Michael Barbella, Managing Editor02.26.24
STAAR Surgical Company has named Lilian Zhou to its Board of Directors.
“We welcome Lilian Zhou as a new member to our Board of Directors. Lilian is an accomplished investment portfolio manager who worked at highly regarded Wall Street investment institutions before founding her own firm a decade ago,” said Aimee Weisner, chair of the board's Nominating and Governance Committee. "We look forward to Lilian’s contributions as a former institutional shareholder of STAAR with an in-depth and global perspective of healthcare, ophthalmology and STAAR’s opportunity."
Zhou brings more than two decades of capital markets and investment experience to STAAR. Most recently, she was founder, chief investment officer, and managing partner of Yulan Capital Management, a Tiger Seed, which operated out of New York and Shanghai from 2013 through June 2023. Before Yulan Capital, Zhou worked at Citadel, Kelusa Capital, and Bear Stearns & Co. She began her career as an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse in 2004.
Zhou is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics and mathematics-statistics, from Columbia University. Her MBA is from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
STAAR also reported that Gil Kliman, M.D., has left the board to more fully devote his time and energies to other commitments. “STAAR has benefitted greatly from Dr. Kliman’s extensive ophthalmology, commercial and medical device experience and we sincerely thank Gil for his dedicated service," STAAR Board Chair Tom Frinzi stated. "He has been a steadfast supporter of STAAR, and we hope to continue to benefit from his insights in the future.”
Other current members of STAAR’s Board of Directors include Frinzi, Weisner, Stephen Farrell, Elizabeth Yeu, M.D., and K. Peony Yu, M.D.
STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for more than 40 years, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets implantable lenses for the eye. These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses. All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small incision. STAAR’s lens used in refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), which includes the EVO ICL product line. More than 2.5 million ICLs have been sold to date and STAAR markets these lenses in over 75 countries. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., the company operates manufacturing and packaging facilities in Aliso Viejo, Calif.; Monrovia, Calif.; and Nidau, Switzerland.
“We welcome Lilian Zhou as a new member to our Board of Directors. Lilian is an accomplished investment portfolio manager who worked at highly regarded Wall Street investment institutions before founding her own firm a decade ago,” said Aimee Weisner, chair of the board's Nominating and Governance Committee. "We look forward to Lilian’s contributions as a former institutional shareholder of STAAR with an in-depth and global perspective of healthcare, ophthalmology and STAAR’s opportunity."
Zhou brings more than two decades of capital markets and investment experience to STAAR. Most recently, she was founder, chief investment officer, and managing partner of Yulan Capital Management, a Tiger Seed, which operated out of New York and Shanghai from 2013 through June 2023. Before Yulan Capital, Zhou worked at Citadel, Kelusa Capital, and Bear Stearns & Co. She began her career as an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse in 2004.
Zhou is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics and mathematics-statistics, from Columbia University. Her MBA is from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
STAAR also reported that Gil Kliman, M.D., has left the board to more fully devote his time and energies to other commitments. “STAAR has benefitted greatly from Dr. Kliman’s extensive ophthalmology, commercial and medical device experience and we sincerely thank Gil for his dedicated service," STAAR Board Chair Tom Frinzi stated. "He has been a steadfast supporter of STAAR, and we hope to continue to benefit from his insights in the future.”
Other current members of STAAR’s Board of Directors include Frinzi, Weisner, Stephen Farrell, Elizabeth Yeu, M.D., and K. Peony Yu, M.D.
STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for more than 40 years, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets implantable lenses for the eye. These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses. All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small incision. STAAR’s lens used in refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), which includes the EVO ICL product line. More than 2.5 million ICLs have been sold to date and STAAR markets these lenses in over 75 countries. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., the company operates manufacturing and packaging facilities in Aliso Viejo, Calif.; Monrovia, Calif.; and Nidau, Switzerland.