Thomas A. Ciulla, MD, MBA, FASRS
Vitreo-Retina Service
Midwest Eye Institute
11220 Illinois St.
Carmel, IN 46032
United States map
(317) 817-1822 office
Professional Affiliations
Academic Appointments- Adjunct Clinical Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine
Education and Training
- College
- Harvard College, Cambridge, MA
- Medical School
- UCSF, San Francisco, CA
- Internship
- Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA
- Ophthalmology residency
- Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA
- Retinal fellowship
- Tufts Medical School, Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston, Boston, MA
- College
- Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Indianapolis, IN
Biography
Thomas Ciulla is a biotech executive and retina specialist whose work has contributed to four FDA approvals: LUXTURNA, the first gene therapy for an inherited disease; XIPERE, the first suprachoroidal therapy; IZERVAY, an approved treatment for geographic atrophy; and LUMVOA for thyroid eye disease. He currently serves as President and CEO of Ikarovec, an early-stage gene therapy company developing a bifunctional platform targeting geographic atrophy and wet AMD through a dual-pathway approach that modulates complement and neuroprotects retinal cells.
Before Ikarovec, Dr. Ciulla served as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Development Officer at Viridian Therapeutics, where he built the clinical development, pharmacovigilance, biostatistics, and medical affairs teams and accelerated LUMVOA from Phase 2 through successful Phase 3 pivotal trials, leading to its 2026 FDA approval. As CMO, CDO, and EVP at Clearside Biomedical, he led the preclinical and clinical programs that produced the first FDA-approved suprachoroidal therapy (XIPERE) and advanced a suprachoroidal TKI platform through IND and Phase 2a trials for wet AMD.
At Spark Therapeutics, he directed medical strategy for LUXTURNA and helped build the gene therapy ecosystem around it, including novel endpoints, a genetic testing program, and a pay-for-performance reimbursement model, work that preceded Roche's $4.3 billion acquisition of the company. At IVERIC Bio (formerly Ophthotech), he contributed to the design and execution of GATHER1, the first successful Phase 3 trial in geographic atrophy, which ultimately led to the approval of IZERVAY and a $5.9 billion acquisition by Astellas.
Dr. Ciulla's clinical and scientific grounding remains active. He is co-inventor on seven published patent applications spanning suprachoroidal drug delivery, TKI and integrin inhibitors for AMD and DME, and anti-IGF-1R therapy for thyroid eye disease. He holds an adjunct faculty appointment at Indiana University School of Medicine, keeping his executive work anchored in the realities of patient care and retinal disease. He trained at UCSF, Harvard and Tufts, and previously held a tenured Associate Professor appointment and co-directed the Retina Service and Angiogenesis Research Laboratory at Indiana University. He has served as principal investigator, medical monitor, or advisor on more than 100 national clinical trials and has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, including the first US-based randomized trial of an intravitreal therapy for AMD.
Dr. Ciulla holds an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, specializing in the business of medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Retina Specialists and a member of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Retina Society, and Macula Society.