|
|
|
| Keynote Speakers |
|
Reese Terry, Co-founder & CEO, Trifectas Medical Corp.
Reese Terry is the co-founder of Trifectas Medical, an early stage company which is developing neurostimulation therapies to improve recovery from brain injury. Reese co-founded Cyberonics and was a member of its board from December 1987 to September 2010. Reese served as chairman of the board and CEO until February 1990. He continued as chairman and executive vice president until 2000 and also served as CEO for a portion of 1995 and a portion of 2006 and 2007. Reese retired from Cyberonics in 2000 and returned as a consultant from 2005 to present. From 1976 to 1986, Reese held executive positions with Intermedics, Inc., a medical device and electronics company, including serving as VP Engineering, VP Corporate Technical Resources, and VP Quality. He held engineering positions at Cordis from 1970 to 1974 and with CTS Microelectronics from 1974 to 1976. Reese is the inventor on many fundamental patents related to cardiac rhythm management and neurostimulation. Reese served on the board of directors of the Epilepsy Foundation, a national organization that works for people affected by seizures through research, education, advocacy, and service. Reese also serves on the board of directors of IDEV Technologies, a privately-held company in the endovascular products field. Reese was twice recognized for a Top 100 Inventions, was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni University of Kentucky, and is an IEEE Life Fellow. |
 |
Elliot Krames, M.D., Medical Director, Pacific Pain Treatment Center
Elliot Krames is a nationally and internationally known "thought leader" in the field of pain medicine and neuromodulation. He graduated from medical school at the University of Maryland and completed his residency in anesthesiology and his fellowship in obstetrical anesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Krames is board certified in anesthesiology and sub-certified in pain management through the American Board of Anesthesiology. He is certified in pain medicine through the American Board of Pain Medicine. The first cancer pain clinic at Mount Zion Hospital was established by Dr. Krames in 1982. He established the Pacific Pain Treatment Center in 1987. Dr. Krames is on the Board of the International Neuromodulation Society and has served on the Boards of The North American Neuromodulation Society, The National Pain Foundation, The World Institute of Pain, The American Academy of Pain Medicine, and The American Board of Pain Medicine. Dr. Krames just completed a three year term as President of the International Neuromodulation Society, and was Editor-in-Chief for thirteen years of Neuromodulation, Journal of the International Neuromodulation Society and the Official Journal of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society. Dr. Krames has co-authored two previous books and has just completed editing a two volume textbook, Neuromodulation. |
 |
| Conference Faculty |
|
James Cavuoto, Editor
and Publisher, Neurotech Reports
James Cavuoto is editor and publisher of Neurotech Business Report
and the founder of Neurotech Reports. He was the lead author of "The
Market for Neurotechnology," a market research report published
by Neurotech Reports. Cavuoto was the founder of Micro Publishing
Press, Inc., a publishing company that helped pioneer the market for
electronic publishing, digital imaging, and computer graphics. He
holds a degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve
University, where he studied under pioneers in the field of functional
electrical stimulation. He has also studied human factors engineering
at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Cavuoto spent
three years as a member of the technical staff at Hughes Aircraft
Company in Los Angeles, where he worked on simulation, training, and
publication products produced for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Cavuoto is an adjunct professor at Rochester Institute
of Technology and the author of eight books on computer graphics,
electronic publishing, and digital imaging. He is a member of the
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. He has authored a chapter in the textbook Neuromodulation (Elsevier, 2009), as well as articles in Neuromodulation, Journal of Neural Engineering, Medical Device Daily, IEEE Spectrum, MX magazine, and the International Journal of Medical Marketing.
|
 |
Glenn Cornett, M.D.,
Ph.D., Senior Financial Editor, Neurotech Reports
Glenn Cornett is an experienced neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and
financial consultant, with a background in research and business development.
After earning his Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA and his M.D. from
University of Michigan Medical School, Glenn spent several years as
a technology and healthcare consultant with McKinsey & Company.
He has also held marketing and business development positions at Lilly
& Company and Razorfish. He currently runs his own consulting
firm, Metastrat, in Palo Alto, CA, providing strategic advisory services
to biotechnology and medical device firms.
|
 |
Dominique Durand, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering,
Case Western Reserve University
Dominique Durand
is the E.L. Linsedth Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Neurosciences, Physiology and Biophysics and Director of the Neural Engineering Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He received an engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Electronique, Hydrolique, Informatique et Automatique de Toulouse, France in 1973. In 1974, he received an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Case Reserve University in Cleveland OH., worked several years at the Addiction Research Foundation of Toronto, Canada and in 1982 received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. He received an NSF Young Investigator Presidential Award as well as the Diekhoff and Wittke awards for graduate and undergraduate teaching and the Mortar board top-prof awards at Case Western Reserve University. He is an IEEE Fellow and also Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering and Fellow of the Institute of Physics. He serves on five editorial boards of peer-reviewed scientific journals and he is the editor-in-chief and founding editor of the Journal of Neural Engineering. His research interests are in neural engineering and include computational neuroscience, neurophysiology and control of epilepsy, non-linear dynamics of neural systems, neural prostheses and applied magnetic and electrical field interactions with neural tissue.
|
 |
| Panelists and Presenters |
|
Chris Chavez, President, St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation
Christopher Chavez is president of the St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation Division. Mr. Chavez joined St. Jude Medical through its acquisition of Advanced Neuromodulation Systems (ANS). As president, CEO and director of ANS beginning in 1998, Mr. Chavez guided ANS through a nine-year period of successful growth prior to its acquisition by St. Jude Medical in 2005. Prior to ANS, he served as Vice President of worldwide marketing and strategic planning at Eastman Kodak's health imaging division, where the division's five worldwide business units reported to him. Mr. Chavez started his career with Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc. in 1981 and progressed through several cross-functional roles to become Vice President and General Manager of the Infection Control Business Unit, with approximately $500 million in worldwide revenues. Mr. Chavez holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University. |
 |
Milton Morris, Ph.D., Vice President, R&D, Cyberonics Inc.
Milton M. Morris joined Cyberonics as Vice President, Research & Development in January 2009. He joined Cyberonics from InnerPulse Corporation, a privately held cardiology-focused medical technology company in the Research Triangle Park (North Carolina), where he served as Director, Program Management and Operations since November 2007. Prior to InnerPulse, Dr. Morris was employed by Guidant Corp. and its successor, Boston Scientific Corp. Over a period of 11 years, he held several positions including Senior Research Engineer; Manager, Research & Development; Director, Research & Development; and Director, Marketing. Dr. Morris is named as an inventor on 15 patents and an author on 19 publications, abstracts and scientific presentations. |
|
Kelly Holman, Managing Director, Genesys Capital
Kelly Holman is co-founder and managing director of Genesys Capital and has extensive commercial and technical experience in the biotechnology industry. Since co-founding Genesys Capital in 2000, Mr. Holman has been actively involved in raising over $225 million of venture capital and has been instrumental in deploying over $100 million across 20 investments. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Epocal Inc., and is a past director of Affinium Pharmaceuticals, Insception Biosciences, Interface Biologics and Zelos Therapeutics. Mr. Holman is active in deal origination and company creation and has advised Canada's National Biotechnology Advisory Committee on strategies for financing start-up and early-stage biotechnology companies. Prior to co-founding Genesys Capital, Mr. Holman was a Senior Investment Manager with MDS Capital Corp. During his tenure at MDS, he was involved in all stages of investment from start-up and early-stage to mezzanine stage and public company investing. Previously, Mr. Holman worked in the laboratory of Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop at the University of Toronto where he was a key member of the international research team that discovered several genes responsible for Alzheimer's disease. Mr. Holman holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biochemistry and an MBA, both from Queen's University. |
|
Manuel Lopez, Ph.D., VIce President, Bay City Capital
Manuel López-Figueroa is a Vice President at Bay City Capital and has been with the firm since July 2001. He specializes in evaluating investment opportunities with an emphasis on CNS. In addition, Dr. López is the Scientific Liaison for the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium, a collaborative research enterprise comprised of a group of leaders in psychiatry, neuroscience and genetics from Stanford University, University of Michigan, Cornell University and the Universities of California at Davis and Irvine. The consortium aims to discover the neurobiological and genetic determinants of mood disorders and schizophrenia with the goal to develop novel diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. López is responsible for planning and directing all aspects of the consortium including strategy, R&D, legal (IP & contracts) and financial, to facilitate the commercialization of discoveries to fund additional research. Dr. López has over 15 years of experience in the field of neuroscience, has won numerous awards during his academic research career, and has published extensively. He completed post-doctoral work at the University of Michigan and at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. López received a Ph.D. in Medicine and Surgery, and an M.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the Universities of Las Palmas and La Laguna, Spain, respectively. |
 |
Albert Cha, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Partner, Vivo Ventures
Albert Cha is a Managing Partner who invests in private and public biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Albert draws on his scientific, medical, and operating experience when working with his portfolio companies. He was an early investor in Aspreva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ASPV), CoTherix (CTRX), Biodel (BIOD), and Bioform Medical (BFRM). Other investments include Acura Pharmaceuticals (ACUR), AMAG Pharmaceuticals (AMAG), APT Pharmaceuticals, Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR), Discovery Labs (DSCO), Repros Therapeutics (RPRX), and Tria Beauty. He currently serves on the board of several private biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Albert has also served as founding or interim CEO for several portfolio companies. Prior to joining Vivo, Albert worked at Oracle Corp. in pharmaceutical consulting and at the Palo Alto VA Hospital as a biomedical engineer. Albert received his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He subsequently completed the Medical Scientist Training Program at UCLA School of Medicine, where he received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience. During his studies, he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and won the prestigious Outstanding Graduate Student Award. His research in molecular biophysics has been published in highly respected journals such as Nature and Neuron.
|
 |
Robert Abrams, Operating Principal, Sanderling Ventures
Rob Abrams has over 27 years of experience in biomedical device product development, research, operational management, new business development and strategic investments. Rob joined Sanderling as an Operating Partner in April 2008. Prior to joining Sanderling, Rob served 12 years at Boston Scientific Corp. as Group Vice President of New Business Development for BSC’s Cardiovascular Group Divisions, which included Neurovascular, Cardiac Surgery, Neuromodulation, Electrophysiology, and Peripheral Interventional Divisions. In this role, he also served on executive management boards, and patent and legal review boards. During his tenor at BSC, Rob completed acquisition of Smart Therapeutics, Inc. for intracranial stents, and other minimally invasive access devices, Precision Vascular Systems, Inc. a steerable guidewire/catheter company, and several neuromodulation companies, including acquisition of Advanced Bionics Corp. He also led the corporate program to explore technology for acute ischemic stroke therapy, and transacted several investments in that realm. Rob had become a part of BSC via their acquisition of Target Therapeutics, where he was Director of New Business Development from July 1996. Prior to joining Target, Rob was Director of Product Development for LocalMed, Inc., a start-up dedicated to devices for catheter-based local drug delivery in cardiac vasculature. From 1988 through 1995, Rob served various roles at Guidant Corporation in their Cardiovascular Business. He served as Director of R&D for the intrapreneurial Guidant Division, Heart Rhythm Technologies, developing devices for EP cardiac arrhythmias. Overall, Rob has 65 patents in medical devices. Rob received his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude. |
 |
Kevin Wasserstein, Managing Director, Versant Ventures
Kevin Wasserstein specializes in investing and building medical device companies at Versant. His work with entrepreneurs spans the earliest seed or concept stage of development through the entire life cycle of the company. Kevin has more than eighteen years of venture capital and operating experience in medical device and high technology companies, and currently serves, or has served, in board or advisory roles with companies which include: Acclarent (acquired: Johnson & Johnson), Autonomic Technologies, Cardiac Concepts, LipoSonix (acquired: Medicis), Lutonix, Microfabrica, NeoGuide Systems (acquired: Intuitive Surgical), Rox Medical, Second Sight Medical, St. Francis Medical (acquired: Kyphon) and The Innovation Factory. In addition, he serves as a member of AdvaMed's National Venture Capital Advisory Board, and MDMA's Venture Capital Advisory Group. Before joining Versant in 2002, Kevin held a variety of marketing and business development roles at Guidant Corporation. Most recently he served as head of marketing in Guidant's Cardiac Surgery Group, where he led the group's product/market development and launch initiatives. In Guidant's Peripheral and Carotid Group, Kevin developed and launched several first-generation stent and embolic protection devices while leading the carotid stent program's marketing activities. Previously, in Guidant's Compass Business Development Group, Kevin's responsibilities included acquisition, licensing and investment with both private and public medical device companies, and corporate strategy. His operational experience also includes business development at Heartstream, and engineering design and engineering management at Hughes Aircraft Company. Kevin holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in product design, as well as an MBA, all from Stanford University. |
 |
Roy Simon, M.D., Medical Director, Pain and Rehabilitation Group
Dr. Simon is Medical Director of the Pain and Rehabilitation Medical Group, which he founded in 1994. He specializes in sophisticated spinal diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Committed to his role in medical education, Dr. Simon has served as a clinical instructor for the International Spinal Injection Society for the past 10 years. He received his residency and fellowship training at UCLA Medical Center, and began clinical practice in 1990. Dr. Simon has authored several articles, delivered numerous presentations and workshops, and is frequently invited to lecture on pain management and minimally invasive spine treatments. |
 |
Stephanie Fertig, Small Business Program Coordinator, NIH/NINDS
Stephanie Fertig earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry with a major in Physics from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 1999. Her undergraduate research focused on studying peptide-membrane interactions. After graduating, she joined Nova Research, Inc. and worked as a researcher in the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. At NRL she contributed to multiple bioengineering projects including the development of molecular switches, microbial fuel cells, microfluidics for use in biosensor applications, and a wide variety of biosensor systems. Ms. Fertig joined the Repair and Plasticity Cluster of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in 2004. Her primary scientific interests include neural engineering and neuroprostheses, as well as traumatic brain injury. Ms. Fertig received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2007. She is currently working on detail with the NINDS small business program. |
 |
Gretchen Benko-Mruk, Commercial Marketing Manager, Concentric Medical, Inc.
Gretchren Benko-Mruk has five years experience in the medical device industry. She is currently the commercial marketing manager and reimbursement manager at Concentric Medical, a manufacturer of stroke treatment devices in Mountain View, CA. Prior to joining Concentric, Ms. Benk-Mruk spent two years at Guidant/Abbot Vascular as a reimbursement analyst. Her expertise includes engaging Medicare and private payors to affect coverage decision, and working with clinical teams to devlop reimbursement strategies.
|
|
Thomas Hughes, President, Hughes & Associates
Tom Hughes, an attorney specializing in reimbursement, has driven healthcare reimbursement and payor strategies for nearly 20 years. Prior to founding Hughes & Associates, Tom successfully led initiatives for various companies resulting in expanded coverage decisions and enhanced payment for new and existing therapies. He built reimbursement teams, successfully lobbied decision makers at the state and federal level, and expanded coverage and payment with Medicare, Medicaid, private payors, workers compensation, and military plans. As an attorney, Tom has written and negotiated contracts with national payors, advised on the prosecutorial landscape involving false claims and anti-kickback issues, and conducted legal review of public policies. Tom's experience includes senior leadership roles in global medical companies as well as start-ups, including Hill-Rom Corp., Encore Medical, Empi, Inc., and Celleration. Prior to his work in the medical technology industry, Tom was a litigator for a Minneapolis law firm, representing physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers in medical malpractice actions. Tom is the current co-chair of the Minnesota Life Science Alley's Reimbursement Special Interest Group. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and holds a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. |
|
| Entrepreneur Panel Presenters |
|
Lynn Elliott, Chief Technical Officer, Spinal Modulation, Inc.
Mr. Elliott joined Spinal Modulation in 2010. He brings with him over 28 years of engineering and product development experience, along with over 15 years of executive management experience. His last 22 years have been in active implantable medical devices. Mr. Elliott spent the last four years in early-stage companies exploring neurostimulation for a variety of unmet clinical needs. He was most recently at ConcepTx Medical and spent the prior 18 years in Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management group. Mr. Elliott received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and his M.S. in Software Engineering from the University of St Thomas. |
 |
Andrew Gotshalk, CEO, Blackrock Microsystems
Andrew is a business operations senior manager with over 14 years experience in sales, strategic planning, process improvement, business design, financial modeling, and customer relationship management. Previously, he was Director of Research Products Business at CKI, leading the sales strategy and responsible for annual revenue growth in excess of 40 percent. Prior to CKI, Andrew was sales operations manager at Haemonetics Corp. in Braintree, MA for five years. Haemonetics Corp. is the global lead in developing, manufacturing, and marketing of blood processing technology. Andrew has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
|
 |
Steven Stupp, Ph.D., CEO, TriGeminal Solutions, Inc.
Steven Stupp is the co-founder and CEO of TriGeminal Solutions, Inc., a healthcare-technology company that helps physicians significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce costs by providing patient-specific solutions for chronic diseases, such as migraine. He has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in condensed matter physics from the University of Illinois, and a B.S. degree in physics, summa cum laude, from Tufts University. He was also a visiting scholar at Stanford University in the electrical engineering department. Steve has founded and served on the management team of several startups. He has also contributed to a variety of technology fields, including superconductivity, digital communications, and biosensors, at organizations such as Philips Research and Quantum Corp. He holds 10 patents, and has authored over 35 publications. He is a registered patent agent who has written more than 250 patents for startups and Fortune 500 companies, including the first patents for Apple, Inc.'s iPhone. |
 |
Ben Pless, Ph.D., President and CEO, Autonomic Technologies, Inc.
Ben Pless has over 25 years of experience developing and bringing to market implantable medical devices. Most recently he was the chief operating officer and chief technical officer of NeuroPace, a privately-held company developing electronic implantable devices for the treatment of neurological disorders, such as epilepsy. Prior to joining NeuroPace in 2000, he was responsible for worldwide development activities for the Cardiac Rhythm Management Division of St. Jude Medical, Inc. Mr. Pless previously served as vice president of product development for Ventritex, Inc. and general manager of its Maven Capacitors division until the sale of the company to St. Jude Medical in 1997. He was a founder of Ventritex where he was instrumental in the development of one of the first implantable cardiac defibrillators. His career began at Intermedics, where he was a development engineer for implantable pacemakers. Mr. Pless is a member of the board of directors of several start-up medical device companies and regularly provides consulting services to the venture capital community. Mr. Pless received a B.S.E.E. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and attended graduate school at Rice University. He is a named inventor on approximately 100 patents and patent applications. |
|
|
