About Ventus Medical
Management Team
Peter Wyles, President and CEO
Peter joined Ventus Medical as President and CEO in June 2010. He brings to the company broad general management experience in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer health. Prior to joining Ventus Medical, Peter was most recently with Bayer Healthcare for 15 years where he led consumer, pharmaceutical and medical device businesses in Germany, Japan, Canada and the U.S. More recently, he led the global expansion and integration of Metrika, a former start-up in the diabetes space that was acquired by Bayer HealthCare in 2006. Peter is a graduate of Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he earned his MBA and Pennsylvania State University, where he earned his BA. He served in the United States Marine Corps where he had assignments Moscow, Russia, Pretoria, South Africa and Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Philip Westbrook, MD, Chief Medical Officer
Philip is regarded as one of the pioneers in the field of sleep medicine and is the recipient of the 2009 National Sleep Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. Philip served as President of the American Sleep Disorders Association and a member of the Board of Directors and Standards of Practice Committee and was acknowledged by the ASDA with a Distinguished Service Award. Philip has presented over 100 guest lectures to professional organizations, was Editor-in-Chief of the Sleep Medicine Review, an editor for Sleep, a guest reviewer for Chest and an Ad Hoc reviewer for The New England Journal of Medicine. He is an emeritus faculty member of the Mayo Medical School (associate professor) and the UCLA School of Medicine (professor). Philip was the founding Director of the Sleep Disorder Centers at the Mayo Clinic and at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Philip earned a BS and MD from Stanford University.
Rajiv Doshi, MD, Founder
Rajiv invented the core technology and founded Ventus Medical. Rajiv is a Consulting Assistant Professor of Medicine and a Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. Rajiv also serves as the Executive Director (US) of Stanford-India Biodesign, a Government of India supported program to promote medical technology industry growth in India. Previously, Rajiv was a Principal at De Novo Ventures. He is the inventor on over 30 pending and issued patents. Rajiv serves on the Medical Advisory Board of Lunar Design and serves as an advisor to multiple early stage medical technology companies in the United States and India. Rajiv earned a BS in Chemical Engineering, an MSE in Biomechanical Engineering and an MD from Stanford University.
Sandra A. Gardiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sandra brings over 25 years of financial and general management experience in the medical device, biotechnology and diagnostics industries. Sandra has served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of both private and publicly traded companies: Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ), Lipid Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ), and Bend Research, Inc. At Bend Research, Inc. Sandra was also a member of the company's Board of Directors. Bringing a broad background in financial and strategy management, Sandra has been integral in raising $200M+ in funding through various mechanisms including an IPO, secondary offerings, a reverse merger, and multiple private placements. Most recently Sandra served as Chief Financial Officer of Vermillion, Inc. leading the Securities and Exchange Commission compliance efforts, relisting of the company's common stock on The NASDAQ Global Market, and completing an underwritten public offering. Sandra held various senior management and executive positions at Cardima, Inc. and Comac and began her medical industry career in 1988 with Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (formerly a division of Guidant). Sandra earned her BS in Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis.
Michael R. Lopez, Vice President of Operations
Michael brings more than 25 years experience in multiple production environments managing the key facilities of both global and start-up organizations. Prior to joining Ventus Medical, Michael was Vice President of Operations and Manufacturing at InSound Medical leading the launch and scale up of a highly disruptive hearing aid solution until its acquisition by the world's largest provider of hearing healthcare. Before InSound, he held various leadership positions of increasing responsibility within Albany International, Polaroid Corporation, and the US Navy's fast attack submarine community. Michael earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering as a graduate of the US Naval Academy, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, his MBA at the University of Rhode Island and a Doctor of Management conferred by Case Western Reserve University.
Matt Williams, Director, National Sales
Matt Williams joined Ventus Medical in April 2010 as Director of Sales. He brings over 13 years of sales, marketing and leadership development experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Most recently he led the Trade Marketing Team at LifeScan, a division of Johnson & Johnson, focused on growth strategies in the combined $800MM Retail Pharmacy, Chain Drug and Grocery Pharmacy segments of the Diabetes Franchise. In addition, Matt created and led the Sales Leadership Development Program at Lifescan, Inc. focusing on the development of the leadership pipeline across multiple functional areas within the business. Matt has also held sales management and sales training management positions at Ortho-McNeil, Janssen Pharmceutica and Hoechst Marion Roussel. Matt earned a BS in Business Administration / Marketing at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Gitte Pope, Director, Marketing
Gitte Pope joined Ventus Medical in November of 2010 with 18 years of experience in medical device marketing, including strategic and commercialization consulting for both Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed start-up companies. Gitte led the marketing efforts for A1C Point-of-Care testing at Bayer, Diabetes Care and prior to that worked as Director of Marketing for Sleep Solutions (now NovaSom). She also held marketing and sales positions at Edwards Life Sciences as well as Computer Motion (now Intuitive Surgical). Gitte holds a BS in International Business from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Witney McKiernan, Director of Business Strategy
Witney McKiernan has over ten years of experience in both clinical and business positions within the healthcare industry. Most recently, Witney served as the Director of Business and Clinical Affairs for Xlumena where she managed the development and launch of two novel interventional endoscopy products in the US and Europe. Witney was also responsible for reimbursement and clinical affairs for Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care (A1CNow+ division). Prior to working in the medical device field, Witney worked with the Health Technology Center, a technology forecasting firm, and as an oncology nurse at the University of California, San Francisco. Witney holds a BA from Stanford University and RN and MS degrees from the University of California, San Francisco.