Carolina Aguilar

CEO
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics

Carolina Aguilar is CEO and Co-Founder of INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, a BCI therapeutics company pioneering real time precision neurology through the development of high density graphene brain interfaces with unparalleled decoding resolution and micrometric precision modulation with the mission to decode neural signals to improve people’s lives. 
She has over 20 years of expertise in healthcare out of which she was 13 years in the European Headquarters of Medtronic in Switzerland, leading globally businesses in brain modulation and diabetes where she managed complex markets and large teams that generated high YoY growth and innovation. Carolina is passionate about creating solutions that improve the outcomes that matter to patients and drive healthcare sustainability. Her leadership in Diabetes at the Diabeter clinics contributed to the creation of a Harvard Business School Case at Medtronic. Just recently INBRAIN got FDA breakthrough designation for their innovative neural platform and delivered the world's firsts application of a graphene-based neural interface in humans. The company also won the Most Innovative Company of the Year in 2022 and the Norrsken IMPACT 100 award in 2024

Jeanne Bolger

Venture Partner
Seroba

Jeanne has over 35 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in management roles across R&D, Commercial and Business Development (BD) and Venture Investments.  She spent 11 years in Licensing and Acquisition (L&A), including Global Head of Scientific Licensing for Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical business, and before that as Director in the Business Development group at GlaxoSmithKline.

Jeanne spent nearly 10 years (2012-2022) as Vice President Venture Investment in J&J’s corporate venture fund, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC. During that period, she was based in London, leading investments across Europe in start-up and early stage life science companies in areas of strategic interest to J&J’s business sectors in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Medical Devices and Consumer.  She represented JJDC on the Board of Directors of over a dozen companies, including Aelix Therapeutics, Asceneuron SA, Aviado Bio, Biocartis, Calypso Biotech, Inivata, Merus, Pulmocide, S-Biomedic, Syndesi, T-Rex.  Dr Bolger also represented JJDC’s LP investments in multiple Venture Capital Funds in UK and Europe as well as representing J&J’s interests in other funding vehicles including incubators and accelerators.

Mark Bruzzi

Non-Executive Director, NUI Galway, University Road
BioInnovate Ireland

Professor Mark Bruzzi is a Professor in Biomedical Engineering at University of Galway.

Prof Bruzzi is also a Founder and Non-Executive Director and co-founder of BioInnovate.

Mark supports the development of a number of innovative medical technologies. He has over 50 journal and conference publications, seven patent applications, three licensed technologies, and serves as an advisor to several medical device start-ups.

Sandrine Cailleteau

Managing Director Healthcare
RBC Capital Markets

Coming soon.

Alfons Carnicero Carmona

CEO & Co-founder
ABLE Human Motion

Alfons Carnicero Carmona Entrepreneur from Barcelona passionate about how new technologies can improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. Alfons holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering (Biomedical major) from UPC and various entrepreneurship courses at Cambridge Judge, EADA and ISDI Business Schools. His professional career started at Implantcast GmbH (joint implant manufacturer) and Institut Guttmann (neurorehabilitation hospital). In 2018, he co-founded ABLE Human Motion: a healthcare startup on a mission to democratize exoskeleton technology. Alfons has been awarded Innovator Under 35 Europe by MIT Technology Review and “Joven Relevante” by Círculo Ecuestre, and serves on the Steering Committee of the International Industry Society for Advanced Rehabilitation Technology (IISART).

Mike Carusi

Managing Partner
Lightstone Ventures

Mike is a Managing Partner and Team Leader of Lightstone Ventures (LSV) and focuses on investments in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors. He is based in the firm’s Portola Valley, CA office, where he also serves as a General Partner at Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV). His representative investments include Allay Therapeutics, Altura Medical (acquired by Lombard), Apreo Health, Ardian (acquired by Medtronic), Cala Health, EndoGastric Solutions (acquired by Merit Medical), Gynesonics (acquired by Hologic), MediSix Therapeutics, MicroVention (acquired by Terumo), Plexxikon (acquired by Daiichi Sankyo), PowerVision (acquired by Alcon), Shoulder Innovations, Tallac Therapeutics, and Willow.

David Cassak

Co-Editor-in-Chief
MedTech Strategist

David Cassak has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Cassak co-founded Windhover Information Inc., along with his partner, Roger Longman, in which they spun out exceptional publications such as IN VIVO, START-UP, Medtech Insight, Emerging Medical Ventures and The RPM Report. Cassak also served as Vice President, Content, and Managing Director, Medical Devices for Elsevier Business Intelligence, a Reed Elsevier Company, including the publications The Gray Sheet and The Pink Sheet.  He is a frequent speaker before various companies and trade groups within the medical device industry and is widely known for his vast knowledge and reporting in MedTech.

Barbara Castellano

Partner
Panakes Partners

At Panakes since 2016, Barbara Castellano brings a specific expertise in cardiovascular sector as well as a broad knowledge of the medical device sector, acquired as former Director of Clinical Affairs, Certifications, Registrations and Quality Assurance at CID SpA (now Alvimedica) and as former Director of Business Development & Global Marketing Director for the Heart Valves Business Unit at Sorin (now Livanova). She was also founder and CEO of Techwald SPA, an operational Holding Company supporting and investing in early stage Med Tech Companies.

David Caumartin

CEO
RebrAIn

David Caumartin is a distinguished leader with a robust academic foundation in telecom and physics, recognized for his strategic prowess and innovative mindset. Leveraging his expertise as Public & Private Company CEO and International Business Entrepreneur, he has spearheaded the development of cutting-edge technological solutions and navigated regulatory landscapes with precision. His multifaceted skill set, encompassing business development, M&A activities, financing strategies, and research and development initiatives, underscores his dedication to driving transformative advancements in the healthcare industry through evidence-based decision-making and visionary leadership.

Andrew Cleeland

CEO
Fogarty Innovation

Andrew Cleeland is a seasoned executive with over 30 years experience in the medical device industry. During this time, he has held key leadership positions in organizations ranging from early-stage startups to large multinationals. In joining Fogarty Innovation he further broadens this range of experience to include managing a nonprofit. The versatility required to be effective across such diverse groups is rare and is a testament to Andrew’s strong leadership skills.

A native Australian who grew up in a suburb of Melbourne, Andrew’s leadership capabilities became evident at an early age. Raised by a single parent, Andrew was forced to grow up quickly and play a supportive role for his mother and brother. These early experiences were formative in shaping the person Andrew would become and the things he would inevitably accomplish.

Andrew’s values and life philosophy were also greatly influenced by sport. His natural athleticism and leadership propelled him into many team captain roles and ultimately competing in Australian Rules Football at a semi-professional level. If you’ve never seen this sport played, do so. It won’t take long to recognize the toughness, teamwork and grit the sport demands, all traits which Andrew continues to bring to every position he holds.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Andrew began his medtech career working for the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. This provided an invaluable introduction to the industry along with an appreciation for the challenges regulators face when balancing innovation with protecting public health. Several years into this role, serendipity presented him with a unique opportunity to work for a company based in the United States. Although he had never lived outside Australia, he saw it as a great opportunity and moved alone to Denver, Colorado, to work for Telectronics. He probably didn’t realize it at the time, but this move exemplifies a classic element of Andrew’s personal and professional mindset: think big, set audacious goals and act boldly. At the time, Andrew expected this to be a two-year position. Thirty years later, he’s still in the U.S., setting and achieving big goals.

Andrew’s rapid career advancement during this timeframe has been impressive. After Telectronics, he accepted a management role at Baxter Healthcare’s Novacor division, and later as vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Bay Area startup company Radiant Medical. Following this, he was CEO of Ardian, which pioneered the use of renal denervation to treat hypertension. Ardian was acquired by Medtronic in 2011 in a transaction valued at over $1.3B which, at the time, was the largest medical device acquisition ever for a pre-revenue medical device company.

Whenever a first time CEO has such a wildly successful exit, the market often wonders: Is the person really that good or were they just lucky? Andrew quickly answered that question by taking the role of CEO at Twelve, a startup in the transcatheter mitral valve space. Several years after his joining, this company was also acquired by Medtronic in a transaction valued at $458M. Back to back successes at such large valuations answered the question – it wasn’t just luck.

Propelled by these successes, Andrew has become a key figure in the medical device community. His leadership, experience and insights have led many organizations to seek his involvement. He currently serves on the board of three venture-funded companies — Saluda Medical, Zenflow, Inc. (chairman) and MMI S.p.A. (chairman). He also holds advisory positions at two top-tier venture capital firms: Longitude Capital and Arboretum Ventures. At a global industry level, he has been invited to serve on multiple initiatives including the UCSF-Stanford Pediatric Device Consortium; the Medical Device Innovation Consortium; and the Singapore government’s Biomedical Research Council (BMRC).

Passionate about healthcare, Andrew is a champion of innovators and innovation in the medtech field. His commitment to mentoring and education is rooted in his passion for helping patients and being a catalyst for positive change. This purpose and drive is captured in one of his favorite quotes, by Mahatma Gandhi: “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

“Working at Fogarty Innovation gives me the ability to positively influence the medtech ecosystem and give back in a meaningful and effective way,” summarizes Andrew. “To have worked with such amazing teammates on such impactful programs has allowed me to do something BOTH meaningful and enjoyable…I love the challenge.”

Andrew has received numerous awards and honors and is a frequent invited lecturer at major industry conferences and leading academic institutions. Andrew holds a BS in biophysics from the Swinburne Institute of Technology.

Aidan Crawley

CEO
Amber Therapeutics

Aidan founded the company from an Entrepreneur in Residence position at Oxford Science Enterprises in 2021. Aidan has substantial experience building early stage technology companies as both founder and executive. He was the first business hire and Head of Business Development at Addepar in the US, helping grow the company from $0-50m revenue and >$1bn valuation. Aidan began his career in finance, working for Goldman Sachs’ UK M&A team.

Didier Deltort

Chairman of the Board
AcuSurgical

A global C-Suite leader with over 30 years of experience in health technologies, Didier currently serves select VCs and PEs and he seats on the board of several companies (Deepull, Vivolta, Acusurgical, Positrigo). Didier worked at GE Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Zimmer Biomet and HP Inc. He led Strategy, Product Management, R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing, Go To Market and Customer Services with P&L responsibility up to $2Bn and 7,000 FTEs. Didier worked and lived in France, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, UAE, USA and Spain. He graduated from UTC Compiègne, France with a MSc of Biomedical Engineering degree.

Lloyd Diamond

CEO
Nitinotes Surgical

Medical devices executive with over 30 years of experience in commercialization, fundraising, and strategic leadership in disruptive medical technologies.

CEO and Board Member of Nitinotes, leading the commercialization of EndoZip™, the first fully automated suturing system for Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG), designed for minimally invasive obesity treatment.

 Former CEO of Pixium Vision; Board Member at Xeos Medical.

Janke Dittmer

Partner
Gilde Healthcare

Janke Dittmer joined Gilde in 2011 as a Partner. He led Gilde’s investment in Definiens (acquired by AZ), Sapiens (acquired by Medtronic), Volta Medical, Big Health, FIRE1, Lumeon and Nyxoah (IPO on NASDAQ) and was involved in several other investments including Spire Health, Withings, NightBalance and Stat Dx. He currently represents Gilde on the board of Volta Medical, Big Health, FIRE1 and Lumeon. He served on the supervisory board of Definiens and Sapiens until trade sale and as Vice-chairman of Nyxoah until NASDAQ IPO.

Prior to joining, he was a Venture General Manager and Head of Business Development & Strategy within Philips’ Corporate Venturing unit in Healthcare. On top of shaping the strategy, he was responsible for selecting new investment opportunities. He also started and lead two ventures in the fields of cardiology and sepsis.

He served as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company advising leading High Tech companies on strategies for growth and strategic marketing.

Prior to this, he cofounded a Nanotech company in the Silicon Valley after serving as a Fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. He earned a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge in the UK and was a Post-Doc in Nanotechnology at the University of California, Berkeley.

He is a founder and former healthcare chairman of the International Venture Club, serves on the VC council of Invest Europe and has advised the European Commission on innovation policy.

He is a German citizen based in Gilde’s Utrecht office. At Gilde Healthcare he is focusing on Digital and Home Health, MedTech, Diagnostics and Lifescience Tools investments.

Pedro Eerdmans

Director, Global Strategy Services
NAMSA

Dr. Pedro Eerdmans has more than 25 years of experience within the medical device industry, with a deep understanding in the medical device development from concept to market release and post market follow-up.

Dr. Eerdmans has held several different positions within the medical device industry, including Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Vice President Medical Affairs, Director, Manager and Physician. He has experiences in almost all levels of the medical device space, including hospitals, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), manufacturers (4-30,000 employees) and Notified Body. While head of the Notified Body, he managed to obtain EU MDR accreditation, and as Medical Director he was responsible for the evaluation of the medical evidence to grant CE certification. He also managed global clinical teams while based in Europe and the U.S. (Houston, Texas). Under his supervision, several medical devices received CE mark, most recently 3 Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approvals were granted.

Sophie Ehrlich

Head of Start Up Growth
EIT Health

Sophie Ehrlich is the Head of Start-Up Growth managing EIT Health's growth portfolio, a group of European medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies that are recipients of EU grant funding. Sophie has been working in MedTech and HealthTech for 20 years and specialises in building and managing portfolios of healthcare start-ups and scale-ups in both the public and private sectors. She has held senior roles at the British Government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office heading the Health sector commercial diplomacy between the UK & Israel, at Samsung Health where she worked on Samsung’s digital health strategy and technology scouting for external innovation, and in banking where she built and led SVB's EMEA HealthTech and MedTech business unit. Sophie holds a BA in International Relations and an MBA. 

Chris Eso

Vice President, Global Head Corporate and Business Development & Ventures
Medtronic

Chris Eso currently is Vice President, Global Head of Corporate and Business Development & Ventures for 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, including most recently Vice President of Business Development & Strategy for the Cardiovascular Portfolio.

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, as well as he started his career at the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA). Most of his experience is in a business/corporate development and strategy capacity where he has led and closed more than 60 transactions with consideration of approximately $16 billion, as well as general management capacity running a $50 million dollar revenue-generating contract biologic manufacturing wholly-owned subsidiary of a publicly-traded company.

Chris holds an MBA from Concordia University, Irvine and BA in Public Relations, Communications from California State University, Fullerton.

Lee Fleisher

Principal and Founder
Rubrum Advising

Lee A. Fleisher, M.D., M.L. is an Emeritus Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Bipartisan Policy Council and Visiting Fellow of the Duke- Margolis Center for Health Policy, Senior Advisor for FasterCures at the Milken Institute and co-chair of the Safety Committee and a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), and a member of the Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC) to the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). He was the former Chief Medical Officer and Director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2020-2023. Dr. Fleisher is a distinguished national healthcare leader with experience as a director, clinician, scientist, educator, and regulator. His expertise spans direct patient care, healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence in healthcare, interoperability and FHIR applications for quality measurement and clinical data, clinical operations across the continuum of care including hospital care at home, federal healthcare programs, and regulatory oversight of healthcare and pandemic responsiveness/public health. He advises and teaches on the development of novel ideas and technologies to drive quality and value in the Penn Masters in Healthcare Innovation.

Caroline Gaynor

Partner
Lightstone Ventures

Caroline Gaynor is a Partner of Lightstone Ventures and focuses on new investments in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors out of the firm’s Dublin office.. She currently serves as a board director for Catamaran Bio, Parvalis Therapeutics, ProVerum, Carrick Therapeutics and FIRE-1 and as board observer for Volta Medical and Cerevance. She also previously served on the board of ALX Oncology. She is a council member of the Irish Venture Capital Association and a member of the BioInnovate Ireland Board of advisors.

Caroline joined Lightstone Ventures in 2017, bringing 15 years’ operational experience in the pharmaceutical industry and early stage medtech companies.  Caroline spent 9 years at Bayer Healthcare, most recently serving on the board of senior management of Bayer Ltd. Ireland as head of market access, pricing and reimbursement. During her time in pharma she held a number of operational roles, predominantly focused on oncology, such as product management, strategic marketing, business development and regulatory/clinical affairs. Prior to Lightstone, and following completion of her BioInnovate fellowship in 2013, she co-led R&D on a device targeting Acute Pancreatitis and was subsequently involved in early pre-clinical, strategic clinical and commercial development at Vetex Medical.

In 2002 She received her degree in Pharmacy from Trinity College Dublin and subsequently went on to receive an M.Sc in Pharmaceutical Medicine in 2010.

Hanson Gifford

Partner
Lightstone Ventures

Hanson Gifford is a Partner of LSV. He assists the LSV medical device team with deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio company management. He has served in this role since November 2013.

Hanson is also a Managing Partner at The Foundry, LLC, a medical device company incubator and a preferred partner to LSV. Since its inception in 1998, Hanson has led The Foundry in all of its activities. These include the invention, identification and development of new technologies, the formation, financing, and staffing of over twenty new companies, and ongoing support of these new ventures as a board member. Success stories include Evalve (acquired by Abbott), Concentric (acquired by Stryker), Ardian (acquired by Medtronic), Twelve (acquired by Medtronic). At ForSight Labs, an Ophthalmology-focused incubator started by Hanson, Eugene de Juan, MD, and K. Angela Macfarlane, successes include Transcend Medical (acquired by Alcon), Forsight Newco 2 (acquired by QLT), Forsight Vision 4 (acquired by Genentech/Roche), and Forsight Vision 5 (acquired by Allergan).

Prior to The Foundry, Hanson was Vice President of Research and Development at Heartport, Inc., which had a successful IPO in 1996. From 1993-1998, he built and led a 62-person team at Heartport developing a wide variety of novel devices and procedures for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. In 1992-1993, Hanson co-founded and served as Managing Director of Bavaria Medizin Technologie, GmbH in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1991, Hanson co-founded and served as President of Cardiovascular Therapeutic Technologies (acquired by Eli Lilly). From 1985-1990, Hanson worked at Devices for Vascular Intervention (acquired by Eli Lilly) in various engineering, clinical research and marketing capacities. Before joining DVI, Hanson worked in engineering roles at Oximetrix and General Dynamics.

Hanson is a named inventor on over 370 issued US patents. Hanson is a Director of FIRE1, Contego, Reprieve Cardiovascular, Half Moon Medical, Tangible Science, Apreo Health, and Mavericks Endo.

Gilad Glick

Vice President, Venture Investments
JJDC

Gilad Glick is the Vice President, Venture Investments – Pharma Israel and MedTech Israel and Europe at Johnson & Johnson. In this role, he leads a team of investors to initiate and manage equity investments that drive business innovation in the Pharma and MedTech sectors. He is responsible for overseeing both new and existing Pharma, MedTech, and Digital Health investments, while building strategic partnerships within the venture capital community. His work includes engaging with entrepreneurs, startups, incubators, and accelerators, particularly focusing on Israel and the MedTech Group in Europe.

Prior to his current role, Gilad served as the CEO of Itamar Medical, a publicly traded sleep apnea diagnostic and digital care pathway company, where he led the company for over eight years until its acquisition by ZOLL Medical. Before that, Gilad spent over 17 years at Johnson & Johnson, holding various roles in medical devices across Europe and the US. His experience spans sales, marketing, service, and R&D. In his last role with J&J, he served as Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing for Biosense Webster, overseeing strategic and commercial operations for a business with $1.5 billion in revenue.

Gilad’s career has been marked by a blend of leadership and innovation in both startups and global organizations. At Itamar Medical, he played a key role in scaling the company and driving its successful acquisition. His earlier roles at Johnson & Johnson equipped him with diverse expertise in managing global teams, launching new products, and driving commercial growth in the MedTech space. One of his career highlights includes leading the commercial and marketing strategy for Biosense Webster.

Gilad earned his MBA from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands, majoring in general and strategic management. He is also a graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business’s prestigious Strategic Marketing Management Executive Program. Additionally, Gilad is a member of the 8400 Health Network (Cohort 4), founder of the MedTech Commercialization Institute, and serves on the Board of Directors for Beta Bionics.

Gilad is based in Israel.

Ilana Gotlib

Senior Director, Strategy & Business Development
Stryker

Ilana Gotlib is an accomplished strategy and business development executive with extensive experience in medical device partner management, product development, strategic marketing, and commercial strategy. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Strategy & Business Development for the Digital, Robotics and Enabling Technologies Division at Stryker, where she leads key initiatives including strategic planning, and business development activity. 

Her expertise spans strategic growth, multimillion-dollar partnership management, and complex stakeholder negotiations, gained through her previous roles at Philips Health Systems and Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Synthes division.

Ilana began her career as a litigation attorney specializing in medical malpractice and product liability cases, providing her with a unique perspective at the intersection of law and healthcare. She holds an MBA from Boston University, a JD from Temple University, and a BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ilana is actively involved in professional mentorship through RIHUB's Venture Mentoring Services (VMS), as well as veteran mentoring through American Corporate Partners (ACP).  She is a member of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) and Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology (WEST). She lives in Boston with her husband and three children and enjoys traveling, cooking, and skiing.

Paul Grand

Founder & CEO
MedTech Innovator

Paul Grand is the founder and CEO of MedTech Innovator. He created and managed MedTech Innovator as a program within RCT Ventures from 2013 – 2016. In 2016, with the financial support of RCT and other sponsors, Paul left to run MedTech Innovator as a stand-alone company. He spent 11 years as Director and Managing Director at RCT Ventures, the investment arm of Research Corporation Technologies, Inc. Prior to RCT, Paul was co-founder and CEO of startups in the medtech, pharma, and tech sectors.

Enes Hosgor

CEO
Gesund.ai

Dr. Enes Hosgor is an engineer by training and an AI entrepreneur by trade driven to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs having built AI products and companies in the last 10+ years in high compliance environments, currently at the helm of Gesund.ai on a mission to develop the AI infrastructure in healthcare. After selling his first ML company based on his Ph.D. work at Carnegie Mellon University, he joined a medical device company named caresyntax to found and lead its ML division. His penchant for healthcare comes from his family of physicians including his late father, sister and wife. Formerly a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, some of his published scientific work can be found in Medical Image Analysis; International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery; Nature Scientific Reports and British Journal of Surgery, among other peer-reviewed outlets.

Todor Jeliaskov

CEO
InHeart

Todor Jeliaskov is the Chairman & CEO of inHEART, a French and US-based deep-tech startup. The inHEART team is advancing precision medicine in cardiology with AI-based solutions for personalized treatment, prevention, and screening for cardiac diseases. Todor's entrepreneurial journey is marked by two prior successful exits with NuVera Medical, acquired by J&J, and SoundCath, acquired by Boston Scientific. Both companies developed advanced imaging technologies for cardiology. Todor's career trajectory began at Siemens and includes a significant role as VP at GE Ultrasound, where he led a global $500m P&L. Todor holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA degree.

Jinny Lee

SVP of Exploration, Strategy and Marketing
Edwards Lifesciences

Jinny Lee is the Senior Vice President of exploration, strategy and marketing for the Advanced Technology division of Edwards Lifesciences. She started her curiosity in medicine as a researcher at the Long Beach VA Hospital and at the US Food and Drug Administration in the public affairs group located in Southern California.  She is a veteran in medical devices with a passion for directing the movement of innovation forward.  

Dominik Leisi

Investment Manager
Atlantic Bridge Ventures

Dominik joined Atlantic Bridge as a Senior Investment Associate on the University Bridge Fund in 2022. Prior to joining Atlantic Bridge, Dominik was an Investment Manager in the Life Science Team of the University College London (UCL) Technology Fund which is managed by Albion Capital. Before joining the UCL Technology Fund, Dominik was responsible for the commercialisation of technologies that originated at the UCL Cancer Institute and the UCL GOSH Institute of Child Health. He has also held different R&D roles within the medical device and speciality pharmaceutical industries. Dominik holds a BSc in Life Sciences Technologies from the University of Northern Switzerland and a MSc in Innovation and Management from Imperial College Business School.

Tim Lenihan

Partner
MD Start

Coming soon.

Stephen Levin

Co-Editor-in-Chief
Market Pathways

Stephen Levin served as Executive Editor & General Counsel at Windhover Information followed by Editor-in-Chief of Medical Devices for Elsevier Business Intelligence, where he directed the company’s editorial coverage of the medical device industry. Before that, Stephen was Senior Counsel to the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where he directed Senate investigations into a wide variety of areas including health care fraud and abuse, international organized crime, and corruption in federal contracting programs, while also participating in other Senate investigations including the Whitewater inquiry.  Before joining the Subcommittee, he was with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice.

Alison Liddy

CEO
Relevium Medical

Alison is the CEO and manages the overall company. As an entrepreneur with both a scientific and engineering training she was born to solve problems. Following the Bioinnovate fellowship and seeing patient frustrations with the lack of effective pain treatments, Alison became consumed with finding superior solutions, leading to the creation of Relevium Medical.

Alison loves the wildness of the Irish western Atlantic and enjoys sea swimming at the crack of dawn by the famous Blackrock tower in Galway. In her spare time she loves nothing more than a good period drama, listening to jazz, and spending time with family.

Bill Little

EVP, Corporate Development and Strategy
Orchestra Biomed

Mr. Little joined Orchestra BioMed as its Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy in June 2023, bringing an extraordinary depth of knowledge, expertise and relationships in the cardiovascular device industry.

Prior to joining Orchestra BioMed, Mr. Little served as Chief Operating Officer at Neovasc, where he drove its successful acquisition by Shockwave Medical in April 2023. Prior to joining Neovasc in 2019, he spent 25 years in the medical device industry, including as a member of the leadership team at Abbott Vascular, where he served as Divisional Vice President of Global Marketing and Head of Customer and New Market Insights. Earlier in his career, Mr. Little served as Vice President of Global Cardiovascular Therapies for St. Jude Medical, where he oversaw marketing and strategy for the structural heart and vascular portfolios; Vice President, Global Marketing at Bard Peripheral Vascular; and in a variety of cardiovascular sales and marketing roles at Boston Scientific. Mr. Little holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Megan MacDonagh

Vice President
Ally Bridge

Coming soon.

Bibi Marques

Partner
Buenavista Equity Partners

Bibi is specialized in the financial sector with over 18 years of professional experience, as a result of her passages at PwC and ANACOM, acquiring solid knowledge in financial auditing, corporate finance, and regulation, having been a member of the Regulatory Accounting Group – Board of European Regulators of Electronic Communications.

In 2017, Bibi accepted the challenge to develop the Venture Capital arm in a financial entity as partner and member of the Board of Directors. In 4 years, the first nine venture capital funds were created with more than €100m+ under management, becoming the reference area of this financial entity.

In the context of corporate social responsibility, in 2019, she joined GRACE’s Advisory Board.

In 2021, Bibi, challenged by the GED group, joins the company as Partner and member of the Board of Directors of GED Ventures Portugal to develop the Venture Capital arm and strengthen the company’s Iberian leadership.

Joey Mason

Venture Partner
Claret Capital Partners

Joey joined Claret Capital Partners in September 2024 as a Venture Partner in Life Sciences. With over 30 years’ experience in this sector, Joey will focus on building on Claret’s existing Life Sciences network, sourcing new deal opportunities, and will act as an advisor to the team.

During his career, Joey has worked as an investor, entrepreneur, financier, director, mentor and advisor, and has significant experience in most segments of the Life Sciences industry – medtech, pharma/ biotech, diagnostics, health IT and techbio. He has served on the boards of 20 private and public companies in Ireland, Europe and the USA and also on the board of EVCA (InvestEurope), the trade association for the private equity industry in Europe. In 2021, he co-founded Duplex Capital Partners to advise and fund young companies innovating in the digitalisation of life sciences. Prior to this he led a Life Sciences fund at M Ventures, Merck KGaA’s corporate venture arm in Amsterdam, having previously spent 10 years at Delta Partners where his signature exit was the sale of Neuravi Ltd to Codman (J&J).

Niall McEvoy

Partner, Head of Venture
Elkstone Private

Niall manages the Venture Investment Team at Elkstone. He formerly led the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) team at Enterprise Ireland and spent 7 years as a Co-Founder and CEO at his own start-up, Irish Sports tech company Teamer.

Elizabeth McGloughlin

CEO
Tympany Medical

Dr Elizabeth (Liz) McGloughlin is the co-founder of start-up Tympany Medical, a med-tech company based in Galway, which develops endoscopes for the ENT market, specifically sinus surgery.  Her team has developed Solascope, an endoscope designed to enable panoramic visualisation via a rotation portion to the tip – an innovative mechanism for use in complex rhinology cases.  Solascope is at the cutting edge of surgical imaging and technology, and aims to assist surgeons in addressing the growing number of sinus surgeries and associated symptoms globally. Solascope brings various technical areas together to enable less-invasive surgical techniques and deliver improves outcomes for both the patient and hospital system. With experience in medicine, anaesthesia, and critical care, she has a deep understanding of the clinical needs and challenges in the ENT field, and how to translate them into innovative solutions. Liz completed her Master of Science in BioInnovation at NUI Galway and gained valuable insights and connections from working with the Mayo Clinic team as part of the BioInnovate Fellowship. Liz and the team have built a significant funding record, patent portfolio and product pipeline for Tympany medical, with team members in disciplines including Optical Physics, Biomedical Engineering and Miniaturised Electronics, with plans to add more team members and achieve further milestones in the near future.

Jennifer McMahon

Partner
Seroba

Jennifer McMahon is a Partner at Seroba.  She graduated from UCD with an honours degree in Pharmacology in 2010.  Jennifer then entered a Master’s degree programme in Biotechnology and Business to further her interest in the interface of biomedical science with commercialisation.

Having placed first in her Master’s degree in 2011, Jennifer then joined Seroba’s Investment Team as an Investment Analyst, progressing to Partner in 2022.

In 2019, Jennifer joined the Advisory Board for the European healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.  She is Chair of Level20 Europe and was a founder member of the Ireland Chapter of Level20.  She guest lectures on venture capital at University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.  She is also in high demand as a speaker at Investor/Entrepreneur life science partnering conferences across Europe.

Jennifer sits on the boards of Endotronix, Palliare and Deciphex, is a Board Observer to Shorla Pharma and was previously on the Board of Biosensia prior to its merger with Kypha Diagnostics.

Dennis McWilliams

Partner
Sante

Dennis is a serial life science entrepreneur and innovator dedicated to globally commercializing medical technologies.

 Prior to joining Santé, Dennis founded Apollo Endosurgery, a medical device company developing novel flexible surgical devices for less invasive surgery, SparkMed Advisors, a boutique advisory to the medical device space, and co-founded Chrysalis BioTechnology‚ a development-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel drug therapies for tissue regeneration. He started his career as an analyst for the IC2 Institute, a global think tank focused on applied entrepreneurship and commercialization research.

 Dennis also serves as Co-Course Director for the B.E.S.T. Innovation Course, taught at the IHU Institute in Strasbourg France, is a member of the Center for BioDesign’s Advisory Counsel at Johns Hopkins University and is a frequent lecturer in the Stanford BioDesign Fellowship program.

 Dennis earned his MS in engineering management from Stanford University and his BS in aerospace engineering, with honors, from the University of Texas.  He has served on the Board of Directors for the Texas Exes and University of Texas Men’s Athletic Counsel, been named a Distinguished Engineering Graduate and an Outstanding Young Texas Ex and is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni for the Department of Aerospace.

Tom Melvin

Associate Professor in Medical Device Regulatory Science, Institute for Clinical Trials
University of Galway

Chair
Biomedical Alliance in Europe

Tom Melvin is Associate Professor of Medical Device Regulatory Science at the University of Galway. Tom is Chair of the Biomedical Alliance Regulatory Affairs Committee and a member of the European Medicines Agency Expert Panels for medical devices, the European Society of Cardiology Regulatory Affairs Committee and the National Research Ethics Committee for Medical Devices. Tom previously worked at Trinity College Dublin and was a senior medical officer for medical devices at the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

Julien Michaux

Director
Hayfin Capital Management

Julien joined Hayfin in 2024 and is a Director in the Healthcare Team. Prior to joining Hayfin, Julien had cofounded and was leading Norgine Ventures’ investment activities, having previously worked in Lazard’s Corporate Finance Healthcare team as well as J&J’s Pharma M&A team. Julien graduated from the ICAM school with a MS in Mechanical Engineering and from the UCLA Anderson School of Management with an MBA. 

Reed Miller

Senior Editor
MedTech Strategist

Reed is an experienced editor, journalist, and content creator who has been reporting on the medical device and diagnostics industry since joining the news staff of FDC Reports' The Gray Sheet in 2000. Most recently, he served as the commercial/R&D manager for Citeline's Medtech Insight, a digital descendant of The Gray Sheet, helping to shape the overall editorial direction of Citeline's medtech offerings while writing and podcasting extensively about cardiovascular technology. He also wrote for a physician audience as a member of theheart.org's award-winning heartwire team and worked with pharma industry compliance experts at HCPro. Reed has a BA in religion from the College of William & Mary and an MA in philosophy of religion from Boston University. He lives and works in his hometown of State College, Pennsylvania.

Chris Neil

Partner
MedTech Advantage Fund

Chris Neil is an experienced venture & angel investor, senior executive, and start-up advisor. He is Partner and Co-Founder of MedTech Advantage Fund, investing in a broad portfolio of medtech, biotools, and digital health start-ups that have graduated from the MedTech Innovator accelerator program.

In addition, he is an active participant in Life Science Angels as Board Member and Chair of their Device Screening Committee.

Previously he was Senior VP at Maxim Integrated (running their $1B revenue Industrial & Medical Solutions Group) and then as co-creator and Head of Maxim Ventures - investing in medical devices & life sciences.

He served as observer / advisor on several other start-up boards, including Unaliwear, Ontera, toSense (now part of Baxter), and Profusa. He was Board Member at Spire Health - which makes a respiratory monitoring system focused on COPD - through their Series-C funding.

He graduated MIT with BSEE and MSEE in 1990.

David O’Flynn

Director of Corporate Finance
Goodbody

David O’Flynn joined Goodbody in 2023 and has over 20 years of corporate finance experience. Previously, he founded EVA Consulting to advise on equity fund raising, strategic advisory, and M&A transactions, principally in the medical device and pharma sectors.  He has advised on multiple venture capital, M&A and licensing transactions across all stages from seed to exit.  Most recently, he was CFO of Rose Pharma Inc., a venture backed drug development company. David holds a degree in biochemistry from Trinity College Dublin, an MBA from Dublin City University, and he is a member of the Institute of Directors. 

Lucy O’Keeffe

CEO
CroiValve

Lucy has extensive experience leading medical device development programs. She worked as a cross-functional lead at Medtronic, managing R&D programs from concept to launch, including an early transcatheter aortic program. Additionally, she worked in Nypro Healthcare, managing multiple complex, cross-functional, global projects developing drug delivery devices for top tier pharmaceutical clients and in a CRO, ICON PLC, where she developed an understanding of clinical trials. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from University College Dublin, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of Limerick and a Diploma in Project Management from University College Cork.

John Olden

Partner
Addleshaw Goddard

John Olden is a Partner in the Firm’s Corporate Law Department. His practice areas are mergers and acquisitions law, venture capital, capital markets, company and Partnership law. His mergers and acquisitions experience covers both public and private companies.

In the area of venture capital, he has advised on the establishment and marketing of venture capital funds, relationships between the general partner and limited Partners, investment by venture capital funds into Irish and other businesses and he has advised Irish companies on the raising of venture capital finance.

His capital markets experience is in debt (in particular commercial paper and note issuance programmes) and equity (IPOs, rights issues and offerings by Irish corporates in the US).

Ruben Osnabrugge

Partner
415 Capital

Ruben Osnabrugge, MD PhD, joined 415C in October 2023 where he serves as Partner. Prior to joining 415C, Ruben was an investment manager at EQT Lifesciences (formerly LSP), where he focused on medical devices, digital health and diagnostics. Prior, Ruben led the Value-Based Care strategy for Philips, where he was part of the global Chief Medical Office. He also supported strategic deep dives and due diligence for Philips’s investments. Moreover, he represented Philips at Medtech Europe and led a World Economic Forum project with Intermountain Healthcare and Novartis.

Before, Ruben underwent surgical training in cardio-thoracic surgery with a special interest in interventional cardiology at Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam. As part of this training, he also performed general and vascular surgery and worked at the intensive care. Ruben is a recognized expert in cost-effectiveness and health outcomes research, especially in coronary revascularization and structural heart interventions. He received a Fulbright Scholarship which he spent at the Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City to work on pivotal cardiovascular clinical trials. He has (co-)authored >40 articles in top peer-reviewed medical journals including JAMA, European Heart Journal, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, two chapters in the ESC Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine and a European clinical guideline. Moreover, he was editorial board member at Eurointervention Journal and faculty at leading interventional cardiology and surgical societies EuroPCR and EACTS, from which he also received a young investigator award.

Ruben holds MD and PhD degrees from Erasmus Medical School in Rotterdam, a MSc in Clinical Research from NIHES and the Harvard School of Public Health, and a BSc in Health Economics from Erasmus School of Economics. Ruben lives in Munich, in his spare time he is an avid cyclist and enjoys family, traveling, good food and photography.

Antoine Papiernik

Managing Partner & Chairman
Sofinnova Partners

Antoine Papiernik is Chairman and Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, which he joined in 1997.

“Life Sciences investing is not just about recognizing good science,” Papiernik says, “it’s about people — learning how to interact with co-investors, limited partners, and entrepreneurs. Listening, discerning, negotiating, and finding common interests.”

When you find the right people to invest in, he adds, “you can bank on them more often than you can predict how the science is going to turn out.” He looks for entrepreneurs with the nimbleness to adapt, “even if that means making a major shift from where one starts out on the journey.”

Antoine actively invests for our Capital Funds. He has been an initial investor and active board member in a number of public companies, including Actelion, ProQR, Shockwave Medical, NovusPharma (sold to CTI), and Movetis (sold to Shire). Trade sale success stories include CoreValve (sold to Medtronic), Fovea (sold to Sanofi Aventis), Ethical Oncology Science (EOS, sold to Clovis Oncology) and Recor Medical (sold to Otsuka).

He has also invested in and is a board member of private companies Reflexion Medical, Tissium, Pi-Cardia, SafeHeal, Noema Therapeutics, May Health, Highlife and Inspirna (formerly Rgenix).

Antoine has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. He has been selected twice for the Forbes Midas List, an annual ranking recognizing the world’s top venture capital investors. Antoine is one of the few European and life science investors to have appeared on the prestigious list.

Filip Peters

CEO
Acorai

Coming soon.

Marco Pisano

CEO
Lymphatica

Entrepreneur, inventor, and co-founder of Lymphatica Medtech SA. He earned a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Engineering in 2006 and received a Ph.D. from EPFL (Lausanne) in 2014. In 2021, he obtained an eMBA. In 2017, he co-founded Lymphatica, a startup developing a first-in-class implant for the treatment of lymphatic diseases. The device was validated in a pilot clinical trial and received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA. He currently serves as CEO, leading a team of 15 after successfully raising 20 million EUR in equity rounds. 

Anne Portwich

Partner
EQT Group

Anne Portwich, PhD has been with EQT Life Sciences since 2001. She is a Partner in EQT’s Amsterdam office. Her prime focus and responsibility within LSP is to invest in private companies. Over the years, she has been responsible for investments in numerous portfolio companies of LSP, such as Sapiens (acquired by Medtronic in 2014), Nexstim (IPO in 2014), and ActoGeniX (acquired by Intrexon in 2015).

When the first LSP Health Economics Fund was launched in 2012, she became part of the investment team managing this fund, leading investments in companies such as ViCentra, MedEye, Vivasure Medical and Neuravi (acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2017). She also played an pivotal role in raising the LSP Health Economics Fund 2 in 2017, the largest European fund dedicated to medical technology with a fund size of € 280 million. Prior to joining EQT, Anne was a Scientist and Project Leader at OctoPlus, a Dutch company offering advanced research services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She obtained an MSc in biochemistry from the University of Hanover and received her PhD from the Max Planck-Institute of Marine Microbiology in Bremen. Anne lives near Leiden with her husband and son.

Thom Rasche

Partner
Earlybird Venture Capital

Thom Rasche is a Partner at the Health Fund of Earlybird Venture Capital, which invests in early-stage companies across digital health, medical devices, diagnostics, R&D platform technologies, and biopharma. 

Thom is an experienced healthcare executive with both operational and financial expertise, currently serving on the boards of Alesi Surgical and Polares Medical. Prior to joining Earlybird in 2013, he was managing director of Ethicon and VP Europe of Johnson & Johnson. Thom holds a Kaufmann Diploma from the University of Lüneburg.

Michael Ryan

VP, Venture Capital & Business Development
Boston Scientific Corporation

Coming soon.

Maria Sainz

CEO
Hyperfine

Successful CEO with thirty years of experience in commercial and leadership positions in the medical technology industry. Previously, President and CEO of AEGEA Medical, President and CEO of Cardiokinetix, and President and CEO of Concentric Medical, Inc. Complutense University of Madrid MA in Languages. Thunderbird School of International Management Master's Degree in International Management.

Jon Salveson

Vice Chairman
Piper Sandler

Jon Salveson is the vice chairman of Piper Sandler investment banking.

Prior to his current position, he was the global head of investment banking for seven years. Before that, Salveson spent his career at Piper Sandler building a leading healthcare underwriting and M&A advisory practice. In 1996, he opened the Piper Sandler office in Menlo Park, California, where he was instrumental in establishing a large technology and healthcare presence in Silicon Valley, including over 100 investment banking and research professionals.

Salveson graduated from St. Olaf College and received a master’s degree in management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He serves on the boards of Artivion (NYSE: AORT) and several private healthcare companies. Salveson is also a former member of the board of regents at St. Olaf College and the chairman of the endowment, as well as a former trustee of the Oakleaf Endowment Trust for the Minnesota Orchestra.

Josep Sanfeliu

Managing Partner & Co Founder
Asabys Partners

Managing partner, president and co-founder at Asabys. Josep currently serves on the board of directors of Anaconda, Cara Care, Inbrain Neuroelectronics, Medasense, Medlumics and Psious.

Alexander Schmitz

Partner
Endeavour Vision

Alexander Schmitz 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, Lumeon, Nalu, Rapid Micro Biosystems (NASDAQ:RPID), Relievant MedSystems, 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.

Mark Secrest

Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking
BTIG

Mark Secrest is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at BTIG, focused on medical devices, life sciences tools and diagnostics companies. Prior to BTIG, he was a Managing Director and Head of Medical Devices M&A in Healthcare Investment Banking at Stifel. Previously, Mr. Secrest held several investment banking roles at Cowen between 1998 and 2010, including Head of Medical Technology M&A and Chairman of their Fairness Opinion Review Committee. Between 1995 and 1998, he was a Director in the M&A division at UBS. Mr. Secrest was instrumental in the development and growth of UBS’ M&A effort, and was responsible for the execution of the firm’s M&A assignments for North American clients outside of financial institutions. He began his career in the M&A team at Kidder, Peabody. Mr. Secrest earned a BA from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Dan Sheehan

Vice President, Venture Capital
Medtronic

Coming soon.

Jeffrey Sirek

CEO
PRIA Healthcare

As Chief Executive Officer for PRIA Healthcare, a leader in market and patient access solutions for medical devices and procedural innovations, Jeffrey Sirek spearheads PRIA’s strategy of accelerating the adoption of and increasing patient access to, cutting-edge technology and treatments for patients in need.

With an extensive history in commercialization and driving the adoption of innovative therapies, Jeffrey is a subject matter expert in navigating the hindrances that healthcare companies encounter in the concept-to-adoption journey.  Hosting over 25 years of experience in healthcare economics and medical innovation, Jeffrey has in-depth experience in FemTech and diagnostic AI solutions and is a subject matter expert in the reproductive health arena.

By addressing obstacles that prevent medical innovation companies from giving, and patients from receiving, state-of-the-art treatments available for various disease states, Jeffrey is dedicated to “putting patients first,” to improve quality of life and the advancement of innovation in healthcare.  Having in-depth experience and knowledge in FemTech and Women’s Health, Jeffrey and his team of experts will discuss common barriers that medical innovators face in Reproductive Health, and how to navigate these challenges successfully through reimbursement and patient access pathways.

Anne Sissel

Vice President of Business Development – Orthopedics
Johnson & Johnson MedTech

Coming soon.

Aneta Sottil

Partner
Andera Partners

Aneta Sottil joined Andera Partners in January 2018. She serves as Partner in the Andera Life Sciences team, dedicated to investing in life sciences.

Rémi Spagnol

Investment Director
Supernova Invest

Coming soon.

Murielle Thinard McLane

Managing Partner and President
Intuitive Ventures

Murielle is managing partner and head of Intuitive Ventures. She joined Intuitive Ventures in 2023 and brings a depth of experience across digital health tech, digital health, diagnostics, and biotech domains to lead investments in companies that are shaping the future of minimally invasive care throughout the patient continuum.

Murielle is a seasoned operator and executive with over 20 years-experience building and scaling organizations as an investor, entrepreneur and Fortune 500 executive. She most recently served as CEO of molecular diagnostics company, Ontera, and as co-founder of Nooma Bio, a life science tools platform focused on detecting cytogenetic abnormalities. She started her foray into venture capital as an Executive in Residence for GE Healthcare Ventures where she helped launch Verana Health, the largest clinical database in medicine empowering physicians and accelerating research for patients. While there she also supported investment in Genome Medical, a telehealth provider of genomic medical insights and Arterys the first cloud based deep learning imaging software start-up to receive FDA clearance. Previously, she was a General Manager at McKesson where she oversaw multi-billion-dollar P&Ls spanning therapeutics, surgical supplies, services and data analytics and before that worked in strategy and leadership roles at both Genentech, Novartis and Optum. Passionate about bridging the gender gap in the C-Suite of venture-backed companies, she served on Springboard Enterprises' executive council for pharmaceuticals and digital health, a network dedicated to building high-growth, technology-oriented companies led by women.

Murielle holds an MBA from Wharton and an MS in Finance and the Science of Management from Universite of Lyon and started her career in financial services.

John Thompson

CEO
AuriGen Medical

Experienced CEO and physician with a extensive experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Skilled in Oncology, Pharmacovigilance, Biotechnology, Lean Six Sigma, and Medical Affairs. Strong research professional with a Master's degree focused in Biomedical Engineering - BioInnovation from National University of Ireland, Galway.

Kerrill Thornhill

CEO
MEG

Kerrill is founder & CEO of MEG, an engineering graduate with a Master in International Relations. He is a serial entrepreneur who has built MEG into a leading healthcare quality management system (QMS) working with globally recognised healthcare providers. His passion lies in working collaboratively with healthcare professionals to create products that drive a culture of continuous quality improvement, reducing burden on frontline staff, while improving patient safety.  His goal is to create the world's leading healthcare QMS with a company that is committed to customers and staff wellbeing.

Claire van Dongen

Partner & Senior Consultant
HTI Healthcare & Technology

One of the founding Partners at HTI, Claire has over 20 years  experience in Executive Search in the healthcare industry, with particular focus on, and passion for Medtech innovation. Building on her solid industry knowledge, experience and network, she successfully managed numerous senior search assignments across borders in Europe for a variety of large, mid-sized and start-up firms, for all functional areas.

Claire graduated from the University of Amsterdam and is fluent in English and French besides her native Dutch.

Rupert Winckler

Vice President Business Development
Olympus

Rupert Winckler joined Olympus in 2017 to lead the company’s business development activities for the EMEA region. He and his team oversee the sourcing and execution of transactions that cover investments, partnerships, acquisitions, and other transactions for the Medical Systems Division.

Rupert has more than 20 years of investment experience across the medical and life science sectors.  He began his career in life science consulting before transitioning to healthcare investment banking. He has held various positions at ING Barings and Piper Jaffray, both in London, where he advised clients on cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions. Immediately prior to joining Olympus, he led the European Healthcare Investment Banking team at Canaccord Genuity, also in London.

Rupert holds a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford, as well as a diploma in Financial Management from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He lives in Hamburg, Germany.

Jennie Xue

Senior Managing Director
Guggenheim Partners

Jennie Xue is a Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities.  She has specialized in medical device investment banking for the last 14 years – focused on advisory for sellside & buyside transactions, IPOs, debt financings, PE and VC investments. Prior to joining Guggenheim, Jennie was in the Healthcare investment banking group at BofA Merrill, and Merrill Lynch prior to that. Jennie received a dual degree BS from Wharton and BSE from the Engineering School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Christina Ziegenberg

Deputy Managing Director, Head of Regulatory Affairs
BVMed

Dr. Christina Ziegenberg has a background in medical technology, the chemical industry and pharmacy, with a diploma as a chemist, a diploma in pharmacy from the University of Vienna and a doctorate from the Private University of Liechtenstein (UFL).

She has held various positions in pharmacies, as a chemical development engineer at Hilti Corporation, as head of the Medical Devices/Radiation Protection department at the Office of Public Health of the National Administration in Liechtenstein and is currently deputy managing director of the German Medical Technology Association, where she heads the Regulatory Affairs department.

Petra Zollner

Regulatory Affairs (IVDR & MDR) Director
MedTech Europe

Petra Zollner directs MedTech Europe’s team focusing on the implementation of the EU regulatory systems for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices. She represents MedTech Europe to external fora on strategic regulatory policy questions, including the Medical Devices Coordination Group. She also acts as part of MedTech Europe’s leadership team, ensuring collaboration and coherence on topics which cross over to other areas in the medical technology ecosystem.

Since Petra joined the association (previously EDMA, now MedTech Europe) in February 2012, her work has included leading and representing the association on regulatory policy in various domains including the implementation of the IVD Regulation, CE-marking topics, device labelling, trade in animal by-products, European database, medical technology standards, and regulation of substances and electronic devices, amongst others.

Before MedTech Europe, Petra worked for the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU), where she headed up the policy team working on both legislative and regulatory issues. She also worked within the government affairs team of Genzyme. As an American-German national raised in Denmark who has lived many years in Belgium, Petra is a native English speaker with intermediate to good Dutch, Danish, German and French. Petra is married to a Belgian telecommunications engineer and has two young energetic sons.