From the operating room to the C-suite in pharma – Dr. Jay Duker
Dr. Duker is an accomplished ophthalmologist, that is now the Chief Operating Officer of EyePoint Pharma, a biotech company that develops sustained-release medications to treat serious ocular disorders. We talked about his career path and what motivated him to move from a clinical to an executive position. For the 21 years before he took the COO position at EyePoint, Dr. Duker was the Director of the New England Eye Center (NEEC) and Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Duker received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. He completed a residency and fellowship in vitreoretinal diseases and ocular oncology at the Wills Eye Hospital.
About the guest:
Jay S. Duker, MD, is the Chief Operating Officer of EyePoint Pharma, a biotech company that develops sustained-release medications to treat serious ocular disorders. Prior to being promoted to this position in 2021, Dr. Duker was the part-time Chief Strategic Scientific Officer at EyePoint. Between 2016 and 2020 he served a member of EyePoint’s Board of Directors.
For the 21 years prior to his taking the COO position at EyePoint, Dr. Duker was the Director of the New England Eye Center (NEEC) and Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts Medical Center and the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Duker received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. He completed residency and fellowship in vitreoretinal diseases and ocular oncology at the Wills Eye Hospital.
Dr. Duker remains in clinical practice, seeing patients with medical retinal disorders, macular diseases, and intraocular tumors. He has published over 345 journal articles, with his major research interests concentrating on retinal imaging, retinal vascular diseases, and drug delivery to the posterior segment. He has received the Honor Award, the Senior Honor Award, and the Life Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology as well as the Honor and Senior Honor awards from the America Society of Retina Specialists.
His book, Yanoff and Duker’s Ophthalmology, now entering its 6th edition, is one of the best selling ophthalmic texts over the past three decades. He has edited an additional six textbooks. Dr. Duker is the Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Retina and Vitreous (IJRV). He is a founder of several companies including SurgiSite Boston, the fifth largest independent eye surgery center in the United States; Hemera Biosciences, a gene therapy company developing treatments for dry age-related macular degeneration that was acquired by Jansson in 2020, and the Boston Image Reading Center (BIRC). In addition, he is the Chair of the Board of Sesen Bio, a publicly traded company that is developing targeted protein therapeutics for cancer.
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