Nikki Hafezi, MAS IP ETHZ

In April 2015, readers of the international journal “The Ophthalmologist” voted Ms. Hafezi into the “Top 40 under 40”, a list of the most promising new personalities in global ophthalmology.

Studies and Postgraduate Education

Mrs. Hafezi studied English and Spanish at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. In addition, Ms. Hafezi holds a Master’s degree in intellectual property from the ETH Zurich (MASIP ETHZ).

Activities

Mrs. Hafezi’s principal pursuits at ELZA include business development, strategic planning, intellectual property and patents, and fundraising.

Humanitarian Initiative

In 2012, she co-founded “Light for Sight,” an international initiative that aims to early recognise and treat keratoconus in children and adolescents. Read more about the charity here.

Awards, The PowerList

In April 2015, readers of the international journal “The Ophthalmologist” voted Mrs. Hafezi into the “Top 40 under 40”, a list of the most promising new personalities, or “rising stars” in global ophthalmology. In total, only 2 people from industry and only six women were members of the list –  underlining the scale of this achievement.

Current Positions

Outside of ELZA, Mrs. Hafezi provides strategic management consulting in the medical field for academic institutions, companies and non-profit organizations in Europe and North America.

She is currently Chief Executive Officer of the National Eye Institute, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Here, she leads a newly established eye specialty hospital dedicated to medical excellence, science, research, clinical education, and outreach activities aimed at improving the vision health of the nation.

Mrs. Hafezi also serves as Chief Executive Officer, EMAGine AG, in Zug, Switzerland, where her focus is on developing and marketing medical therapeutic products, including the innovative C-Eye device, a corneal cross-linking system launched in 2019 and now available in over 40 countries.

Finally, she has been a partner at GroupAdvance Consulting GmbH in Zug since 2007.

Ms. Hafezi lives with her husband and three daughters in Zug, Switzerland.

Nikki Hafezi, MAS IP ETHZ led the P21 program in Bukhara, combining keratoconus screening with multidisciplinary pediatric assessments for 400 children.
In March 2025, Tashkent became the focal point for ophthalmology innovation as it hosted the Second International Conference on Innovative Technologies in Ophthalmology.
ELZA’s CEO, Nikki Hafezi launches a keratoconus screening initiative for children with Down syndrome in Uzbekistan, beginning in Andijan.
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