STAAR Surgical Hires Chief Marketing Officer and General Counsel

STAAR Surgical Company has named Nancy Sabin as chief marketing officer and Nathaniel Sisitsky as general counsel. Both will serve on the company’s executive committee and report to President/CEO Tom Frinzi.
 
“We are thrilled to strengthen the STAAR team with the addition of Nancy and Nate, two seasoned executives with extensive senior leadership experience. They will play an integral role in accelerating our momentum and thereby growing the market for our surgeon customers who provide patients visual freedom from contact lenses and glasses with our lens-based technology,” Frinzi stated. “Nancy is a perfect fit for the newly created chief marketing officer position and will be critical to driving our brand awareness and innovation globally. She is a proven commercial leader with an extensive track record of delivering growth within consumer products, OTC pharmaceuticals and medical devices during her 20-year career with various franchises at Johnson & Johnson. Nate takes on an important role as our new general counsel overseeing our legal functions globally. Nate brings to STAAR extensive experience providing legal advice and counsel to public companies, including 15 years in med-tech. He joins us from NuVasive where he was instrumental in its successful $3 billion merger with Globus Medical. I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Sam Gesten, STAAR’s former general counsel, who retired after 12 years of service earlier this year. We are grateful for his tireless work in moving the company forward and wish him all the very best in the future.”
 
Before being hired by STAAR Surgical, Sabin most recently served as vice president of Marketing and Connected Commerce for Johnson & Johnson Vision, managing marketing, digital strategy and connected commerce functions for the ACUVUE contact lens business in the United States—one of J&J’s businesses with annual sales of at least $1 billion. Prior to that role, she led global marketing for J&J Vision on the surgical side, driving innovation and equity for its industry leading global intraocular lenses. She has also held marketing leadership roles across J&J Consumer and J&J MedTech, with responsibility for driving growth and building global brands like TYLENOL, ZYRTEC, and ETHICON.

Sabin earned an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and a bachelor of science degree in engineering from Duke University.
 
“I am delighted to be a part of STAAR during this phase in the company’s growth. I am a huge believer in the transformation made possible thanks to our EVO ICLs and look forward to elevating the STAAR and EVO brands among surgeons and their patients,” Sabin stated. “I am excited and honored to lead our marketing teams worldwide.”
 
Sisitsky joined STAAR Surgical from NuVasive Inc., where he worked as senior vice president, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since 2018. Before he took a job with NuVasive, Sisitsky was vice president and associate general counsel at CareFusion Corporation and as vice president, Legal – Corporate Finance at American Tower Corporation, a global owner and operator of wireless communication sites. Before being hired at American Tower, Sisitsky was a junior partner in the Corporate Department of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (WilmerHale).

Sisitsky earned a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a bachelor of arts degree in political science and economics from Emory University.
 
“I am thrilled to join the STAAR leadership team at a time of significant opportunity and growth for our vision correction lenses,” Sisitsky commented.
 
Dedicated to ophthalmic surgery for more than 40 years, STAAR Surgical designs, develops, manufactures, and markets implantable lenses for the eye. These lenses aim 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 or ICL, which includes the EVO ICL product line. More than 3 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.