Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am pleased to introduce NovaVision today for their testimony regarding TBI and vision.

NovaVision, Inc., headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., develops and provides scientifically based, innovative medical devices and comprehensive solutions to restore the vision of patients with neurological visual impairments. Nova Vision’s FDA-cleared NovaVision Vision Restoration Therapy™ (VRT) is based on neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections to compensate for injury. NovaVision diagnostic testing maps areas where vision may be improved, and therapy targets and stimulates regions within the brain’s vision-processing areas.

VRT is based on more than 10 years of research with clinical studies published in leading journals including Nature Medicine, Neurology, and The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.  Data from a recent retrospective study identified that more than 70 percent of U.S. patients who underwent VRT for an initial six-month treatment period showed significant improvements in their vision.

More than 1,000 patients have been treated with VRT and clinical results are positive. VRT is currently offered at leading neurological, eye and rehabilitation centers nationwide.

Dr. Marshall will elaborate further on this therapy.

Dr. Randolph S. Marshall is Professor of Clinical Neurology at Columbia University and Director of the Stroke Division in the Department of Neurology.  Dr. Marshall obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1982 and his medical degree from the University of California in 1988, including an MD degree from UC San Francisco and a Master’s degree from UC Berkeley. He completed his neurology residency in 1992 at Columbia and subsequently trained as a clinical and research fellow in cerebrovascular diseases at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. 

His clinical work focuses on the treatment and prevention of stroke and related cerebrovascular disorders.  He has a research program that investigates the hemodynamic and physiological mechanisms of stroke recovery, with emphasis on the functional neuroimaging correlates of brain plasticity and recovery after injury. 

Current NIH grants include an fMRI project in acute stroke patients to identify patterns of brain activity that predict subsequent recovery of function, and a multi-center clinical trial to assess the effects of extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery on cognition in patients with hemispheral hemodynamic impairment from symptomatic carotid artery occlusion. He has also been involved in restorative treatment modalities after brain injury.

He is accompanied by Navroze S. Mehta, President and Chief Executive Officer, NovaVision.

Mr. Navroze Mehta brings 15 years of experience managing technology companies to his post at NovaVision. Mehta co-founded NovaVision in 2002 guiding the company through the FDA- clearance of its Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT), the accumulation of 50 Partner Centers and three rounds of financing.

Mr. Mehta received an MBA from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College at the University of Bombay, India. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of New York, a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and past chairman of America’s Gateway Chapter in Miami.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.