Staar Surgical Names VP of R&D

Monrovia, Calif.-based Staar Surgical Company, which makes implantable lenses and delivery systems for the eye, has named Keith Holliday Ph.D. to the position of vice president, research and development (R&D), effective Aug. 19. In this position he will lead the company’s strategic initiative in building a research and development continuum incorporating Staar’s proprietary Collamer material and expanding into new areas of opportunity benefiting myopic, presbyopic and cataract vision care lenses and delivery systems.

“Dr. Holliday is a visionary R&D leader,” said Caren Mason, president and CEO of Staar Surgical. “His 20 years’ experience leading teams of scientists, engineers and clinicians have resulted in new products, new materials and new clinical methodologies that have significantly advanced ophthalmic care in refractive surgery. Dr. Holliday holds patents in excimer laser beam detection, control and profiling, and methods to correct presbyopia that synergistically take into account the epithelium’s response to corneal inlays. Much of his industrial background has been involved with optics, including visual pathway analysis and its enhancement using lasers and implants. He is an author of 37 peer-reviewed publications in the scientific literature plus two book chapters and one single-authored book. He is considered an expert on presbyopia and served as conference chair in 2014 for the International Society of Presbyopia and continues as a committee member. We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Holliday join our team and look forward to a new era here at Staar in research excellence and development acumen.”

Holliday’s professional career includes his most recent position as vice president, research and development at ReVision Optics where he oversaw the development of their corneal inlay technology that includes a hydrogel inlay for presbyopia correction, delivery devices and clinical methodologies as well as managing first-in-man clinical studies. Previously, he was director of laser technology at Advanced Medical Optics and staff laser scientist at VISX. Prior to joining VISX, Holliday worked primarily in academia. He obtained his first degree in physics and electronics from the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland and a Ph.D. from the Laser Physics Centre at the Australian National University. He spent three years at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where he was primarily involved with the use of optically active polymers and crystals, to develop materials and techniques for very high density, holographic optical storage and computational systems.

“I am very pleased to be joining Staar Surgical at this exciting time as the company is adding to its management team by drawing from the best talent in the ophthalmic industry and beyond,” said Holliday. “Ophthalmology has been an area of incredible innovation for many years and shows no sign of slowing down. It is my goal to position Staar at the vanguard of ophthalmic technology drawing on Staar’s material advantages and broadening into exciting new areas.”