Our Advisors
Antonio Capone, Jr, MD
President, Pediatric Retinal Research Foundation
Dr. Capone is President of the Pediatric Retinal Research Foundation. Dr. Capone is an internationally recognized clinician, surgeon and educator. He has authored or co-authored over 300 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals, book chapters, and publications from clinical trials. He is currently a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Oakland University, and Professor at the European School for Advanced Studies in Ophthalmology, Lugano, Switzerland. Dr. Capone is recognized in particular as a surgical innovator. He also serves as Co-President of Associated Retinal Consultants (ARC), the leading academically-oriented private retina practice in the world, and has held a number of leadership positions in ophthalmology over the last 25 years. He completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at Brown University, his residency at the University of Pittsburgh, and fellowship at Emory University
Florian Eichler, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Eichler is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. His career has been dedicated to advancing the care and treatment for devastating neurogenetic conditions. Following neurogenetics training at Johns Hopkins with the late Dr. Hugo Moser and residency in pediatric neurology at MGH, he became the Director of the Leukodystrophy Service that cares for patients with an increasing variety of neurogenetic conditions. Dr. Eichler runs a laboratory at MGH that explores the relationship of mutant genes to specific biochemical defects and their contribution to neurodegeneration. In 2015, he became Director of the Center for Rare Neurological Diseases at MGH. The Center aims to eradicate rare disorders of the nervous system by leveraging the power of biological insights towards design and implementation of clinical trials. Dr. Eichler is the principal investigator of several NIH-funded studies on neurogenetic disorders as well as a gene therapy trial of adrenoleukodystrophy. For this work, he received the Martin Research Prize from MGH and the Herbert Pardes Clinical Excellence Award from the Clinical Research Forum. Dr. Eichler also serves as chair of the Rare Disease Think Tank at MGH and is founder and president of the international consortium ALD Connect, a patient powered research network that is dedicated to curing adrenoleukodystrophy.
Efren Gonzalez, MD
Pediatric Retinal Surgeon, Boston Children’s Hospital
Dr. Efren Gonzalez is a pediatric and adult vitreoretinal surgeon, pediatric and adult ocular oncologist, and pediatric ophthalmologist and strabismus surgeon. He is the Director of the Ocular Oncology Service at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Gonzalez treats various oncological and retinal conditions, including retinopathy of prematurity, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, Norrie disease, Coats' disease, persistent fetal vasculature, and all forms of retinal detachment.
Dr. Gonzalez serves as an expert for the Department of Ophthalmology for Boston Children's Hospital Precision Medicine Service.
Jeremy Nathans, MD, PhD
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Jeremy Nathans is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of visual system development, function, and disease. His work has led to new insights into normal development and disease mechanisms in the retina.
Dr. Nathans serves on many scientific advisory boards, including The Foundation Fighting Blindness, the Blue Cone Monochromacy Families Foundation, and the RYR-1 Foundation. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2020 Benjamin Franklin Medal in the Life Sciences from the Franklin Institute.
Greg Robinson, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Akouos
Gregory Robinson is the Chief Scientific Officer at Akouos, a precision genetic medicine company dedicated to developing gene therapies with the potential to restore, improve, and preserve hearing. Leveraging its precision genetic medicine platform that incorporates a proprietary adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector library and a novel delivery approach, Akouos is focused on developing genetic therapies for a variety of inner ear disorders.
Jeffrey Rothstein, MD
Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Rothstein is Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and a faculty member of the graduate program in cellular and molecular medicine at the Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Jeffrey Rothstein is also the Director of the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute. Among its many missions, the Brain Science Institute's translational neuroscience program brings an innovative collaboration with industry and academic medicine in order to hasten treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Norrie Disease.