MedTech Innovator LIVE

Branden Morris, Senior Director of Marketing, has been telling stories of medical innovation and patient impact for nearly 20 years. He has built brands, launched products, and developed marketing teams at biotech companies large and small, across several therapeutic areas. Branden is passionate about continuing to grow the MedTech Innovator programs as the premiere life science accelerators in the world, so that our member companies can get novel therapies in the hands of clinicians and patients as efficiently and effectively as possible.

U.S. adults alone consume 14+ hours of media per day. Why should they listen to you? My passion is to help healthcare companies use storytelling to exit the all too common “sea of sameness” and make a meaningful mark in an industry that impacts us all.

I love the healthcare industry. It’s a fast moving, exciting and crowded space where traditional tech and medtech have become one, data is the new oil, and consumers increasingly hold the reins. It’s also incredibly complex, with stakeholders that span not only providers and patients but also regulatory, payer and policy audiences. I have years of experience building and sustaining winning brands – for both startups and established companies – with a deep understanding of the industry and how to navigate it.

My company Pazanga Heath Communications is the Navy Seal team of healthcare communications. We are senior led and senior driven. Our staff is steeped in healthcare with experience at the highest agency and in-house and levels, and also includes seasoned healthcare and medtech journalists. Who you see is who you get.

Our services cover a range of communications functions, from brand positioning, messaging and design to campaign execution across traditional and social media, digital marketing, events, KOL programs, patient advocacy and more.

I proudly lead the team as a trusted C suite advisor – offering our clients strategic thinking and communication programming designed to drive market adoption, sales growth and, when appropriate, successful exit strategies.

On a personal note, I am also a member of the board of the Orange County Chapter of the American Cancer Society. I am honored to be co-chairing the upcoming 2024 ASC Orange County gala. My goal is to raise an obscene amount of money for this organization, which has helped an untold number of people including my own family.

Nick Tippmann is a founder/operator turned angel/VC. He is currently the founder & GP of TipTop VC, an early stage firm backing the next generation of vertical SaaS+AI winners. Nick was previously CMO at vSaaS for Medtech, Greenlight Guru, and a judge and mentor for Medtech Innovator for over five years. He is currently based in Austin, TX with his wife and frenchie.

Shyam Natarajan is focused on improving clinical outcomes and patient care in urology and beyond. He leads a clinical-stage AI healthcare startup that is creating a more personalized future of prostate cancer care. Previously he led an NIH-funded lab focusing on image-guided cancer interventions at UCLA with a background in software engineering.

Co-founder and CEO of ImmersiveTouch, where we are reducing the standard 7-10 day 3D planning delivery down to just minutes. We are a pioneer in VR simulated surgical planning; the next dimension in personalized healthcare. ImmersiveTouch is highly differentiated with a large hospital base and patent portfolio. I’m responsible for running all facets of the business and have a proven executive management track record driving growth and innovation in healthcare. I am driven to improve healthcare economics and patient outcomes. I am an accomplished speaker, and a contributor to publications such as Forbes and Business Insider. Under my leadership ImmersiveTouch was awarded Best Video and Top 4 Finalist by MedTech Innovator, won the Center for Advancing Innovation Global Health Innovation Challenge; awarded Best Simulation Company in North America by Frost & Sullivan; listed in the 34 Virtual Reality Companies to Know by Built In; featured in Healthcare Tech Outlook ‘s Top 10 Medical Imaging Solutions Providers; named one of The 7 Virtual Reality Companies to Innovate Healthcare by Medical Design and Outsourcing; listed as one of The 9 Healthcare Companies Making Innovations in Virtual Reality by Touchstone Research; selected as one of the Top 10 Startups by HealthBox; and awarded Top Simulation Company by MedTech Outlook.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University, Mike went on to become a Nuclear Refueling Engineer for the Department of Defense’s submarine program.

Then, he and his wife relocated from Seattle, WA to San Diego, CA where he took an engineering position with Invetech, a Danaher company, and his wife, Dr. Leah Gordon, attended medical school.

While with Invetech, Mike worked as a senior mechanical engineer on a variety of projects supporting the development of diagnostic instruments, medical devices, cell and gene therapies, consumer products, and automation systems.

He currently operates his own consulting company, Michael Gordon, Inc, which specializes in the conceptualization, development and integration of novel technologies and biological workflows in the immuno-oncology/immunotherapy space.

I am the CEO and co-founder of Oxford Endovascular Ltd, a spinout from Oxford University.

The company is developing a revolutionary medical device to cure brain aneurysms; a life-threatening disease affecting 1 in 50 persons in a strongly growing market valued over $1 billion. In 2017 it won ‘Best Med-Tech Start-Up’ at the Oxford Bio Network awards, 1st place at the BioTrinity ‘Perfect Pitch’ competition, and an award at the ‘European Health Catapult’ finals.
I have nearly 30 years growing international businesses in large corporations & start-ups.
Experienced in strategic planning, execution, team building, gaining regulatory approvals & fundraising including winning a prestigious Horizon 2020 SME instrument grant amongst several others.

I mentor budding entrepreneurs, am a panelist at industry conferences and sit on the ‘Medfit’ steering committee in Paris, France.

Driven executive with 29+ years experience in VC / private equity medical device start-ups and growth companies. Extensive domestic and international corporate leadership, including marketing, business development, sales, reimbursement, regulatory and operations experience in multiple medical specialties. Successful ventures encompassing significant corporate growth, multiple profitable exit strategies and a successful IPO, and key, central participation in fund-raising efforts.

Led several organizations including founding multiple entities and offices. Nine years living in Europe growing business internationally, 19 years based in the US/San Francisco Bay Area leading corporate functions and global/domestic activities.

Significant business development experience with more than 20 deals achieved including multi-million dollar JDA’s, partnerships, CRADA’s, licensing deals, and grants. Multiple significant corporate, direct-to-surgeon and direct-to-patient marketing initiatives, 19 product introductions, and development of new medical markets and applications.

Experienced new business developer, product manager, engineer, inventor, and innovator with a passion for developing and commercializing new and innovative products that create value, solve real problems, and improve lives. Expertise in turning ideas into viable business solutions through understanding needs, creating concepts, inventing or identifying solutions, making and testing prototypes, engaging with potential customers, forming business models and supply chains, evaluating M&A targets, and leading a cross-functional team to convert on new opportunities.

Passionate, collaborative senior Leader with Marketing, Product Development and Regulatory Affairs experience across multiple divisions and product lines in market-leading global medical technology companies. Proven track record advancing medical device introduction throughout the entire innovation lifecycle from customer insight synthesis and ideation to commercial launch and customer training.

Virginia is an accomplished innovation executive with experience spanning Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. She is focused on accelerating disruptive, early stage innovation in healthcare. She works collaboratively, fostering partnerships to access external innovation, as well as to drive internal innovation by setting and aligning strategy, inspiring team and addressing internal barriers to innovation. She believes in the importance of customer- and patient-centric innovation, and to that end, looks for opportunities to be immersed with clinicians in hospital and other healthcare settings.

She has achieved outstanding results, across a spectrum of R&D leadership roles, resulting in launch of clinically impactful medical device products in the orthopaedic, cardiology, ENT and neurology spaces. She is an accomplished scientist, having authored numerous peer reviewed publications and been a frequent presenter at global healthcare conferences. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the prestigious honorary society for Medtech Engineers.

Virginia also has significant management experience, having managed a variety of technical teams and projects with significant annual budgetary responsibility. She is sought after for her professional guidance and serves on several Advisory Boards.

Cynthia Yee is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Cynthia brings nearly two decades of investing, operating, and public equities experience to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, she served as a Principal at Windham Venture Partners, where she led the firm’s investments in multiple companies, including Cartiva Medical (acquired), ClarVista Medical (acquired), Personal Genome Diagnostics (acquired) and NeuSpera Medical. She was previously an investor at NEA working across its medtech and healthcare services practices, and she spent time in business development and strategic marketing at Epix Therapeutics and medtech incubator D3DC. Cynthia began her career in public equities, covering medical devices at Piper Jaffray and biotechnology at Pacific Growth Equities. Cynthia currently serves on the board of directors of Evident Vascular and SpyGlass Pharma. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Integrative Biology and a BS in Business Administration at the Haas School of Business.

Elizabeth has 25+ years cross-functional experience in drug development (oncology), regulatory affairs and clinical trials for startups, biotech & academia. She has been an active angel investor for the past decade. She currently serves as a Scientific & Commercialization Advisor to the NIH’s National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Technology Transfer Office, as a reviewer of NCI SBIR/STTR grants and formerly on the Investment Committee of the Health Innovation Consortium, providing investment recommendations to the VA Commonwealth Health System. Elizabeth also serves on the advisory board of healthcare startups including Playbl, Oxiwear & NuvOx Pharma and as a regulatory affairs consultant to numerous biotech & medical device companies. She received her BA from Johns Hopkins, her MS from Georgetown University, her PhD from Thomas Jefferson School of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School & NIH.

John Hyung-Jun Kim completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Kim completed his undergraduate studies in biochemistry from Harvard University, and is a graduate of Duke University’s School of Medicine and the Fuqua School of Business, where he concentrated on health sector management. Dr. Kim has worked as a medical consultant in biogenetics, and was previously with Bear Stearns & Company as an Equity Research Associate. Dr. Kim continues to practice part-time as a hospitalist, keeping Aphelion Capital current with medical trends.

Dr. Kim sits on the Board of Directors at Siesta Medical, Zeto, and Moving Analytics.

Jo Carol Hiatt, MD joined the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) as Vice President, Health Economics and Patient Value (HEPV) in October 2020. Her portfolio currently includes two workstreams: Patient Perspective/Risk Tolerance Research (PPR) and Real World Evidence (RWE). Current areas of focus include close collaboration with CMS and FDA to support implementation of the new Medicare Coverage for Innovative Technologies.

Prior to MDIC, Dr. Hiatt was a physician with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group for many years. She led the Kaiser Permanente (KP) National Product Council for nearly 16 years, overseeing more than 80 multi-disciplinary teams responsible for selection of equipment, devices, diagnostic tests, and products used to care for members across the entire program. She also chaired KP’s Inter-Regional New Technologies Committee which provides evidence reviews and technology assessments for new procedures, devices, diagnostic testing, and other non-pharmaceutical clinical interventions including mobile applications.

In 1999, Dr. Hiatt launched and chaired KP Southern California’s Medical Technology Deployment Strategy Team until she retired from the Southern California Medical Group (SCPMG) in 2020. This group is responsible for operational and deployment management of the technology assessment conclusions across KP Southern California. Additional responsibilities as regional assistant medical director in SCPMG included development of regional after hours teleradiology service, trauma surgery repatriation program, regional tele-stroke program with significant improvement in speed to appropriate treatment and reduced long term disabilities, and the development of telehealth capabilities which greatly expanded virtual care options from home to ICU.

Dr. Hiatt served as co-chair of KP’s California Benefits, Contracts, and Policy Committee, responsible for determining coverage of new therapies, possible expansion of coverage such as infertility, and potential associated benefits e.g. travel expenses, most requiring regulatory approval and communication to payors and members. She also represented KP Southern California on the Inter Regional Benefits Design Group for national decisions. In addition, she served two terms on the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee which conducts evidence reviews and public hearings for some Medicare National Coverage decisions. Low dose CT screening for lung cancer is one example.

Dr. Hiatt has had additional roles which leveraged her KP experience: she serves as a reviewer for NIH Centers for Accelerated Innovation and National Heart Lung Blood Institute Reach Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH), and chaired EXCITE International’s Payers’ Advisory Committee. She was a member of FDA’s Payor Communication Task Force and KP’s Venture Management Committee. Dr. Hiatt was also a member of the National Medical Device Evaluation System Planning Board.

Dr. Hiatt joined Kaiser Permanente as a general surgeon at Panorama City. She subsequently served as Chief of Surgery at that location and was elected to the SCPMG Board of Directors. Dr. Hiatt was appointed Regional Assistant Medical Director of Clinical Services, and has since assumed a number of regional and program-wide roles. In 2013 she was designated an American College of Surgeons Health Policy Scholar. Dr. Hiatt received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her medical degree from Duke University. She trained in general surgery at UCLA. In addition to her clinical degree, Dr. Hiatt received an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. She presents frequently on technology assessment integration with value-based decision and implementation processes.

Strategic advisor offering reimbursement strategy, health policy, and health economics strategy development for medical device, digital health, and medical technology organizations.

Consultant who helps Medtech and SaMD companies find their market sweet spot and accelerate adoption with data-driven insights, strategies and implementation support.

30+ years of operating experience with disruptive life-science technologies.

Proven record of leading development and implementation of commercialization, go-to-market and turnaround strategies in successful large businesses and small companies.

Combines the sophistication of multi-nationals with pragmatism of startups.

Robust process demonstrated successfully in broad range of products including office-based procedures, robotic surgery, implantables, and SaMD. Experience with many specialities.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Served as Vice President Marketing for Entellus Medical, a start-up that completed a highly successful IPO with a $400 million valuation and subsequent acquisition by Stryker for $660 million. During three year tenure, Entellus enjoyed an average annual revenue growth of 100%. Led all aspects of downstream and upstream marketing and professional education.

Built Marketing function from inception as Vice President Marketing at Medrobotics, a privately funded start-up that raised over $200 million, launched a first-in-class flexible surgical robotic system, and sold 40+ systems worldwide. Company received $500 million acquisition offer (declined by Board).

Led Marketing team for VC funded medical device start-up, Aerin Medical, to drive adoption of minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of chronic nasal conditions in the office or operating room. Revenue grew over 5X in Company’s second year of commercialization.

Led Medtronic’s global deep brain stimulation marketing as a Director. Business grew from $60 million to $250 million over seven year tenure. Built a high-powered marketing team that was consistently recognized for excellence with awards and promotions.

Background also includes marketing and field clinical experience in cardiac rhythm management, and eight years with Merck in a variety of commercial pharmaceutical roles.

Exceptional marketing skills and the ability to collaboratively lead development and execution of business strategies and activities. Education includes an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University respectively.

Based in Irvine, California, Biren Mehta is the Vice President, Venture Investments – MedTech, where he initiates and manages equity investments to drive business innovation and deliver new and sustainable business for the MedTech sector. He is responsible for existing and new MedTech investments on the West Coast, ensuring targeted strategic options are shaped for success. Biren plays a critical role in building and maintaining networks in the venture capital community, entrepreneurs, startups, incubators and accelerators and other venture organizations that fit the strategic interests of the MedTech sector, sourcing new opportunities for the sector and positioning JJDC as the partner of choice.

Most recently, Biren was Vice President of Business Development for the Cardiovascular & Specialty Solutions (CSS) Group and J&J Vision. This represents a portfolio of six diverse, high-growth businesses within MedTech. In this role, he provided strategic leadership in executing acquisitions, investments, distribution transactions, and other collaborations to support the growth and innovation agenda of these businesses.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Biren was a medical device analyst at Roth Capital Partners. In that role, he wrote and published recommendations on publicly traded small and midcap medical device companies. Before joining the investment bank, he worked as a project manager and software engineer at Intralase Corporation, now owned by J&J Surgical Vision.

Biren completed his bachelor’s degree in Cybernetics at UCLA. He earned master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Southern California. He also earned his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Mischa Jurkiewicz graduated with dual degrees in Biomedical Engineering (Hons) and Neuroscience from the University of Sydney, Australia. He began his career in the Medical Device industry at Nanosonics™, the inventors of the trophon®. Mischa led the expansion of the Global Services Operations business into North America, the UK and Germany transforming the aftermarket service business into a profit center of $15M recurring revenue. Mischa later received an MBA from Harvard Business School and was awarded the Robert F. Kaplan Fellowship for outstanding credentials in the life sciences. He joined Desktop Metal™ in 2021 following the acquisition of Beacon Bio, a startup founded at Harvard University with the goal of commercializing research into 3D bioprinting. Mischa is now leading the Desktop Health™ dental product group as Director of Product, Medical Solutions, with the goal of advancing the dental industry through the digital transformation of the healthcare ecosystem.

Dr. Shelton is a passionate and motivated business-focused engineer with a profound personal connection to the problem PhotoniCare is solving. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Texas A&M University, followed by three years of post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois. He has been building optical imaging systems for 20 years and managing engineering teams for 15 years. He leads PhotoniCare as its CEO and drives the company’s long-term vision and strategic plan. He has experience raising private financings, as well as negotiating and executing various research contracts, license agreements, distribution agreements, and other business development activities. He is passionate about his family, mountain biking, and music.

Austin Dirks is an experienced entrepreneur and executive within the healthcare technology and medical device industry, serving as CEO and Founder of GreenLight Medical from 2014 until 2022, growing the company from idea to eventual acquisition by symplr in March of 2022. GreenLight Medical is a cloud software used by hospital supply chain, physicians, medical device representatives and companies alike to assist hospitals with the introduction, evaluation, and decision-making regarding new medical technology. Following acquisition of GreenLight, Austin served as Managing Director, Senior Vice President within symplr helping to integrate GreenLight into the existing symplr technology stack while leading the strategy and product portfolio efforts across the supply chain, access management, and contract management product lines. Austin currently serves as an advisor and Board member for several healthcare technology companies and venture capital firms.

Before founding GreenLight Medical, Austin worked as a cardiac medical device representative for St. Jude Medical, and within the Business Development team at Thoratec Corporation, focusing on merger and acquisition opportunities.

Austin holds an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. Austin, alongside GreenLight Medical, received numerous awards in Nashville during his tenure as CEO including Entrepreneur of the Year, 40 under 40, CEO of the Year, Emerging Leader of the Year, Best in Business, Small Business of the Year, Tech Startup of the Year, and Nashville Entrepreneur Center Startup of the Year.

As a supporter of technology and entrepreneurship in the Nashville community, Austin is a frequent guest lecturer and volunteer at his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, and within the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. At Vanderbilt, Austin competed on the Track and Field team as a pole vaulter and was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Austin is a native of Lincoln, NE and patiently awaits the next Nebraska college football National Championship.

Amar currently serves Sr Dir for Strategy and Business Development for Zimmer Biomet’s market share leading Hip and Knee Reconstruction Business Unit, Infection Solutions portfolio and Tech & Data Solutions Business Unit where he leads strategy, partnership and M&A activity for the company’s primary businesses. With prior Marketing leadership experience for surgical device, interventional and diagnostic solutions at Zimmer Biomet, Covidien, Medtronic and Cardinal Health as well as several startup med tech companies, Amar also brings extensive experience in New Technology Evaluation and Acquisition, New Product Development, Go to Market Launches and Commercial Execution across numerous procedure spaces and disease states through the lens both of large scale and start up organizations.

Highly collaborative, influential, and accomplished Healthcare Senior Executive with demonstrated ability to drive company growth tightly aligned with corporate strategy. Leadership experience spans all functional areas including M&A, venture investing, business development, corporate strategy, and operations. Smith & Nephew, Olympus and Zimmer Biomet are among the companies where Christos held leadership roles. Harvard MBA, Columbia University MS Mechanical Engineering.

Over the past 10 years, Ken Nelson has led commercial efforts for disruptive technologies in the digital health, wearables, and cardiac remote patient monitoring industries, playing a significant role in building the teams and cultures for 3 of the top 4 market share players, including #1 (BioTelemetry), #2 (iRhythm), and #4 (Bardy Diagnostics).

Overall, he is a 20 year digital health, medical device, and remote monitoring innovator with successful senior leadership experience ranging from a Fortune 500 company (Boston Scientific) to a medium sized #1 market share (Biotelemetry, acquisition by Philips for $2.8 Billion in December ’20) to 3 start-ups, 1 of which eventually led to an extremely successful IPO (iRhythm) and another which was acquired by HillRom (Bardy Diagnostics) in August ’21 for what will end up being $400M+ after milestone payments.