Dr. Sahni has more than 25 years of ophthalmology and drug development experience. Prior to joining AAVantgarde as CMO in August 2024, Dr. Sahni was a Sr. Global Program Clinical Head at Novartis, leading the clinical strategy, design and execution of their Phase I to III Ophthalmology gene therapy and digital health programs. Previously she worked in the pharma research and early development group at Roche and in her role as an Expert Medical Director she was responsible for the Phase I and II clinical trials for Vabysmo in nAMD & DME and for several glaucoma and inherited retinal disease programs. Whilst at Roche, she also gained experience in Global Business Development (Neurology, Ophthalmology and Rare Diseases).

Dr. Sahni is a seasoned retina specialist and prior to joining the industry, she was Consultant Ophthalmologist and Medical Retina Specialist and the Head of the Liverpool Ophthalmic Reading Centre at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust. She did her post-doctoral fellowships at St Paul’s Eye Unit, Liverpool and Moorfields Eye Hospital, London and is a UK Board certified ophthalmologist with an Executive MBA (embaX) from ETH Zurich and University of St. Gallen (Switzerland).