Leadership changes and breakthroughs in women's health

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another edition of the Women Leading Medtech Newsletter – the newsletter highlighting women's achievements and contributions in the medtech industry.

In the past month, the editorial staff at MassDevice covered seven personnel changes involving women in leadership roles. If you've been keeping up with this newsletter, we only had five executive shifts in the last edition. The industry is evolving as companies continue to diversify their executive leadership teams with more industry thought leaders. There was also a handful of innovations in women's health and significant acquisitions of medtech companies founded and led by women.

Without further ado, let's jump into all things Women Leading Medtech from the past month, starting with executive appointments.

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Kirsh, Senior Editor of MassDevice

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(p.s. – I know this edition is a little later than usual, so thank you for your patience! I was without power for nearly a week after being clipped by a tornado. All is good here now with full power, A/C, and internet!)

Precision Neuroscience expands leadership team

Jayme Strauss RN,MSN,MBA,SCRN joined Precision Neuroscience as chief clinical and commercial officer. Prior to joining the company, she was chief clinical officer at Viz.ai and trained as a neuro ICU nurse. She also spent a decade as a hospital executive.

Precision Neuroscience develops the Layer 7 Cortical Interface, which features 1,024 tiny electrodes spanning an area of one square centimeter. The company embedded the electrodes in a flexible film that conforms to the brain surface.

Read more from Sean Whooley on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/precision-neuroscience-expands-leadership-team/

Inspire Medical appoints chief people officer

Inspire Medical Systems appointed Melissa Mann as chief people officer in mid-July.

Mann has over 25 years of experience in human capital management. She joins the Minneapolis-based sleep therapy company from UnitedHealth Group, where she served for eight years in its Optum division. There, she led the human capital teams for Optum Health, Optum Insight, Optum Global/Shared Services and Optum Technology.

“We are very excited to welcome Melissa to the Inspire team,” CEO Tim Herbert said. “In this role, Melissa will be able to leverage her vast experience in human capital management as we continue to grow and scale our organization. Melissa is replacing Steven L. Jandrich, Vice President, Human Resources, who retired in May after six years with Inspire. We thank Steve for his dedication and service to Inspire, as we grew the company to over 1,000 team members under his leadership.”

Read more on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/inspire-medical-appoints-chief-people-officer/

Q’Apel Medical names Jodie Fam as CEO

Q'Apel Medical announced in mid-July that it appointed Jodie Fam as CEO. Fam replaces R. King Nelson, who is retiring after leading the neurovascular device company for the last five years. Nelson will continue to serve on Q’Apel’s board of directors.

Prior to becoming CEO, Fam was Q’Apel’s chief marketing officer and general manager of the company’s international business. She joined the company from AblaCare, where she was CEO, and has held numerous senior management positions at Route 92 Medical, Medina Medical (acquired by 美敦力 ), Cardiokinetix and Concentric Medical (acquired by Stryker ). Fam has also held senior clinical, sales and marketing roles at @Guidant, 强生公司 and Mallinckrodt Medical.

Read more on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/qapel-medical-names-jodie-fam-as-ceo/

Envista taps former 3M leaders to CFO and Ormco president roles

Envista Holdings Corporation tapped Veronica Acurio as president of its Ormco business in mid-July. Acurio joins the company from Solventum , 3M’s Health Care business spinoff, where she was president of 3M’s Medical Solutions division. She took on the role of president of orthodontics on August 2.

Prior to leading 3M 公司 ’s $5 billion Medical Solutions division, Acurio held various commercial, operational, and business leadership roles within 3M.

“We are delighted to welcome Veronica to Envista. She is an accomplished leader with a proven track record of leading dental and medical businesses all around the world. Her passionate focus on customers and innovation ideally positions Veronica to further advance Ormco as the partner of choice for orthodontic specialists,” Keel said.

Get more on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/envista-taps-former-3m-leaders-to-cfo-and-ormco-president-roles/

Restor3d expands into robotics, navigation with new leadership appointments

The orthopedic technology company restor3d named Kirstin Widding as senior vice president of hip & knee.

Widding joins with extensive experience as a strategic commercial leader in total hip, knee, shoulder and enabling technologies. The company said her track record includes driving revenue growth through integrated marketing, communications, branding and product solutions. She’s held marketing and product management posts at companies including Ortho Development Corp., Exactech, DJO, Abbott, and Smith+Nephew.

Her background includes developing commercialization strategies, strengthening corporate brands and building relationships with surgeons and distributors.

Get the full story on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/restor3d-expands-robotics-navigation-new-leadership/

CMR Surgical names new SVP of global business development

CMR Surgical announced it appointed Michelle Paknad as senior vice president of global business development.

Paknad has over two decades of sales and marketing experience, specifically in soft tissue surgical robotics. She has held a number of senior global leadership roles, including VP of global robotics and digital health at Smith+Nephew and several roles at Intuitive . She was also a clinical advisory board member at Ronovo Surgical.

“With Michelle joining the commercial team we will be able to further accelerate CMR’s mission of bringing the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery, with Versius, to more hospitals around the world,” the company said in a LinkedIn post.

Read the full story on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/cmr-surgical-names-new-svp-of-global-business-development/

Imperative Care completes $150M Series E, Shacey Petrovic becomes vice chair of board

Shacey Petrovic was appointed vice chair of the board of Imperative Care at the end of July following the company's successful $150 million Series E fundraising round.

As vice chair, Petrovic will focus on strategies to scale the company to bring “life-changing technologies” to more patients.

“It has been a privilege to benefit from Shacey’s business acumen and strategic mastery as we position Imperative Care for long term success and scale,” CEO Fred Khosravi said. “On behalf of our Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate Shacey on her appointment to Vice Chair as we continue to build the thrombectomy company of the future with the patient at the center.”

Get the full story on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/imperative-care-completes-150m-series-e-shacey-petrovic-becomes-vice-chair-of-board/

Now, we're jumping into some Women Leading Medtech innovations and insights from the last month.

Paragonix reports first pediatric use of liver preservation system

Paragonix Technologies, Inc. , led by Lisa Anderson , announced the first liver transplant case preserving a pediatric donor liver with the Liverguard preservation system in early August.

Paragonix launched its Liverguard in 2022 and its use spans more than 300 clinical transplants across the U.S. However, this marks the first case in a pediatric setting.

Liverguard provides a highly controlled, state-of-the-art environment for hypothermic liver preservation. It also features real-time digital monitoring to protect the donor liver throughout the entire transplant process. Unlike traditional methods using ice and off-the-shelf coolers, it marks a significant advancement in transplantation technology.

Read more on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/paragonix-first-pediatric-liver-preservation-system/

May Health VC and CEO give glimpse into promising startup, assessment of women’s health investments

In this episode of the DeviceTalks Weekly Podcast, Host Tom Salemi delves into the opportunities in women’s health devices with May Health CEO Anne Morrissey . May Health is developing a device-based therapy for Polycystic ovary syndrome, a common cause of infertility. Is the financing environment for Women’s Health companies improving? What will drive investors to commit more capital?

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.devicetalks.com/may-health-vc-and-ceo-give-glimpse-into-promising-startup-assessment-of-womens-health-investments/

Women's Health: Cairn Surgical raises $4.5M for breast cancer locator system

CairnSurgical, Inc. last week announced it closed a $4.5 million Series A2 financing round for its Breast Cancer Locator System.

The company earmarked the funds to complete the currently enrolling U.S. pivotal trial of the Breast Cancer Locator (BCL) System and implement a limited commercial launch in some European markets. Morningside Ventures led the financing round. The current standard of care for breast-conserving surgery doesn’t remove the entire tumor about 20% of the time, Cairn Surgical said. The company said that occurs primarily because current breast tumor localization techniques do not provide the information needed to have precise removal of the entire tumor.

Cairn designed the BCL system to improve the accuracy of breast-conserving surgery by providing the surgeon with more critical information about the tumor, including size, shape, and precise location.

Get the full story on MassDevice : https://www.massdevice.com/cairn-surgical-raises-4-5m-for-breast-cancer-locator-system/

Getinge to acquire organ preservation tech company Paragonix for $477M

Paragonix Technologies, Inc. , founded by Lisa Anderson , and Getinge ?announced a definitive agreement under which Getinge acquires the organ transplant technology developer.

The total price of the acquisition, including upfront and earnout payments, could reach approximately $477 million.

Getinge expects the deal to enhance its global healthcare portfolio while addressing needs in solid organ transplantation. The Sweden-based company can expand access to Paragonix’s technologies in new markets, according to a news release. Additionally, it expects to create opportunities to combine organ containment and blood perfusion technologies for new innovations.

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