Business
Paul Ryb was a very successful investment banker when he suddenly lost his central vision at age 37, due to dry AMD. In this unique episode of the OIS Podcast, Ryb tells our host Rob Rothman, MD, that the sudden change presented a big problem for him because of his fast-paced life. He said, “I had a lot of risk profile responsibilities, and it was life changing for me in not just my professional career but also my private investment career.”Upon being seen by a top eyecare professional at Moorfields Hospital, he was told nothing could be done for the condition, which he found surprising and distressing.However, Ryb then made contact with a charitable organization, Blind in Business, which he says began the next chapter of his life. “They had solutions for what I basically term affectionately as the ability to live and succeed with sight loss,” Ryb said. “And that kind of positive energy is exactly what I needed to hear at that moment.”That positivity led him back into sports, where he had succeeded to the point of becoming world champion of Visually Impaired Tennis. But more importantly he learned how to conquer challenges in his career using technologies for the visually impaired.And now, Ryb has chosen to use his investment banking skills to help fund and develop ophthalmic innovations.Click play to hear Paul Ryb talk about waking up with vision loss, his path to overcoming the challenges, and how he plans to use his experience with adversity to improve future technologies in this area.