In her nine years of clinical practice in Canada and the U.S., Nysha Blender, OD, PhD, began to experience the all-too-familiar burnout that some clinicians face. Her days at a LASIK center were grueling, meeting with 50-60 patients daily, leaving her depleted and struggling to balance her career with motherhood. “I would come home to my 3-year-old and newborn, and I had nothing left for them,” she recalls. It was this imbalance, in addition to her desire to have greater impact in helping patients, that prompted her to consider a different path.
That search led her to a role in industry. It took time, she recalls. Despite having a strong clinical background—graduating from the Illinois College of Optometry in 2010, followed by a cornea and contact lens residency at SUNY College of Optometry—she faced numerous rejections when applying to companies for roles as a medical science liaison (MSL). “I had probably 50 to 60 rejections,” she says.
NETWORK
The transition from clinic to industry was challenging, primarily because she lacked direct experience in the field. “Knowing someone is what helps,” she says, emphasizing the importance of networking. It coalesced when she found herself speaking with hiring managers from two companies at the same time. She ultimately took a job with Ocular Therapeutix, where the head of field medical affairs wanted “green” MSLs so that she could train them in the way she wanted. The lack of MSL experience helped her land this role, she says.
In this position, Dr. Blender worked closely with internal and external stakeholders and gained valuable experience in both medical and clinical affairs. “We were all new to industry,” she says, reflecting on her early days in the role. She quickly moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a medical director and later the director of field medical affairs, a role that allowed her to lead a team and work across both approved drug spaces and pipelines.
Dr. Blender says that being in a small biotech company gave her a different experience than someone who lands with one of the large companies. “I did a little of everything, from surgical training to data dissemination. I had the advantage of wearing different hats and therefore understanding the vital connections between different parts of our company.” For people who have trained as clinicians with specialization, the small-company model might seem ad hoc and disorganized. For Dr. Blender, it was an opportunity to stay on a rapid, exciting learning curve. “I found that I didn’t understand compliance issues, so I made a lot of phone calls to the legal and regulatory teams. Talking to people can sometimes be the fastest, most effective way to learn,” she says.
RETURN TO CORE FOCUS
In 2023, Dr. Blender had the opportunity to “come back to my roots” of her cornea and contact lens residency. She became a senior medical director of Aurion Biotech, which is developing a novel cell therapy to treat corneal endothelial disease. The company has received regulatory approval in Japan, and has completed enrollment and dosing subjects in a Phase 1 / 2 trial in the U.S. and Canada.
“Today, the standard of care is endothelial keratoplasty,” Blender explains. “While the procedure is safe and effective, it requires one healthy donor cornea for transplant into the patient. But there’s a global shortage of healthy donor corneas. A survey published in JAMA Ophthalmology cites that every 70 diseased eyes, there’s only one donor available1,” she says. Aurion Biotech has developed a novel, scalable manufacturing process to address this global shortage. The company can propagate cells from a a single healthy donor to make 1,000 doses. What’s more, Aurion’s cell therapy is allogeneic, which means there’s no need for type matching or concern for immune rejection. The company hopes to share topline data from its Phase 1/2 clinical trial early next year.
Aurion’s work represents the kind of wide-ranging impact Dr. Blender always aspired to achieve. “As a clinician, you’re helping one patient at a time. I never felt like I was casting a wide enough net,” she says. In her current role, she feels she can contribute to life-changing advancements that could potentially benefit millions of people – a powerful motivator that drives her every day, she says.
FLEXIBILITY
For Dr. Blender, the flexibility that comes with her industry roles has been invaluable, especially as a parent. “You can’t put a price on flexibility,” she says. While financial compensation is important, it was never her primary motivation. Instead, she was driven by the desire to make a difference in a different way. And she wanted to reclaim the balance between her professional ambitions and her family life.
Dr. Blender’s journey has taught her the importance of perseverance, networking and the willingness to learn. Don’t sell your clinical practice experience short. It makes a difference in her discussions in all directions to have the familiarity of how a clinic operates and to be able to have empathy for and credibility with the practitioners she meets.
For others who are interested in doing something similar, she gives this advice. “Understand your goals and why you want to leave practice,” she says. She stresses the importance of networking, being open to new experiences, and finding mentors who can guide you through the transition. “It’s hard to get into industry, but if you’re willing to learn and stay open to opportunities, you’ll find them. Then you may discover that the passion for your work will continue to grow over time.”
- JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(2):167-173. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2015.477
