About IOFF
Prof. Dr. Peter Gabel
Prof. Gabel founded the German based charitable IOFF e. V. in 2007 to raise funds for three-month fellowships and chairs the organization. He is chair of the IOFF e. V..
During his tenures as consultant Ophthalmologist at the Eyeclinic of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and later as Director of the Eyeclinic of the Franz-Josef-Strauß University in Regensburg, he has supervised many fellows from abroad and likes keeping touch with them to see their performances in Ophthalmology. He enjoys sailing and travelling to Italy.
E-mail to Prof. Gabel
Prof. Dr. Berthold Seitz
Vice chair of the IOFF e. V. and Director for IOFF Subspecialty Fellowships. Being director of the Eyeclinic of the University of Saarland he is involved in professional education on an every day basis, so he knows well about the importace of solid training. In collaboration with Lions Clubs International and the Klaus Faber Foundation Saarbrücken he has set up a large eye bank in his Department and supplies the south-western part of Germany and adjacent parts of France with Cornea transplants.
When he is not in the clinic he enjoys listening to Music and plays the piano.
E-mail to Prof. Seitz
James V. Mazzo
James V. (Jim) Mazzo is Executive Chair of Neurotech, a private clinical stage biotech company focused on developing transformative therapies for chronic eye diseases.
Mazzo is an Advisor for Anivive, Bain, CVC Private Equity, Visus, and Zeiss. He sits on the Boards of Emmecell, Iantrek, Pulse Medica, Remonihealth and is the Executive Chair of Trukera and Centricity Vision.
He serves as President of the Ophthalmology Foundation and Board Chair of the Gavin Hebert Eye Institute. Mazzo is on the Advisory Boards of the AAO Foundation, the AGS Foundation, NASA’s Mission to Mars Committee, is an Officer in the Order of St. John, and a Board Member of the Anaheim Ducks Foundation.
Mazzo is one of the ophthalmic industry’s best known and most respected business leaders with more than 40 years of proven experience. His global reputation for building and running world-class organizations is based on twenty-two years of leading Allergan’s North American and European eye care organizations; Chairman, President and CEO of Advanced Medical Optics (AMO); EVP of Abbott’s global ophthalmology business; Executive Chair and CEO of AcuFocus; Global President of Ophthalmic Devices for Carl Zeiss Meditec; and President, CEO and Member of the Board for Avellino.
Additionally, he is the Founder and Past Chair of Octane, a member of the International Intraocular Implant Club (lllC) and Executive Committee Board Member with the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA).
His accomplishments and contributions to the healthcare industry, business and educational communities include serving as Board Chair for AdvaMed, member of the University of California at Irvine Foundation, Vice Chair Trustee with Chapman University, Richard Nixon Foundation Board Member, and years of dedicated experience in the medical device industry including cardiology, dermatology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology. Mazzo’s accolades include recognition as a multi-time Top 100 Innovator in Ophthalmology, and one of Orange County’s Top 50 Executives. In 2023 he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Lindstrom Leadership Award, and the Orange County Eye Project Lifetime Achievement Award.
E-mail to James Mazzo
Cordula Gabel-Obermaier
Serves as Executive for IOFF-Subspecialty Fellowships and General Secretary. In her last position, which she held for more than 11 years, she gained a lot of experience supporting more than 900 three-months fellowships and 30 one-year fellowships from application to their stay abroad.
In her free time she likes bicycle riding and mountain hiking.
E-mail to Cordula Gabel-Obermaier