Dr. Ianchulev’s innovation journey from an eye doctor to an i-doctor at the intersection of technology, medicine and healing

Introduction:

In 2011, on the center stage of a Congressional hearing on medical technologies and FDA regulation of bio-tech and med-tech innovation, five medical experts and leaders in the field were asked by Congress to provide opinion and testimonials. One of them was Sean Ianchulev, MD MPH – a Harvard-trained doctor, professor of ophthalmology at the University of California San Francisco whose academic work and innovations had made a difference in millions of patients with cutting edge breakthrough technologies – from first-of-a-kind antibody treatments for blinding eye diseases to laser guided high-precision eye surgery technology. Dr. Ianchulev advised congressional leaders and shared insights on what it takes to invent and productize game-changing transformations in medicine and how America needs to foster innovation in order to maintain leadership in the field. As one of the handful of physicians innovators in the world who have invented, developed and introduced FDA approved treatments and products, his testimony was essential in guiding legislators in finding the right balance between innovation and FDA regulation as new laws were introduced for the development of medical technology.

Dr. Ianchulev’s path to a world-famous ophthalmologist and innovator is one of humble beginning and immigrant origin. He was born in Bulgaria and fled communist dictatorship as a teenager when he emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first Eastern Europeans medical doctors to graduate from Harvard and the first to complete a dual MD and MPH degrees simultaneously. He specialized to become an eye surgeon and glaucoma specialist at the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California.

Currently Dr. Ianchulev is a professor of ophthalmology at New York eye and Ear of Mount Sinai. When not seeing patients in the clinic, he performs microsurgery and trains other physicians. In a day he may perform a complex anterior segment surgery using cutting edge instrumentation such as the miLOOP™, the first micro-interventional cataract fragmentation device for cataract surgery, or intraoperative aberrometry, the first intraoperative biometry device for high-precision ophthalmic surgery or implanting a glaucoma micro-stent for minimally invasive glaucoma intervention. Once the procedures are completed, Dr. Ianchulev could take pride in more than the successful surgical outcomes. He had invented and pioneered all three U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved technologies that had become standard of care and are widely used by ophthalmologists around the world.

Dr. Ianchulev is an inventor, developer and innovator all at the same time. While at Genentech in early-mid 2000s, he led the development and productization of Lucentis – the first intravitreal anti-body therapy for AMD, diabetic macular edema and retinal vein occlusion, all the way through FDA approval. He also invented intraoperative aberrometry, a high-precision, infrared laser-guided cataract surgery technique, which was commercialized by Wavetec and Alcon. He later led the development and FDA approval of CyPass MicroStent®, one of the first glaucoma micro-stents. He founded Eyenovia, Inc. in 2015, which created the FDA-approved OpteJet system in 2022. He also founded Iantech, Inc. in 2014, which developed cavitation and energy-free micro-interventional lensectomy systems. In 2021 and 2022, he secured FDA approval for the CycloPen and pioneered the first bio-tissue stenting technology in eye care.

Dr. Ianchulev revolutionized eye care by studying office-based cataract surgery, providing Level I clinical evidence that led to hundreds of thousands of procedures and significant cost savings. He introduced robotics to the US at Mount Sinai's New York Eye and Ear and was a founding board member of Preceyes, Inc., which was later acquired by Zeiss Meditec.

Technological Innovations And Publications:

Dr. Ianchulev, a prolific author, has significantly contributed to the scientific community through his research on supraciliary microstent implantation and high-precision piezo-ejection ocular micro dosing.

Conclusion:

Dr. Tsontcho Sean Ianchulev's journey from Bulgaria to the forefront of eye care innovation is a captivating novel. His commitment to innovation, patient care, and public health is evident in his transformative breakthroughs, which have echoed across borders, shaping the future of ophthalmology and offering hope to countless individuals globally.