Shawn O'Neil is the CEO of ViaLase, a clinical-stage medtech company building FLIGHT, an incision-free femtosecond laser procedure for glaucoma. He spent more than two decades at Alcon rising to head of sales and marketing for surgical glaucoma, then ran commercial at Sight Sciences before joining ViaLase as Chief Commercial Officer and stepping up to CEO in July 2025. His career has been a running tour of the products that reshaped eye surgery: EX-PRESS, LenSx, CyPass, OMNI, TearCare, and now a laser that treats glaucoma without ever touching the eye with a blade.

Kathy Chen is a Palo Alto-based entrepreneur and Co-founder of East Optical USA, the North American arm of East Optical, a family-owned Chinese optical lens manufacturer established in 1982. She has built the company's presence across North America, launching the innovative MyoPro myopia management spectacle lens in Canada and expanding into international markets. A regular on the optical industry conference circuit, she has spoken at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas on a Main Stage panel about the Future of Opticianry, attended the Myopia Summit in Toronto, and represented East Optical at Franja 2025 in Bogotá, Colombia.