Mr. Daniel H. White, ’85
Q: Tell us what you do now.
A: I am currently the President and CEO of Clearside Biomedical, an Alpharetta, GA, based pharmaceutical company developing treatments for retinal diseases that are sight threatening. The company was founded in 2011 and is now publically traded under the symbol CLSD. We have 23 employees focused on the development of innovating treatments and are currently in the drug development process with zero sales.
Q: What projects are you currently most excited about?
A: At Clearside, we are working to design therapies for treating blinding disease. It is not hard to wake up every day with a mission to save people from losing their sight, but it takes patience and caring to bring a great team of people together on this shared mission. In June of this year, we took the company public to raise the kind of capital it takes for a drug to be developed and approved by the FDA in the US. Everyone in the company must work in unison solving some very complicated scientific questions in order to be successful. We are rewarded when we see life-changing vision improvement in clinical trials, and it reminds us we have an obligation to bring these therapies to the market as soon as possible.
Q: How has your life journey been influenced by your time at Donoho?
A: I want to acknowledge my mother, Jo Anne White, who was a first grade teacher for 30 plus years. It was through her tireless work and loving support that I was able to attend Donoho School from 3rd through 12th grades. I graduated from Donoho School in 1985. While at the Donoho School, I was able to become a member of the National Honor Society and lettered in Varsity Football and Basketball. The Donoho School provided exposure to advanced classes and education that resulted in an accelerated familiarity in classes I took during my freshman and sophomore years at Auburn University like Biology, History, and Math. Donoho also provided an environment and support where I was able to build confidence and thrive in athletics where in a larger school I would be unlikely to perform. Candidly, I was NOT an all-A, honor-roll student, but with the appropriate environment and hard work, Donoho provided the platform to experience an incredible career and quality life and family.
