Primary Job Title Chief Medical Officer Primary Organization Vyluma
Location Beverly Hills, California, United States Regions Greater Los Angeles Area, West Coast, Western US Gender Male
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Houman joined Stargazer Pharmaceuticals as Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer in 2020. Houman has co-founded and served as CMO of two venture-backed ophthalmic pharmaceutical companies, Levation Pharma and Optigo Biopharmaceuticals, which are developing innovative therapies for eyelid and retinal neovascular disorders. Previously, Houman was
Vice President of New Therapies at Capricor Therapeutics, where he led the development of the company’s exosome platform for inflammatory diseases of the eye, skin, and gastrointestinal tract. He also served as Director, Clinical Development at Allergan, where he helped design and run early- to late-stage clinical trials in the Ophthalmology Therapeutic Area.
Houman has also been a consultant to numerous ophthalmology biotech and pharmaceutical companies developing treatments for anterior and posterior segment diseases, including rare inherited retinal diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa.
He is a board-certified, licensed ophthalmologist in active academic clinical practice in Los Angeles and continues to publish articles on clinical treatment guidelines and ophthalmic pharmaceutical pricing. Richard holds a BS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He received his MD from UCLA and Ph.D. in Biology from Caltech University in the Medical Scientist Training Program, completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Stanford Hospital, an Ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a post-doctoral fellowship in Chemical Engineering with Dr. Robert Langer at MIT, and a clinical fellowship in Ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School.
