Carson firm names medical panel

A Carson City company that manufactures

nutritional supplements to keep eyes

healthy named four experts in ophthalmology

as founding members of its scientific

advisory board.

ScienceBased Health has been operating

in Carson City since 1997 and

employs more than 20 people at its headquarters

on Highway 50 East.

A contracted sales force of 30, meanwhile,

sells the company's products

through a network of several thousand

ophthalmologists and optometrists.

It's been a successful strategy.

Pamela Howard, a spokeswoman for

ScienceBased Health, said last week the

privately held company is profitable and

debt- free.

The Company's proprietary formulations

include:

* HydroEye, an oral nutritional supplement

for dry eye. ScienceBased Health is

seeking a patent on the formula.

* OculaRx, a comprehensive multinutrient

formula marketed for eyes and

overall body health.

* MaculaRx Plus, a nutritional formula

based on recent research into age-related

eye disease.

The company's president and chief

executive, David K. Hanabusa, is a partner

at Aragon Ventures and previously served

as president and CEO of ControlNet, Inc,

an incubator of communication industry

startups.

He also has experience as chief financial

officer or controller in early-stage companies

including SiRF Technology,

CommVision Corporation, Quickturn

Design Systems, Kalpana, S3,

Incorporated and Convergent

Technologies.

Named to the company's scientific

advisory board were:

* Paul Koch, M.D., who serves as chief

medical editor of Ophthalmology

Management magazine. He's the author of

textbooks on eye surgery and the winner of

the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Honor Award.

* Robert S. Lewis, M.D., the senior

partner at Ophthalmic Surgeons and

Physicians of Tempe, Ariz. He teaches

post-graduate courses and is chairman of

the department of ophthalmology at

Desert Samaritan Hospital.

* Stuart P. Richer, an associate professor

of family and preventive medicine at

Chicago Medical School and associate

professor of optometry at the Illinois

College of Optometry. Richer has been

chief of optometry at DVA Medical

Center at North Chicago since 1983.

* John D. Sheppard, M.D., director of

the ophthalmology program at Eastern

Virginia Medical School. He also is a

partner in Virginia Eye Consultants. He

received the American Academy of

Ophthalmology Honor in 1995.