Leadership
Kate Rumrill
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kate is a seasoned executive, with 30 years of extensive experience in the Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Industry. She began her career as a Toxicologist with companies such as Sterling Winthrop and Eli Lilly & Company. She later transitioned to focus on clinical research, holding various roles over the years, from CRA to VP. Most recently, Kate was the President and CEO of NeoSync, Inc., a clinical stage company, developing novel non-invasive neuromodulation devices in the CNS space. Prior to that, she held the position of Vice President, Global Medical Affairs with Covidien’s Peripheral Vascular Division. She has extensive experience in product development and new product launches, most notably through her time at Covidien and Eli Lilly & Company. Kate holds a BS degree in both Biology and Psychology from the State University of New York.
Deborah Schmalz
VP, Clinical and Regulatory
Deborah has over 25 years of executive leadership clinical and regulatory experience in medical device and combination products. Prior to joining Ablative Solutions, Deborah served as the VP of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for NeuroTronik, Reshape Lifesciences and Vascular Solutions. In addition, she served as the Executive Director of the Medical Device Division of Medpace, a global Contract Research Organization focused on providing full-service support of complex clinical programs.
Tom Moore
VP, Market Development
Tom has over 20 years of experience in global sales and marketing leadership roles for medical device companies. Most recently, he was a senior leader at CVRx, developing therapies for hypertension and heart failure in Europe. He was responsible for study center selection, center training and proctoring, patient enrollment of the five studies, and global market development for commercialization. He started his career at Medtronic where he worked with neuromodulation therapies for the treatments of chronic pain, Parkinson’s Disease, Angina, PVD, and Urological disorders. He holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Business at the University of Minnesota and a BS from Leads School of Business at the University of Colorado.
Sonia Charrier
VP, Global Quality Systems
Sonia Charrier is an experienced Quality Systems and Regulatory Compliance leader with over 18 years of experience in positions of increasing responsibility and leadership in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Her expertise includes development and implementation of ISO and FDA compliant Quality Systems as well as successful management of FDA inspections and Notified body audits. Sonia’s career includes companies such as Baxter Bioscience, Watson Pharmaceuticals (now Allergan), Endologix and Edwards Lifesciences. Sonia received her B.S. degree in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology from UCLA and M.S. degree in Biomedical Quality Systems from San Diego State University. She is a trained ISO 13485:2016 Lead Auditor and an ASQ Certified Quality Auditor.
Tim Fischell, MD, FACC
Chief Medical Officer
A practicing interventional cardiologist, prolific inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Fischell is currently Professor of Medicine at Michigan State and Medical Director of the Borgess Heart Institute Department of Cardiovascular Research and the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program. An inventor and co-inventor on over 70 patented devices, he co-designed the stent upon which the J&J drug-eluting stent platform is based. Co-founder of several biomedical start-up companies (Angel Medical Systems, Svelte, Ostial Solutions, etc.), his honors include the Thorax Center Andreas Gruentzig Award for Inventor of the Year in 1997. Dr. Fischell has presented over 200 papers and authored more than 110 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 20 book chapters.
Lisa Mastromattei
VP, Finance
Lisa has over 25 years of diverse experience in Finance and Accounting, primarily in the medical device industry. Most recently, she was the VP of Finance, HR, and IT for Mitralign, a medical device company focused on treating functional mitral and tricuspid regurgitation. She is versed in strategic planning, merger and acquisitions, fundraising, and risk management. Lisa’s leadership experience also includes Global Controller at Microline Surgical and Director of Accounting at Orchard Brands. She received her BS from Suffolk University and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
Darrin Kent
VP, R&D and Operations
An experienced R&D leader, Darrin has 20 years of experience in the medical device industry designing and commercializing dozens of devices. He has honed his management, engineering, pre-clinical research and manufacturing skills at REV·1 Engineering, a contract design and development firm. Prior to that, he developed innovative endovascular devices at Sequent Medical (later Terumo) and Guidant Vascular Intervention (later Abbott Vascular). Darrin has a BSE from Cal Poly, SLO and he is a named inventor on 30 US patents, granted or pending.
Board of Directors
Michael Fulton, MD
Senior Managing Director, BioStar Capital
Chairman of the Board
Mike’s experience in healthcare includes over 20 years as a successful early-stage investor and entrepreneur. Prior to joining BioStar, Dr. Fulton was a Managing Director of Hopen Life Science Ventures. Before transitioning to venture capital, he was a medical device and healthcare services entrepreneur, most notably at Lanx, Inc., a device company he co-founded in the spinal implant space. Over a span of eight years as CEO of Lanx, he scaled the company from a business plan into an $85 million revenue, 225-employee corporation that was ultimately acquired by Biomet. He is an inventor of multiple neurosurgical and spinal devices, with over 50 granted U.S. and international patents. Dr. Fulton received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He also completed two years of neurosurgery training at the Cleveland Clinic.
Paul Buckman
General Manager – TMVR, LivaNova PLC
Paul Buckman has 39 years of experience in general management, sales, marketing, finance, international and operations in the medical device industry. In addition to LivaNova, Paul was President of the Cardiovascular Divisions of both Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical where he implemented significant growth strategies in both core and emerging technologies. He was also a co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of ev3 which was eventually sold to Covidien for $2.5B. Paul has also had previous CEOroles with Conventus Orthopaedics, SentreHeart, Pathway Medical (sold to Bayer Healthcare), and Devax (sold to Biosensors Intl.), in addition to executive management roles at DVI (sold to Eli Lilly) and American Hospital Supply. Presently, Paul serves as a Director on the Boards of NeuroOne(Chairman), Miromatrix (Chairman), Ablative Solutions, ActivOrtho, Inc.(Co-Founder), and Aortica.
David Fischell, PhD
Chairman and CEO, Angel Medical Systems
Dr. David Fischell is an inventor and serial entrepreneur who has co-founded 14biomedical device companies in the last 25 years, including 5 active companies: Angel Medical Systems, eNeura, Inc (Chairman), NeuroPace, Inc., Svelte Medical Systems and Ablative Solutions (Director). After earning his Cornell Ph.D. in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, David joined Bell Laboratories in 1979where, for 11 years, he performed and directed a wide range of research and development projects including leading an internal venture and the design and development of an integrated platform in the AT&T network for AT&T's first ever enhanced voice service, Infoworx TM. He left Bell Labs in 1991 to work full time on medical devices. He currently has 176 issued U.S. and has published numerous papers in the fields of telecommunications, cardiology and radiation dosimetry.
Dr. Fischell has received numerous awards and recognitions including his 1990award for his design of the architecture of the AT&T network platform for enhanced voice services and election as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He was elected to the Cornell University Board of Trustees in 2008 and the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Overseers in2016. He holds an appointment as adjunct professor, is chairman of the Advisory Council and was instrumental in the founding in 2004 of Cornell's Meing School of Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Fischell has received numerous awards and recognitions including his 1990award for his design of the architecture of the AT&T network platform for enhanced voice services and election as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He was elected to the Cornell University Board of Trustees in 2008 and the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Overseers in2016. He holds an appointment as adjunct professor, is chairman of the Advisory Council and was instrumental in the founding in 2004 of Cornell's Meing School of Biomedical Engineering.
Dale Grogan
Managing Director, Michigan Accelerator Fund
In his over 30 years of professional business expertise, Dale has been an entrepreneur and an investment banker. For start-up and early stage companies, he has raised over $50 million. Mr. Grogan has started and owned numerous businesses, including an NASD broker/dealer firm (Stanley Grogan Investments), several technology companies, and consulting firms focused on start-up businesses(Acuity Capital Management, Acuity Capital Partners). He was the founder and CEO of a high-tech, Leapfrog Smart Products, which he took public, and then private again. Mr. Grogan is a Managing Director at Charter Capital Partners, Inc. (“Charter”). Mr. Grogan currently serves on multiple boards including InvestMichigan, Clark Retirement Communities, and Ablative Solutions.
Mr. Grogan attended Huntington College in Montgomery, AL where he studied chemistry and biology and was granted early admission to the University Of Alabama School Of Optometry in Birmingham, AL, where he studied general optometry and physiological optics.
Mr. Grogan attended Huntington College in Montgomery, AL where he studied chemistry and biology and was granted early admission to the University Of Alabama School Of Optometry in Birmingham, AL, where he studied general optometry and physiological optics.
Geoff Pardo
Partner, Gilde Healthcare
Mr. Pardo joined Gilde Healthcare Partners in 2011 as a Partner, and has led investments in Inari Medical, Axonics Modulation Technologies (NASDAQ:AXNX), CVRx, Ablative Solutions, Inc., Inova Labs (sold to Resmed, Inc.), BionX (sold to Ottobock) and Vapotherm (NYSE: VAPO). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Inari, Axonics, Ablative Solutions, CVRx and Vapotherm.
Mr. Pardo also served as President & CEO of Facet Solutions, a spinal implant company focused on treating lumbar spinal stenosis until the company was sold to Globus Medical in 2011. Mr. Pardo began his career in medical devices as a product manager with Synthes USA (now J&J Depuy Synthes). Geoff has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
Mr. Pardo also served as President & CEO of Facet Solutions, a spinal implant company focused on treating lumbar spinal stenosis until the company was sold to Globus Medical in 2011. Mr. Pardo began his career in medical devices as a product manager with Synthes USA (now J&J Depuy Synthes). Geoff has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
Kate Rumrill
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kate is a seasoned executive, with 30 years of extensive experience in the Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Industry. She began her career as a Toxicologist with companies such as Sterling Winthrop and Eli Lilly & Company. She later transitioned to focus on clinical research, holding various roles over the years, from CRA to VP. Mostrecently, Kate was the President and CEO of NeoSync, Inc., a clinical stage company, developing novel non-invasive neuromodulation devices in the CNS space. Prior to that, she held the position of Vice President, Global Medical Affairs with Covidien’s Peripheral Vascular Division. She has extensive experience in product development and new product launches, most notably through her time at Covidien and Eli Lilly & Company. Kate holds a BS degree in both Biology and Psychology from the State University of New York.
Andrew Tochterman
Coronary Segment Leader, Philips - San Diego, CA
Andrew Tochterman is the Vice President and General Manager of the Coronary Segment at Philips (NYSE: PHG). In this role, he is responsible for the short-term management through long-term profitable growth strategy for the coronary business of ImageGuided Therapy (IGT) Devices.
Andrew has had roles in quality engineering, product development, clinical research, marketing & sales during his 18 year career in Cardiovascular Medical Devices. He has a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Andrew has had roles in quality engineering, product development, clinical research, marketing & sales during his 18 year career in Cardiovascular Medical Devices. He has a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Ben Tsai
Partner, Invus Opportunities
Ben Tsai is a partner at Invus Opportunities, a New York-based investment firm that currently manages over $1.5 billion of capital. Ben joined Invus Opportunities in 2008 when the firm spun off from sister firm The Invus Group, an equity investment firm founded in 1985 with over $8 billion of evergreen capital. Ben leads investments by Invus Opportunities in growing private companies and works in close partnership with market-leading management teams and investors to create lasting value. Ben has served on the Board of Directors of numerous companies, both in the health care sector as well as in other industries. Prior to joining Invus Opportunities, Ben was a management consultant at the Monitor Group. Ben received a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
We are proud to work with some of the most committed innovators in the industry.
Scientific Advisory Board (Global)
Gregg W. Stone, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Chairman of Publication Committee, Director of Cardiovascular Research and Education, Columbia University Medical Center / New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Steven Almany, MD, FACC
Corporate Vice Chief of Cardiology, William Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak, MI
Maurice Buchbinder, MD, FACC
Medical Director, Foundation for Cardiovascular Medicine
Dean J. Kereiakes, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Medical Director, The Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Center
Michael Weber, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA
Professor of Medicine at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, NY
Prof. Melvin Lobo
Director, Barts Blood Pressure Centre of Excellence, London, UK
Prof. Dr. med. Felix Mahfoud
Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, University Hospital of the Saarland, Germany
Prof. Atul Pathak
Head of Clinical Research, Hypertension, Heart Failure Clinic, Clinique Pasteur, Toulouse, France
Prof. Dr. med. Roland E. Schmieder
Head of the Clinical Research Center (CRC), University Hospital Erlangen, Germany