Thomas Ciulla

President and CEO at Ikarovec Ltd

Speaker

Thomas Ciulla MD MBA serves as President and CEO of Ikarovec, developing bifunctional gene therapies for AMD and retinal degeneration that address multi-pathway disease mechanisms, with Phase I/IIa clinical trials planned for late 2026. Previously, he served as CMO at Viridian Therapeutics and Clearside Bio (leading to FDA approval of Xipere), VP at Spark Therapeutics (leading to FDA approval of Luxturna, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a genetic disease), and at Ophthotech/Iveric (contributing to the development of FDA-approved Izervay). He is an adjunct clinical professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and board member at Midwest Eye Institute, where he continues to practice on a limited basis. He has served as principal investigator, medical monitor, or advisor for over 100 clinical trials, presented at over 200 conferences, and co-authored over 300 publications. Dr. Ciulla graduated from Harvard College and UCSF School of Medicine, followed by residency and retina fellowship at Harvard and Tufts Medical Schools, and an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, specializing in the business of medicine.