Mark Phelps, PhD Joins Canary Medical as Vice President of Technology Development

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Mark Phelps, PhD to Canary Medical, where he will serve as Vice President of Technology Development.

Canary Medical is an innovative medical technology company commercializing smart implants in the orthopedic, cardiovascular, and aesthetic markets. The company integrates a sensor and microprocessor system into FDA-cleared implantable medical devices to generate real-time insights about the performance and safety of these products.

Canary Medical logo

Phelps will be driving technology reduction to practice for Canary’s cardiovascular applications, delineating smart implant technologic and business opportunities, providing technical leadership to the Canary Management team, and providing strategic input into building Canary’s infrastructure and business.

Mark Phelps

Previously at Medtronic, Phelps managed the Research and Development team as the Vice President of R&D for Patient Monitoring & Diagnostics. Before that, he was the Senior Program Director for Diagnostics & Monitoring where he worked on a new product line for Medtronic’s wireless implantable cardiac monitor.

“Phelps has shown his ability to be a technology innovator and forward-thinker,” notes Tom Callaway, Founder and President of Life Science Partner. “Given his background at companies such as Medtronic, TASER and LifeSync, Phelps has a proven track record of building innovative technologies to enable future improvements in healthcare.”

Phelps earned his Bachelor of Science, Masters, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in Melbourne, Florida.

About Life Science Partner

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Peter Wehrly Joins Vivex Biologics as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Peter Wehrly as Chief Executive Officer with Vivex Biologics.

Vivex Biologics is a leading regenerative medicine company that markets tissue technology products and cellular therapies focused on orthopaedic applications with an emphasis on spine related therapies. They have a diverse portfolio of current products including cellular bone matrices, amniotic tissue, general orthopaedics, and sports medicine products to meet the therapeutic demand in the areas of spine, dental, sport medicine, and wound care. 

Peter Wehrly

Vivex is preparing for its next stage of growth with the launch of its VIA Disc product, a paradigm-changing treatment for Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD). As the company moves into the biologics space, it sought a seasoned Chief Executive to lead the company through its next stage of growth.

Wehrly is a leader in the spine and orthobiologics industries and will help lead Vivex Biologics’ expansion of their sales force and guide the company through continued growth. He is a strategic leader with a broad background in growth and operational efficiencies within public and private companies in the medical device industry. Prior to joining Vivex, Wehrly served as Chief Executive Officer with Synaptive Medical, where he led a global team launching the 2nd generation disruptive surgical robotic technology portfolio across North America, Western Europe, and Asia.

He was also Chief Executive at PQ Bypass, where he led a cross-functional team in gaining CE Mark for their Detour System, a technology designed to advance the treatment of long-segment peripheral artery disease, and approval to embark on their PMA trial in the US and Europe.

Previously, Wehrly served as Group President for Covidien where he turned around the Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions business and was later responsible for the Vascular Therapies business. Wehrly is a seasoned executive in the spine industry having led several divisions of Medtronic including Spinal and Biologics for 8 years. He played an integral role in their global market leadership positions and saw them grow from $500M to over $2.8B in compound annual growth rate.

Wehrly will play a pivotal role in helping Vivex Biologics during its next stage of growth and development as they launch a new product in the biologics space, leveraging his expertise in the spine industry and his commercial and operational strengths to ensure continued growth and preparation for a future financing event.

About Life Science Partner

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Rosalind Fabunmi, PhD Joins Edwards Lifesciences as Senior Director, Medical Affairs

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Rosalind Fabunmi, PhD as Senior Director, Medical Affairs with Edwards Lifesciences.

Edwards is committed to focusing on the patient journey from diagnosis to treatment to lifetime outcome, and Fabunmi has a rare combination of skills and experiences which make her highly qualified for her new role. With compelling data on the high individual and societal costs of valvular disease, Edwards is seeking to address the significant unmet need for care.

Rosalind Fabunmi, PhD

Fabunmi will lead Edwards’ evidence development and publication strategy in order to call attention to the prevalence and costs of valvular disease. Importantly, she will also serve as the public face of the company on these issues, engaging key opinion leaders to address the broad lack of awareness.

Fabunmi joins Edwards already possessing subject matter expertise in structural heart disease. Earlier in her career, she served in medical affairs roles for transcatheter aortic valve replacement technologies with Medtronic. Notably, she has also served in medical affairs roles in the pharmaceutical industry, working on heart failure products with Merck and Amylin Pharmaceuticals.

Most recently, Fabunmi served as Senior Director, Medical Affairs with the diabetes company Zafgen. The pharmaceutical industry has blazed the trail on burden of disease data and its use, so Fabunmi’s combination of medical device and pharmaceutical experience in Edwards’ disease space makes her exceptionally qualified for this role. In a career primarily focused on medical affairs, Fabunmi’s experience also encompasses health economics and outcomes research, rendering her almost unique in terms of the skills she brings to Edwards.

About Life Science Partner

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Dave Booth Joins Be The Match as Vice President of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Dave Booth as Vice President of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs with Be The Match.

Booth is a seasoned quality executive with a broad background in building and leading global quality teams within the medical device industry. At Smiths Medical, Booth was Head of Quality for the Infusion Systems Business Unit, responsible for both Pre-market and Post-market Quality, overseeing customer-facing quality concerns, and establishing a new product quality leadership function.

Dave Booth

At Greatbatch Medical, he created new processes and an organization for Design Assurance and Product Monitoring for their Orthopedic business. Previously, Booth led the Quality Systems and Compliance organization within Medtronic’s Cardiac Disease Rhythm Management business.

Booth understands how to build and lead a quality organization and to prepare a company to enter a new regulatory environment. Throughout his career, Booth has overseen teams ranging from small post-market groups to large, multi-site Operations Quality teams. Trained as a statistician, Booth often approaches problem solving by applying his analytical skills in conjunction with insights stemming from his extensive experience in the industry.

Booth will play a pivotal role in helping Be The Match during its next stage of growth and development. The organization is best known as the world’s largest provider of unrelated matched bone marrow donors for life-saving therapies. As allogenic-derived cell therapies are revolutionizing the treatment of cancer and genetic illnesses,

Be The Match is preparing to become the preferred supplier of hematopoietic cells to enable these therapies. Booth’s leadership skills and his years of experience managing interactions with the FDA render him well-suited to prepare Be The Match for the regulatory rigors of FDA oversight they will face as they move into the cell therapy space.

About Life Science Partner

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Yusuf Uddin, PhD Joins Life Science Partner as Research Associate

Life Science Partner is proud to announce the addition of our newest team member Yusuf Uddin, PhD. Yusuf will be responsible for managing our search operations and firm operations, including our research programs and technology platforms.

Prior to joining Life Science Partner, Yusuf earned his PhD with a concentration in Biophysics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research focused on characterizing the structure and function of important membrane proteins including a highly active photosynthetic protein.

While pursuing his graduate degree, Yusuf served as the Research Chair for the Bioengineering and Biosciences Unified Graduate Students group where he organized symposiums, workshops, and seminars for the Georgia Tech and Emory University communities.

Yusuf Uddin

“Yusuf’s technological expertise and leadership background gives him a strong foundation from which to push forward our research programs” notes Tom Callaway, MD, Founder and President. “We are pleased to have Yusuf join Life Science Partner as we continue to expand our highly specialized, executive recruiting service.”

Yusuf applies his rigorous scientific training to our search process and his unique technological expertise adds to the team’s wide breadth of knowledge that is unparalleled in the industry. “High-level recruiting begins with a fundamental understanding of the technologies and markets that are important to our clients which is why we hire scientific and medical experts like Yusuf” comments Tom Callaway, MD.

Yusuf earned his PhD and undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech with Highest Honors. Apart from work, some of his hobbies include competitive esports, racquetball, visiting new breweries, and spending time outdoors with his dog.

Recruiting Transformational Leaders

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Chris Fang joins Humacyte as Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Chris Fang, MD, MBA, MHSc as Chief Medical Officer of Humacyte.

Fang’s expertise in biologics and medical devices will be an invaluable asset for Humacyte, a pioneering regenerative medicine company. Humacyte’s lab-grown, acellular blood vessels have been awarded FDA fast-track status for their use in dialysis grafts. The company is launching a series of trials to demonstrate their efficacy in general vascular repair/replacement, including in coronary, peripheral, and saphenous veins.

With a strong background in clinical trials, health economics and product development, Fang will spearhead Humacyte’s pursuit of additional indications for their flagship product, HUMACYL®.

Chris Fang

Fang has over twenty years of experience as a physician leader in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to joining Humacyte, Fang founded Amaris Partners, an international consultancy which facilitated investment from principally Asia-based partners into U.S.-based companies that develop and implement novel medical technologies.

Before founding Amaris, Fang served as a Board Member and Worldwide Vice President, Strategic Medical Affairs and Medical Sciences for Johnson & Johnson DePuy for the Asia Pacific Region. In this role, Fang managed the clinical evidence strategy and product safety worldwide with responsibilities for new product development, reimbursement and business development.

Fang also served as the Medical Adviser to the Regenerative Medicine Business Unit and chaired the Worldwide Pipeline Committee responsible for the approval of investigator-initiated studies.

“Fang has a broad understanding of clinical trial management and development in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and regenerative medicine, combined with deep expertise in the regulatory approval process” notes Tom Callaway, MD, MBA, Founder of Life Science Partner. “His experience working in the Asian Pacific region will also be an asset to Humacyte as the company expands into these markets.”

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Balakrishnan Shankar Joins Canary Medical as Vice President, Operations

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Balakrishnan Shankar to Canary Medical, where he will serve as Vice President of Operations.

Canary Medical is an innovative medical technology company commercializing smart implants in the orthopedic, cardiovascular, and aesthetic markets. The company integrates a sensor and microprocessor system into FDA-cleared implantable medical devices to generate real-time insights about the performance and safety of these products.

In his new role, Shankar will lead all operational aspects including manufacturing and supply chain for Canary Medical’s smart medical implants.

Balakrishnan Shankar

Shankar’s 20+ years of leadership in the development and commercialization of active implantable devices as well as their associated software will be an invaluable asset as Canary Medical prepares for the launch of the company’s connected devices.

Shankar previously served as Vice President of Software Development for Medtronic’s Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure division, where he led software development across all product lines, including the CareLink patient monitoring system. He was previously at Nevro and St. Jude Medical where he led software product development, operations, and technology development, and systems engineering.

“Shankar has seen the entire spectrum of implantable, electronic medical devices – from concept and design to manufacturing/operations and systems integration,” notes Tom Callaway, Founder of Life Science Partner. “He is the world’s expert for taking connected medical devices from concept to commercialization. His deep technological and operational expertise will be a tremendous asset to Canary Medical as the company continues to develop and commercialize connected implantable devices.”

Shankar earned his MS in Biomedical Engineering from John Hopkins University and his BS in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Chie Iwaishi Joins Edwards Lifesciences as Vice President, International Regulatory & Clinical Affairs

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Chie Iwaishi to Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) as Vice President, International Regulatory and Clinical Affairs, where she will lead the expansion of this Irvine-based company in the Japan and Asia-Pacific region.

Iwaishi’s three decades of leadership in regulatory and clinical affairs will be an invaluable asset for Edwards Lifesciences, a global leader in in patient-focused medical innovations for structural heart disease, critical care and surgical monitoring. The company’s heart valve offerings encompass both surgical and transcatheter therapies for heart valve replacement and repair.

Chie Iwaishi

In addition, Edwards’ pipeline of future technologies is focused on the less invasive repair or replacement of the mitral and tricuspid valves of the heart, which are more complex and more challenging to treat than the aortic valve that is currently the focus of many of the commercially approved valve technologies.

Iwaishi is a distinguished expert in regulatory and clinical affairs, with particular expertise in Japan, China, and the broader Asia-Pacific region. She possesses keen knowledge of the regulatory and cultural paradigms, launched the first drug eluting stent in China, and has considerable senior global leadership experience and business acumen. In her new role, she will spearhead Edwards Lifesciences’ regulatory and clinical programs in Asia, which the company has identified as a key strategic initiative.

“Iwaishi’s deep understanding of regulatory affairs, with many successful PMAs and 510ks, and her well-practiced leadership of large globally-dispersed teams will be a tremendous asset to Edwards Lifesciences as they continue to expand on a global stage,” notes Tom Callaway, President and Founder of Life Science Partner.

Iwaishi joins Edwards Lifesciences from Abbott (formerly Alere Inc.), a rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests manufacturer, where she served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs Asia Pacific and led their global strategy development and regulatory compliance in Japan, China, Korea and India. She also led the regulatory diligence for Alere’s $1.3 billion acquisition. Earlier in her career, Iwaishi served in regulatory affairs roles of escalating responsibility, working primarily with Class II and Class III medical devices in the cardiovascular space.

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Brenda Calderon, PhD Joins Life Science Partner as Executive Search Associate

Life Science Partner is proud to announce the addition of our newest team member, Brenda Calderon, PhD. Brenda will be responsible for managing our search operations and firm operations, including our research programs and technology platforms.

Prior to joining Life Science Partner, Brenda earned her PhD in Biochemistry from Emory University, where her research focused on the innate immune response to viral infections and how this delicate system is precisely regulated to prevent a myriad of diseases ranging from autoimmune disorders to cancers. While pursuing her PhD, Brenda was also Editor-in-Chief for her PhD program’s Newsletter, an entirely student-run publication that communicates program events, faculty bios, and research within the program and to prospective students.

“Brenda brings not only a strong scientific background and technological expertise to our team, but also excellent communication and team-building skills” notes Tom Callaway, MD, Founder and President. “We are pleased to have Brenda join Life Science Partner as we continue to expand our highly specialized, technology-driven executive recruiting service.”

Brenda applies her rigorous scientific training to our search process, building upon our clinical expertise and our carefully executed, partner-led process. Having carried out both academic and industry-sponsored research in the past, Brenda understands the technologies and market forces that are important to our clients. “Brenda’s passion for science and biotechnology complement the clinical foundation already present at Life Science Partner: our team is composed of scientists, medical doctors, and engineers thus giving our recruiting service a breadth of knowledge that is unparalleled in our industry” comments Tom Callaway, MD.

Brenda earned her PhD from Emory University and her undergraduate degree in Chemistry with High Honors from the University of Florida. Outside of work, Brenda enjoys traveling, backpacking with her dogs, running, and design.

Recruiting Transformational Leaders

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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Megan Eckerman Joins CryoLife as Vice President, Global Marketing

Life Science Partner is pleased to announce the recruitment of Megan Eckerman to CryoLife (NYSE:CRY) as Vice President of Global Marketing.

Eckerman will lead the unification of this Atlanta-based company’s US and European marketing efforts under a common worldwide strategy as CryoLife continues its transformation from an allographic human tissue provider to a global aortic cardiovascular device leader.

CryoLife is a leader in cryogenically preserved human tissues for cardiovascular applications, as well as heart valves and other medical devices for blood vessel repair.

Megan Eckerman

With a focus on aortic technologies, the company has recently expanded their offerings to heart valves and stent grafts with the acquisition of On-X Life Technologies and JOTEC stent graft systems, respectively.

Ms. Eckerman joins CryoLife from Bolton Medical, an aortic stent graft manufacturer, where she served as Vice President of Global Marketing and was instrumental in the merger of Bolton Medical and Terumo’s subsidiary Vascutek under the brand Terumo Aortic following Bolton’s 2017 acquisition by the Japanese medical equipment company. Her earlier career features progressive sales and marketing roles with Medtronic and Intuitive Surgical, as well as service as Chief of Satellite Launch Operations in the United States Air Force.

“Megan’s deep understanding of cardiovascular technologies and their various worldwide customer bases will be a tremendous asset to CryoLife as they continue to reinvent themselves on a global stage,” notes Tom Callaway, MD, MBA, Founder of Life Science Partner. “I am confident her high emotional intelligence and thoughtful leadership philosophy will help her mobilize her team toward this ambitious goal.”

Ms. Eckerman earned her BS in Kinesiology from Indiana University and her MBA from the University of Colorado.

About Life Science Partner Executive Search

Life Science Partner is a specialized executive search firm that recruits transformational leaders for healthcare and life sciences companies. Our high-touch, partner-led process ensures an exceptional level of service, while our backgrounds as physicians and industry executives enable us to efficiently deliver the brightest candidates in the medical device, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and healthcare technology fields.

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About CryoLife

Headquartered in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, CryoLife is a leader in the manufacturing, processing, and distribution of medical devices and implantable living tissues used in cardiac and vascular surgical procedures.  CryoLife markets and sells a highly competitive product portfolio focused on treating aortic disease in more than 80 countries worldwide.

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