Select Speakers, Investors & Strategics
(prelim sneak peek)
Alex Gorsky
Former Chairman & CEO
Johnson & Johnson
Catherine Mohr
President
Intuitive Foundation
A HealthTech executive with over 20 years of experience in the areas of strategy, research, and product development. Catherine has a diverse background which covers surgery, medical technology, engineering, product design, healthcare, alternative energy, automotive, aerospace, global entrepreneurship, IP litigation, FDA compliance, education, and product development.
Dave Hickey
EVP and President of Life Sciences
Becton Dickinson
Paul LaViolette
Managing Partner & COO
SV Health Investors
Paul brings over 35 years of global medical technology management experience to SV.
He joined SV in 2009 as a Venture Partner and in 2011 was made a Partner. Paul was promoted to Managing Partner & COO in 2014 and heads our medical device investments.
Prior to SV, Paul built and ran medical device businesses for 29 years before joining SV Health Investors. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer at Boston Scientific (BSC), an $8 billion medical device leader. During his 15 years at BSC, Paul served as Chief Operating Officer; Group President, Cardiovascular; President, Cardiology; Group President, Endosurgery; and President, International. During his tenure, the company grew revenue over 20 times. Paul integrated two dozen acquisitions and led extensive product development, manufacturing and worldwide commercial organizations. Previously, Paul held marketing and general management positions at CR Bard and various marketing roles at Kendall (Medtronic).
Outside of SV, Paul serves on the board of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, and is Chairman of the Innovation Growth Board at the Mass General Brigham health system. In addition, Paul serves on the board of Vibrato Medical, Inc. as a Director. He also served on the board of Advamed for 10 years and is a routine speaker at industry meetings.
Colin Morrison
Director, Business Development, Venture Capital Investments
Boston Scientific
Business Development, Venture Capital Investment, Mergers & Acquisitions, Sales Management, and Marketing in Medical Device
Specialties: Venture Capital Investment, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market analysis and business plan development for emerging technologies; upstream market strategy, sales management and team leadership; sales team training and development.
Dan Wolf
Sr. Vice President, Strategy & Business Development
Baxter
Chris Eso
VP, M&A, Strategy and Portfolio Management
Medtronic
Chris Eso currently has dual responsibility as Vice President of Business Development & Strategy for both the Structural Heart & Aortic operating unit and the Cardiovascular Portfolio, which includes eight cardiovascular operating units across Medtronic. Chris joined Medtronic in 2011 and has held numerous business development, M&A and strategy positions of increasing responsibility and scope over his tenure at Medtronic in both the businesses and corporate functions.
Previous Roles:
Chris brings more than 25 years of successful professional business and general management experience within the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries, in addition to Medtronic, including Allergan, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Agilent Technologies, and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals. Most of his experience is in a business/corporate development and strategy capacity where he has led more than 50 transactions with consideration of approximately $15 billion, as well as general management capacity running a $50 million revenue-generating wholly-owned subsidiary of a publicly-traded company.
Rick Anderson
Chairman & Founding Managing Director
Revival Healthcare Captal
Dennis McWilliams
Partner
Santé Ventures
Serial life science entrepreneur and innovator dedicated to globally commercializing world changing medical technologies. Leadership experience from early idea stages through global product launches in both private and public companies, with significant domestic and international management experience.
Lisa Suennen
Managing Partner, Ventures
American Heart Association
JD Friedland
Managing Director, Ventures
Cleveland Clinic
I am Managing Director of Cleveland Clinic Ventures, whose focus is on companies in the medical device, life sciences and digital health sectors.
I have over twenty-five years of experience as an investor, board member, M&A advisor and corporate business development executive for companies and opportunities across healthcare, with particular expertise in medical devices and medical technology.
Thom Rasche
Managing Partner
Earlybird Ventures
Experienced executive in Healthcare with operational and financial expertise. Interested in Healthcare ventures and new Technologies. Helping entrepreneurs to establish a business and develop a business model. Coach entrepreneurs on their endevours. Investing in new Healthcare start ups. Creating a superior return for investors by helping the human kind.
Debbie Lin
Executive in Residence
DigitalDx Ventures
Life science and Digital Health Executive with 14+ years based in both US, Germany/ International healthcare experience in global business development /corporate strategy, commercial sales and corporate venture capital for a leading multinational pharmaceutical company.
Luc Marengere
Managing Partner
TVM Capital Life Science
Dr. Marengère is responsible for TVM Capital Life Science’s overall investment strategy and global fund operations.
Dr. Marengère joined TVM in 2012 and has 23 years of venture capital experience. He was a key driver of the implementation of the TVM LSI I investment strategy which resulted in a number of investments. He is a Director on the Boards of Emovi Inc.; Acanthas Pharma; Occelaris Pharma; Ixchelsis; PRCL Pharma; Panthera Dental; FAAH Pharma; Kaneq Biosciences; Acer Therapeutics as well as Rapid Micro Biosciences. Luc was on the Board of Colucid Pharma Inc. and Aurka Pharma which were recently sold to Eli Lilly for US $960M and US $575M respectively.
Dr. Marengère brings a significant track record to TVM given his long standing experience as a Venture Capitalist. Very notable deals during Luc‘s previous tenure as Managing Partner at VG Partners include Cytochroma Inc. (sold to Opko for US$ 400M); VisualSonics (sold to Sonosite for US $75M) and CITA Neuropharma (sold to Vernalis Plc for US$ 85M). Prior to joining VG Partners, Luc focused on making venture investments in the life science sector while at La Caisse De Depot‘s venture capital group SOFINOV as well as MDS Capital and MedTech Partners.
Michael Ryan
VP, Venture Capital & Business Development
Boston Scientific
Jay Watkins
Managing Partner
Sonder Capital
Jay Watkins has over 30 years experience founding and funding healthcare companies. Jay’s career in healthcare began when he co-founded Origin Medsystems, a venture funded medical technology start-up that was acquired by Eli Lilly & Company and later spun out as part of Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT).
He served as president of several Guidant divisions, led its global business development activities, and later served as a managing director at DeNovo Ventures. Jay lectures at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign.
He is widely sought after for his strategic insight and knowledge of structuring M&A transactions and currently serves on the boards of several healthcare companies, including Shockwave Medical (NASDAQ: SWAV), Avail Medsystems, RefleXion Medical, Tissium and Neptune Medical.
John Yianni
Partner
Earlybird Ventures
With over 30 years in the medical device industry, John Yianni has founded several successful startups, including Biocompatibles, Thermocore Medical, Securus Medical Group, Reverse Medical, and CryoTherapeutics, where he serves as CEO.
In 2016, he joined Earlybird Venture Capital's Health Fund as Partner. He earned a doctorate in Biophysics from the University of Salford in the UK and has postdoctoral research experience at the University of Salford and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Jeff Peters
Venture Partner
OrbiMed
Jeff Peters is a Venture Partner with OrbiMed Advisors and currently serves as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of evanesce Medical. Mr. Peters has over 25 years of medical device experience in financial and operating consulting roles in public and private companies. Previously, Mr. Peters was the Chief Executive Officer of Cardialen Inc, a company developing low-energy arrythmia management therapy; Anulex Technologies, a company developing minimally invasive spine therapies; he also served as the Chief Technology Officer of ev3 (now Medtronic). Mr. Peters’ prior financial roles include Portfolio Manager at Black River Asset Management, Entrepreneur in Residence at Foundation Medical, and Equity Analyst at Dain Rauscher Wessels.
Kolaleh Eskandanian
Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer
Children's National Hospital
As Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Eskandanian leads the strategic and operational management of novel product development at Children’s National, with a focus on translating pediatric innovation to patients and families. She is the Managing Director of Innovation Ventures, the commercialization arm of Children’s National, the Executive Director of the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, and Principal Investigator of the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation, an FDA-funded initiative. Most recently, Dr. Eskandanian played a critical leadership role in the development of the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus (opening in second quarter 2021), housing Children’s National Research Institute as well as JLABS @ Washington, DC and Virginia Tech as the initial anchors of the campus. Dr. Eskandanian works with a large network of small and large businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies to maximize the commercial potential of pediatric novel products. Since early 2014, over 160 pediatric medical device companies have been funded and/or received technical expertise through initiatives led by Dr. Eskandanian. Her own innovations are in the market space for decades, used by millions. Dr. Eskandanian is the lead inventor of the first-ever adverse event reporting system, initially deployed in a research academic environment. She has had leadership roles in the development of the first web-based consumer trouble-entry management system for a Fortune 100 company in the telecommunications sector. In her role in academia, she has been instrumental in securing over $100 million in peer-reviewed government funding.
Allan May
Chairman of the Board
FundamentalVR
Tico Blumenthal
Member
Life Science Angels
As the VP of Product at Eko, I lead the product innovation and strategy for transforming cardiopulmonary care with AI and cloud computing. With over 20 years of experience in healthcare product leadership, I have launched impactful solutions across services, software, implantable and wearable devices that have improved patient outcomes and user experiences worldwide.
My core competencies include defining and validating user needs, mapping customers' jobs to be done, understanding the value chain, and identifying new opportunities for clinical and business impact. I also have extensive experience in conducting market research, segmentation, and ethnography, developing portfolio strategy, managing product lifecycle, and driving market-aligned scope and risk mitigation. I have directly led the initiation, development, and launch of products and services that have touched over 8 million patient lives in domains such as interventional pulmonology, thoracic surgery, peripheral and endovascular therapies, renal care, and digital health. My mission is to grow the impact of cardiopulmonary screening and intervention on patient lives, globally.
Ann Gaddy
Co-Founder & Managing Director
BioPacific Investors
Brett Potts
Principal
NewCap Partners
Brett Potts advises business owners, shareholders, corporate boards and investors in matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, corporate development, financial analysis and valuation for NewCap Partners. Brett has mergers and acquisitions experience across a broad base of industry sectors including: software, composite materials, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, horticulture, business-to-business services and training.
Prior to joining NewCap Partners, Brett founded Coast Practical, Inc., a growth and exit consultancy with a portfolio of small business investments, focusing on high growth businesses in Southern California across a variety of sectors. Brett has held Board of Directors, CEO, CFO and COO roles in several of these portfolio clients and led or otherwise been involved in many M&A and capital raising transactions as a result of this work.
Prior to Coast Practical, Brett led business units within Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS), spending five years as a General Manager specializing in turnarounds. In each of his four key leadership roles, the business units made dramatic rapid progress in profitability, year-on-year growth, safety and customer satisfaction, while reducing employee turnover. He was regularly involved in strategic advisory on acquisition prospects for the growing Fortune 500 company.
Charles Hamilton
Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking
Piper Sandler
Charles Hamilton is a managing director within the Piper Sandler healthcare group and a senior partner of the medical technology team. Charles advises clients across a full range of investment banking services, including sell-side, buy-side and cross-border M&A, corporate carve-outs, public and private equity and debt financings, capital allocation and defensive advisory. Charles has 20 years of healthcare investment banking and capital markets experience, and has completed over 80 M&A and capital markets transactions on behalf of his medical technology clients at Piper Sandler.
Andrew ElBardissi, MD
Partner
Deerfield Management
Andrew ElBardissi, M.D., is a Partner on the Medical Technologies team and joined the Firm in 2017. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. ElBardissi was a Principal at Longitude Capital, where he focused on investments in medtech and biotechnology. Before that, he was an Associate in JPMorgan’s healthcare investment banking practice. Dr. ElBardissi received residency training in General Surgery at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University. He has been independently funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, has authored over 30 publications in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented his research at numerous medical and surgical conferences. Dr. ElBardissi holds an M.D. from the Mayo Clinic, an M.P.H. in Quantitative Methods from Harvard University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. with honors in Biology (Phi Beta Kappa) from the Schreyer Honors College at the Pennsylvania State University.
Alexander Schmitz
Partner
Endeavour Vision
Alexander is a Partner at Endeavour Vision, investing in medical technology, digital health and diagnostics companies across multiple therapeutic areas.
Alexander brings more than two decades of business and strategy experience in both medical device and high-technology companies. He currently represents Endeavour Vision on the boards of Kenbi, Relievant MedSystems, Lumeon, Rapid Micro Biosystems (NASDAQ:RPID) and VentureMed, and led the firm’s investments in Gynesonics, Nuvaira and V-Wave. He previously served on the boards of VertiFlex (acquired by Boston Scientific in 2019) and EndoStim. He is a member of the steering committee for PCR Innovators’ Day and serves as both a jury member and expert panelist for the Healthtech Summit.
Prior to joining the Endeavour Vision team, Alexander spent nine years with Biosensors International Group, an interventional cardiology company, where he served as vice president of business development. He previously worked with LogiSpring Ventures, MicroStrategy and McKinsey & Co.
Joshua Eckelberry
Principal
Solas BioVentures
Joshua Eckelberry graduated with honors from East Tennessee State University with a BS in Biochemistry as a Mayme Frazier Scholar and then attended Quillen College of Medicine for two years on the nationally ranked rural health track before diverting to pursue an MBA in Healthcare Administration. While in school he pioneered Quillen's anatomy lab internship where he helped create the school's first digital dissector, served as president of the local American Medical School Association, helped negotiated a hospital staffing contract worth over $1M, and raised over $200K for area non-profit clinics. With his understanding of both the science and business sides of the life science industry, Josh helps translate and negotiate the optimal outcome for patients and the companies. Josh has a lifelong commitment to drive positive impact on the community and the world through leveraged change.
Jason Grimes
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Highpoint Ventures
Sascha Berger
Partner
TVM Capital Life Science
Sascha Berger, PhD, joined the TVM Capital Life Science team in Munich in 2016. He is active in deal flow generation, investment due diligence, deal and exit transactions, investor communication as well as corporate finance aspects of the fund.
Sascha has a strong financial background with almost ten years of professional transaction and strategy experience. He has a track-record of concluding 20 M&A transactions, five of those he led as responsible project manager in his previous role as Senior M&A Manager in a PE backed global corporation. He was a core team member in a successful EUR 2.5bn revenue cross-border merger and successfully coordinated global merger clearance procedures (USA, China, EU, Korea).
Prior to this recent role, Sascha successfully advised multiple renowned clients in corporate finance and strategy projects working as (senior) consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Boston Consulting Group. He was selected for the global leadership development program in his previous role and was named a global high-potential in PwC.
Sascha studied technology management in Munich, Singapore and Boston and holds a Master from Munich University of Technology with majors in entrepreneurial finance and chemistry, magna cum laude. In his master thesis he analyzed the specific challenges of biotech VC financing rounds. Later he completed his PhD studies in banking and finance while already working for PwC. He is a regular speaker on corporate finance topics for German universities and business schools.
Paul Russo
Chairman & CEO
KYTO Technology & Life Science
Strong vision and strategy skills. Good at understanding technology adoption trends. Significant experience in public and private high tech boards. Strong experience in investing at the seed/angel level in technology and life science. Seeking public company board position in a company that is re-thinking its strategy and would benefit from a strong visionary leader. Very experienced in rapidly growing auto safety systems from camera processors to Head-Up displays. More recently, gaining a lot of experience from investing in Life Science start-ups via KYTO. Active in the Band of Angels and the Keiretsu Forum.
Anthony Williams
Partner
HealthQuest Capital
Anthony Williams joined HealthQuest in 2019. Before joining HealthQuest, Anthony spent eight years at Globus Medical, Inc. (NYSE: GMED), a multinational medical device company focused on developing products that promote healing in patients suffering from musculoskeletal disorders. He served in a variety of leadership roles during his tenure at Globus and ultimately spent the last 3½ years as President of the company. He currently serves as a board member on portfolio companies ENT Specialty Partners and 83bar, and as an observer for Magnolia, TigerConnect and Trice.
Prior to joining Globus Medical, Anthony was a partner with Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, a law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he specialized in corporate and transactional work for high growth life sciences companies and their investors, including public and private financings, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic transactions, and corporate governance matters.
Throughout his career, Anthony has been a frequent speaker to entrepreneurial groups, such as the Durham, NC-based Council for Entrepreneurial Development. He previously served on the board of directors of SEBIO and is currently a mentor to entrepreneurs through the Philadelphia-based Mentor Connect, a program sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners and the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), and Austin-based Texas Health Catalyst, a collaborative initiative of Dell Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin, both of which provide much-needed mentoring to inventors and entrepreneurs.
Akhilesh Pathipati
Partner
MVM Partners
Akhilesh joined MVM in 2019. Prior to joining, he practiced medicine as a resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital. In addition, his research on healthcare systems has led to more than a dozen scientific publications and 50 articles in the popular press, including in The Washington Post and Scientific American.
Akhilesh received an MD at the Stanford School of Medicine and an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He also holds an AB magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard University.
Akhilesh is a member of the board of AccuVein, Inc. and Neurolens, Inc., and represents MVM’s investment in InBrace. He was previously a board observer of Patient Connect Ltd (acquired by Clarivate).
Daniel Teo
Managing Partner
Hunniwell Lake Ventures
Venture capitalist currently investing in medical devices that improve surgical outcomes. Seasoned finance & corporate development professional with broad international exposure in N. America, Europe & Asia. Have closed 28 investments totaling $450M, 5 divestments ($440M), 15 rounds of financing ($700M). Led strategy, M&A, restructuring, integration and IPO preparation efforts, as well as implementation of new financial systems, cost reduction, internal control/compliance and working capital initiatives in a number of different environments incl. MNCs, start-up, publicly listed and privately held.
Edward Hanlon
Senior Associate
Gilde Healthcare
Edward Hanlon joined Gilde Healthcare in 2020 in the Cambridge office and focuses on Healthtech.
Prior to joining Gilde, Edward worked in advisory for Health Advances, a consulting firm operating across healthcare sectors in medical devices, biopharma, health technology, and diagnostics. He has broad experience in commercial strategy and M&A due diligence, advising a range of clients including late-stage start-ups, multinational corporations, and financial investors. Since joining the Gilde Healthcare, Eddie has contributed to several investments, including Eargo, Spire Health, and Nalu Medical.
Tamir Meiri
Director, Venture Investments
Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Tamir is tasked with leading supporting the investment process in Israel and Europe, working closely with JJDC and J&J stakeholders on developing and executing investment transactions across J&J’s sectors. Tamir's main focus is Medical Devices, Digital Technologies and Consumer products.
Kyle Dempsey
Partner
MVM Partners
I invest in commercial-stage healthcare and life science companies in the following subsectors: medical technology/devices, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, contract research and manufacturing, digital health, and research tools.
Ideal target investment opportunities address significant unmet needs with large addressable markets, including medical conditions for which there are no adequate treatments, therapies for which existing treatments are too expensive, or diseases that lack accurate diagnostic capability, along with the various businesses and products that enable these solutions.
Greg Madden
Managing Partner
SV Health Investors
Greg is a senior private equity investment professional. Expert in investment due diligence, equity and debt financing structures, private capital formation and has extensive M&A and IPO exit experience. Greg is a proven portfolio strategy executive and director on the company boards he serves.
Kevin Schimelfenig
Managing Partner
McGeever Family Office
Kevin is the Founder and Managing Partner of the McGeever family office, which focuses on achieving the financial and philanthropic goals of the family. McGeever’s investment portfolio places an emphasis on Healthcare, but also includes Technology, Energy and Real Estate.
To support the success of McGeever’s investments, Kevin founded SalesForce4Hire, a company that provides strategic commercialization solutions for medical device, diagnostics, biopharma and information technology companies and their investors. SalesForce4Hire has played an instrumental role in the successful implementation of customized sales solutions with Fortune 500 and startup companies.
Kevin is also an active angel investor who enjoys working closely with CEOs and leadership teams on strategic partnering and commercialization activities. He has held several executive-level and board-level positions, including Audit and Compensation Committee Member, Committee Chairman, Board Chairman and is an advisory board member of the Cameron School of Business at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
John Ryan
Managing Director
Wells Fargo Strategic Capital
John leads the healthcare division of WFSC which is focused on direct equity and debt investments in companies across all subsectors of the healthcare industry. John has been a venture capital and private equity investor for more than 24 years and has participated in the founding, building, and financing of companies, ranging from startups to established industry leaders in a wide array of healthcare sectors. John started his career as an investment banker covering the healthcare industry. John earned a BS with high honors from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and an MBA from Harvard Business School. John is based in San Francisco, California.
Chad Rice
VP, Business Development
Johnson & Johnson
Brad Gu
Venture Capital
GE HealthCare
Experienced Private Equity / Corporate Development / Venture Capital / Strategy professional with track record of:
- Collaborate with operating businesses to develop strategic themes and gap analyses.
- Evaluate investment opportunities and execute transactions including M&As, buyouts, as well as growth equity / venture investments.
- Work with portfolio companies' management teams and boards on variety of operational and strategic issues. Serve on portfolio company boards.
- Support CEO/CFO/Executive Committee/Board on strategic projects / analyses, as well as leading workstreams critical to managing company's financial health, capital allocation and M&A prioritization.
Christopher Campbell
Director, Software and Sensors
Johnson & Johnson - DePuy Synthes
Global strategic leadership within the health care and MedTech industries with a focus on delivering innovative business models, software and solutions that advance patient care & drive profitable growth.
Steve Pacelli
Executive VP & Managing Director
Dexcom
Steve Pacelli is Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Dexcom Ventures.
In this role, Steve is focused on investment opportunities in sensing technology, data analytics, remote patient monitoring and population health, broadening Dexcom’s commitment to advancing better outcomes in healthcare.
Prior to this role, Steve was Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development from 2012 to 2021. Since joining Dexcom in April 2006, Steve has served in roles of increasing responsibility, including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Vice President of Legal Affairs.
Prior to Dexcom, Steve served as a corporate attorney specializing in finance, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters, and in an executive role as general counsel of several privately held companies.
Steve currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Biocom California, the largest and most experienced leader and advocate for California’s life science sector. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Connect, a community nonprofit supporting innovators and entrepreneurs in Southern California by providing access to investors, mentors, and education, and as a member of the Board of Directors of EvoNexus, California’s leading non-profit startup technology incubator.
Steve is also a dedicated philanthropist, choosing to focus his efforts as a member of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego, an organization dedicated to creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Pacific Ridge School, a group of dedicated and informed community leaders who are passionate about the value of education and are committed to building and strengthening the school.
Steve earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a JD from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the State Bar of California.
Craig Smith
Sr. Managing Counsel, Business Development, Governance & Securities
Boston Scientific
Over 20 years in corporate legal environments with experience in legal issues unique to the health care field. Valued leader with demonstrated ability to advise and guide senior leadership on complex business and legal issues.
Yosuke Matsubara
Senior Manager
Teijin Pharma
Yosuke Matsubara is a Business Development and Licensing Manager at Teijin Pharma, a Tokyo-based company that operates in both pharmaceuticals and medical devices. With over 10 years of experience in drug development at Teijin Pharma, Yosuke's expertise lies in clinical trials, negotiating with regulatory agencies for approval, and project management.
Yosuke is responsible for licensing-in both medical devices and drugs, focused on exploring potential collaborations and partnerships with startups in the medical device and drug spaces. Teijin Pharma's medical device business is limited to home-use devices, and its businesses are limited to the Japanese market. Many of the company's available products in Japan are from overseas, and licensing-in is an important activity.
Yosuke earned his Ph.D. degree in medical science before joining Teijin Pharma in 2008. Prior to joining Teijin Pharma's medical device business in 2021, he gained extensive experience in drug development.
Amanda DePalma
VP, Marketing
Fujifilm Sonosite
With over 25 years of experience in the Medtech sector, I am a results-oriented executive who leads with vision, passion, and purpose. I have a proven track record of building and motivating diverse, high-performing teams to drive worldwide growth and market share gain through customer-driven strategies and focused execution.
As the Vice President of Marketing at FUJIFILM Sonosite, I am responsible for delivering the global marketing strategy, product management, education and downstream marketing for the market-leading $360M point-of-care ultrasound business. I leverage my core competencies in strategic planning, merger and acquisition, diversity, equity and inclusion, branding and communications, new product development and launch, market development, product and portfolio management, team development and leadership, and digital marketing and demand generation to create value for our customers, partners, and stakeholders. I am committed to advancing the field of point-of-care ultrasound and improving the quality of care for patients around the world.
Nirav Dalal
Divisional Vice President
Abbott
Nirav Dalal leads the Global Data Science and Analytics function at Abbott medical devices. Nirav is interested in methods and tools to improve healthcare and create value using “Big Data” and machine learning. He has published more than fifty peer-reviewed journal articles, conference abstracts and US patents.
He is a frequent speaker on medical devices, real-world evidence, digital health, health economics and data science. His selected past speaking engagements include talks at FDA, NMPA, AdvaMed, Big Data in Healthcare, American Chamber of Commerce, Medical Design & Manufacturing, and Global Cardiovascular Clinical Trialists Forum.
Robert Abrams
General Manager, Global Business Development
Kaneka
2008 - Jan 2017: Operating Partner specializing in medical technology venture capital investments at Sanderling Ventures & active CEO/CTO of several portfolio companies (Member of investment committee)
Currently:
- Advisor to J&J Neurovascular (former CEO of Pulsar Vascular) , a neurovascular device company w special vascular implants to treat bifurcation cerebral aneurysms.
Acquired by Codman Neurovascular J & J Dec 2016
- Executive Chairman for Dynatherm Inc, a normathermia device to assure patient temp management during surgery - "plus"
- Former CEO for Theregen Corp, a cell delivery patch device to treat angina patients, w potential for CHF patients. ( In Clinical trials )
Medical Device product design and development for Guidant, Boston Scientific, and small start-ups...mostly minimally invasive disposable technologies.
- 75 patents in medical devices
- Invented, developed and launched numerous products .
e,g Guidant BMW guidewire, MultiLink Stent, Target Therapeutic coils and stents, vascular recontruction devices
Adam Wollowick
Sr. Director, Business Development
Stryker
After completing an MBA at the Yale School of Management, New Haven, CT, in May 2014, I decided to leave the practice of medicine. I am fortunate to be able to utilize my knowledge of business and healthcare in my current role with Stryker Spine in Business Development. Prior to accepting a position with Stryker, I worked as a spine surgeon at the Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY and held the title of Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. I am a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with fellowship training in adult and pediatric spinal surgery.
Rik Vandevenne
Managing Director
RC Capital
RC Capital (formerly River Cities Capital Funds) is a Healthcare focused growth equity fund, currently investing out of our seventh fund. We look to invest in leading companies with $5M - $30M of revenue throughout the country. Specific areas of interest include medical devices, healthcare services, and healthcare IT.
I am fortunate to have worked alongside some amazing entrepreneurs over the last 18 years as an investor to help build some great businesses.
Specialties: Strategic visioning, Industry Analysis, Due Diligence, Valued added research. The role of an investor is to be able to able to look around the corner and identify areas for growth while avoiding the potholes that slow value creation. We focus on efficiently "bending the growth curve" through introductions to potential talent, customers, and partners and then leveraging that growth to optimize the long term value.
Ivanny Franklin
Global Marketing Consulting Sales Director
NAMSA
Experienced global commercial leader and molecular biologist with expertise in IVD, Medtech, clinical research, regulatory compliance, product development, market insights, infectious disease, oncology, digital health, and family office management.
Frank Bulens
Partner
Xpand Partners
In January 2018 I joined imec.xpand as a Partner. In the mean time we committed our 1st fund of 117 mio EUR to a portfolio of 15 startups and currently raising imec.xpand Fund II which currently stands at 220 mio EUR (actively investing). Imec.xpand is an early stage and growth VC investor with a game-changing approach to turn hardware driven nanotechnology innovation into successful global companies. The fund is independently managed by a team of entrepreneurs, seasoned venture capitalists and business experts, and is targeting ambitious tech start-ups that meet all the criteria to become a successful, scalable ventures with the potential to change the world, and where imec knowledge, expertise and infrastructure can play a determining role in their success. Imec is the world-leading R&D and innovation hub in nano-electronics and digital technologies based in Leuven, Belgium. For more information about imec.xpand, please visit www.imecxpand.com.
From 2009 until 2017 Frank was a Partner at Capricorn Venture Partners where he was involved with investments in the health care field (diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices and digital health-tech) for the Capricorn Health-tech Fund, the Capricorn ICT Fund and the Quest for Growth Fund. Main responsibility was building and managing the portfolio of the Capricorn Health-tech Fund through deal sourcing and active board memberships.
Previously, Frank was a executive investment manager within the life science venture capital team at Gimv (Antwerp, Belgium) and a senior scientific advisor within IWT, a research fund organization in Brussels. Prior to Gimv and IWT Frank worked at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Leuven as a PhD and postdoctoral researcher. Frank is trained as an industrial engineer in chemistry/biochemistry and obtained a Master Degree as well as a PhD in Medical Sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium.
Throughout his nearly 25 years of making active venture capital investments Frank collected a vast experience in building early stage tech companies towards a successful exit through trade sale/IPO.
Steven Gottlieb
Board Chairman & Founder
The Gottlieb Family Office
Steven M. Gottlieb, M.D., is a physician executive and healthcare serial entrepreneur who seeks innovative companies in which he can invest, add value and accelerate growth. Dr. Gottlieb has more than 30 years of senior leadership experience in the healthcare industry, and has founded, managed, funded, grown and exited several successful healthcare companies.
Dr. Gottlieb served as CEO of TeamHealth Anesthesia, the national anesthesia division of TeamHealth (NYSE: TMH)—one of the largest providers of outsourced physician staffing solutions for hospitals in the US.
He was co-founder, CEO and president of Anesthetix Management—a leading national provider of anesthesiology and pain management service solutions to hospitals and surgery centers. Dr. Gottlieb successfully led the company through its growth and development, including a private equity investment by Summit Partners in 2006, its acquisition by TeamHealth (a Blackstone company) in 2009, and an IPO in 2010.
Dr. Gottlieb founded and led an independent physicians' association, a medical billing company, and a healthcare recruiting and staffing company.
Craig Matturro
Principal
1315 Capital
Investor at 1315 Capital, a healthcare focused growth equity fund investing in commercial-stage companies with $5-$50 million of revenue.
Kwame Ulmer
Venture Partner
Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health
Kwame Ulmer is a venture partner at Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health - the leading Southern-California based, early stage venture capital firm (Seed and Series A) focused on the healthcare industry. He leads the medtech practice and participates in all aspects of fund management (e.g. deal sourcing, diligence, negotiation and advising portfolio company management teams).
Kwame brings twenty years of experience evaluating medical technologies in the government and private sector, and serving in senior operating roles at medical device companies. He has personally evaluated more than 1,000 medical technologies in his career. Kwame spent 12 years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in progressive leadership roles, including Deputy Director and Branch Chief. He also served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Implant Direct, a Danaher Corporation operating company.
Kwame serves on the board of the University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group and the California Life Sciences. He is also a lecturer and researcher in MedTech Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kwame founded MedTech Color, a nonprofit with a mission to advance the representation of persons of color in the medical device industry. He earned his B.S. in Physics from Lincoln University, and has two Masters degrees from the University of Virginia, in Materials Engineering and Business Administration.
Ryan Kelly
General Manager
Innovation Lab
With over 20 years of experience in research, innovation, and commercialization, Ryan is a scientist-turned-health-innovation-expert at the forefront of biomedical research, commercialization, and transformation.
As the leader of a talented team at the Innovation Lab, a for-profit incubator owned by six non-profit health systems, Ryan directs the innovation and commercialization program that turns ideas into products, taking them from concept all the way to market. Together, Ryan and his team collaborate with over 200,000 medical professionals and a diverse ecosystem of industry, venture, and academic partners to bring innovative products and solutions to patients at scale.
Ryan's achievements include millions of dollars in closed deals, strategic partnerships, grants, and fellowships, along with many guest speaking engagements and peer-reviewed publications. With a unique blend of health, tech, and business mindsets, Ryan translates unmet needs into implemented solutions and advises organizations and their leaders on innovation and transformation.
Ryan earned his Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Minnesota, a BS in biochemistry from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and MBA from the University of Southern California. He is passionate about guiding and empowering frontline medical professionals to develop innovative products and services that improve the quality of healthcare for all.
Amy Salzhauer
Founder & Managing Partner
Good Growth Capital
Good Growth Capital is an early stage venture capital fund with an exceptional track record of funding and founding early-stage, transformative science companies. Our team has the operating experience and technical expertise needed to assess, launch and grow deep technology companies and science-based businesses. The GGC partners are happy to coach founders very early, working collaboratively to develop deep relationships with our entrepreneurs.
Good Growth Capital is the most active venture capital fund in South Carolina and one of the only early stage investors in our Southeast region, with partners and venture partners in South Carolina, North Carolina, Boston, California, London and the Netherlands. We invest in seed stage and Series A deals through our general fund family and in pre-seed and seed stage companies through our Infinite Corridor Fund, which primarily targets MIT-affiliated and transformative science start-ups.
Auriel August
Principal
Santé Ventures
Auriel August MD is physician, innovator and investor passionate about driving change in healthcare.
Denise Bronner
Director, DEI in Clinical Trials
Johnson & Johnson
CLINICAL TRIALS: Patient-focused strategist with 4 years of experience developing global operational plans. Created real-time recruitment dashboards to track DEI goals for 20+ clinical trials leveraging strategies that ensure >90% trials on track with DEI recruitment.
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY: Hypothesis-driven scientist with 7+ years of experience investigating cellular stress pathway impact on immunological innate responses. Published 12 high-impact publications and served as a keynote speaker at ~20 conferences with audiences ranging from 250-8000+.
Michele Perrino
VP, Enterprise Accounts & Services
Medtronic Western Europe
Experienced Regional Vice President with a demonstrated history of working in the medical device industry. Strong business development professional skilled in Negotiation, Vascular, Medical Devices, Capital Equipment, and Sales Management.
John Genova
Sr. Vice President
Cambridge Consultants
With over 30 years experience in medical sales, marketing and product development, John leads the Medtech Innovation and Business Development at Cambridge Consultants. John has led various projects involving leading edge medical devices, creating solutions for our client’s needs. John is also the commercial lead for Cambridge’s Smart Implant Development team.
Prior to this, John was the OEM Director for Baxter and Cardinal Healthcare, creating new business ventures that included three manufacturing facilities, various outsource allegiances (domestic and international) and developing intellectual property.
Glenn Snyder
Principal, Global Medtech Practice Leader
Deloitte Consulting
Glenn leads Deloitte LLP's Medical Technology practice with more than 25 years of experience in medical technology, biotech, and specialty pharmaceuticals. He helps clients grow through organic and inorganic means by entering new geographic markets, and expanding into new product/service areas. Glenn also helps clients improve brand/commercial effectiveness by articulating product economic value, applying innovative pricing, updating the commercial model, and rationalizing distribution networks.
Maite Malet
Investment & Corporate Development
Asabys Partners
Maite is currently doing a graduate program at Harvard University, in Corporate Innovation and Sustainability, holds a bachelor's degree in International Business from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and the University of Florida (Warrington College of Business), and a master's degree in Digital Marketing by ISDI.
Gina Melchner
Venture Partner & Lead Medtech
NLC - The Healthtech Venture Builder
Venture Builder in the healthtech industry, bringing early stage innovation to the patient by founding startups. Background in genetic engineering, cell and molecular biology. Experience in strategy consulting and venture capital. Passionate about innovation, sustainable impact, tech solutions.
Pieter Wijffels
Venture Partner
NLC - The European Healthtech Venture Builder
Pieter Wijffels is a venture partner at NLC. Prior to this, they were the head of marketing at TPV and Philips. Pieter has also worked as a project manager at Boer & Croon and as an intern at Sara Lee.
Stuart Hart
CMO & Corporate VP
Integra LifeSciences
DR. STUART HART is the corporate vice president and chief medical officer. He is responsible for Integra’s worldwide clinical development activities, including clinical research, clinical trial operations and medical affairs. Dr. Hart is also responsible for scientific and medical support, medical safety and R&D innovation.
Prior to joining Integra in January 2023, Dr. Hart served as vice president, Medical Affairs for Urology and Critical Care at Becton Dickinson (BD). Before joining BD, he served as a senior medical director for the Surgical Innovations business at Medtronic. Before joining the medical device industry, Dr. Hart spent much of his career working as an academic physician at Emory University and the University of South Florida (USF). He also served as the director of the Tampa Bay Research and Innovation Center and was the chief medical officer for innovation and director of the Center for the Advancement of Minimally-Invasive Pelvic Surgery at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation.
Dr. Hart is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology with a sub-specialty board certification in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Hart received his medical degree from the University of Maryland and completed his training at Emory University and associated hospitals in Atlanta, Ga. He has an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, a master’s degree in entrepreneurship in applied technologies from the USF Muma College of Business, and a graduate certificate in regulatory affairs in medical devices from the USF College of Engineering. He also completed the Managing Innovation executive education program through the Stanford University Byers Center for Biodesign.
Dr. Hart has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, filed 15 patents, and has won numerous awards for innovation, research studies and teaching.
Azin Parhizgar
Sr. Venture Partner
415 Capital
Dr. Azin Parhizgar served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Board Member at Claret Medical. She is an experienced and successful medical device industry executive and entrepreneur. Prior to Claret Medical, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of Conor Medsystems which led to the acquisition of the company by Johnson & Johnson, Inc. in 2007. She spent one year post-merger with Johnson & Johnson for full integration of the companies. Between 1996-2000 she held the position of Executive Vice President for Arterial Vascular Engineering, which was acquired by Medtronic. She spent two years at Medtronic post-merger in increasing roles of responsibility leading to her role as Executive Vice President of Emerging Ventures and New Technologies. Dr. Parhizgar has served as an advisor to emerging medical device technology companies including several Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board positions. Dr. Parhizgar received both her Ph.D. in Cell, Gene and Tissue Engineering and her M.Sc. in Biomechanical Engineering and Artificial Organ Design from Brown University.
Suraj Mudichintala
Senior Associate
Action Potential Venture Capital
Suraj Mudichintala is a senior associate at APVC in Santa Cruz, CA. He represents APVC on the Boards of Alpheus Medical, Axon Therapies and Onc.ai. He was previously an investor at Arboretum Ventures, where he served as a Board observer at Allay Therapeutics, Avation Medical, Francis Medical, Health Scholars, Koya Medical, and RareCyte. Prior to investing, Suraj was an associate with L.E.K. Consulting, a global strategy consulting firm. While at L.E.K., Suraj completed ~20 engagements predominantly for life sciences and private equity clients.
Suraj graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Finance and Analytics from Boston College. Suraj previously served on the Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Oversight Committee for Medical Devices, where he provided guidance to Michigan higher education researchers on transitioning their early stage products to the private sector for commercialization.
Omid Akhavan
Managing Director & Founder
Anthro Ventures
Omid is currently a Managing Director at Anthro Ventures, investing across medical devices, diagnostics, digital health and healthcare services. Previously, he worked as an Investment Principal at MVM Life Science Partners LLP and Becton Dickinson as Director of Strategy and Business Development. Prior to that, Omid was a management consultant at Monitor Deloitte in the Life Sciences and Healthcare team. Omid holds a Masters in Bioengineering from the Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia. He also received a Fulbright Award to conduct research on access to healthcare in the Middle East.
Ned Scheetz
Founder & Managing Partner
Aphelion Capital
Ned founded Aphelion Capital®, LLC in 2005 and has over 20 years of healthcare investing experience. Prior to forming Aphelion, Ned was a partner and managing director with Piper Jaffray Ventures (PJV) for nearly eight years, focusing on investments in emerging medical technology companies. Ned joined PJV from Janus Capital, where he was a senior research analyst covering both healthcare and internet investments. Before beginning his investment career Ned worked in various product management roles with a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak and in sales and marketing with Kraft General Foods.
Ned is a graduate of Colby College, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, and was a post-graduate scholar at Oxford University. Ned holds the CFA designation, and is an advisory board member with the Center for Medical Device Innovation, and on the business advisory board of The Epilepsy Therapy Development Project.
Ned has served on numerous private company boards over his career. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Aardvark Medical, Clearflow, CyMedica, Mercator, Spencer Health Solutions and Freespira
Luke Duster
Managing Director
CRG
Luke Düster is a member of CRG’s Founders Group, serves as Chief Investment Officer, ESG Champion and a Member of CRG’s Investment Committee and ESG Committee. He is also responsible for portfolio management and portfolio company exits. Mr. Düster also serves on the board of directors of several CRG portfolio companies, both as a director and as an observer, and serves portfolio company senior management teams as an advisor on financial, strategic and operational initiatives. He has led investments in companies such as Neotract, Nevro, Omeros, BioDelivery Sciences, Strongbridge Biopharma, Silk Road Medical, NanoString Technologies and many others.
Prior to CRG, Mr. Düster was an investment banker at Harris Williams & Co., where he advised private equity and corporate clients across a broad range of M&A assignments. Mr. Düster also held investment banking roles at the Wallach Company, a regional investment banking boutique, and at the Nord Companies, a healthcare advisory firm.
Mr. Düster received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1997, where he graduated summa cum laude. He received an M.B.A with honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.
David Carter
Partner
CRG
David Carter is a member of CRG’s Founders Group and serves as Partner and member of CRG’s Investment Committee. Mr. Carter joined CRG in 2003 and has more than 30 years of investment and advisory experience. Mr. Carter leads the due diligence efforts related to CRG’s investments in the medical device, specialty pharma, drug delivery, biopharma and tools & diagnostic sectors. Mr. Carter, in addition to focusing on sourcing, execution and monitoring existing CRG investments is responsible for staffing CRG deal teams. Prior to joining CRG, Mr. Carter was a partner at Palestra Capital, a hedge fund focused on risk arbitrage and special situations. Before joining Palestra, Mr. Carter was a high yield analyst at Furman Selz LLC, where he was responsible for coverage of healthcare-related high yield debt. Previously, Mr. Carter was an investment banking analyst in the Healthcare Group at Chemical Bank and a research assistant in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Morgan Stanley. Over the course of his career, Mr. Carter has closed in excess of $5 billion of financing activity.
Mr. Carter received a Bachelor of Science in finance from The Pennsylvania State University in 1988. He received a Master of Arts degree in information science and systems in 1994 and an M.B.A. in 1996, both from Columbia University.
Dianna Rittey
Sr. Manager Strategy & Business Development
Edwards Lifesciences
Sapna Jain
Sr. Manager, Strategy & Business Development
Edwards Lifesciences
Josh Makower
Special Partner
New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Shubhra Jain
Head of Helathcare Investments
Tarsadia Investments
Scott Joslyn
Chief Information & Innovation Officer
UC Irvine Health
Confirmed Innovators
Myles Greenberg
President & CEO
Alucent Biomedical
Dr. Myles Greenberg has more than 20 years’ experience in growing healthcare, medical technology and life sciences firms as an entrepreneur, operating executive, board member, clinician and investor. Prior to joining Alucent, he served as Chief Development Officer at IntegraMed America, a private equity backed healthcare services firm. He still serves today on the Board of Directors at Urgent Care Centers of New England, a company he co-founded.
Dr. Greenberg has spent most of his career as an early-stage venture capital investor with CHL Medical Partners, HealthInvest Equity Partners, and Pappas Ventures. Dr. Greenberg served as a board member, lead director, and in interim management roles in numerous biotech, medical device, and healthcare services firm. Eight of the companies where Dr. Greenberg played a major investor and advisory role were acquired or went public.
Dr. Greenberg began his career as a faculty physician and hospital administrator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, Doctor of Medicine from Yale University School of Medicine, and a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Bora Chang
Founder & CEO
KelaHealth
Physician passionate about impacting healthcare systems through innovation and cutting-edge technologies. Long-time health policy and patient advocate. Currently dedicated to turn artificial intelligence into actionable intelligence in surgical care at KelaHealth.
Pramote Hochareon
Founder & CEO
NirvaMed
Former Senior Scientist at Boston Scientific; Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Penn State University.; Postdoc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota; MD from Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand.
Cary Vance
Chairman, President & CEO
PhotoniCare
Cary Vance was appointed President and CEO of PhotoniCare in May 2023, bringing over 20 years of global MedTech executive experience. Previously, he served as President & CEO of Titan Medical, Xcath Incorporated, OptiScan Biomedical, Myoscience Incorporated and Hansen Medical; strategically transforming and commercializing these businesses and markets with disruptive, enabling and game-changing novel technologies. Cary has executed on equity and debt financing strategies as an integral step to successful value creation and M&A events. Prior to his CEO role at Hansen Medical, he served in various global executive leadership roles at Teleflex, Covidien and GE HealthCare. Cary is Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt Certified, and earned both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and an MBA from Marquette University.
Robert Ball
CEO
Shoulder Innovations
Rob has spent more than two decades bringing medical device technologies to market, including proprietary orthopedic materials. He served at Tornier NV as Global Vice President, Research and Development, during which time Tornier grew from approximately $70M to $300M in annual revenues through organic growth of new products. He holds more than 30 issued or pending patents.
Monica Wellejus
Sales and Marketing Manager
Ossiform
Introducing new medical 3D printing technology to improve the lives of people with bone defects.
I am a dedicated Sales and Marketing leader with a passion for MedTech commercialization.
Leading and growing the sales and marketing team at Ossiform. #WePrintBone
My main interests include commercialization strategy, healthcare stakeholder collaborations, and value creation and demonstration strategies.
George Makhoul
CEO
Dilon Technologies
20+ years of well-rounded experience in the Healthcare industry with a proven track record of driving revenue in Medical Devices, Biologics, and Pharmaceutical businesses ranging between <$10M - $1B+. Leadership experience and capabilities include full P&L responsibility, sales leadership/development of direct and indirect channels, capital fund raising, performance management, business development, marketing leadership, brand leadership, FDA / PMA / IDE / 510K product development, launch execution, alliance management, sales education and talent development. These diverse capabilities have successfully been applied in small, newly emerging companies and large, global organizations that are developing sales forces, launching products, developing new markets, or maximizing mature brands in highly competitive markets. Possess extensive knowledge and successful experience penetrating the acute care market by working with GPO’s, GPO subgroups, IDN’s, Hospitals, and Healthcare
Sydney Robinson
CEO & Co-Founder
Vessl Prosthetics
“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” – Maya Angelou
The beauty of what Maya Angelou is highlighting is people’s ability to learn and improve. I have a strong desire to learn, which is why I got my master’s degree and completed the Medical Innovation Fellowship. I have learned so many technical and soft skills working on many challenging, real-world engineering problems (water-resistant ankle foot orthotic, wearable finger force sensors, etc.) and I am excited to never stop learning.
My compass in all that I do has always been about engaging with people, from running my own swim school and teaching lessons to people of all ages, to conducting my masters research on underrepresented injuries in the wrist. Now, as Vessl's CEO, I am passionate about designing for the end user, engaging the end user early in the design process and keep their needs paramount throughout.
I am an outgoing and natural born leader and have taken many opportunities to hone my leadership skills, such as mentoring my peers during my master’s work and holding a presidential role in two undergraduate clubs, and now leading Vessl.
Amit Vohra
President & CEO
Promaxo
Promaxo is led by Dr. Amit Vohra who is a serial entrepreneur, business strategist and advisor to several healthcare and technology startups. Amit serves as a board member at Navaux and an advisor to Fanisko, Triocula and UnityDx.
Richard Hanbury
CEO
Sana Health
Richard will share the story of SANA Health at the Emerging Medtech Summit and discuss partnering and investment objectives.
With an MBA in Healthcare and Entrepreneurial Studies from Wharton Business School, Hanbury went on to become the founder of Sana, a device that allows anyone to have deep relaxation and pain relief anywhere in an average of 8-10 mintues. Sana has decades of research and anecdotal data and has just complete their first internal controlled trial.
Brian Kannard
Founder
PercuSense
More than a decade of experience leading cross-functional glucose sensor development teams, previously led product development of sensors and connected devices.
Ray Liu
CEO & Co-Founder
Vena Vitals
Mr. Liu will share the Vena Vitals story at the Emerging Medtech Summit and will discuss investment and strategic partnering opportunities.
Ray is an executive leader in healthcare technology, with expertise in building, launching, and running products and services for both startups and multinationals. Prior to Vena Vitals, he ran product and operations for Ediom, where he created hospital decision support tools that led to the company's acquisition by Vizient, Inc. Ray also led product for Socialwellth, where he directed the development and launch of a consumer health engagement platform that was rolled out to 15.2M users, leading to the company's acquisition by Cigna.
At Siemens, Ray developed strategies, turnaround plans, and new market entries for the healthcare, energy, and industrial business units, and at GE Healthcare, he led the global launch of patient vital sign monitoring devices from China to the rest of the world. In addition to co-founding and running Vena Vitals, Ray also serves as an advisor to MDstewardship, a telemedicine company focused on antimicrobial stewardship. Ray holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dawn Bitz
President
Lazzaro Medical
27 years of executive leadership proficiency in both medical device start-up and multinational organizations. Specific experience in C-level general management, product development, scaling, go-to-market, and commercialization, focused on the fields of respiratory, anesthesia and critical intensive care medicine.
Notable Companies: Medtronic/Covidien, Vyaire, Boston Scientific, UCB Pharma; numerous Board Member positions
Ananth Ravi
CEO & Co-Founder
MOLLI Surgical
Throughout his career, Ananth has sought to improve the patient experience. He is the only medical physicist ever to win the Human Touch Award, which recognizes a passion for improving the quality of care for cancer patients within Ontario.
Ananth has a history of peer-reviewed research focused on improving image guidance for medical procedures ranging from radiation to surgical oncology techniques. His primary focus has been on making precision surgery simpler through targeted innovation and increasing access to high-quality care. Ananth is co-inventor on numerous patents and has garnered several grants for medical device innovations.
Ananth's commitment to improving the treatment process for patients inspired him to develop the magnetic tracking technology that resulted in the creation of MOLLI Surgical. Prior to co-founding the company, he was a certified medical physicist at Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre and clinical operations lead, brachytherapy. Under Ananth’s leadership, Sunnybrook’s brachytherapy program became one of the highest performing in the world.
Ananth completed his doctoral studies at the University of Toronto. He has held faculty appointments at Sunnybrook Research Institute, the University of Toronto, and Ryerson University.
Ash Attia
CEO
Bionic Vision
Ash has more than 30 years of senior executive management experience in implantable devices and biotechnology. Prior to BVT, Ash held the position of Vice President Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Israel, at TransMedics Inc. Ash also held Vice President and Managing Director roles within several other major Australian and International medtech organizations such as Thoratec, St Jude Medical, Micromed, Syncardia, Ventracor, Biotronik, SulzerMedica and Telectronics. Ash has extensive experience in medical technology commercialization, general management, research and development, marketing, market entry strategies, regulatory and reimbursement across multiple geographies (USA, Asia Pacific and Europe). He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has extensive governance experience being a Non-Executive Director on the board of ASX-listed Company DorsaVi for over 10 years.
Qualifications
BSc (E.Eng/Med Eng with Honors)
MSc (Med. Eng)
PhD (Med. Sc)
FAICD
Alan Lucas
CEO & Co-Founder
Navigation Sciences
Alan has served in senior business development and marketing positions at development stage and emerging medical technology companies for more than 25 years. He has global senior management experience enhancing investor value, including execution of successful fund raising through IPOs, private placements, and cross border M&A transactions. His experience includes work at Alira Health, EnlightenVue, Simplicity Orthopedics, ABIOMED, Implant Sciences, Kirschner Orthopedics and ACUFEX MicroSurgical.
Youssef Helwa
CEO
FluidAI
Youssef is the CEO and one of FluidAI founders. Youssef has led the development and growth of FluidAI throughout his Nanotechnology Engineering degree, implementing its novel approaches in improving the clinical workflow for both patients and physicians. Coming from a medical family himself allowed him to live the most common challenges seen across many patient journeys. Youssef pursued his Masters in the field of implantable biochips while running FluidAI as a startup. The research work helped establish the foundation of FluidAI's first product. His focus remains on building systems and products that integrate seamlessly with existing medical products and procedures, while improving patient outcomes and growing FluidAI into a leading medical company.
Todor Jeliaskov
CEO & Chairman
inHeart
Todor Jeliaskov brings over 20 years of experience solving customers’ needs and generating returns for investors and shareholders at large, complex enterprises and startup organizations across continents and various industries. Before inHEART, Todor Jeliaskov was CEO of NuVera Medical, acquired by Biosense Webster (Johnson & Johnson) in November 2020. NuVera developed the next-generation intracardiac imaging technology for cardiac interventions - 4D ICE. Todor Jeliaskov previously served as VP at GE Ultrasound - the worldwide market leader in diagnostic ultrasound. Todor Jeliaskov started his career at Siemens Medical Solutions. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA degree.
Adam Szaronos
CEO
Trukera Medical
Adam Szaronos joined the executive leadership team in June 2020 to oversee the company’s global expansion efforts. Adam brings 15 years of industry experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and medical technology sectors, where he and his teams have worked on 30+ new technology launches across areas of cataract, refractive, and vitreoretinal surgery, diagnostics, and digital health. Adam is most passionate about building and leading high impact teams focused on “white-space” new ventures and opportunities. Prior to TearLab, Adam most recently served as the Head of Dry Eye Devices at Alcon, where he was responsible for launching and leading this new business unit for the organization. Over his 13 years at Alcon, he has held leadership roles in various sales, marketing, and strategy functions across their surgical and vision care businesses. Adam earned his M.B.A from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, with a focus on Innovation Leadership, and his B.S. from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, where he completed a double major in Marketing and Operations.
Dushyanth Surakanti
CEO
Sparta Biomedical
Dushyanth led the Acute Care Franchise within Dr. Reddy’s innovation business for several years. His responsibilities included the commercialization strategy of acute care products, which was the company’s highest value portfolio. He has had a proven track record in product conceptualization, invention, development, and licensing of products and devices across a number of therapeutic areas. He was responsible for the entire US branded sales and marketing organization, while also managing the corporate development and M&A function. He also held senior leadership roles across portfolio optimization, alliance management, and strategic planning.
Berk Tas
CEO
SentiAR
Berk Tas serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of SentiAR. Berk has led development of emerging technologies and companies in Fortune 500, private equity, venture capital funded and privately held organizations. Prior to joining SentiAR he led the development of a novel Trans-aortic Valve Replacement technology into CE Mark studies at HLT Medical. In 2016, he played an integral role in the acquisition of Sensium, Oxford UK, a novel wireless monitoring technology. Prior to that he served in various leadership roles at Sunshine Heart developing a first of its kind, heart failure therapy and at Boston Scientific developing several novel therapies and technologies focused in Cardiac Rhythm Management. He holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Business at the University of Minnesota and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Physics from the School of Engineering at St Thomas University.
Maria Artunduaga
Founder & CEO
Samay
Dr. Maria Artunduaga is a Colombian-born physician-scientist and inventor with 50+ prizes, publications in Nature, NEJM, PNAS, and Genetics in Medicine, and six issued patents. She left a surgical career to found Samay ("breathe deeply" in Quechua) after losing her grandmother to a COPD crisis. She has raised $3.7M in non-dilutive grants and private investment to build a chest wearable + AI-powered platform for respiratory health and management. Before Samay, Dr. Artunduaga completed postdoctoral studies in Human Genetics at Harvard Medical School, started a plastic surgery residency at The University of Chicago, and completed two master's degrees, one in Global Public Health at the University of Washington and another in Translational Medicine at University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco. She lives in Mountain View, California, with her husband, 6-month-old daughter and two pets. In her free time, she enjoys flamenco dancing, traveling the world and fostering diversity in and outside the workplace.
Bryan Lord
CEO
Pristine Surgical
Bryan will share the Pristine Surgical story at the Emerging Medtech Summit and discuss partnering and fundraising updates.
Mr. Lord works with start-ups and investors to bring new med-tech, high-tech, clean-tech, and software products to the market and to help companies scale. He has experience as an executive, entrepreneur, advisor, deal facilitator, and investor.
Osman Khawar
CEO
Diality
Osman obtained his MD from the University of Glasgow and his MPH from Johns Hopkins. He is a Board-Certified nephrologist with a passion for Home Dialysis. He is an experienced Clinical researcher and entrepreneur who has run several businesses in the Dialysis industry including a Clinical Research company and several Dialysis Units in San Diego. He currently serves on the Palomar Health Foundation Board.
Rui Jing Jiang
Founder & CEO
Avisi Technologies
Ms. Jiang will share the details of Avisi Technologies at the Emerging Medtech Summit and be available to discuss investment and strategic partnering interests.
Rui Jing brings extensive experience in healthcare and regulation. Rui Jing gained corporate development, strategic marketing, and product management experience from working at Allergan and Sanofi, before working at JP Morgan as an equities analyst.
Rui Jing graduated cum laude from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics, concentrating in Strategic Management and Finance.
Ilan Uchitel
CEO & Co-Founder
CAPS Medical
Ilan, CEO and Co-founder of CAPS Medical, has over 20 years of experience in the medical device and defense industries, having held executive management positions in multiple biomedical device companies in the fields of electrophysiology, invasive cardiology, and minimally invasive implantable maxillofacial solutions. He has served in executive leadership positions at OSSIO, and Rainbow Medical portfolio companies, contributing to these companies’ continuous growth through a deep understanding of the medical device market, strategic product development, regulatory road-map building and execution, including CE and FDA compliance and successful product commercialization and revenue growth in US and European markets. Earlier, Ilan held R&D and project management positions in Unit 81, Israeli military intelligence’s elite technology unit, where during his tenure, his teams delivered numerous technologically and operationally complex projects, playing an important role in winning the top Israeli defense prizes. Ilan holds a BSc degree in mechanical engineering, an MSc in biomedical engineering, and an MBA – all received from Tel Aviv University.
Bill Perry
CEO
Deep Blue Medical Advances
Mr. Perry brings 27 years of experience in medical device start-ups including having led or contributed to multiple exits, venture financings, an IPO, 17+ medical product introductions, 20+ business development deals, and multiple regulatory approvals.
Kevin Hershberger
CEO
Lumicell
Kevin joined Lumicell as Chief Financial Officer in 2018 and currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. He leads an experienced team dedicated to changing the way cancer surgery is performed. Kevin brings over 25 years of global executive management experience in a variety of life science product and manufacturing companies. Prior to Lumicell he held leadership roles at ReWalk Robotics, NxStage Medical and Boston Scientific. He holds a B.S. in accounting from West Virginia University.
Juan C. Jimenez
CEO
AccurKardia
Prior to AccurKardia, Juan was President of the largest non-emergency medical transportation company in Puerto Rico and a reformed former investment banker.
Dr. James Carpenter
CEO
SurePulse
James Carpenter has served as CEO of SurePulse Medical since its incorporation in mid-2014, having worked to secure considerable grant funding for early development and trials. He has spent 7 years working in medical device engineering and development, particularly focussed on blood flow analysis in the field of Laser Doppler Blood Flowmetry. More recently his work has been centred on high-reliability heart rate estimation. He holds a PhD in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nottingham.
Jeff O'Donnell, Jr.
Co-Founder, President & CEO
Waypoint Orthopedics
Jeff O’Donnell, Jr is a healthcare entrepreneur who has merged a foundational corporate beginning with start-up agility. Jeff began his career and development at large Fortune 500 organizations. Throughout his tenure, Jeff has held almost every role in commercial organizations from Product Management to VP of Sales and Marketing. Since 2013, Jeff has helped grow and operate multiple emerging growth start-ups in the Orthopedic, Cardiology, and Digital Health spaces. He is a proud graduate of the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University, in Philadelphia.
Currently, Jeff is the President of Runway Management Corp., which oversees the direct management of the Runway Healthcare, LP portfolio companies. Jeff serves as CEO of Waypoint Orthopedics, Inc., and of Toetal Solutions, Inc.
Additionally, Jeff is a Managing Partner of MAST Labs, LLC. and sits on the boards of various healthcare companies.
Shane Brown
Chief Commercial Officer
GT Medical Technologies
Servant leader with a proven record of producing results in the U.S. and internationally for companies ranging from entrepreneurial startups to Fortune 500 companies including Abbott Laboratories, St. Jude Medical, Topera, AGA Medical, Itamar Medical, WebMD and AngioDynamics.
I have a legacy of building cohesive teams and providing strategic direction for the commercialization and early adoption of emerging therapies while maximizing existing products in highly competitive medical device, digital health and medtech markets.
My success can be demonstrated by a broad range of accomplishments that have included:
• Conceptualizing and executing commercial launch strategies for US and international markets.
• Serving in senior leadership roles during 3 different organizations’ mergers/acquisitions.
• Leading go to market efforts for private equity and venture-backed companies.
• Turning around organizations in US and the EU.
• Driving rapid revenue growth to levels that contributed to two medical device company IPOs.
• Collaborating with CTOs on development and optimization of new technology.
My experience in general management, operations, sales, marketing, logistics, client services, clinical support, new product development/launches, and new device acquisitions gives me the ability to spearhead strategic planning, communicate a company’s vision, and serve as a primary catalyst to drive growth or penetrate new markets on a domestic or global level.
Amir Danino
Founder & CEO
INNOVENTRIC
The founder and CEO of Innoventric and the inventor of the company’s technology. Amir has 15 years of experience in the medical device field, mainly in structural interventional cardiology, bringing aortic, mitral and tricuspid valve projects from concept to clinical application. Amir served in some of the most exciting structural heart projects and has a broad experience in R&D, clinical affairs, regulatory affairs and business development.
Amir holds a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Ben-Gurion University and a M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University.
Nelson Patterson
CEO
Anavasi Diagnostics
Proven Commercial Organization Leadership in Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals - Early-stage experience and rapid-growth small company
General Manager and Marketer with consistent revenue, profit and EBITDA growth in Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). From commercial strategy to market development to regulatory pathways, extensive new product development and global launch experience, including sales, marketing, and development of regulated medical devices and therapies. Leadership experience in small and large companies, from start-up to turn-around, and new acquisition integration. Known for insightful branding strategies, and strong relationships with customers and product development partners. Expertise in:
• Identifying opportunities for disruptive innovation and out-sized commercial results
• Building effective marketing and customer-facing teams that deliver results - quickly
• Building "moat-protected" market positions with strong commercial branding
• Creating long-term product strategies and roadmaps for sustainable results
• Working within both large, highly-matrixed organizations as well as bare-bone start-ups with no funding
• International market development and launch: building sales and marketing teams that deliver, Day 1
• Engaging with FDA, Health Canada, and other global regulatory authorities
• Selling to large IDNs, ACOs, and third-party payers
Gulam Khan
CEO
Centerline Biomedical
Mr. Goel brings 15+ years of experience in medical device software/hardware design, specializing in the development of novel imaging, visualization, and analysis systems for vascular surgery. Working closely with surgeons, he developed a keen understanding of current clinical challenges and unmet needs, leading him to invent the IOPS™ technology.
James Biggins
CEO
Access Vascular
Mr. Biggins will represent Access Vascular at the Emerging Medtech Summit and will be available to discuss investment and strategic partnering objectives.
After shadowing physicians at a Boston Hospital and witnessing complications first-hand, James was compelled to design a better venous catheter. Before founding Access Vascular, James held product development, engineering, and clinical affairs roles at Ocular Therapeutix, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic, bringing over a dozen products from concept to commercialization.
James Lancaster
CEO
Solenic Medical
James Y. Lancaster, Chief Executive Officer, is a seasoned entrepreneur and business development executive with 30 years of experience across multiple industries. He was most recently the Founder and Managing Director of the Innovate Family of Companies with client technologies including a variety of software, innovative materials, internet-of-things, robotics, autonomous vehicles, drone technologies, medical device, biological control, and waste recycling technologies. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he worked for Deloitte Consulting in Dallas with Fortune 500 and held other executive positions in business software and services, medical technologies, and IT solutions.
David Narrow
CEO
Sonavex
Mr. Narrow will be a presenter at the Emerging Medtech Summit and will share the story of Sonavex and discuss investment and partnering goals.
David previously worked with multinational medical device companies to commercialize their technologies and provide long-term business strategy as a healthcare consultant at Health Advances LLC. Narrow earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with Highest Distinction from the University of Rochester before receiving his Masters from Johns Hopkins University. Narrow was named 30 Under 30 in Healthcare by Forbes in 2016 and 40 Under 40 by the Baltimore Business Journal in 2017.
Victor Gura
CEO
Wearable Artificial Organs
Dr. Gura is a nephrologist with more than 50 years of clinical and research experience. He is a worldwide expert in dialysis technology and a clinical professor at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine.
Jeff Pompeo
President & CEO
Caretaker Medical
Serial entrepreneur, Angel Investor, and Board/Advisor with a proven track record leading, growing and monetizing technology-driven companies across the full life-cycle of inception & funding to product-launch & exit. Twenty-five years of success building world-class organizations and executing "idea-to-implementation" hyper-growth strategies for FDA-regulated MedTechs, University spin-outs, Tech-company turnarounds, IoT businesses, and Disruptive Technology Innovations.
Stuart Simpson
CEO
THINK Surgical
Chief Executive Officer of THINK Surgical, an orthopedic robotics and digital surgery company, committed to a new business model offering more choice to physicians and their patients.
Executive chairman and board member responsible for company strategy, financing and corporate governance.
Globally experienced medical device and healthcare executive with a reputation for achieving tangible operating results.
Transformative growth leader adept at creating vision, providing strategic direction and executing ambitious plans.
Core competencies:
Global Strategy Development & Execution • Shareholder Value Creation • Top Line Growth • Efficiencies • P&L • Business Development • Sales & Marketing Leadership • Strategic Investments • Market Innovation • Research & Development • Acquisitions & Integrations • Change Management • Turnaround Management • Team Leadership • Vision & Goal Setting • Strategic Planning • Talent Development • Mentorship • Board and Board Committee Leadership
Henry (Chip) Appelbaum
President & CEO
Novian Health
Mr. Appelbaum has more than 25 years of life sciences & biotech experience, including business development, marketing, sales, and management. He was appointed President & CEO of Novian Health in 2005 and has led the development of an image-guided, laser ablation therapy for treating tumors. He has successfully raised over $20 million and led the development of Novian’s manufacturing operations.
Previously, Chip spent five years as Vice President of Corporate Development at Source Precision Medicine, a molecular diagnostics startup he helped found and nine years at Amgen where he managed the business development department and then led the Infergen® launch team. Prior to Amgen, he served in a technology transfer role at Argonne National Laboratory and conducted contract research at Battelle. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an S.M. in Chemical Engineering from MIT.
Peter Vranes
CEO
Nutromics
Peter Vranes is a Chemical Engineer and serial entrepreneur. Peter is the co-founder of Nutromics, an Australian MedTech company revolutionising healthcare through continuous real time molecular monitoring. The company’s innovative Smart Patch biosensor platform will solve some of the biggest healthcare challenges we face today in the fields of chronic disease prevention, chronic disease management, acute diseases and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.
Prior to Nutromics, Peter founded Biocore Technologies and lead the team with the development and commercialisation of several natural cosmeceutical skincare brands that were distributed in 1,500 retailers throughout Australia. The company was successfully sold in 2013.
Lloyd Mencinger
President & CEO
Aqua Medical
High energy CEO, Sales, Marketing, & Business Development leader with over twelve years as an International expatriate.
Strong track record of delivering results in both blue chip and early-stage companies. Expert at developing new markets, driving growth, executing turnarounds, and creating winning cultures.
History of driving rapid market penetration for new medical device technology, through: 1) field sales effectiveness, 2) strong customer development, 3) clinical economic arguments, 4) targeted physician & referral pathway marketing
Specialties:
- Sales, Marketing, Strategy, New Business Development
- International Growth Execution, Europe, Asia, Americas
- Sales & Field Force Effectiveness
- Physician Adoption, New Market Development
- Marketing to Physicians & Direct-to-Patients
- General Management
- Early-Stage Company Growth, Turnarounds
- Global Product Commercialization
- R&D Product Development & Manufacturing
- Organization Design to Drive P&L Growth
Claude Nogard
CEO
Ergosuture
Co-founder & CEO, Claude has more than twenty years of global experience in the Health Care industry in product & market development in pharmaceuticals & vaccines (Merck & Novartis). With extensive sales & marketing experience at the global and market level, including product launch, Claude led HPV vaccine blockbuster Gardasil regulatory, market development & commercial launch efforts. He also developed MenB vaccine, Bexsero, scientific platform, product profile & market development leading global marketing efforts through EMEA filing.
Sharief Taraman
CEO
Cognoa
Chief Executive Officer at Cognoa, Inc. which is using Artificial Intelligence to diagnose & treat neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral disorders early to help children reach the fullest potential. Former Division Chief of Pediatric Neurology & Medical Informaticist at Children's Health of Orange County (CHOC). Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at University of California - Irvine, and Affiliate Professor at Chapman University Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler School of Engineering. Innovator, inventor, and advisor of medtech achieving FDA Breakthrough designation x3 and de novo market authorization for first of its kind autism spectrum disorders diagnostic.
Dr. Margaret Kalmeta
Founder & CEO
Rapid Nexus
Dr. Margaret Kalmeta is a Doctor of Dental Surgery with extensive training in oral surgery. She built and successfully exited several startup practices, subsequently went on to develop and patent novel tissue and bone growth technologies. Learning that daily amputations measured in the hundreds because of poor technologies, Dr. Kalmeta transferred her oral surgery wound healing technology to the wound care industry and founded Rapid Nexus, Inc in order to address this critical unmet patient need.
Richard Vincent
Founder & CEO
FundamentalVR
Richard has 20+ years’ experience of building international businesses and has throughout his career sought opportunities for positive market disruption through technological application.
It was this desire that led him to co-found FundamentalVR to help address an age-old problem for the medical market; how to create safe, realistic, measurable spaces to learn and develop skills.
In his role as CEO Richard is responsible for building a world class team of medical, learning and technologist who together can realise the company’s ambition of creating the world’s first global, haptically enabled, low cost ‘flight simulator for surgeons’.
Steven Mickelsen
CEO
Field Medical
Dedicated to finding new and better treatment options for patients that have challenging cardiovascular problems. My efforts have focused on developing medical devices and technologies that impact treatment of heart rhythm and other important health problems. My inclination is to work on projects where new therapeutic technologies are evolving from the preclinical into the clinical phase while maintaining a presence on the front line of clinical cardiology.
Gregory Fischer
Co-Founder & Chief Science Advisor
AiM Medical Robotics
Gregory Fischer has spent his career developing innovative technologies for image-guided surgical interventions. He is a pioneer in MRI-compatible surgical robotics capable of utilizing real-time images from inside the body to guide precision robot-assisted interventions. Dr. Fischer is a Founder of AiM Medical Robotics, a company leveraging technology from his team's research to revolutionize the neurosurgery experience. Dr. Fischer is also the William Smith Dean’s Professor of Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and PI of the Automation and Interventional Medicine Robotics Research Laboratory (AIM Lab) where his research focuses on medical robotics, specifically the use of real-time feedback to guide surgical procedures. He is Director of the PracticePoint Research and Development Center for Healthcare Cyber-physical Systems, a state-supported Medtech accelerator with advanced point-of-practice clinical testing facilities including an OR and 3T MRI suite dedicated to research and product development.
David Webster
CEO
Body Vision Medical
David joins the executive team with decades of extensive experience in medical device, imaging, and healthcare technology innovation. He is a passionate leader with a demonstrated track record of leading cross-functional teams from early clinical development to M&A through global commercialization in 60 different markets and geographies. He comes on board at a pivotal time in the company’s journey, bringing the wealth of knowledge and expertise necessary to take Body Vision’s business to the next level. David holds an MS in Business Administration and Management from Troy University and a BA in Psychology from The Citadel.
Hillary Pierce
CEO
Total Flow Medical
With key experience working in start-ups in the design and development of structural heart implants including transcatheter replacement heart valves (aortic, mitral, tricuspid), working across Canada, the US and Europe for the past 13 years, I am deeply inspired by building, growing and supporting teams while developing elegant solutions to improve patient's treatment options, quality of life and care.
Gordon Nye
CEO
ClearIT
Gordie is a C-level executive with management and marketing expertise in emerging healthcare companies. His previous experience includes leading ZELTIQ Aesthetics through a private funding round and IPO. He’s served in executive positions at the following companies: Angel Medical Systems, Inc., Atlantic Therapeutics, R2 Technologies, REVA Medical, Systagenix, Critikon, Inc., and A Company Orthodontics.
His early professional experience includes marketing roles at The Gillette Company, Reebok, LA Gear and President and COO of Voit Sports. Nye is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business.
Richard Hughen
CEO
Linshom Medical
Mr. Richard Hughen is a high impact executive leader, business builder with start-up, small-cap, and fortune 100 experience, innovative thinker and creative problem solver with expertise in building shareholder value, milestone achievement with unrelenting focus, leading complex, cross-functional teams, marketing strategy and business development, product development and commercialization, trial, regulatory and reimbursement strategy, international market development and launch, sales - management and operations, intellectual property and licensing, fund raising - equity and debt, licensing and intellectual property.
Caitlin Morse
CEO
BrainSpace
I am passionate about impacting global health by leveraging my medical device and international experience to improve access, efficacy, efficiency and affordability. I believe this all starts with meaningful communication: understanding the needs and priorities of patients, practitioners, payers, governments, device creators and distributors is key to creating targeted solutions with lasting impact and financial sustainability. In addition to being an entrepreneur, I also enjoy empowering other entrepreneurs.
Leah Brownlee
President
Lazurite
Ms. Leah Brownlee joined our company in her current roles in October 2020. She currently serves as board chair of Switch Automation (US), Inc. and her previous positions include of counsel in the global corporate department at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, a top-20 global law firm and executive vice president of compliance and operations at Cleveland Biolabs (NASDAQ: CBLI).
Kris Buchanan
CEO
RedDrop DX
Founder/& CEO - 40+ year life science and technology leader with product development, intellectual property, and manufacturing experience.
Vicki Farrar
CEO
Light Line Medical
Ms. Farrar has 40 years of experience as an attorney representing companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical fields. She has more than 25 years of experience in strategic IP planning and working in local start-up companies. In 2008 she founded Catheter Connections, Inc., a catheter infection control company. Catheter Connections changed the standard of care for infusion therapy and was successfully sold to Merit Medical in 2017. Vicki took the company from inception to sale, along the way developing and commercializing numerous products, completing successful clinical trials, qualifying for GPO contracts, obtaining FDA and CFDA (China) clearance, and a CE Mark, as well as establishing a robust patent portfolio with all patents upheld, and an infringer enjoined. Prior to Catheter Connections, she served as VP of Regulatory and Intellectual Property at Q Therapeutics, Inc., in Salt Lake City; and previously served as Acting CEO and Vice President of Legal, Intellectual Property and Regulatory Affairs at Cognetix, Inc. in Salt Lake City, developing CNS products that required delivery through an intrathecal medical device. Ms. Farrar began her career at the law firm Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., specializing in medical devices and food and drug law. She has been a partner at several large leading law firms, the most recent being Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. She is responsible for establishing the strategic position of the Company and overseeing its operations.
Robert Masson
CEO & Founder
eXpanded eXistence
Dr. Robert Masson, M.D., is an internationally recognized private practice neurosurgeon, with vast experience in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery. He ultimately, in 1999, dedicated his 35 year neurosurgical career to minimally invasive spine surgery. Always innovating and pushing his limits, he is the Founder and CEO of eXpanded eXistence™, an artificial intelligence enhanced software company backed by mixed reality and machine learning, focused on surgical logistics and performance.
He has developed spine implants, technology and procedures, focusing on least invasive surgery and maximum functional recovery. He has served on advisory boards for microsurgical systems, stem cell research, radiological software, orthobiologics and sports injury treatment & prevention. In addition, he has developed, educated ,and influenced products for groups such as Sofamor Danek, Synthes, Depuy Synthes Spine, a Johnson and Johnson Company, Centinel Spine and Biedermann Motech.
Gregory Dean
CEO & Founder
DriQ Health
20 plus years of work as a Pediatric Urologist and partner in a successful Pediatric Urology practice.
Extensive academic experience in Pediatric Urology (2018 President of the American Association of Pediatric Urology) and Secretary Treasurer of the AAP Section on Urology. Focus on linking cutting edge medical solutions and disruptive digital technology.
Founded two recent Urology medical device companies, Urospeed and Uronexus, parent company of DriQHealth. Co-Founder Women's and Children's Health Alliance (Vice President/ Chief Clinical Integration Officer)
Cathy Skinner
CEO
NXgenPort
Executive Healthcare leader with 20+ years of successful experience building businesses, differentiated products, and services that manage healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes.
I have launched three companies that provide products and services for cancer patients and their loved ones. I move companies from ideation to commercialization by bringing together top talent and subject matter experts to build differentiated patient experiences. I hold two patents and have formed a strategic collaboration with Mayo Clinic to build an implantable medical device company. I have led a clinical trial funded by the National Cancer Institute. I coached 400+ cancer patients empowering them through physical activity and nutrition.
My clients come from many industries: startups, MedTech, healthcare, medical devices, oncology, pharmaceutical manufacturing, digital health, remote patient monitoring, tele-coaching, and health and wellness. Clients tell me that I am inventive, a strong communicator (written and verbal), a collaborative and transformational leader, and passionate about improving the well-being of others.
Christian Haller
CEO
CorIT Medical
35 years MedTech experience with startups in Operational, Consultive, Director roles. BSME/MSME. Director, MPR; Founder LifeLine Medical.
Charles Allan
CEO
MY01
Charlie is passionate about using really small things to solve big problems. This fascination began in school; during undergrad, he helped build a microfluidic pump for an implantable therapeutic for glaucoma. During his master's, he helped form a team that developed micro solutions, which led to the formation of three companies (MY01, Stathera and Nxtsens), all of which are growing today.
Robert Wilson
CEO
Egg Medical
Dr. Wilson is the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Egg Medical, and a practicing Interventional Cardiologist at the University of Minnesota, where he has been on staff since 1986.
He was the Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab from 1988-2004 and served as Chief of Cardiology from 2008-2013.
Dr. Wilson has a passion for advancing the Science of Interventional Cardiology and has been active in research and Product Development for many years.
Before starting Egg Medical, Dr. Wilson was the catalyst behind ACIST Medical.
John Schindler
CEO
Liquet Medical
Mr. Schindler has demonstrated an extensive history of business accomplishments within the vascular disease space, spanning the introduction of diverse products from conventional surgical implants to cutting-edge endovascular catheter-based devices and delivery systems. His achievements span more than 25 years in a spectrum of roles, encompassing sales execution, management, field team training, and strategic business development. He has made significant contributions to renowned companies such as Atrium Medical, Maquet Medical Systems, and the Getinge Group. His initiatives in business development have been centered around pioneering new markets for emerging technologies, delivering support in field clinical settings, and refining product development to align with optimal market suitability and design.
Mr. Schindler has a deep personal connection to the development of Liquet Medical’s novel technology The Versus™ Intelligent Endovascular Catheter. He experienced the loss of his mother at the age of three after she developed a massive pulmonary embolism, (a.k.a. blood clots in the lungs), post cesarean section delivery of his sister. And after a successful career in the vascular disease space, he is excited about the opportunity to commercialize a first-mover technology to help treat patients suffering from pulmonary embolism.
Liquet is creating an entirely new category of “Hemodynamics-Led Catheter Lysis” (HCT) therapy. This new device leverages the patient’s own biometrics to optimize drug delivery, empowering physicians with access to the real-time data they need to make smarter decisions in the treatment of these critically ill patients.
Douglas Fairbanks
CEO
Advanced Scanners
As the CEO of Advanced Scanners, I lead a visionary and strategic team that is transforming the medical device industry with cutting-edge robotics and digital surgery solutions. With over 15 years of experience in this field, I have a deep understanding of the market needs, challenges, and opportunities for innovation and growth.
One of my proudest achievements was leading a cross-functional team at Johnson & Johnson to achieve the first in human clinical use of an orthopedic robotic assisted device, a crucial priority for the company. I also expanded this initiative to build a comprehensive capital framework for robotic assisted devices and other enabling technologies. My mission is to leverage my expertise and passion for technology commercialization, product launch, and go-to-market strategy to create value for patients, providers, and partners.
Patrick O'Donnell
President & CEO
NanoHive Medical
Medical Device and Biosurgery executive leader with over 25 years of consistently successful experience at pre-commercial and commercial stages companies. Success in the medical device, orthobiologics, and biomaterials industries with technologies in the orthopedic, spine, neurosurgery, sports medicine, interventional radiology markets. Extensive team-building, executive management, strategy development, sales and marketing management, strategic partnership development, distribution channel development, Board management, start-up, turn around, and fund raising (over $85M) experience.
Aswin Gunasekar
Founder & CEO
Zeto
I am a former electrical/computer engineer and management consultant. I turned to entrepreneurship to solve serious problems in health care. My company's mission is to transform the way neurological conditions are recognized, managed and treated. We focus on putting the customer first, creating products that deliver exceptional buyer utility at an accessible price and building a solid business. Our game changing EEG headset and platform is available for purchase by health care facilities in the US.
Peter Stebbins
Executive Chair of the Board
Nurami Medical
Entrepreneurial MedTech leader with a record of scaling businesses, large and small. Board Chair. Keen ability to swiftly understand a business, identify needs and opportunities, apply analytics, and steer organizations in strategy implementation. Currently applying broad expertise to steer small & mid-size companies and investors - deeply involved in Go to Market, Fund-raising, IP, M&A, KOLs, Branding, and US market entry.
Full spectrum of deal expertise. End-to-end business acumen. “5-tool player.” Can galvanize cross-functional teams, partner with clinicians and inventors, and win market access. A connector and change agent who gets stuff done.
Besides consulting work, curated strategic advisory positions, indexed toward digital: Augmented Reality (OnPoint), Enterprise SaaS Sales Targeting (AcuityMD), and Cloud-based Prior Authorizations (Voluware). Most recently, appointed the Executive Chair of an Israeli biosurgery company (Nurami).
Savas Komban
CEO
Smartlens
Savas Komban is a serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience. Savas has been featured on Fortune's "40 Under 40" list, has developed high-performing teams, and has managed successful M&As with Fortune 50 companies where he held senior leadership roles on a global scale. He has founded businesses that have been recognized as outstanding innovations improving the world and listed among Deloitte's fastest-growing companies for seven consecutive years.
As the CEO and Co-Founder of Smartlens, Savas is passionate about building innovative solutions for diagnosing and treating glaucoma, a chronic eye disease that ranks as the leading cause of irreversible blindness. The company has a portfolio of clinical-stage, non-invasive technologies that help prevent disease progression and enhance treatment effectiveness by offering personalized therapies for individual patients. These technologies are also paving the way for the development of a new generation of therapies.
Under his leadership, Smartlens has achieved strong clinical results and received investments from prominent institutions, venture capital firms, Stanford University, and key opinion leaders.
Earlier in his career, Savas founded itelligence TR, rapidly growing the business from the ground up to a global scale, leading to its acquisition by the Japanese NTT Group. He continued as its President & CEO where he led the transformation to a large-scale global enterprise, growing the business fivefold in four years.
In addition to his leadership, Savas brings extensive experience in driving digital transformation and enhancing efficiency through business innovation.
Timothy Blair
President
iChor Vascular
Personal Work Interests - Small-Mid size growth companies with equity possibilities. I thrive in opportunities where I can wear many hats, learn, mentor, and contribute in a variety of ways. My selling skills, real world experience and networks are my biggest asset, especially when building new and emerging business opportunities. My strategies are centralized around building lasting partnerships based on strong science and an ability to quickly identify business opportunities. Examples include building scalable sales and marketing (commercial) infrastructure for young business units, building physician's office "revenue" models, consulting to build and proctor office based procedures, global contracting to bring YOY growth with big MedTech, and being the most dependable resource for my customers (show up, clinically & financially sound, knowledgeable of local & industry issues, do what you promise). "Bringing tremendous value to everyone around me with a contagious energy that makes it memorable."
Patrik Schmidle
CEO
CARI Health
I am an entrepreneur and business leader with a passion for guiding companies to achieve extraordinary results.
Over the course of my career I have built and led many teams in many environments, including start-ups, mid-sized privately held companies as well as large, publicly traded companies. What I am most passionate about is to teach, coach and guide people as well as companies towards the best they can be.
I have achieved great success in various leadership positions covering many functional business areas, including general management, product management, sales management, client management and operational management. I am very fortunate to have been part of six acquisitions, which taught me a great deal about motivation, flexibility and change management.
Amaan Mazhar
CEO
Modulim
Biomedical engineer with a training emphasis in biomedical optics. Currently involved in medical device development & committed to translating biomedical technologies from lab to marketplace so patients can benefit.
Patrick Anquetil
CEO
Portal Instruments
As the Founder and CEO of Portal Instruments, Patrick Anquetil, Ph.D., MBA, leads a team of engineers, scientists, and business professionals who are developing a connected needle-free drug delivery device that improves the patient experience and adherence of injectable therapies. With over 15 years of experience in the medtech and biotech industries, Patrick has a passion for creating innovative solutions that address unmet medical needs and enhance patient outcomes.
Patrick has successfully established strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Takeda, LEO Pharma, and Sanofi, to launch combination products with Portal's needle-free technology. He has also raised over $60 million in venture capital and non-dilutive funding to support Portal's growth and development. Prior to founding Portal, Patrick co-founded SynapDx, an autism diagnostic company, and Aretais, a blood glucose monitoring venture. He also worked as a science and nanotechnology equity research analyst at Susquehanna International Group. Patrick holds a doctorate in bio-instrumentation from MIT, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a master's degree from ETH Zurich and the University of Tokyo. He has published his scientific work in peer-reviewed journals and mainstream media, and has been featured in MIT Technology Review, Wired Magazine, PBS, and CNBC.
Hamed Hanafi
CEO
NovaResp Technologies
My professional passions include innovating and commercializing healthcare technologies that can improve patients’ quality of life, forming and supporting talented teams so they can reach their highest potential as individuals and as a group.
I am an electronics engineer with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Dalhousie University. I am additionally trained in the commercialization of medical devices with several years of experience, and have several issued and pending patents. I continue to draw on my background in engineering, my knowledge of breathing mechanics and entrepreneurial spirit to successfully develop our lead technology, cMAP™.
As the CEO at NovaResp, I have led our team to pioneering the very first use of AI on Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) therapy in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. The goal of this technology is to help OSA patients like my father have a more comfortable experience with their CPAP, and higher adherence to therapy.
Silas Newcomb
Manager, Strategic Finance
Orchestra BioMed
Currently working for Orchestra BioMed, a therapeutic device company focused on the development and commercialization of high impact, data-driven solutions to address high value unmet medical needs.
Azar Azad
CEO
A.I. Vali
A dynamic and driven clinical entrepreneur, an ISO 13485 MDSAP certified auditor, an executive professional with a Six Sigma Black Belt and a broad base of health care sector knowledge; deep expertise in strategic planning, operational performance improvement, performance management, information technology, and detailed business modeling. Excellent leadership and business development skills developed through team leadership, client relationship management, and business development. Leadership experience in design, change and risk management, establishment, and implementation. Skilled at resolving difficult client issues as well as developing standardization and quality improvement methods. Active liaison between SMEs and healthcare professionals for medical research. Excellent results in acquiring new clients and renewing existing programs.
Extensive leadership experience in medical diagnostic laboratories, as well as method development through close collaboration with the pharmaceutical, biotechnology industries, and contract research organizations. Extensive experience in building teams, project management (PMP), data management, quality assurance, and business development across all phases of clinical trial operations.
Strong ability to perform market analysis and bring disparate information together for the development of a cohesive business/strategic plan, adaptability to and promote change for market/competitive advantage, attention to detail in procedure implementation for efficient business unit management.
Dr. Karen Cross
Co-Founder & CEO
MIMOSA Diagnostics
Dr. Karen Cross MD, PhD, FRCSC is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, a Scientist, and the Co-Founder and CEO of a startup health technology company called MIMOSA Diagnostics. She performs basic science and clinical translation research developing non-invasive optical technologies to assess skin physiology. Her research aims are to bring innovative technology from the bench to the bedside.
Dr. Cross has won several National and International awards related to her research such as the Wound Healing Society Young Investigator Award, Trauma Association of Canada Research Award, and Best Clinical Research from the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons. She has been recognized for her excellence in as a teacher, her collegiality, generosity, mentorship and humanitarianism by receiving the Dr. Hugh Thompson Humanitarian Award and the Leo Mahoney Teaching Award. Dr. Cross most recently received the 2018 Roscoe Reid Graham Scholarship in Surgical Science.
John Wong
Co-Founder & CEO
Fluid Biomed
Dr. John H. Wong is an associate professor in the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Radiology at the Cumming School of Medicine. He serves as Director of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery and maintains an active clinical practice dedicated to treating brain aneurysms and stroke. Dr. Wong received his medical education and neurosurgical training at the University of Alberta. After a one-year fellowship in neurovascular surgery at Yale University and further two-year specialization in interventional neuroradiology in New York City, he was recruited to Calgary in 2001. Since then, he has helped develop one of the most collaborative and productive neurovascular and stroke units in North America with colleagues in neurology, radiology, and neurosurgery. Dr. Wong has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts and has served on several grant review panels including for the Canadian Institute of Health Research, and the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. He has held numerous local and national leadership roles including the former president of the Alberta Neurosurgical Society for over a decade, past Division Head of Neurosurgery at the University of Calgary, and is the current Vice President of the Canadian Neurosurgical Society. Dr. Wong received his MBA from the Wharton Executive MBA program in San Francisco. He is also co-founder and CEO of Fluid Biomed Inc., a venture-backed medical device startup company that is commercializing innovative brain stent technology.
Michael Phillips
Co-Founder & CEO
Vena Medical
Graduated from University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) focused in Mechanical Engineering with an Entrepreneurship Option. Michael co-founded Vena Medical during the final year of his undergraduate degree and went full-time immediately after graduating. Attended TMCx Accelerator and Y Combinator in the year following. Published author in the Journal of Neuro-Interventional Surgery and the American Journal of Neuroradiology, Inventor on a granted patent and winner of numerous awards related to business and entrepreneurship.
Elson Yong
CEO
Carecam
Design thinker with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and consulting industry. Engineering Doctorate who has published papers related to metal additive manufacturing materials in the aerospace industry.
Manfred Franke
CEO
Neuronoff
Entrepreneur with Research Background, developing class II and III medical devices to restore and improve (augment) organ function using minimally-invasive Neuromodulation.
EXPERIENCE:
• Leadership by Value, Principles, and Data. No dogma.
• Startup (Neuronoff, Oculeve) and Big Corp (Allergan, Boston Scientific).
• Conceived and developed implantable & topical neuromodulation devices.
• Extensive Clinical (incl. FDA pivotal) and Pre-Clinical experience, designing IRB / IACUC cleared protocols & executing studies. Designed or actively cut in 50+ acute and chronic surgeries.
• 59 GRANTED Patents.
• Lead inventor on ~136 out of ~194 patent applications. To date only 4 dropped ones.
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Ran MoA studies for Oculeve/Allergan TrueTear. Conveyed Value to Clin & Marketing.
• Designed and/or executed 10 Clinical Studies in 5 countries world-wide. Multilingual.
• Defined new Clinical Label by optimizing Neuromod Therapy, doubling Market Value.
• Co-Development of regulatory pathway, reimbursement strategy, and Marketing / PR pitches.
• Headed the Pre-Clinical for Oculeve. Designed & executed studies to support IRB clearance.
• Co-Designed a new QA/QMS prior to US clinical studies - ISO 13485, CE, FDA 510(k) De-Novo.
• Trained clinicians and their staff on novel neuromodulation devices and clinical data acquisition.
Jay Trautman
Co-Founder, CEO & Director
Invenio Imaging
Jay is an experienced entrepreneur and executive in the life-science and pharmaceutical industries. Jay started his career at Bell Labs and was an executive at Cytokinetics (CYTK). He co-founded Praelux (acquired by Amersham/GE) and Vedere Bio (acquired by Novartis). He earned his PhD in Chemistry from Cornell University.
Nicholas Purcell
Founder
Purcell
I am curious, and ambitious, and have a great interest in abstract thinking which has led me into many aspects of fine art, design, and objectively analyzing & solving problems. I'm passionate about disruptive, life-changing ideas & enabling individuals to be empowered. This led me to form Purcell, a MedTech company working on smart drug delivery for respiratory diseases.
Scott White
CCO
Delphinus Medical Technologies
As Chief Commercial Officer, Scott leads our Sales, Marketing and Customer Success organizations while executing our commercial strategy for growth. Scott has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare and technology industries, leading commercial and operational teams.
Scott was previously the Chief Commercial Officer of Hyperfine (HYPR), developer of a bedside neurological MRI platform, where he led the development of their commercial strategy and supported the company’s IPO in 2022. In addition, he built a global commercial business throughout North America, Europe and APAC for Rapid Micro Biosystems (RPID), the developer of the Growth Direct System, which also led to a successful IPO in 2021. Scott also spent seven years at Intuitive Surgical as a VP of Sales, where he grew revenues in excess of $200 million annually.
Scott has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Florida and a master’s in business from the University of Miami. He has also successfully completed several courses from Harvard’s Executive Education Programs.
David Neale
CEO & Co-Founder
Arga Medtech
Over 20 years experience in managing and shaping organizations operating in the medical field, covering general commodities to highly sophisticated medical devices. Experienced in government relations and healthcare systems in general. Global experience, including LA, US, Asia and Europe.
Multilingual, international executive with 25 years of general management, sales and marketing experience in healthcare industries. Proven experience in establishing new businesses. Entrepreneurial and strategic attitude towards identifying and exploiting opportunities and strong leadership in implementing value driven sales, marketing and cost optimization plans. Good track record in the development and launch of new products, exploring new businesses, business models and setting up multiple channels of distribution. Strong strategic mindset and drive to accelerate growth and promote organizational change. Customer oriented decision maker, recognized for achieving results through a strong commitment to creating win-win situations and for building and developing action oriented management teams. Strong and effective leader in coordinating projects across all functions, including engineering, R&D, clinical, regulatory and finance among many others. Experienced in negotiating with high ranked government officials and c-suite as well as in negotiating mergers and acquisitions. Start up, small/medium (PME) enterprise coach and mentor.
Tim Jacobson
CEO
NOxy Health Products
Leading the team aiming to bring to market the solution to end the chronic wound epidemic. This devastating condition affects the elderly and those who suffer from comorbidities such as diabetes and vascular disease. Many patients with chronic wounds not only bear the physical pain of their medical condition, but also are often isolated and sequestered to their beds due to off-loading protocols. Their lives are severely disrupted and patients often spend hundreds of dollars a month out of their own pocket to cover materials needed to care for their wounds. The psychological pain and fear of amputation are the silent companions of their suffering.
The statistics point to injustices as African-American patients receive amputations at twice the rate of their white counterparts. For patients with vascular disease and chronic wounds, their 5-year mortality rate rivals the five-year mortality rates of cancer patients. Yet, because chronic wounds are not a branded disease and receive little fan fair, few research dollars flow to solve this crisis that is at epidemic levels.
Previously a founding member of Pearl Capital Advisors LLC—an award-winning investment management firm specializing in volatility-based investments where, as CIO, I led investment research, risk management, and marketing efforts for Pearl’s investment strategies.
Matt Ginn
CEO
IQ Endoscopes
With more than 20 years’ experience of commercial and executive leadership across medical device and medical technology companies, Matt has been hugely successful in launching disruptive technologies on a global scale throughout his career. Having previously held senior leadership positions within Proximie, Molnlycke Healthcare and CR Bard, he joined IQ Endoscopes in October 2020 bringing his extensive medical device, product development, regulation and commercialisation knowledge to the team.
Phil Smith
CEO
4D Biomaterials
With over 35 years’ experience in the engineering and materials industries and a track record of delivering fast business growth in a diverse range of start-ups, Phil is playing a key role in shaping 4D Medicine’s strategy and driving the business forward. Previous start-up roles include CEO at Interface Polymers, a polymer additive spin-out from the University of Warwick and Managing Director at a precision instrument spin-out from Cranfield University, majority owned by a FTSE 100 company. Between those appointments, Phil enjoyed a total of 12 years working as an independent consultant and a business development specialist with Warwick Ventures. Phil initially trained as an Engineering Technician in the aerospace instrumentation sector and became a Chartered Engineer in the late 90’s. Throughout his career, Phil has been excited by innovation and the satisfaction of working closely with customers to disrupt markets that are ready for change. Phil has an MBA (with distinction) from Warwick Business School, a BSc Hons in Materials Science and Technology from Brunel University and a Higher National Certificate in Mechanical and Production Engineering.
David Kirschman
Co-Founder
Orthomod
Dr. Kirschman is an entrepreneur and neurosurgeon with extensive experience in medical device development and corporate leadership. He is an organization builder with expertise in executive operations, public and private business finance, product development, regulatory affairs, sales distribution, marketing, and exit transactions. Holds over 80 issued patents for a wide range of medical devices. He previously founded X-spine Systems, a global spinal implant company (now Xtant Medical), and Orthophor, a global manufacturer of surgical irrigation products (now part of BD).
Abhita Batra
Founder & CSO
Neuro42
Abhita is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for neuro42, a San Francisco based medtech company looking towards the future of diagnostics and treatment for neurological conditions with a portable MRI, AI and robotic platform. Their ultimate goal for the portable MRI is to have it used in NICUs and ORs at the same time a patient is undergoing surgery or an interventional procedure, allowing for better understanding of the brain and to monitor live changes that happen during the intervention. Abhita is also the CEO of Otomagnetics, a Maryland-based company offering non-invasive therapies to treat hearing loss, especially for children undergoing chemotherapy. Their method involves loading drugs onto magnetic nanoparticles and delivering them under magnetic forces. 80% of people who go through chemo experience some hearing loss, so Otomagnetics seeks to help people keep their hearing by preserving the correct cells.
As an advisor for the Global Health Impact Fund, Abhita helps the organization manage their data flow and provide intelligence on which companies to invest in. Her connection also helps her network with investors for neuro42 and Otomagnetics.
Finally, Abhita is proud to carry on her family’s business, Admac Group. Founded by her parents, Admac has more than 150 pharmaceutical products, including antibiotics, oncology, general medicine, and more, in 15 countries. Admac is headquartered in India, and Abhita’s goal is to bring this company into the U.S. within the next year.
David Israeli
CEO
Magenta Medical
General Partner with Pitango Venture Capital’s life sciences team; Director of Business Development and Marketing at Medtronic Ventor Technologies; Corporate Development, Marketing and Market Development at Medtronic, Inc. in the US; VP of Medical Affairs at Rhythmia Medical; MD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, MBA from Harvard Business School.
Doug Teany
Co-Founder & CEO
Method AI
Over the last decade, Doug has worked to shape the role that robotics will play in the future of medicine. He currently serves as CEO of Method AI, a company he co-founded with the Cleveland Clinic to improve outcomes for robotic-assisted surgery. Method AI aims to unlock the full value of surgical robotics through computer vision and automation, and they are starting where they can have the biggest impact for patients – surgical oncology.
Prior to Method AI, Doug served as COO for Corindus Vascular Robotics. In 2018, his team achieved the world’s first remote robotic interventional heart procedure – completed by an offsite physician located more than 20 miles from the patient. They followed that achievement with the first in-human robotic neurovascular intervention in 2019. The work of Doug and his team was featured in the 2020 documentary, Speed of Thought, a film following the first wave of 5G innovators in healthcare, public safety, and education.
Brian Stewart
CEO
Tally Surgical
Brian Stewart is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tally Surgical, Inc. Prior to founding Tally, Brian was the Managing Member of Innovo Ventures, a healthcare focused investment firm. Previously, Mr. Stewart was the General Manager of Patient Safety at Stryker where he was responsible for the integration of Stryker’s acquisition of Patient Safety Technologies (OTC:PSTX) and the overall operations of that business including the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge™ System retained sponge prevention solution. Prior to Stryker, Brian was the Chief Executive Officer of Patient Safety Technologies where he drove the growth of SurgiCount and the ultimate exit of that company to Stryker. After being appointed as CEO of Patient Safety Technologies, Mr. Stewart led a successful restructuring of the company’s board of directors and management team and drove an operational turnaround which resulted in considerable growth in market penetration, reported revenues, profitability and significant shareholder value creation. During his tenure as CEO, Patient Safety Technologies achieved 850%+ growth in its customer base, successfully expanded into 6 of the top 10 U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll recipients and added numerous IDN wide adoptions including the largest hospital system in the U.S. Mr. Stewart was the co-founder and CEO of SurgiCount Medical and co-inventor of the marketing leading surgical sponge counting technology, the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge™ System. Additionally, Brian has over 10 years of investment and investment banking experience at Credit Suisse, CIBC and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette.
Jennifer Fried
CEO
Flow Medical
Jennifer is a healthcare entrepreneur and investor. Most recently, she was the co-founder/CEO of Explorer Surgical, which sold to GHX in 2021.
Marcin Golebicki
CEO
EP Solutions
Marcin joined the company in June 2022 as CEO to take it into a new phase. He brings a vast industrial and business experience in electrophysiology. He is also a Director on the board of several companies in this space.
Deanne McCarthy
CEO
Swiftsure
Deanne McCarthy is founder and CEO of Swiftsure Innovations, bringing her experiences as a critical care nurse to develop medical a device geared toward improving the standard of oral hygiene in intensive care. Prior to completing her BN, Deanne completed a BBA from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Deanne is passionate about providing Registered Nurses with the resources they need to do their jobs effectively and is equally enthusiastic about improving outcomes for patients and reducing hospital costs.
Chris Springate
CEO
ARC Medical
Dr. Chris Springate has over 25 years of experience as a leader in the development of medical devices, combination products and drugs at preclinical and early clinical stage medical device companies. He engaged in the development of several successful products including the Taxus® Stent with sales of greater than USD 1 billion annually; built leadership teams including corporate, scientific and clinical boards; co-led ARC in acquiring greater than USD 30 million of equity and licensing financing; and is an inventor of several patent families that protect ARC’s products. Dr. Springate served as a hospital and community pharmacist for 7 years. He holds BSc (Pharm) and PhD (Pharm) degrees and is a Registered Pharmacist.
Adam Choe
CEO
Veyond Metaverse
Adam Choe co-founded Veyond Metaverse in 2021. As the CEO, he defined the Veyond Metaverse vision and strategy, contributed to core values, and has led the company since its inception. Prior to Veyond Metaverse, Adam was CEO of two successful healthcare companies, Immunostics and NanoEnTek USA, where he commercialized products globally and defined the company's growth areas. Adam was the first employee at Johnson and Johnson Lifescan Korea, where he served as a founding Managing Director. There he developed the core brand and drove strategy and execution of commercial functions. Adam successfully served as a vice president of global health management at Alere (Now Abbott). Adam received an MBA in marketing and strategy from Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Pierre Lemire
CEO
Kent Imaging
A technology commercialization expert with over 30 years’ experience in the high-tech world of imaging, holding past roles as a CTO at Autodesk Inc and Co-Founder of Calgary Scientific.
Brian Thornes
CEO
X-Bolt Trauma Orthopedics
Brian Thornes is a former orthopaedic surgeon with 17 years of clinical experience, predominantly specialising in trauma. Brian is a serial inventor of medical devices, most notably the TIGHTROPE®, which is licenced to Arthrex Inc, FL. Brian has overseen the development the X-BOLT® product portfolio and their validation in large multi-centre clinical trials.
Brian has a medical degree from Trinity College Dublin, a Masters in Surgery, Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and an MBA. Over the past decade, Brian has served on a number of Boards, including Clontarf Orthopaedic Hospital, The King’s Hospital School, and the Higher Education Authority of Ireland.
Brian is a keen golfer at Portmarnock Golf Club, and in the summer enjoys playing cricket at Malahide Cricket Club.
Finbar Dolan
CEO
Versono Medical
Finbar is responsible for leading, developing VERSONO’s short and long-term strategy and the overall management of the company’s operations. His role also involves developing and communicating VERSONO’s vision and mission with its stakeholders, customers, board of directors and government agencies. Finbar has over 20 years of executive and leadership experience within the Medical Device Industry and has worked with CR Bard, Medtronic, GTI, Lake Region/Integer, Arc Devices, in product development, strategic R&D and manufacturing operations.
Finbar has also contributed on a pro bono basis to initiatives in IBEC’s MedTech Ireland, the IRDG, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland and Engineers Ireland. A chartered engineer, Finbar holds PhD, MBA and BSc degrees and is a BioInnovate fellow.
Ofer Halbreich
CEO
CardiaCare
Mr. Ofer Halbreich serves as Chief Executive Officer at CardiaCare. He has over 25 years of diverse professional and leadership experience including business development, global operations, strategic partnerships. Prior to CardiaCare Mr. Halbreich served as Vice President of Commercial and Corporate Development of MeMed Diagnostics Ltd. Before joining MeMed's team, Mr. Halbreich led the global operations activity of MediaMind Technologies Inc., and following its purchase by Digital Generation Inc. (Nasdaq: DGIT), he led the international operations integration process of the companies. Before that, Mr. Halbreich was the COO of Neuronix Medical, an innovative medical device company in the Alzheimer's disease treatment field. Mr. Halbreich also served as a commercial lawyer for some of Israel's most prominent law firms, handling large-scale commercial activities including M&A, joint ventures, licensing, and investment agreements. Mr. Halbreich holds an LLB from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA (Finance) from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
Keith Warner
CEO
Neuralace Medical
Proactive and engaging leader with expertise in advanced strategy development and implementation driving outstanding corporate growth. Over 25 years of senior level business acumen gained through key executive positions with leading large cap to venture stage startups within the life sciences and medical technology sectors. Experience in organization-building geared to achieve near and long term milestones both in domestic and international settings. Ability to deliver significant transformation and growth in financial performance, product development, investor fundraising, capital restructuring, P&L management, and strategic planning. Recognized successes in the distressed business turnaround process. Key achievements included:
As Public Company COO:
• Extensive background in P&L management; restructured world-wide commercial operation while achieving Wall Street revenue target of $6M, while producing all-time best quarterly revenue performances overall and in high-growth China market; successfully gained entry into the $1B molecular blood typing market by partnering with a prestigious U.S. independent blood bank.
As CEO:
• Rebuilt organization around re-focused value proposition in medical oncology while restructuring Board and raising new capital; generated key large CAP pharma partnerships based on compelling milestones to support transition through court process; arranged Series B financing with credible investors following court approved sale.
As VP of Global Marketing:
• Delivered and implemented new marketing strategies through market focused tactics and tools, along with overall product and market positioning for large cap industry leader supporting growing revenue results over a two-year period (up to 16%) along with operating income above 20% on total product revenues exceeding $400M; key driver was geographic expansion through key xUS studies, KOLs, and tender strategies.
William Altman
CEO
CorInnova
Mr. Altman will share the story of CorInnova at the Emerging Medtech Summit and discuss oppportunities to invest in or partner with the company.
William provides executive management oversight drawing on 25 years' of experience building healthcare companies. Mr. Altman is a former McKinsey & Co. consultant, and co-founded two firms that grew to over $50M revenues, including one healthcare services company that grew to 500 employees. He has served on the boards of five growth companies, including a 7,000 employee NASDAQ listed company which increased its market capitalization from $0.5 billion to $1.5 billion during his tenure, when it was successfully sold. Previously, Mr. Altman served as President & CEO of Kardia Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine company engaged in developing adult cardiac stem cells for use in heart failure therapy. A native of New Ulm, Texas (pop. 500), Mr. Altman earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, an M.A. in Politics and Economics from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
David Danielsen
CEO
CairnSurgical
General management and commercial leader in medical devices, diagnostics, imaging capital equipment, and health care IT; US Surgical, Boston Scientific, Genzyme Genetics, Hologic, Oxford Immunotec, CRA Health.
Shirish Joshi
CEO
Joshi Innovations GmbH
Technology Director with over 20 years of experience in developing and testing network products and software. Responsible for delivering data center network products that are fully functional and available 24x7 to meet enterprise clients requirements. Ensure the upgrades, maintenance releases and security patches are delivered with exceptional quality.
Bob Mitchell
CEO
N8 Medical
Founder RDM Enterprises. CEO N8 Medical, Cora Therapeutics Nellix Inc, Millimed Holdings, President Endologix, COO Angio Dynamics, SVP Cook Medical, EVP Align Technologies.
Richard Foust
CEO
MicroTransponder
Richard is an entrepreneur and investor with over 20 years of global commercial leadership experience in the healthcare industry. He has expertise in building organizations to successfully execute GTM strategies with medical devices and digital health platforms. Richard previously worked at Abbott, Analyte Health, Honor, Velano Vascular and 3D Strategy Consulting, where he held roles in engineering, sales, marketing, and general management. He currently resides in San Francisco, CA. Richard holds a BS in Applied Physics from Emory University and MSME in Bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Rob Krummen
CEO
Vektor Medical
For nearly two decades, Rob has served in a variety of roles, leading and advising corporations, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and state entities. Before being appointed CEO he served as president and chief operating officer at Vektor, where he led clinical, regulatory, engineering, and operations. Rob is a former partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP and a former Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Ohio. He had the privilege of clerking for the Honorable R. Guy Cole of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Rob earned his JD from Harvard Law School.
Howard Leonhardt
CEO
Lionheart Health
Founder, Executive Chairman & CEO of Lionheart Health, Inc. and Leonhardt Ventures LLC. Leonhardt Ventures LLC just celebrated their 40th Anniversary year in 2022. Over 700,000 patients have been treated with Leonhardt inventions. Over 700 patent claims issued, pending, optioned or licensed to Howard Leonhardt for healthspan longevity extension, organ regeneration and healing. Inventions generate nearly $2 billion in revenues annually for their acquirers. Competing for $101 million XPRIZE for HealthSpan Extension. Founder of over 40 startups since 1982. Inventor of leading stent graft and percutaneous heart valve systems. Led team that completed first stem cell regeneration of a human heart without surgery in 2001. Working on developing a TOTAL BODY REGENERATION CHAMBER "Womb for Adults".
Jose Bohorquez
President
Bold Type Product Development
Jose founded Bold Type to help companies solve hard technical problems. He has more than a decade of experience as a technical contributor and executive in various industries. These include the semiconductor industry, medical devices, consumer electronics, health and fitness, and the Internet of Things. Jose completed his PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT with a minor in business administration from the Sloan School of Management.
Paul Molloy
CEO
Applaud Medical
Paul Molloy is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Company. Paul is an experienced CEO & General Manager with extensive global venture capital and private equity relationships. Paul has participated in two IPO’s, and exited three of his last four firms as CEO. Paul has participated in exits at the Board level in several other MedTech firms in the last decade. He is presently on the Board at ClearFlow, Inc. and Augustine Medical. He managed Teleflex’s largest division (Arrow Vascular) from 2011-2013 with a $700M P&L, six US and international manufacturing plants employing over 3,000 staff and a US sales organization of 100 reps. Paul was a CRNA in clinical practice, earned a diploma in Hospital Management from the Instituut Der Bedrijfswetenschappen in The Netherlands and holds an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Jeff Cambra
CEO
SpinaFX
Medtech executive with over 26 years of commercial experience. Formally Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic’s Interventional therapies business with expert knowledge of interventional spine procedures, biologics, and devices including Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty. His most recent role was Vice President Global reconstruction business at Zimmer Biomet.
Michael Nagel
CEO
Vomaris Innovations
- Michael Nagel joined Vomaris Innovations as President and CEO in February 2012.
- Mr. Nagel brings more than 30 years of sales and marketing experience in the medical device industry.
- Prior to Vomaris, Mr. Nagel served as Chief Commercial Officer at Neomend. He oversaw the commercial launch of a PMA device and guided rapid growth to over 1,200 hospitals. Neomend was acquired by C.R. Bard.
- Mr. Nagel also served as Co–Founder and Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Vascular Solutions (VASC). He helped take Vascular Solutions from inception to IPO within 39 months and led the launch of a novel, biological vascular closure device in the interventional marketplace.
- He also served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Incisive Surgical.
- Mr. Nagel holds an MBA and BA from the University of St. Thomas.
Antony Odell
CEO
Echopoint Medical
Antony is a professional with an extensive career spanning three decades in the field of medical technology. His journey began with multinational powerhouses like Johnson & Johnson (J&J), where he held senior business roles.
As his career evolved, Antony's focus shifted towards nurturing innovation and pioneering advancements in the medical technology landscape through early-stage start-ups. With a diverse background and expertise in various fields, including vascular medicine, orthopaedics, and regenerative medicine, he showcased his adaptability and forward-thinking approach.
One of Antony's key achievements came with his tenure as CEO of Tissue Regenix, a remarkable AIM-listed company. Under his leadership, the organization expanded its operations beyond borders, establishing a strong presence in the UK, Germany, and the US. The company's growth trajectory was further solidified through strategic acquisitions, such as CellRight Technologies Inc in 2017, positioning Tissue Regenix as a global player in regenerative medicine.
Currently, Antony is at the helm of two promising spin-out companies, Echopoint Medical Ltd and Tandem Nano Ltd, where he serves as CEO. Leveraging his commercial experience, he has devised focused and strategic business plans that meticulously consider the clinical, regulatory, and reimbursement landscapes. Furthermore, Antony prioritizes crafting sustainable exit strategies that ensure optimal returns for investors.
Throughout his career, Antony's understanding of the medtech landscape and his ability to navigate complex challenges have earned him a reputation as a thought leader and industry expert. His contributions have not only pushed the boundaries of medical technology but also positively impacted patient care and outcomes worldwide.
Sanjay Shrivastava
CEO
Innova Vascular
Dr. Sanjay Shrivastava is the founder and CEO of Innova Vascular. Sanjay has been involved in developing, commercializing, evaluating, and acquiring medical devices for over 20 years. During his career, Sanjay has held leadership positions at leading medical device companies including senior director, business development at Johnson & Johnson, vice president, upstream marketing and strategy at BTG, plc. (acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation), director global marketing at Medtronic, and director, research & development at Covidien/ev3 (merged with Medtronic). Sanjay cofounded BlackSwan Vascular–a clinical stage medical device startup company, where he serves on the board of directors. In 2020, BlackSwan Vascular, Inc. entered in a strategic alliance with Sirtex Medical. Additionally, Sanjay serves as a member of the board of directors at enVVeno Medical Corporation (Nasdaq: NVNO).
Sanjay holds over 30 issued US patents and numerous international patents in medical devices and has edited two books including one titled “Medical Device Materials” published by ASM International. He was named among 100 Notable People in Medical Device Industry by the prestigious MD&DI (Medical Devices and Diagnostics Industry) magazine. He has been an invited speaker at clinical, business, and engineering conferences to speak about medical device innovation and commercialization. Sanjay holds a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Adarsh Patil
Founder & Inventor
OUI Medical
Consultant surgeon and specialist in Advanced Laparoscopic , Bariatric & Cancer surgery, 20 Years of experience as surgeon, Successful Private Practice Medical entrepreneur & Inventor Of Peritoneoscope
Leo Smit
CEO
Hy2Care
Ir. Leo Smit graduated as a chemical engineer at the Delft University of Technology in 1986. He joined DSM in 1988. Following a 11 year career in R&D, he joined DSM’s Dyneema® Business Unit, where he became responsible for New Business Development.
Here he developed and launched DSM’s first implantable polymer material Dyneema Purity®, currently used worldwide and the golden standard for use in orthopedic reinforcement textiles. He served 4 years as Management Team member in the then newly installed Business Unit Biomedical Materials, responsible for passive biomaterials in orthopedic applications. Subsequently he acted 4 years as Director of Communications at the DSM Innovation Center, responsible for DSM’s (corporate) communications on science and innovation.
In 2016 Leo left DSM to found his own businesses. He started insightfully Innovate, advising and supporting companies both large and small in the field of medical devices. In 2019 Leo joined Hy2Care as CEO, responsible for the company & team development, strategy and financing of the company.
Personal quote:
“Hy2Care is a wonderful company to lead. We have a solid team of strong experts and above all great drive and commitment. Together we can bring forward the injectable hydrogel platform, delivering on the promise of better cartilage healing and much improved outcomes for patients all around the world!”
Richard Lotti
President & CEO
Stoparkinson
A medical device company President & CEO with broad general management, business development, marketing, engineering and operations experience providing vision, leadership and passion to products which impact the standard of patient care.
Wesley Jones
CEO
Vonova
The technical Co-Founder with over 10 years of experience in both small entrepreneurial and Fortune 500 companies in the medical device industry.
Mr. Jones is a Biodesign fellow and seasoned engineer who has successfully led and managed the technical teams for 11 different electrophysiology devices at Medtronic and Acutus Medical.
Passionate about driving change, Mr. Jones has dedicated his career to solving unmet clinical needs through the application of minimally invasive technologies. Now, Mr. Jones has joined forces with Dr. Morales to apply his experience from cardiac electrophysiology to the unmet needs in neurology - the next frontier.
Upma Sharma
President & CEO
Arsenal Medical
I have dedicated my career to study of the intersection of materials science and medicine with the goal of creating products to improve patients’ lives. At Arsenal Medical, I have led the development of our in situ forming foam platform. This exciting technology platform has commercial application in treating severely injured patients with abdominal hemorrhage through our ResQFoam product. I have managed ResQFoam from concept through development, securing $25M from the DOD (through DARPA and ARO). I was also the PI and inventor of an Arsenal technology that has enabled the scale up of electrospinning fibers, supported by $2.3M from NIST.
At 480 Biomedical, I was on the team that developed a novel bioresorbable scaffold technology to treat peripheral arterial disease. Through this novel composite design, we were able to achieve properties similar to metal stents, with a stent that is fully absorbable. I drove initial materials selection and oversaw preliminary drug delivery formulations. I also spearheaded the submission of a Fast-Track SBIR, resulting in a $1.7M award and initiating the development of our stent for pediatric pulmonary artery stenosis. Additionally, I oversaw our application for funding from Broadview Ventures, resulting in an additional $1.2M for the pediatric stent program.
My key areas of expertise:
--Grant Writing: Directed ideation and led the submission of government proposals resulting in over $27M of funding from DARPA and NIH
--Product Development: Led development and execution of our ResQFoam product including regulatory strategy and submissions, design control process and contract manufacturing, project timeline and budget, and establishment of a world-class advisory board
--Technical Management: Managed R&D group of up to 10 engineers & technicians
--Intellectual Property: Inventor on more than 25 pending or issued patents
--Publications: Authored 18 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 30+ presentations
Augustine Lien
CEO
Aulisa Medical
Augie Lien is a successful serial entrepreneur in the medical devices field. He is most recently founder, Chairman, and CEO of Taiwan Aulisa Medical Device Technologies, Inc, which develops wireless, wearable FDA cleared vitals monitoring systems for at home use as well as systems integration at the healthcare institution level. By combining medical device sciences and information communication technologies, Aulisa’s proprietary innovations address unmet needs in the medical field and technological and operational trends within the healthcare industry.
Augie’s prior start-ups include Nellcor (IPO and subsequently acquired by Medtronic), which provides patient monitoring; Menlo Care (merged with Johnson and Johnson Medical), focusing on Hospital supplies; Gynecare (IPO and then acquire by Johnson and Johnson/Ethicon), addressing Gynecology Surgery needs; and EPI (acquired by Boston Scientific), which focuses on interventional Cardiology. These start-ups have all been acquired by multi-national companies or had an IPO in the US stock market. His fifth company, Cardiva Medical, is a successful interventional cardiology company which has been acquired by Haemonetics recently in February 2021.
Augie holds an MBA from the University of Santa Clara and an MS from Stanford University. He also graduated with an MA from National Chen Chi University and a BS from National Cheng Kung University, both in Taiwan.
Camilla Easter
CEO
Oxford Medical Products
Camilla has nine years’ biotech start-up experience as CEO and COO working exclusively on hydrogel-based medical devices. Originally a veterinary surgeon, she has run veterinary clinical trials and launched the veterinary arm of a biotech company. Following on from this she moved into the human biotech sector where she has been involved in all aspects of start-ups including, R&D, fundraising, regulatory, pre-clinical and clinical trials for medical devices.
Laurence Marsteller
CEO
Radiance Therapeutics
Dr. Marsteller is a serial medical device entrepreneur and co-innovator of the RadianceTx technology. He previously founded Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc. – invested in by ophthalmic market leader HOYA (7741:Tokyo, Market Cap $21B, $4.5B in annual sales). He is a Medical Doctor (University of Arizona College of Medicine), and physicist (Yale University Graduate School). Dr. Marsteller has Investment Banking experience as an Analyst at Lehman Brothers, and subsequently Morgan Stanley.
Dusty Majumdar
CEO
PredxBio
B. Dusty Majumdar, PhD is a seasoned leader in Precision Healthcare with more than 20 years of experience in building and successfully launching innovative technologies across oncology, multi-omics, Real-World Evidence (RWE). diagnostic imaging and liquid biopsy platforms leveraging some of the industry’s most advanced AI platforms, genomic and clinical simulations (digital twins), and emerging medical imaging technologies. Dr. Majumdar’s experience includes leading strategy and marketing as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at IBM and multiple commercial and technical leadership roles at GE Healthcare, Exact Sciences and 3M. He has also led the commercial and strategic functions in a range of start-ups in the healthcare/biopharma space over the last few years. Dr. Majumdar is a widely respected global leader in the healthcare industry and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. He has authored several peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds multiple patents.
Yeshwanth Pulijala
CEO
Scalpel
As the founder and CEO of Scalpel, I lead a passionate team of engineers and medics who build AI tools to enhance patient safety in the operating room.
Trained as a dentist, I have over eight years of interdisciplinary experience in healthcare and technology (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Computer Vision). I previously built a startup (Open Simulation) to provide low-cost surgical simulation using Augmented Reality. In my doctoral research, I have designed and evaluated one of the first immersive virtual reality training tools for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
David Thompson
CEO
Osteal Therapeutics
Business leader and healthcare entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in organizations of all sizes developing new technology and new markets in the U.S. and internationally with a particular focus on medical devices, digital health and diagnostics.
Particularly passionate about early stage ventures and intrapreneurial opportunities that require market analysis, needs assessment, product and business model discovery and definition, corporate strategic planning, and go-to-market execution.
James O'Reilly
CEO
Arrayus Technologies
James O’Reilly brings 20+ years of executive experience in technology company formation and growth. At Arrayus Technologies, he drives international investment and provides strategic vision.
Before leading Arrayus Technologies, James founded a successful consulting firm focusing on technology development, funding, and regulatory affairs in the medical device space. He is uniquely skilled as an enduring leader in the domain of high technology.
Mitch Levine
CEO
Smart Health Dx
I joined SmartHealth Dx in November 2022 as our Chief Executive Officer. With my rich strategic-minded background as a corporate finance innovator and investment industry leader, I have orchestrated mission-critical financial strategies to enhance corporate value and strengthen operating performance for public and private companies in the life sciences industry.
From 2017 to 2022, I led Oncocyte as their Chief Financial Officer of Oncocyte, a molecular diagnostic company, where I oversaw corporate growth from eight to more than 120 employees; conducted ten capital raises, bringing the company to fully-funded status; built the shareholder base from one institutional investor to more than fifty; negotiated and integrated three acquisitions; and secured the most significant licensing deal in company history with one of the largest and fastest-growing diagnostic laboratories in China.
From 2000 to 2017, Mr. Levine was Founder and Managing Member of Enable Capital Management, LLC, whose underlying investment vehicle, Enable Growth Partners, LP, was one of the largest funds providing growth capital to small and mid-sized public and private companies.
Before Enable Capital Management, Mr. Levine was a Founding Member of The Shemano Group, a San Francisco-based investment bank focused on the capital needs of technology and life science companies where Mr. Levine was widely recognized for originating and developing one of the largest alternative financing markets in the US, generating more than $100 billion of financings annually.
Carlos Granada
CEO
Cogentech
Carlos, an MIT alumnus with 20+ years in the MedTech industry, focuses on global strategic product development and clinical innovation, having overseen projects across first-in-human to pivotal multicenter clinical trials.
Motasim Sirhan
CEO
Elixir Medical
Co-founder of Elixir and also founded Avantec Vascular and co-founded Maya Medical. Additional experience includes:
- Guidant Corporation (now Abbott Vascular), including leadership roles developing the RX Perfusion Catheter, PET balloon technology and Multi-link stent
- Inventor or co-inventor on 35 patent or patent-pending applications
- B.S. degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California
- M.S. in Management from the University of Southern California
Rob Hill
CEO
TAE Life Sciences
Robert Hill is Chief Executive Officer, with a deep background in technical and clinical development of radiation oncology systems.
Prior to joining TAE Life Sciences, he was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Accuray Incorporated; Senior Vice President of R&D; and the company’s Chief Product Officer. During his tenure at Accuray, he was responsible for product strategy, innovation, and design and development. Rob was also responsible for mergers, acquisitions, partnerships and intellectual property development.
He previously served as Vice President of Engineering at North American Scientific; and held various R&D leadership and software development roles at NOMOS Corporation, where he was an early innovator in the fields of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), serial tomotherapy, and Monte Carlo dose calculation.
Rob earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Manny Villafana
CEO
Medical 21
At the Emerging Medtech Summit Dr. Villafaña will share the story of Medical 21 (his latest venture) and discuss fundraising goals and strategic partner interests.
Co-inventor of the first lithium powered pacemaker and founder of Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc./Guidant. All pacemakers now incorporate this technology.
Co-developer of the St. Jude heart valve and founder of St. Jude Medical, Inc. This is the most commonly used prosthesis in the world.
Co-inventor of the ATS heart valve and founder of ATS Medical, Inc. (now part of Medtronic)
Co-inventor of the nitinol support and founder of Kips Bay Medical and Medical 21, Inc.
Manny Villafaña is the Founder, Chairman, & CEO of Medical 21, Inc. Dr. Villafaña is globally recognized as a “Living Legend of Medicine.” He is an award-winning USA Master Entrepreneur, a member of the Halls of Fame of Minnesota Business and Science & Technology. He is the past founder of medical device companies that have transformed the industry of cardiac surgery and improved the lives of millions. Manny is also the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Sciences degree from the University of Iowa.
Juan Alcantara
CEO
Nuubo
- Joined Nuubo in 2013
- More than 25 years in the medical device and healthcare sector
- Formerly the Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson medical devices in Spain
Joseph Connell
CEO
NeuEsse
Mr. Connell will share the story of NeuEsse at the Emerging Medtech Summit and discuss his current investment needs and potential partnering opportunities.
Joe brings more than 35 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales, marketing and executive management experience. His career started as a Pharmaceutical Sales representative with Roche Laboratories. He has had roles of increasing responsibility, including as COO, President and CEO, of startup and specialty pharmaceutical companies with global responsibilities.
Joe has been instrumental in the launch of more than 25 major pharmaceutical products and devices. He has expertise in the areas of Dermatology, Wound Healing, Cardiovascular, Infectious Diseases, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Pain Management, Anesthesiology, and Diabetes. Joe has been involved in global efforts with aerosol, nasal and pulmonary drug delivery devices.
His career has enabled him to found or co-found seven companies, take one to a presently traded public company and help countless startups as a consultant, subject expert and interim CEO. He has worked with companies in Dermatology, Wound Healing, Orthopedics and Infectious Diseases.
Joe has presented at Rodman & Renshaw, OneMed Place, Southeast BIO, BIO-CEO, Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa, Raleigh CED, NC Bio, Defense TechConnect 2018, SmarTemple Investments, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures, Life Science PA Futures and many others.
Joe brings this expertise and drive to NeuEsse’s management team in the commercialization of this unique disruptive technology.
Stuart Mitchell
CEO
Novuson Surgical
Dr. Mitchell will share the story of Novuson at the Emerging Medtech Summit and will discuss their financing objectives and strategic partnering plans.
Dr. Mitchell is a graduate of the University of Washington and he has been designing biomedical instrumentation and devices for approximately 20 years. Dr. Mitchell has extensive experience in biomechanics (soft tissue and orthopedic), tissue engineering, instrumentation, electronics, and mechanical design.
While at the university, Dr. Mitchell managed and conducted research in multimillion dollar DARPA projects where he developed relationships with medical industry leaders. He has conducted research in biomechanics, tissue engineering, acoustic hemostasis and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for tumor treatment. Dr. Mitchell has been involved in helping HIFU gain recognition in the clinical setting and has led research teams in conducting application studies.
Tom Calef
Chief Technology Officer
Activ Surgical
Steffen Hovard
CEO
Neuspera Medical
Steffen Hovard is a seasoned medical device executive with 15 years of experience in urology and uro-gyncology. He spent 20 years with Coloplast with various leadership assignments across both commercial and R&D functions, and for 8 years he led President of Coloplast Interventional Urology. This included leadership responsibility for four business areas within urological devices (class I, II, and III) including 900 employees across 19 countries and $300M revenue. Steffen serves on the board of several medical devices companies in both the US and internationally – with a focus on venture and private equity backed companies. Apart from his operational roles, Steffen served on the Boards of both Medical Alley Association and AdvaMed for several years, and he remains an active industry advocate.
He holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in marketing & strategy from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.
Scott Durbin
CEO
illumiSonics
Mr. Durbin brings over 25 years of executive leadership and expertise in finance, corporate development, clinical development, and operational experience from start-ups to multi-national companies. Mr. Durbin was formerly CEO of Viveve Medical, Inc., a publicly traded global women’s health company where he raised more than $250M in large private, public and debt financings. Prior to Viveve, Mr. Durbin was CFO for Vericel, where he raised over $50M in public capital, attracting high quality institutional investors and fostering equity research from some of the leading life science investment banks. At Prescient Medical, Inc., he was a co-founder and acted as both COO and CFO. There, he led the company’s early-stage growth, built the infrastructure to support the operation of the company as a future public entity, and raised over $60M in private equity. To date, he has completed more than $5B in financings and merger and acquisitions for life science companies.
Surendar Magar
CEO
LifeSignals
Surendar Magar has over 30 years’ experience in the technology industry. He co-invented the Texas Instruments TMS320, the groundbreaking digital signal processing architecture that launched the DSP industry. Later he co-founded Athena Semiconductors, an early developer of the wireless networking platform that would become Wi-Fi; Athena was acquired by Broadcom Corporation.
Maxwell Munford
CEO
Osstec
At OSSTEC, Max is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer. His role focuses on company vision, strategy and growing OSSTEC's team. Max has a passion for learning, growing the bounds of technology and for delivering impact across MedTech. These interests align perfectly with OSSTEC's values, so leading such a company is a previlege for him. Max completed his PhD at Imperial College London, developing biomimetic 3D printing for use in orthopaedics. His research has won awards across the field including places on some of Europe's best venture accelerator programs.
Almog Aley Raz
CEO
CorNeat Vision
Almog Aley-Raz has over 25 years of experience managing complex, multi-disciplinary projects. He has spearheaded the development of several business ventures, including their foundation, growth and expansion, fruition and ultimate success. Aley-Raz is CorNeat Vision co-founder and has been the CEO and VP R&D since its inception in 2016.
Mr. Aley-Raz has hands-on technological and managerial experience at several startup companies, as well as established corporations. He has handled diversified aspects such as engineering, professional services, product management, marketing, finance, legal, compliance, mergers and acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Aley-Raz served as GM and VP Biometrics and Security Solutions at Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN), directing an international team, which consisted of dozens of members. During his tenure at Nuance, he was able to grow its biometrics business line from several million USD to over $80 million/year. Nuance was recently acquired by Microsoft for ~20Bn. Mr. Aley-Raz joined Nuance in 2010 through the acquisition of PerSay, where he served as CEO. He joined PerSay in 1999 as a system engineer when the company was still a part of Verint Systems Inc. – formerly Comverse Infosys. As part of his work, he successfully raised over $11 million from the Israeli Venture Capital industry.
Before joining Verint in 1999, Mr. Aley-Raz served as a project manager – managing a strategic mission-critical 150 man-year government software project, including software and network infrastructure deployment in multiple physical sites. The project met its targets in all aspects (budget, timeline, performance) and is operational since 1999. Previous assignments included managing 35 engineers and field engineers who handled complex airborne communication and optical systems.
Almog Aley-Raz holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering and Digital Signal Processing from Ben-Gurion University and is an MBA graduate of the Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration at Tel Aviv University. He completed a continued education course at the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) in managing the development and regulation of medical devices.
Bradford Conlan
CEO
Bimini Health Tech
Mr. Conlan is the co-founder of Bimini Health Tech and has served as CEO and board member since 2013.
Mr. Conlan has over 15 years of experience in the medical device and regenerative medicine fields. He received a B.S. in Biomedical and Industrial Engineering from the University of Iowa and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California.