Clinician-led leadership with deep ophthalmic expertise.

Dr. James Rynerson is the Founder of Meibum Scientific and a leading authority in the diagnosis and treatment of dry eye disease and blepharitis. He received his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine and completed his ophthalmology residency at LSU Shreveport. Dr. Rynerson has been in clinical practice for more than 20 years, with a focused specialization in chronic ocular surface disease.

Through years of private practice, Dr. Rynerson identified consistent patterns of treatment failure in patients with dry eye and blepharitis. These observations led him to investigate the underlying causes of persistent inflammation, culminating in his recognition of biofilm-driven disease as the root cause of both conditions. His work contributed to the identification and clinical characterization of Deep Subdermal Blepharitis (DSB) and the development of a biofilm-centric disease model that underpins Meibum Scientific’s platform.

Dr. Rynerson is widely recognized for advancing the understanding of dry eye and blepharitis as inflammatory diseases rather than surface lubrication disorders. He lectures internationally, including in Europe and Asia, educating clinicians on disease etiology and mechanism-based treatment approaches. He also holds multiple patents related to the treatment of dry eye and blepharitis.

Dr. Rynerson resides in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and son.

Ryan Bleeks serves as Chief Executive Officer of Meibum Scientific, where he is responsible for leading the commercialization and growth of the company’s flagship technologies, BlephEx® and OptiVize®, and translating Meibum’s scientific foundation into scalable, clinic-ready solutions.

Mr. Bleeks brings extensive leadership experience across ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and public company operations. He is also the CEO of Visiox Pharmaceuticals, where he led a transformative merger that positioned OcuVex Therapeutics as an emerging ophthalmology company with a diversified pipeline of near-term products. His responsibilities included overseeing complex M&A execution, SEC filings (S-1 and S-4), capital formation, and organizational build-out.

Previously, Mr. Bleeks held senior commercial leadership roles at RVL Pharmaceuticals, where he led a national eyecare sales organization of more than 130 professionals and generated over $11.5 million in revenue. He also served as National Sales Director at Sun Pharma, supporting the successful launches of CEQUA® and XELPROS®, and held leadership roles associated with the commercialization of Upneeq®.

Over his career, Mr. Bleeks has been directly involved in launching more than a dozen ophthalmic products and has built deep, long-standing relationships across ophthalmology and optometry. His leadership focus is on disciplined execution, team culture, and driving sustainable shareholder value.

Bob Dempsey serves as Chief Operating Officer of Meibum Scientific and brings decades of executive leadership experience in ophthalmology, biotechnology, and global pharmaceutical commercialization.

Mr. Dempsey is currently Interim CEO of Ashvattha Therapeutics, where he oversees the development of Migaldendranib (MGB), a novel targeted nanomedicine for diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Previously, he served as CEO and President of AsclepiX Therapeutics and as CEO of TearClear, where he drove commercial strategy, regulatory engagement, and a successful Series B financing.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Dempsey served as Group Vice President and Head of Global Ophthalmology at Shire (now Takeda). In that role, he led the global launch of Xiidra®, including a transaction with more than $1 billion in upfront value and a subsequent $1.7 billion acquisition by Bausch & Lomb. He also oversaw multiple strategic acquisitions that expanded Shire’s ophthalmology pipeline.

Mr. Dempsey serves on multiple boards including iVeena Delivery Systems, TearSolutions, Azalea Vision, and Signal 12, and is a Co-Founder and Board Member of the Holland Foundation for Sight Restoration.