Dr. Emmett Cunningham is a physician, innovator, entrepreneur, and investor with more than 25 years of experience in biotechnology, medical devices, and ophthalmology. He retired at the end of 2023 from Blackstone, where he served as Senior Managing Director and later Executive Advisor after joining the firm through its acquisition of Clarus Ventures. At Clarus and Blackstone, Dr. Cunningham led, co-led, and/or personally invested in companies that have supported FDA approval of ten therapeutics.
Dr. Cunningham currently serves on the boards of multiple biotechnology and healthcare companies, including Eyconis and Visara, both of which he co-founded and where he serves as Executive Chair; NovaBridge Biosciences, where he serves as Vice Chair; Oryon Cell Therapies, where he serves as Chair; Nacuity Pharmaceuticals; RetiNova; and Salution Health. He has also served on the boards of numerous public and private companies, including SARcode Biosciences, Annexon Biosciences, GrayBug Vision, Lumos Pharma, InflammX Therapeutics, and others. He is an Innovator in Residence for Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, a member of the Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board, and advises several academic and innovation organizations, including Stanford’s Byers Center for Biodesign and NeuroVC.
Prior to joining Clarus, Dr. Cunningham was Senior Vice President, Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, where he held a leadership role on the team that developed Macugen®, a first-in-class VEGF-A inhibitor for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Earlier, he held roles at Pfizer focused on early clinical development and ophthalmology licensing. He was also the founder and chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS), which was held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery for more than a decade. Dr. Cunningham is an internationally recognized specialist in infectious and inflammatory eye disease with more than 450 co-authored publications.
He received an MD and MPH from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in neuroscience from UC San Diego for work performed at The Salk Institute.
