About AtaCor Medical
TAKING TEMPORARY
PACING NEW PLACES.
Embodying the future of cardiac pacing, AtaCor Medical is dedicated to advancing the standard of care in rhythm management. This intent drives our innovative approach and guides the work we do to help physicians restore rhythm and preserve life.
MEET
THE EXECUTIVE TEAM
Rick Sanghera, BSEE, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Rick has spent over 25 years within the cardiac rhythm management industry, with roles at Guidant Corporation, Cameron Health, and Boston Scientific—including 10 years dedicated to the development of the world's first subcutaneous implantable defibrillator system (S-ICD). His experience includes positions within R&D as well as field-based roles, creating a foundation that gives him a keen ability to develop novel products that simplify the user experience and improve outcomes for patients.
With a deep understanding of how medical devices must interface with healthcare institutions, physicians, and patients, Rick played a critical role at Cameron Health where he led development efforts on the algorithm used to determine when defibrillation shocks should be delivered or inhibited.
Rick has proven leadership in research and engineering, a history of cultivating worldwide physician-industry collaborations, and holds over 70 patents in the cardiac rhythm management field.
Rick earned a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from Oxford.
Alan Marcovecchio, MSEE
Regulatory, and Quality
Alan has spent over 25 years in the medical device industry innovating new medical devices for patients and physicians. He has been involved in more than 20 FDA IDE and international clinical studies, ranging from early feasibility studies to pivotal clinical trials supporting global regulatory approvals of life-enhancing and life-saving medical devices. His experience includes tenure at Guidant Corporation, Zoll Medical, Boston Scientific, and Cameron Health, during which time he held diverse engineering, field representative, clinical, quality and regulatory leadership roles.
Alan’s professional efforts have contributed to the design, development, clinical evaluation, and production of numerous medical devices, predominantly for cardiac rhythm management. He has successfully led regulatory teams through original IDE and FDA Advisory Panel Track PMA processes to approval. His experience also includes serving sales organizations during the launch of new technologies, giving him critical perspective into the development of new, viable medical technologies.
As a co-founder and the Vice President of Clinical, Regulatory & Quality, Alan is well poised to help lead AtaCor Medical’s efforts to bring forward the latest advancement in extravascular lead systems for pacing and defibrillation applications.
Alan earned a BSc in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics with a minor in music from Case Western Reserve University. He also obtained his MSc in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Physics from the University of Minnesota.
When not working on medical devices, Alan enjoys time with God, his family and playing music.
Sean McGeehan, JD
Chief Financial Officer
Sean has over 20 years of experience in the life science and medical device industries. His collective corporate and patent experience is a tremendous asset to AtaCor Medical and has resulted in numerous U.S. and international patents specific to AtaCor’s technology.
Previously, at Cameron Health, Sean developed and executed an IP strategy for obtaining and leveraging global patent protection and avoiding IP risks for a novel subcutaneous implantable defibrillator system (S-ICD) and was responsible for raising a total of $228M in equity ($183M) and debt financing ($45M). He further provided counsel through all stages of Cameron Health’s growth, including venture capital financings, clinical and regulatory matters, and the company’s acquisition by Boston Scientific in 2012.
Sean has also worked as an attorney at multi-national law firms, (Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, LLP), where he advised venture capital funds and venture capital-backed emerging companies on fundraising, governance, and investment activities.
Sean earned a BSc degree in Microbiology from The Ohio State University, a BSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota (Institute of Technology) and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
MEET
THE SCIENTIFIC TEAM
Dr. Martin Burke, DO
Dr. Burke leads a full-service private electrophysiology practice, with procedure privileges at several hospitals in the Chicago area. He is also Director of Research at the CorVita Science Foundation and an adjunct faculty member at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. Previously, Dr. Burke was a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.
Dr. Burke has served as clinical investigator in numerous industry-sponsored clinical trials, including Cameron Health’s pivotal trial study for the S-ICD System. Dr. Burke has focused interests in device-based therapies for patients with life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias and has extensive experience collaborating with industry to develop and evaluate new technologies. Both his research interests and experience are exceptionally aligned with AtaCor Medical’s objective to develop the world’s first implantable, extracardiac pacemaker.
Dr. Gary Gershony, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI
Dr. Gershony is Director of Cardiovascular Research, Education and Technology at John Muir Cardiovascular Institute, where he has established a successful TAVR program. Previously he was Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab and Interventional Cardiology at UC Davis.
Board certified in general and interventional cardiology, Dr. Gershony is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. He has authored over 100 manuscripts and abstracts in the field of cardiology and is a regularly invited faculty lecturer to the preeminent U.S. and international interventional cardiology conferences.
Dr. Gershony graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School where he completed his training in general cardiology. He subsequently completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology at Emory University under Andreas Grüntzig, the inventor of angioplasty.
Dr. Reinoud Knops, MD, PhD
Dr. Knops, a cardiologist at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, specializes in cardiac rhythm management, with a primary focus on leadless pacing, subcutaneous ICDs, and lead extractions.
Dr. Knops is the principal investigator of the PRAETORIAN trial, a large, international, multi-center, investigator-initiated, randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of transvenous versus subcutaneous ICD therapy. Dr. Knops has participated in the Nanostim and Micra first-in-man studies and has implanted over 150 leadless pacemakers and 400 S-ICDs.
Dr. Knops is a medical advisor for Abbott, Boston Scientific, Medtronic and several start-up companies and frequently takes part as a steering committee member or principal investigator of clinical trials in the field of cardiac rhythm management
Dr. Vivek Reddy, MD
Dr. Reddy is Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services for The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Mount Sinai Health System, and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Professor of Medicine in Cardiac Electrophysiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
One of the nation’s premier cardiac electrophysiologists, Dr. Reddy leads a team of physician-scientists that are developing and testing advanced therapies for cardiac arrhythmias—including atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardias, the most common cause of sudden cardiac death.
Dr. Reddy’s pioneering clinical research is changing the way cardiac patients are treated and cured. Under his leadership, Mount Sinai is the lead investigator on several multinational clinical trials exploring new arrhythmia procedures and technologies.
MEET
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Maria Berkman, MD, MBA
BROADVIEW VENTURES
Dr. Berkman is Director and Head of the MedTech practice at Broadview Ventures, where she shares responsibility for all aspects of Broadview’s investment activity, from identification and screening of new opportunities, through due diligence, negotiation of deal structure, and portfolio company board involvement.
Prior to joining Broadview Ventures, Dr. Berkman was a management consultant at Monitor Group, where she specialized in life sciences with a focus on corporate, franchise, and asset-level commercialization strategy and competitive strategic planning for BioPharma and MedTech clients. Previously, Dr. Berkman trained within the Partners HealthCare System at Newton Wellesley Hospital in General Surgery.
In addition to her role at Broadview Ventures, Dr. Berkman contributes time as a SBIR/STTR grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation and is a Strategic Advisory Board Member for the RAD BioMed Accelerator in Tel Aviv, Israel. Dr. Berkman also serves on the boards of Adient, Aria CV, FineHeart, Vascular Graft Solutions and Vectorious, and previously served on the boards of Apama (acquired by Boston Scientific) and Capricor (NASD:CAPR).
Dr. Berkman earned an MD from the UCLA School of Medicine, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha with a research focus in cardiothoracic and trauma surgery, and earned an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.
Jeff Terrell, MBA
HATTERAS VENTURE PARTNERS
Jeff is a partner of Hatteras Venture Partners. Since joining Hatteras, he has worked in a corporate development role in a medical device portfolio company and assisted in overall firm operations, deal flow activities, and diligence. Jeff focuses primarily on Hatteras’ medical device and healthcare IT efforts.
Previously, Jeff worked in a sales and clinical support role for a large Medtronic distributor selling and providing service on Medtronic spinal implants and image-guided surgery equipment. Prior to this, Jeff devoted two years to pursue a career as a professional quarterback, spending time with the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys.
Jeff is a director on the boards of Dropworks and 410 Medical. He also serves as a board observer at Contego Medical, NoviSci, Qvella, Elligo Health Research, NeuroTronik, and Wildflower Health. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, and an MBA from Duke University, with a focus on healthcare and finance.
Darshana Zaveri, MPA
CATALYST HEALTH VENTURES
Darshana Zaveri is a Managing Partner of Catalyst Health Ventures. Darshana is actively involved in all aspects of Fund Management including Investments and Capital Raising. She led Catalyst’s investments in Augmenix (acquired by Boston Scientific, NYSE: BSX), Lantos Technologies, nVision Medical (acquired by Boston Scientific, NYSE: BSX), Maxwell Health (Acquired by Sun Life Financial, NYSE: SLF), Aria CV, and Hepregen. She currently represents Catalyst on the Boards of Lantos (past Chair), Aria CV (Chair), while previously serving on the boards of nVision, Augmenix, and Maxwell Health. She was also actively involved with portfolio company Allegro Diagnostics, Inc. (acquired by Veracyte, NASDAQ: VCT)
Darshana brings to Catalyst over a decade of experience in the health care and Life Science Industries. Prior to Catalyst, she was an Investigator at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and an integral part of the drug development programs in oncology, metabolic disease, and immunology. Previously she worked at Genome Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and completed an internship at the United Nations. She has authored several publications and scientific journal articles and currently serves as a Catalyst of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT.
Darshana received an MPA from Harvard University, a MS degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from Boston University, and a BS in Biochemistry from Bombay University in Bombay, India.
Rick Sanghera, BSEE, MBA
ATACOR MEDICAL
Rick has spent over 25 years within the cardiac rhythm management industry, with roles at Guidant Corporation, Cameron Health, and Boston Scientific—including 10 years dedicated to the development of the world's first subcutaneous implantable defibrillator system (S-ICD). His experience includes positions within R&D as well as field-based roles, creating a foundation that gives him a keen ability to develop novel products that simplify the user experience and improve outcomes for patients.
With a deep understanding of how medical devices must interface with healthcare institutions, physicians, and patients, Rick played a critical role at Cameron Health where he led development efforts on the algorithm used to determine when defibrillation shocks should be delivered or inhibited.
Rick has proven leadership in research and engineering, a history of cultivating worldwide physician-industry collaborations, and holds over 70 patents in the cardiac rhythm management field.
Rick earned a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from Oxford.
Sean McGeehan, JD
ATACOR MEDICAL
Sean has over 20 years of experience in the life science and medical device industries. His collective corporate and patent experience is a tremendous asset to AtaCor Medical and has resulted in two U.S. patents and numerous international patent application filings specific to AtaCor technology.
Previously, at Cameron Health, Sean developed and executed an IP strategy for obtaining and leveraging global patent protection and avoiding IP risks for a novel subcutaneous implantable defibrillator system (S-ICD) and was responsible for raising a total of $228M in equity ($183M) and debt financing ($45M). He further provided counsel through all stages of Cameron Health’s growth, including venture capital financings, clinical and regulatory matters, and the company’s acquisition by Boston Scientific in 2012.
Sean has also worked as an attorney at multi-national law firms, (Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, LLP), where he advised venture capital funds and venture capital-backed emerging companies on fundraising, governance, and investment activities.
Sean earned a BSc degree in Microbiology from The Ohio State University, a BSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota (Institute of Technology) and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Steven Girouard, PhD
DIRECTOR
Steve is currently an independent consultant to several cardiovascular device companies. He was most recently President and CEO of Securus Medical where he led the company though multiple rounds of financing, four clinical trials, FDA clearances on two products and a strategic sale to Boston Scientific.
Steve is a veteran of the medical device industry and has held executive management positions at Johnson & Johnson, Guidant Corporation, Cleveland Clinic, Oakwood Medical Investors, and Omega Funds. In addition to AtaCor Medical, he has board-level experience with several start-ups and technology incubators including Sadra Medical, Mitralign, NsGene, CardioSolv, Motion Medical, and Cleveland Clinic’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center.
Steve earned a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and MS and PhD degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He holds over forty-five U.S. patents and has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in cardiology and electrophysiology.