In a new episode of The Ophthalmic Project, Mark Dlugoss speaks with Jim Mazzo, president of the Ophthalmology Foundation and executive chairman at Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, about what the Foundation is focused on.
Mark Dlugoss:
Five years ago, the Ophthalmology Foundation was founded with the separation of 2 international ophthalmic organizations. Their vision was to develop educational programs and partnership with eye care professionals worldwide. Their goal? Patients in low-resource and underserved countries would have access to quality vision care.
Hello, this is Mark Dlugoss, senior contributing editor for Ophthalmology 360, and welcome to The Ophthalmic Project, powered by Ophthalmology 360. In today’s edition of The Ophthalmic Project, we make a return visit to the Ophthalmology Foundation to get an update on the progress the Foundation has made over the last 5 years and to learn where the Foundation is headed. Joining The Ophthalmic Project to provide that update is Jim Mazzo, the new president of the Ophthalmology Foundation. Jim is also Executive Chairman at Neurotech Pharmaceuticals.
Jim, welcome back to The Ophthalmic Project.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Thanks, Mark. Great to see you. We’ve known each other for long periods of time. It’s always great to see somebody that’s been around almost as long as I’ve been. This is, we were talking a little earlier, my 46th year and still actively involved in ophthalmology and glad to see you’re right there with us.
Mark Dlugoss:
Yeah. I’m not full scale like you, but I’m keeping my nose to the grindstone because, like they always say, you never leave this industry.
Jim V. Mazzo:
No, and that’s what’s great. A lot of us have stayed around. I’m still actively involved in a lot of companies as well as this organization we’re going to talk about today, Mark.
Mark Dlugoss:
Let’s start questioning. The Ophthalmology Foundation was formed 5 years ago with the separation of the International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation and the International Council of Ophthalmology. Could you provide a brief history of the Ophthalmology Foundation, how it got started through that separation?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Sure. Again, thanks. Our current vice president who everybody knows, Dr. Bruce Spivey, was co-founder of the ICOF and it was really championing the future of ophthalmic care and continuing professional education, and he was really focusing on education, education, which you’re going to hear me talk a lot about. David Pyott was president of the ICOF at that time and I was serving as vice president.
Ultimately, like anything, our goals reformed and we decided by mutual decision to separate from the organization and thus we created the Ophthalmology Foundation. What’s been beneficial for us, and we’ll talk more about it, is been the deep experience of both the physicians and industry who really have collaborated here and how to deliver education on a virtual basis across the globe and a really heavy emphasis outside the United States because that’s where really education needs to further grow, and that’s where we’ve developed doctors and training programs, et cetera, and really the board has been exceptional, as we’ll talk further.
Mark Dlugoss:
Great. Now the vision of the Ophthalmology Foundation is building education in partnership with eye care professionals, associations and industry, focusing on vision care to the low-resource and underserved countries. In our conversation 5 years ago, the Ophthalmology Foundation had a very aggressive plan to build the Foundation’s platform and its educational programs. Could you provide an update on the overall progress and success that the Ophthalmology Foundation has made over those 5 years?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Yeah, so I think again, we want to make sure we’re understanding that faculty development across all these regions you mentioned is critical, so we want to make sure that we’re able to have hands-on. Now, obviously we experienced a little thing called COVID, which all of us reacted, so we had to kind of cut back on that. But I would say we’re really pleased that as of today that almost 100 fellowships a year are awarded through our partnership and financial support from our great industry colleagues and NGO colleagues.
On March 26 actually, so your timing is perfect, did our first international examination, and this is the first online, Mark, international ophthalmic education program with competitive pricing to ensure accessibility. The next one will be in September. It’s focusing on visual sciences, optics, refraction, instruments, that type, and clinical ophthalmology, all things that you’ve covered in your career. Really hands-on education across the globe.
Mark Dlugoss:
Okay, great. Now the mission and vision are established to work hand-in-hand in reaching the overall objectives of the Foundation. Let’s discuss both the mission and the vision of the Foundation and how it is meeting the needs of ophthalmologists in those low resource and underscored countries.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, again, an organization is only as good as the implementation. You can write unbelievable plans, and we’ve all seen these great companies and groups and they just aren’t able to be sustainable. Let’s talk first off, we built a great board, which I’ll carry on a little longer. We’ve got heavy support from industry. But the key is on the ground. What you don’t want to do is kind of go in, drop them and then leave without training. What we want to do is we want to make sure we have the highest of utmost training, provide the highest quality eye care on the ground. Once we’re done with that, they can do continued assimilation through video programs like this to train themselves, but that’s the key. Train them on ground, give them the experience, and then move on. That’s really the goal of what we’re trying to ensure and create with, as you mentioned, our mission and vision.
Mark Dlugoss:
Now to achieve that overall objectives, the Ophthalmology Foundation has developed a strategic plan that is designed to evolve both the vision and the mission of the Foundation. Can you outline that strategic plan and how do you see that evolving moving forward?
Jim V. Mazzo:
It’s great that you mentioned that because we just actually implemented our first strategic plan and if you go on our website, you can find it. Somebody will sit there and say, well, 5 years you just started a strategic plan? Well, we wanted to make sure we formed, and then you have to learn through experience. Actually, we had the board, Peter Mancuso, the head of J&J, along with other great, Susan McDonald and Andy Chains of the world, our great board actually developed our first strategic plan.
Which it’s funny, we were talking about the strategic plan at the board, and sometimes strategic plans can be a big volume and they sit on somebody’s credenza, Mark, and nobody ever pays attention to it. If you look at it, it’s pretty tight. It’s what we call the Mazzo-Pyott and Peter McDonnell Forum where it’s really tight and it really just focuses on faculty education, sub specialty fellowships and international examination and accreditation standards.
Then the key component of that is how do you communicate that? We want to make sure we have very strict development criteria. We want to make sure we’re not too general. At the end of the day, we have to understand that the whole goal here is actually the patient through the great physicians. You’ll see a very strong patient element of the strategic plan as well.
Mark Dlugoss:
I was doing the research for this podcast. I noticed that strategic plan, that it wasn’t there the last time when we talked, and I thought I was pretty impressed with what you guys had developed, and it’s pretty right down to earth and to the point.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, and it took some time. I’m going to tell you, you write a strategic plan, everybody has opinions. We say that it’s written in kind of pencil and ink. You got to put a stake in the ground, so there’s the ink portion. But we’re going to be able to erase some of it as we learn over the next several years.
Mark Dlugoss:
Okay. Let’s get down into the programs offered by the Foundation.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Sure.
Mark Dlugoss:
Please provide viewers with the highlights for each of the, what I guess you’re calling the program pillars, what has been accomplished, what is new and what’s in development? Let’s start with the faculty education and development.
Jim V. Mazzo:
We do have a free access to an online course teaching skills for ophthalmic education. Remember, go back, teach, to be able to train. It has 21 modules offering CME credit. Shorts are available on YouTube for bite-sized learning. Again, we understand the medium. You’re an expert in the medium. We’re using this medium to help educate. We have over 1,000 free online resources and new additions are updated in our monthly newsletter that’s created by our board. We have a simulation-based training committee that’s added articles on best practices from the Pan-American Journal of Ophthalmology. Then we have the mentorship program with the Mozambique College of Ophthalmology has really culminated the launch of a simulation-based education. You can tell, again, I probably sound like a broken record. We educate, but we don’t leave. We educate, make sure it’s there, we make sure it’s continuing, and then we go on to the next program. That’s why it’s important, on the ground education and constant ability to use the medium that you’re expert at to continue to make sure these people are well-trained.
Mark Dlugoss:
Great. What about self-specialty fellowships? I think I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve read there.
Jim V. Mazzo:
We’re built on young physicians. If we just keep the old guard going, that’s going to die out. We keep thinking you and I are young, but we’ve got some people that are younger, Mark, believe it or not, that are entering this program and that’s great. We call that typically under the 40 years old and it’s from low-resourced and underserved areas. We want to train those physicians. We want to train those because that’s the sustainability, right? You don’t want to train somebody that’s too senior because they’ve already got their skills. You want to train that young person. Then we do hosting programs for typically three months, which provides in-depth knowledge. We host the program, we train them, we keep involved with them, we keep hand in hand, and then there are limited 6-month and 1-year fellowships are offered available as well. Then we do quality applications through our funding program.
We’re always looking for new supporters, but I think the focus here is the young, under 40, train them, continue to work with them, develop them so that they stay on the ground to help these areas of greatest need.
Mark Dlugoss:
Lastly, the international examination and accreditation standards, I think this is pretty important and I think you would think so too.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Most definitely. It’s got to be flexible. One thing that we’ve learned from our… Again, this is where experience help. The ones that haven’t been as successful in the past is they haven’t been flexible. Obviously great people like yourself and other great journals, we’re learning so much. Think about retina, think about glaucoma today. Every day you turn around there’s something new. Even in cornea today, we’re now looking at new ways. It has to be flexible. If it’s too standard, if it just continues to be… People get turned off because they don’t see the greatest in new things.
Then of course we want credentials for these young ophthalmologists, so we’re going to hold them accountable to stay on top of the new programs that are being done. Continued support from the Ophthalmic Foundation. If you’re there, we’re there. Successfully, you’ve got to pass the examinations because they get what we call valuable points to continue for their application as an international fellow.
Along their path we’re there to support. Candidates who pass these rigid exams, we will continue to provide resources, so on-the-ground training and on-the-ground assimilation for these patients.
Mark Dlugoss:
Now, what programs has stood out to you the most over the last 5 years and what areas you’d like to see more progress or involvement made?
Jim V. Mazzo:
The good thing about it, I guess, is we’re still learning. We recognize that we’re not experts in every area. I think that we still have geographies that are underserved. We’re pretty strong because of what the David and Molly Pyott Foundation and as well as our great people that have supported us from companies. But we’ve seen Asia actually is still an underserved area. You would think not, but it still is an underserved area. We are trying to get more influence in the Asian area. We’re very strong in the sub-African areas as I discussed and other parts. I would say Asia has been, we got to own it, we have been underserved there. You’re going to see a greater focus in Asia.
Mark Dlugoss:
What do you think is why things are slow there? Is it because of the doctors, the government?
Jim V. Mazzo:
I think we got to take ownership first. We got to get more champions in that group. We’ve been able to, you got to get a champion in that area. We have great representation on our board, but you need champions in there. I think like anything, they’ve probably seen a lot of programs that a lot of great organizations have provided and they say, yeah, we see them on Monday and on Tuesday they’re gone. I just think we need to be more consistent. We at the Ophthalmology Foundation have to be more consistent, get more on the ground type of people. I mean, the type of people on our board have been exceptional and they have a far reach. You get Eddie Alfonso, and you get the Peter McDonnells, unbelievable reach into those areas. We need to leverage them even more
Mark Dlugoss:
Now because of the Ophthalmology Foundation’s programs that we just talked about, what success has the Foundation seen through the many individuals and organizations that have accessed those programs?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, I told you about the Mozambican College. It’s already launched the simulation. That’s pretty cool. Now we’re seeing these fellows actually for the first time returning to their home countries to incorporate their learning. We’re now seeing training, remember there’s a very diligent training. We’re now seeing them go back. Now we’re working past one of the areas I talked about, the Asian community, spending more time with the Malaysian University Committee of Ophthalmology where we can actually push that a little more. I would say we’ve seen the online programs, we’ve seen the simulation training, we’re seeing these people now going back to their countries. More to come. But I would say if you say some great strengths, I’d have to say that.
I’d also have to say that we probably have the greatest board representation of companies that I’ve ever seen. Every major company of size and mid-level companies are on our board. We have the CEOs or senior people of everybody. Then if you look at the faculty from a doctor standpoint, you have the who’s who. Actually I’d say the greatest success has been the diversity of our board, which we keep adding every day of new companies like Mark Baum from Harrow just joined. We’ve got Brent Saunders of the worlds. We’ve got Tim Clovers of the world. I mentioned Peters, Jag from AbbVie, Andy from Zeiss. Great group of people across our board as well as the leaders that I had mentioned earlier.
Mark Dlugoss:
Speaking of the board, I guess part of the mission of the Ophthalmology Foundation is to build involvement from all segments of ophthalmology. The industry, obviously, as you said, has always rise to the occasion when it comes to supporting eye care causes and initiatives. Has the ophthalmology industry continued to support the Foundation’s mission and has industry’s participation increased? I think you answered most of that question.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, but if you think about it, you said something really good at the beginning, and, again, I’m going to revert back and then you’ll see I’ll answer your question. Our industry is very different than others. Not better or worse, but very different than others. People don’t leave our industry. They stay. Why is that? I think it’s because it’s a great collegial attitude of working together. You see industry executives leave, but they usually go to another company because they love what they do. I’ve always told people that if you don’t get excited that every day you’re touching somebody who helps people see, then you don’t have a pulse.
One thing that’s happened in our industry, we’ve seen people stay. Now, we have great relationship. The American Academy of Ophthalmology supports our fellowships and exams. Even with their own very successful ONE program, they’re supportive. Of course we have the largest organization in the world, David and Molly Foundation, the Pyott Foundation, fantastic support, fellowship and training programs. You’ve got personal, you’ve got major industry like the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and then you have the great companies.
Now we have a Retina Research Foundation. We have two 1-year fellowships from them. We have the Eye Cancer Foundation, four 6-month fellowships. Then the ASCRS, somebody that never typically gets associated is now supported to us with 3-month fellowships. What am I saying? We’re getting everybody involved, both personal as well as industry as well as great associations all are involved in this journey.
Mark Dlugoss:
Now, the Ophthalmic Foundation also looks to include many of the ophthalmic organizations. The last time we talked, you were working on getting as many to participate as possible. Have their numbers grown over the last 5 years?
Jim V. Mazzo:
We initially, when we started 14 members, we now have 38 board members. Actually I call it the resume builder because if you’re on this, you look to your right, you look to your left, you’re looking at people that are leaders, and they all participate. Because we have 1 in-person meeting at the American Academy of Ophthalmology and then we have multiple board meetings throughout the quarter at different time zones, and they’re all there. We have always had a majority at every one of these meetings. I mean, you got Julia Haller who’s running our, she’s the head of one of the largest teaching institutions in the world. She’s there leading one of our committees. As I said, you’ve got Peter, you’ve got Bruce, you got David. You’ve got everybody that I truly respect has joined this board.
Mark Dlugoss:
Let’s go back to the board of the Foundation. Actually when you look at the website, it looks like a who’s who of an ophthalmology. How much has the board expanded over the 5 years and is Foundation looking to expand its board even further?
Jim V. Mazzo:
We’re going to max out at 40. We’ve got 38 now. We’ve grown from that 14. We’re going to max at 40. One thing we’ve done that I think, and we have a great administrator with Christine Graham as our administrator and her team’s in San Francisco. What we decided is that if you’re representing a company or an institution, you are the board member, not the company or the institution. We want you to take ownership. If somebody leaves, they can stay on our board because we want them. The companies will come with it.
But what’s happened sometimes is as companies churn, you lose the expertise. If a doctor and or an industry executive leaves, we want him or her to stay on our board because we want that inherent understanding. But we’re going to cap it at 40 and we’re, as I said, we’re at 38 today.
Mark Dlugoss:
What type of board members are you looking for to fill those 2 spots?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, first, somebody’s got to love what we do. I don’t care if you’ve just come into it, you got to love what we do because. Again, we’re very lucky here in the United States of America of the access we have. You got to understand and have a cultural sensitivity that outside we’re not as lucky, outside the U.S., in education, we’re not as lucky to be able to have the same tools and programs. We’re not as lucky to have the great educators. Now we can be much better always in the United States, but I want somebody that has that cultural sensitivity that what we have here we need more outside. That’s why our board is also represented by people that don’t live in the United States, they’re leading academic institutions across the globe. We have that flexibility of them being able to bring to us. We want a cultural sensitivity and an engagement.
By the way, there’s a requirement too, not if you’re representing a company, the company financially supports it, we also ask our board members to personally financially support it and they do that as well. It’s a combination of both so that we speak what we say on an everyday basis.
Mark Dlugoss:
That’s incredible. Having the personal financial involvement as well. It’s pretty cool.
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, when you got an Italian running it right now and you have a Scotsman in Pyott, they run when they see us now, Mark. When they see Pyott or Mazzo coming to him or they get a call, they just say, I signed up and then they run.
Mark Dlugoss:
That’s good to hear. It’s good to hear for the Foundation.
Jim V. Mazzo:
It is.
Mark Dlugoss:
Jim, as the new president of the Foundation, what is your vision for the Ophthalmology Foundation?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, doing more of these because I do think you need to understand ICO, Ophthalmology Foundation, who are they? How are they different? We need to educate them. That’s number 1.
Number 2, got to do a better job in Asia, as I mentioned. We’re not doing the part we should be doing, so we’ve got to take on that. We’ve got 2 more spaces on board. I want to bring on board members. If board members can’t continue to have the vision, we got to change that because you got to keep the board going. Talked about the strategic plan, that was the first time we’ve ever done one. Now we need to implement that strategic plan. I think it’s a real focus, but when you got Pyotts and you got the Julia Hallers of the world and the Bruce Spiveys of the world and the Peter McDonnells, I just try to stay out of their way and also let that get done and just make sure that we have a little fun along the way, but we get our job done. That’s kind of the goal.
Mark Dlugoss:
What areas of the Ophthalmology Foundation would you like to improve upon, and are there areas in Ophthalmology and eye care that you’d like to see the Foundation expand into?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, we talked about a little earlier too, things are changing every day in retina and glaucoma to a real grand degree, but cornea is also changing. Every time we start to think we got something written, we’re going to probably have to erase it and update it because there’s new technologies, there’s new ways to treat it. We’re finding out a lot more about what’s happening, diseases. Even now, I was reading an interesting article, these new drugs for diabetes, but weight loss actually have some eye implications too, that you’ve got to make sure. It’s interesting how we have to stay really acute to what’s happening even outside our space because they have implications to our program. It’s creating a constant awareness of what’s happening in our surroundings, and you can only do that by education and on-hands training.
Mark Dlugoss:
If there are any viewers interested in getting involved with the Ophthalmology Foundation, what would you say to those individuals who are considering involvement and how do you go about contacting the Foundation?
Jim V. Mazzo:
Well, first off, everybody that I’m talking to should be involved. If not, I’ll be knocking on your door tomorrow or a relative of mine. Or you can go to our website and submit an interest form or you can email, and I want to make sure I get this right, [email protected]. Email, [email protected] or easily just go to our website and submit an interest form. Christine Graham, who really helps us do everything, gets all the job done behind the scenes, will be more than happy to help in any way. Again, people like you help us translate this message, I very much appreciate.
Mark Dlugoss:
It’s always good working with you. Now, in our discussion today, we covered a lot of ground about the Ophthalmology Foundation. Are there any points of discussion or things we may have overlooked or is there anything you would like to add before we close?
Jim V. Mazzo:
I would just say, if you don’t know about us, please go on our site. I think there’s still a misunderstanding, as I said, between the ICO and ourselves, we’re doing a better job of communicating, but please go on our site. People that know me call me. People that know Peter, call him. We are very interested and very aggressive about what we’re trying to do, and it’s something that’s very personal to all of us.
Mark Dlugoss:
Great, Jim, thank you for your time. Well, that concludes today’s Ophthalmic Project podcast, and I want to thank Jim Mazzo providing the update for the Ophthalmology Foundation and what he sees is his vision for the future of the Foundation. I also want to thank you, the viewers, for watching, and I hope you’ll join us for the next edition of The Ophthalmic Project. Have a great day.
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