About Dr. Marlene Krauss
Throughout her life, Dr. Marlene Krauss has been a pioneer, breaking boundaries, doing her part to advance the women’s movement, and combining medical and investment banking experience to develop medical treatments that have changed our culture.
Dr. Krauss is managing director of KBL Healthcare Ventures, an entity that has funded and invested in numerous groundbreaking healthcare companies. Her investments include Summit Autonomous Inc., which manufactures the Summit Technology excimer laser, the first laser to be approved by the FDA for LASIK refractive eye surgery.
She continues to develop innovative new technologies and treatments. Dr. Krauss recently launched Sychordia, a new center for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), the first FDA-approved treatment for depression that has been proven effective even for those who have not benefited from medicine or therapy.
Dr. Krauss received a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. She trained at Beth Israel Hospital and the Deaconess Hospital, both of which are Harvard-affiliated hospitals, as well as at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. In 1985, Dr. Krauss completed her training as a vitreoretinal surgeon at New York Hospital, where she has served as Clinical Instructor of Ophthalmology. She is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist.
Dr. Krauss has co-founded and/or led the initial financing for numerous market-leading healthcare companies, including:
- Lumenos, a provider of health plans to self-insured employers. She subsequently sold the company to Wellpoint, the largest health benefits firm in the United States.
- Candela Corporation, a Nasdaq Global Market-listed developer of advanced aesthetic laser systems that allow physicians and personal care practitioners to treat a wide variety of cosmetic and medical conditions.
- Summit Autonomous Inc., formerly a Nasdaq Global Market-listed manufacturer and supplier of excimer laser systems and related products used to perform procedures that correct common refractive vision disorders such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.
- Cambridge Heart Inc., an Over The Counter Bulletin Board listed company that is engaged in the research, development and commercialization of products for the non-invasive diagnosis of cardiac disease.
The first Sychordia center is located at 50 East 72nd Street. TMS applies low-dose magnetic pulses about the strength of an MRI to the parts of the brain associated with depression. In FDA trials, more than 10,000 active TMS treatments were performed on depressed patients. The trials showed that approximately one in two patients treated experienced significant improvement in their symptoms of depression, and approximately one in three patients experienced complete relief from their depression at the end of six weeks of treatment. The treatment is safe and has none of the side effects associated with most anti-depressant medications — there is no weight gain, sexual dysfunction, sedation or memory impairment.
Dr. Krauss is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and has served as vice chairperson of the business committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and as director of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. She was the second woman to receive the Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Award.
