Clearside Biomedical, Inc. announced the appointment of Arshad M. Khanani, M.D., M.A, F.A.S.R.S and Lejla Vajzovic, M.D., F.A.S.R.S to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Arshad M. Khanani, M.D., M.A., F.A.S.R.S. is a Managing Partner, Director of Clinical Research, and Director of Fellowship at Sierra Eye Associates and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Dr. Khanani founded the clinical research department at Sierra Eye Associates, which is now one of the leading clinical research centers in the country.

He has served as a principal investigator for over 100 clinical trials and has been a top enroller in the country for multiple Phase 1-3 trials. In addition, Dr. Khanani has been the first to perform surgical procedures in multiple surgical clinical trials which deal with sustained delivery and gene therapy. He has written or contributed to over 90 scientific publications.

Dr. Khanani also serves as a member of national and international clinical trial steering committees as well as scientific advisory boards with the goal of bringing new treatment options for patients with retinal diseases. Dr. Khanani is frequently invited as a guest speaker at national and international meetings. Dr. Khanani is an elected member of the Macula Society, Retina Society and has received numerous awards of distinction.

In 2019, he received the Nevada Business Magazine Healthcare Heroes Physician of the Year award for his continued dedication to the field of ophthalmology. He has received the Senior Honor Award from the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) and was also awarded the prestigious ASRS Presidents' Young Investigator Award in 2021. Lejla Vajzovic, M.D., F.A.S.R.S. is the Director of Duke Vitreoretinal Fellowship Program and is a tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Duke University.

Dr. Vajzovic is a vitreoretinal surgeon with expertise in adult and pediatric retinal diseases and surgery. She is passionate about translational research and collaborates closely with Duke Biomedical engineers to develop imaging devices to improve ophthalmic care. She serves as a principal investigator for numerous national clinical trials in early to late stages of development.

Her research interests span from pediatric retinal diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity to adult diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and venous occlusive diseases, as well as vitreoretinal surgical topics such as retinal tears, retinal detachments, macular holes and macular puckers. In addition, Dr. Vajzovic is interested in cutting edge technologies and recovery of vision in hereditary and common retinal diseases with gene-therapy, stem cell technology and retinal implants. She is a co-director of the Duke Pediatric Retina and Optic Nerve Center, and she directs the Duke Center for Artificial and Regenerative Vision, where she performs gene-therapy delivery and implants the Argus II 'bionic eye' to restore vision to individuals with total blindness.

An influential educator, she organizes and directs several highly successful national and international courses, including the first-of-its-kind Advances in Pediatric Retina Course at Duke and the international Duke Fellows Advances in Vitreous Surgery Course. She is director of prestigious Duke Vitreoretinal Surgical Fellowship and director of Duke Eye Center's Continuing Medical Education program.