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.
Kristine Canavan
VP, Regulatory Affairs
Kristine Canavan is an experienced regulatory professional with a wealth of medical device and combination product experience. A Biomedical engineer by training, with an MPH in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, she has over 25 years of industry experience including several executive positions in regulatory, quality and clinical. She has actively managed products to market from early-stage product development efforts through the regulatory submissions and post-market activities. Kristine has held with Medtronic, Covidien and DePuy, in addition to several successful start-up companies.
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, Quality
Sonia Charrier is an experienced Quality Systems and Regulatory Compliance leader with over 20 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, MDD 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 (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 30 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 CEO roles 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 14 biomedical 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 1979 where, 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 1990 award 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 in 2016. 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 1990 award 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 in 2016. 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.
John Kerschen
President and Managing Partner, Charter Capital Partners
John Kerschen more than 30 years of financial experience in commercial banking, merger and acquisition advisory, and private capital investment. Since joining Charter Capital Partners in 1996, he has been responsible for more than 200 acquisition transactions with aggregate value of more than $2 billion. These transactions include diverse industries, such as manufacturing of metal parts, plastics, electronics, and medical products, as well as construction services, energy services, business services, and various distribution industries. John’s significant banking and financial background combined with his strong transaction management skills have been instrumental to Charter’s success over the years.
John is general partner and actively manages various investment funds including Charter Growth Capital Fund, a mezzanine debt and minority equity fund, Michigan Accelerator Fund I, an early stage VC fund as well as multiple other private equity investment entities.
He is a current board member for Keystone Solutions, RimGuard, Ablative Solutions and Hastings Mutual Insurance Company and a board observer for Trice Medical and Swift Biosciences. John is a past board member for Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, Intervention Insights, the Michigan Medical Device Accelerator and the national board for the Association for Corporate Growth.
John has attained FINRA securities registrations including the Series 79, 62, 63 and 65, and earned the Certified Valuation Analyst designation from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. He has a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from DePaul University.
John is general partner and actively manages various investment funds including Charter Growth Capital Fund, a mezzanine debt and minority equity fund, Michigan Accelerator Fund I, an early stage VC fund as well as multiple other private equity investment entities.
He is a current board member for Keystone Solutions, RimGuard, Ablative Solutions and Hastings Mutual Insurance Company and a board observer for Trice Medical and Swift Biosciences. John is a past board member for Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, Intervention Insights, the Michigan Medical Device Accelerator and the national board for the Association for Corporate Growth.
John has attained FINRA securities registrations including the Series 79, 62, 63 and 65, and earned the Certified Valuation Analyst designation from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. He has a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from DePaul University.
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.
Ron Bache
President and CEO of Bache, Inc
Ron Bache is the President and CEO of Bache, Inc. and an Operating Partner with Invus Opportunities. Bache was previously the President and CEO of AqueSys, Inc., a venture capital backed startup. AqueSys developed the XEN Gel Stent, the world’s first minimally invasive ab-interno surgical procedure for the leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma. Bache joined AqueSys in 2009 while it was within a technology incubator and had just begun first in man trials. During his seven years as CEO, Ron spun the company out of the incubator, hired a full global team, raised $77 million in capital, patented multiple inventions, successfully executed an FDA clinical trial, obtained FDA clearance, obtained CE mark, created a CAT III code and obtained coverage from Medicare and private payers, and successfully commercialized globally. AqueSys was acquired by Allergan in 2015 for $300 million upfront plus milestones and Bache became a strategic advisor to Allergan for the next two years.
Prior to joining AqueSys, Bache was a Global Vice President at Advanced Medical Optics, the spinout of Allergan Surgical, and is now Johnson & Johnson Vision. Bache had marketing responsibility for the global refractive surgery business which included excimer lasers, custom wavefront guided and standard LASIK procedures, femtosecond lasers, wavefront abberrometers, multifocal intraocular lenses, phakic intraocular lenses, corneal inlays, and mechanical microkeratomes. During his tenure, AMO became the world’s #1 refractive surgery company through approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, partnerships, and internal R&D. Prior to AMO, Bache held commercial positions at Kraft General Foods, Johnson & Johnson (IOLAB Pharmaceuticals), Novartis (CIBA Ophthalmics), and Allergan Surgical.
Bache earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and has completed executive education programs at Stanford and Harvard Business School.
Prior to joining AqueSys, Bache was a Global Vice President at Advanced Medical Optics, the spinout of Allergan Surgical, and is now Johnson & Johnson Vision. Bache had marketing responsibility for the global refractive surgery business which included excimer lasers, custom wavefront guided and standard LASIK procedures, femtosecond lasers, wavefront abberrometers, multifocal intraocular lenses, phakic intraocular lenses, corneal inlays, and mechanical microkeratomes. During his tenure, AMO became the world’s #1 refractive surgery company through approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, partnerships, and internal R&D. Prior to AMO, Bache held commercial positions at Kraft General Foods, Johnson & Johnson (IOLAB Pharmaceuticals), Novartis (CIBA Ophthalmics), and Allergan Surgical.
Bache earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and has completed executive education programs at Stanford and 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
Prof. Melvin Lobo
Director, Barts Blood Pressure Centre of Excellence, London, UK
David E. Kandzari, MD
Director, Interventional Cardiology and Chief Scientific Officer, Piedmont Heart Institute, Atlanta, Georgia
Prof. Dr. med. Alexandre Persu
Head of the Hypertension Clinic Cardiology Department. Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc Université, Brussels, Belgium
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
Michael Weber, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA
Professor of Medicine at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, NY