, and was acquired by a top-tier private equity group during Dr. Magrath’s tenure. Prior to Lexitas, Dr. Magrath served as the medical director at Hovione, where the team he worked with was responsible for the development of proprietary assets in ophthalmology, dermatology, and respiratory. Dr. Magrath began his career as an equity analyst at Edison Investment Research where he covered small and mid-sized pharma and biotechnology companies. Dr. Magrath holds a Master of Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Business Administration from The Citadel, and a Medical Degree from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Bennett is the F.M. Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine and previously served as director of the Center for Advanced Retinal and Ocular Therapeutics (CAROT) at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to Dr. Bennett’s positions at the University of Pennsylvania, she has been an Investigator at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for more than a decade. She also co-founded life science companies Spark Therapeutics (acquired by Roche), GenSight Biologics and Limelight Bio. Dr. Bennett received her PhD in Zoology and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkley, and obtained an MD from Harvard University. She also completed postdoctoral fellowships in Radiobiology and Environmental Health at the University of California, San Francisco, Human Genetics at Yale School of Medicine and Development Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her BS in Biology from Yale University.

Dr. Yerxa currently serves as Opus Genetics’ President since October, 2024. Dr. Yerxa was Chief Executive Officer and President of Opus from September, 2021. Dr. Yerxa previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness (“FFB”) starting in October 2017, a foundation that drives research to provide treatments and cures for people affected by retinal degenerative diseases, where he established the Retinal Degeneration Fund, a venture philanthropy investment fund. Prior to joining FFB, Dr. Yerxa served as President and Co-Founder of Envisia Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on developing novel ocular sustained delivery therapies for the front and back of the eye. He also has previously held founding and executive positions in several ophthalmology-based research organizations, including Liquidia Technologies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products in pulmonary hypertension, Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (“Clearside”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the delivery of therapies to the back of the eye through the suprachoroidal space, Parion Sciences, Inc., a company that develops therapies to treat defects of the innate mucosal defense system in respiratory diseases, and Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing ophthalmic products. Dr. Yerxa has also served on the boards of directors of Clearside since March 2022 and Nacuity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage leader in innovative treatments for oxidative stress since October 2019. Dr. Yerxa holds 60 U.S. patents. Dr. Yerxa earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and his B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego.

Mr. Schachle brings more than 30 years of experience in life sciences to his role as Chief Operating Officer of Opus, with specific expertise in strategic and operational planning, business development, marketing and sales, and business intelligence. Before joining Opus, Mr. Schachle served as vice president of Customer Experience Enablement and vice president of global commercial services and controlling at Grifols, where he led multiple commercial departments across business units, managed key cross-divisional initiatives and directed strategic brand planning process. Previously, Mr. Schachle was the COO for Parion Sciences, and part of the team that secured partners for the company’s lead programs, which exceeded $1 billion in deal value. Mr. Schachle has also served as chief commercial officer for Inspire Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw multiple partnering deals and promoted three eye care brands, including AzaSite®, Elestate®, and Restasis®. In addition, he’s held multiple sales and marketing leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline, where he managed several billion-dollar brands including Advair®, Imitrex®, Wellbutrin SR®, Epivir® / Retrovir® and Combivir®. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and North Carolina State University College of Management Industry Advisory Board. Mr. Schachle earned his undergraduate degree from James Madison University and his MBA from Old Dominion University.

Dr. Jayagopal is a bioengineer by training with over 15 years of experience leading multidisciplinary research teams focused on therapeutic research and development, drug delivery platforms, and biomarkers for retinal diseases in industry and academia. Ash oversees research and development strategy for Opus, including the execution of IRD clinical trials and pipeline development for retinal diseases. Prior to the acquisition of Opus Genetics by Ocuphire Pharma, he served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Opus Genetics. In this role he had scientific and clinical leadership responsibility for Opus’ retinal gene therapy portfolio, including management of discovery, manufacturing, nonclinical development, and clinical development functions. Prior to Opus, he was Executive Director of Discovery Medicine at Kodiak Sciences where he supervised early-stage portfolio development, and the Head of Molecular Pharmacology and Biomarkers in Ophthalmology at Roche. His accomplishments at Roche included leadership of teams conducting discovery and IND-enabling studies for over 16 programs, including the FDA-approved therapeutic for retinal vascular disease, Vabysmo® (trademark of Genentech, Inc.), the first bispecific antibody in ophthalmology.

Prior to his career in industry, he was an Assistant Professor and NIH-funded Principal Investigator at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Ash holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. An author on over 40 peer-reviewed publications, he has been awarded the Roche Key Contributor Award, Dolly Green Special Scholar Award from Research to Prevent Blindness, and a Junior Faculty Award from the American Diabetes Association. He is a Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), and a Fellow and President of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AOPT). He serves on the Innovation Advisory Council for Foundation Fighting Blindness and the Editorial Board of Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Mr. Jhaveri served as Chief Financial Officer of Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage, AI-based biotech, where he oversaw finance, corporate strategy and investor relations, with the company raising $110 million and securing over $100 million from business development transactions during his tenure. Previously, Mr. Jhaveri served as Chief Financial Officer of Journey Medical Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, where he led business development, corporate strategy and capital raising. Earlier in his career, he held roles in business development at Fortress Biotech, equity research at Citigroup and investment banking at Bank of America. He earned his B.A. in Chemistry and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Mr. Jhaveri is a CFA charterholder.

Dr. Chung is the Chief Medical Officer of SparingVision where he spearheads the clinical development of new therapies and leads medical affairs, educational, and patient advocacy efforts. He has extensive experience in medical strategy and gene therapy, previously serving as the Ophthalmology Lead at Spark Therapeutics, where he played a pivotal role in the approval of Luxturna™ for RPE65-associated inherited retinal generation, the first gene therapy to be approved in the US for a genetic disease.

Prior to Spark, Dr. Chung worked for 11 years at the Scheie Eye Institute within the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in pre-clinical and translational research of gene-based therapies for inherited retinal diseases.

Dr. Chung received his medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1994 and completed postgraduate training at the National Eye Institute, Summa Health Systems and Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Élise Héon is the Henry Brent Chair in Innovative Pediatric Ophthalmology Research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, where she also serves as the Director of the Ocular Genetics Program and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. She also serves on the Scientific, Medical and Ethical Advisory Board (SMEAB) of the European Networks for Rare Diseases (ERNs).

She is a renowned clinician in the field of pediatric inherited retinal degenerations with a particular interest in genetic characterization of disease as well as in patient reported outcome measures.

Dr. Héon received her medical degree at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (Québec), where she subsequently completed her Ophthalmology residency and served as chief resident. Dr. Héon continued her training as a Clinical & Research Fellow in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children, a Fellowship in Molecular Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and a specialized Fellowship at Hôpital ophtalmique Jules-Gonin, Switzerland.

Dr. Héon was the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at SickKids from December 2002 to July 2014. She has been on staff at Sickkids since 1996, focusing on Inherited retinal diseases.