Pat Welch

PENSACOLA, Fla.— IRIS: Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems, a cloud-based retinal screening technology provider, announced that Pat Welch has joined its leadership team as vice president of healthcare accounts.

"Pat brings to the IRIS team more than 25 years of in-depth, global healthcare industry experience and specialized expertise in the ophthalmology field," said founder and chief medical officer Sunil Gupta, M.D. "There couldn't be a better fit than Pat to lead our growth efforts and help achieve our mission to end preventable blindness in diabetic populations around the world."

Previously, Welch served as vice president and head of the U.S. Retina and Medical Dermatology business units for Allergan, Inc. During his tenure with the company, he managed the pre-approval and launch plan for products such as Lumigan and Restasis. Welch also led Allergan's U.S. Managed Healthcare Division and Government Affairs Operation, served as vice president/managing director of Allergan Singapore and was president/managing director of Allergan Korea.

Welch joins a growing team of physicians, technicians and healthcare change management experts who are introducing the cloud-based retinal screening service to health plans and providers. "Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the United States," Welch said. "I am thrilled to have an opportunity to join the IRIS team's efforts provide accessible, quality preventative screening technology for physicians and their patients."

IRIS enables physicians in any practice location, including primary care, to directly screen their patients for diabetic retinopathy and other diseases. Digital photographs of the retina are enhanced and sent via the Cloud to interpreting physicians, and then returned to the local provider for follow-up care.

"We have a goal to improve eye health and quality of life for millions of diabetics around the world, and no one has more passion for the cause than Pat does," said IRIS CEO Jason Crawford.