Management Team:
Dennis W. Wahr, MD, President/CEO/Co-Founder
Dennis W. Wahr, MD, is the co-founder, President, and CEO of Lutonix. He has over 25 years of experience in medical device development, management, and operations, as well as in clinical practice as a board certified interventional cardiologist.
Lutonix represents Wahr’s second entrepreneurial effort having also been the co-founder, President, and CEO of Velocimed LLC. At Velocimed Wahr led the invention, development, clinical evaluation, and commercialization of three innovative, minimally invasive cardiovascular and neurovascular devices. He led Velocimed through four financing events which funded the development of new products and the sponsorship of clinical trials in the United States and internationally. Ultimately the businesses of Velocimed were acquired by St. Jude Medical in April 2005.
Following the sale of Velocimed, Wahr spent approximately 2 years working with RiverVest Ventures where he served as a Managing Director. He actively led several investments on behalf of RiverVest and served on the board of several portfolio companies.
Before founding Velocimed, Wahr spent approximately 15 years as a practicing interventional cardiologist. During his time in practice he served as the Director of Interventional Cardiology and Chief of Cardiology at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (Ann Arbor, MI). During his years in clinical practice he was actively involved in clinical research projects as both a principal investigator and as a member of the medical advisory boards of Scimed, Percusurge Inc., Pharmacyclics Inc., and Boston Scientific among others. He has published research in many peer-reviewed scientific journals. Wahr also has extensive experience with the FDA and CMS having made multiple presentations to these agencies related not only to his products, but also on behalf of other companies and the National Venture Capital Association where he was a member of their Medical Industry Group.
Wahr currently serves on the board of directors of Lutonix and Accumetrics. Recent past board membership includes Velocimed and IDev Inc. among others.
Wahr performed his fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and his residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan. Wahr received his MD from Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Lixiao Wang, PhD, Chief Technology Officer/Co-Founder
Lixiao Wang, PhD, is the co-founder, and Chief Technology Officer of Lutonix. He has over 19 years of experience in medical device development, management, and operations, as well as a certified patent agent. Dr. Wang is an inventor and an expert in materials and drug delivery for medical devices. He has more than 190 issued US Patents and Patent applications. He is a member of ACS, APS, SPE, and the Society for Biomaterials and has received numerous awards from various organizations.
Before co-founding Lutonix, Dr. Wang spent approximately 4 years working for EV3 where he served as a R&D Director. He actively led research and development programs of the self-expanded stents, balloon expanded stents and balloon catheters for peripheral indications. The products released to market included Everflex self-expanded stents, Rapid Exchange Carotid stent, Protégé self expanded long stent (100, 120 and 150 mm), Premius balloon expanded stent, and PTA balloon catheters. Before working at EV3, Dr. Wang spent approximately 14 years working for Scimed/Boston Scientific in various capacities, including R&D Fellow, R&D Manager, Scientist and Sr. Scientist. Dr. Wang was involved in the successful development of multiple balloon products several of which remain highly successful today including the Maverick, NC Shadow, NC Ranger, NIR on Rangers, Express, and CRE balloon dilator for esophageal application. Perhaps most significantly, Dr. Wang was the pioneer, architect and program leader for the Taxus drug eluting stent program for first three years. Dr. Wang received his PhD in physical chemistry from University of Wisconsin-Madison, his MS in polymer science and engineering from Academia, Sinica, China and his BS in polymer chemistry from Nanjing University, China.
Chris Barry, Vice President Research & Development/Operations
Chris Barry joined Lutonix in October 2007 and has more than 14 years experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. Prior to joining Lutonix, Mr. Barry was at Abbott Laboratories where he held a number of R&D, manufacturing and quality assurance positions. In his most recent assignment at Abbott Vascular, he was the Program Director for Abbott’s next generation drug eluting stent program. He brings a unique set of experiences to Lutonix with having spent half his career in pharmaceutical development in addition to his most recent leadership roles in the medical device arena. Mr. Barry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame.
Kari Kubesh, Vice President Finance & Administration
Kari Kubesh joined Lutonix in June 2007 and has over 14 years of finance experience. Prior to joining Lutonix, Ms. Kubesh worked in finance at St. Jude Medical, managing the integration of Velocimed, an interventional cardiology company commercializing innovative technologies, including PFO closure, embolic protection, and guidewire control. Earlier positions held include manager at Deloitte & Touche, concentrating on the life science and emerging markets industries. Ms. Kubesh is a CPA and holds a BA in accounting from the University of St. Thomas.
Debra Lano, Vice President Regulatory & Quality
Debra Lano joined Lutonix in October 2009, with over 25 years of experience in the medical device industry. Prior to joining Lutonix, Ms. Lano’s career encompassed individual contributor to senior management positions in Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance, Clinical Research, and Microbiology. Her industry experience includes a distinguished 18-year career at SciMed Life Systems Inc./ Boston Scientific Corporation. She has also been a principal regulatory advisor for contract research organizations, and founded and managed her own regulatory consulting business. Ms. Lano is experienced in developing and implementing successful regulatory and compliance strategies for class III cardiovascular devices. Debra holds a Bachelor’s of Art degree in Biology with a Microbiology Emphasis from St. Cloud State University.
Jim Pavliska, Clinical Director
Jim Pavliska joined Lutonix in June 2008 and brings more than 12 years of direct cardiovascular clinical research experience. After coordinating interventional research at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mr. Pavliska went on to manage regional field research activities for the California based start-up company PercuSurge, which was acquired by Medtronic. After expanding his research experience at Medtronic, he went on to build the clinical program at Velocimed, another successful medical start-up based in Minneapolis that was later sold to St. Jude Medical. While at St. Jude, he held the title of Director of Interventional Research where he was further able to enhance his research management skills. Mr. Pavliska’s passion for cardiovascular research and unique research experience brings valuable insight to the clinical program at Lutonix. Mr. Pavliska holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University.
Board of Directors:
Michael Berman is a medical device investor/entrepreneur who serves on the boards of 9 emerging medical device companies:
Mr. Berman was a co-founder of Velocimed which was sold to St. Jude Medical in April, 2005.
From 1995-2000 Mr. Berman was the President of the Cardiology business of Boston Scientific.
- Cornell University, BS, 1979
- Cornell University, MBA, 1986
John Maroney joined Delphi Ventures as a General Partner in 2003 and focuses on medical device and diagnostic investments.
Prior to joining Delphi, John was President and CEO of EndoTex Interventional Systems, Inc. (acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation) a development stage, venture backed, start-up company where he redirected the technology, resized the team and raised more than $50.0 million over six years through a series of venture capital, technology licensing, and corporate partnership financings. From 1988 to 1997, John held a variety of senior management positions including President and General Manager at EP Technologies, Vice President of Operations at both Boston Scientific Corporation and Cardiovascular Imaging Systems (CVIS). While at CVIS, John was a key member of the senior management team during the Company's IPO and eventual acquisition by Boston Scientific Corporation.
John holds both Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.
Representative Board Involvement
- Acclarent, Inc.
- EndoTex Interventional Systems, Inc. (NYSE: BSX)
- Interventional Rhythm Management, Inc.
- InnerPulse, Inc.
- Paracor Medical, Inc.
- Primaeva Medical, Inc.
- VytronUS, Inc.
Jon Root, US Venture Partners
www.usvp.com
As a physician, Jon Root evaluates investments in the medical field with a practitioner's eye. A common investment criteria when evaluating business opportunities in the biotechnology or medical devices fields is: does this solution meet, or begin to address, an unmet clinical need? Jon goes beyond that: is the innovation easily usable?
"The greatest idea in the world will not be successful if it's not practical to use," says Jon. "Entrepreneurs are great at applying technology to those unmet clinical needs, but they need a good medical advisory board to help them with real-world considerations such as ergonomics. I try to bring some of that hands-on, pragmatic advice to the table."
Jon spent nine years in clinical practice before joining USVP in 1995 as a Ewing Marion Kauffman Fellow in venture capital. He became a general partner in 1997. Before USVP, Jon was on the faculty and clinical staff at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City. There he was an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Director of the Neurology-Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit. He is board certified in neurology.
"Efficacy always dictates the doctor's choice of procedure or method," Jon notes. "It's critical to gain feedback from the people who will actually use your product," he says. Whether it's less invasive biopsy procedures or simple changes that make a tissue closing easier, considering the doctor as well as the patient helps optimize product design, Jon adds. "If an easier way is just as effective, there is opportunity for companies to make a difference. If a drug is as effective taken orally versus intravenously, the doctor will probably choose a pill -- if it's available."
Jon is on the boards of Altus Pharmaceuticals, Raven biotechnologies, OncoMed, Proteolix and Sequent Medical; he is active with USVP's investment in Ascenta.
Jon maintains relationships with leading medical schools on both coasts and enjoys helping entrepreneurs make meaningful connections. He helps entrepreneurs connect with leading specialists to gain input on product design issues.
Jon holds an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College, an M.D. from the University of Florida College of Medicine, and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
Jay W. Schmelter, RiverVest Venture Partners
www.rivervest.com
Jay Schmelter is a managing director and co-founder of RiverVest. His focus is investing in the medical device sector. Drawing on his combination of operating, investment banking and venture capital experience, Jay works closely with entrepreneurs as a sounding board and mentor. Before co-founding RiverVest, Jay was with Crescendo Ventures, a global venture capital fund, where he led investments for the firm’s life science division. At Crescendo, Jay was involved with several portfolio companies and founded TissueLink Medical, now known as Salient Surgical Technologies, Inc.
Prior to his transition to venture capital, Jay worked as a medical device research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., where he focused on cardiovascular-related medical device stocks. He was also a marketing executive for Medtronic, Inc., where he was responsible for two successful product launches and the marketing activities of two of Medtronic’s U.S. cardiac surgery-related businesses. Jay is chairman of the board of Salient Surgical and a director of IDev Technologies, Inc., Tryton Medical Inc., Accumetrics, Inc. and Lutonix, Inc. He is a former director of Velocimed, LLC, which was sold to St. Jude Medical in 2005.
Jay received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and his B.A. in accounting from Michigan State University.
Kevin Wasserstein specializes in investing and building medical device companies at Versant. His work with entrepreneurs spans the earliest seed or concept stage of development through the entire life cycle of the company.
Kevin has more than fifteen years of venture capital and operating experience in medical device and high technology companies. Prior to joining Versant in 2002, Kevin served in a variety of marketing and business development roles at Guidant Corporation, including acting as the Director of Marketing in Guidant's Cardiac Surgery Group, managing market/product development and launch initiatives. Kevin also served as Senior Global Product Manager in Guidant's Peripheral and Carotid Group, during which he developed and launched several first-generation stent and embolic protection devices. Previously, in Guidant's Compass Business Development Group, Kevin was involved in acquisition, licensing and investment activities with both private and public medical device companies, and in formulating corporate strategies to develop innovative medical technologies. In addition, Kevin's operational experience includes business development at Heartstream, and engineering design and engineering management responsibilities at Hughes Aircraft Company.
Kevin serves, or has served, in a variety of board or advisory roles with companies which include: Acclarent, Cardiac Concepts, Cellutions, LipoSonix (sold), Lutonix, Microfabrica, NDO Surgical (sold), NeoGuide Systems, Rox Medical, Second Sight Medical, St. Francis Medical (sold) and The Innovation Factory.
Kevin holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering, as well as an MBA, all from Stanford University.
