MEET THE Event Speakers
Chris Beaudreau
Vice President Orthopedic Solutions, Axial3D
Chris Beaudreau
Vice President Orthopedic Solutions, Axial3D
Over the last 14 years, Chris Beaudreau has had the incredible opportunity to use cutting edge 3D printing and software solutions to transform healthcare for the better. As a pioneer in personalized healthcare solutions, he has positively impacted thousands of lives while leading global high performance medical device teams across operations, engineering, sales, and marketing. Beaudreau is looking forward to combining his expertise in 3D printed medical devices, along with the powerful software workflow automation that Axial3D has created, to further improve scalability and accessibility of patient specific solutions.
Paul Bryant
Chief Technology Officer of MicroPort Orthopedics Inc.
Paul Bryant
Chief Technology Officer of MicroPort Orthopedics Inc.
Paul Bryant has been the chief technology officer of MicroPort Orthopedics Inc. since March 2016, responsible for portfolio enhancements and advancements in key technologies through internal and external developments and partnerships. During his time at MicroPort Orthopedics, he has led various groups including Research and Development, Engineering Operations, and Global Marketing. Bryant has a strong record of achievements in product development and commercialization, global portfolio management, strategic planning, and account management. Prior to joining MicroPort Orthopedics, he led the marketing and product management efforts for Cardinal Health's Orthopedic Solutions business. He also spent time at Baxter in both upstream and downstream marketing roles within their BioSurgery franchise. Bryant joined Zimmer in 2006 and over the next six years, he held several commercial roles, which included managing the global marketing efforts for various knee and sports medicine product lines and leading the U.S. sales strategies as part of the Corporate Sales team. Bryant started his career at The Dow Chemical Company as a research engineer within the Research Assignments Program. During his 10 years at Dow, he held various technical and commercial roles across several businesses within the organization. Bryant holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and has followed additional Executive Education at the University of Chicago.
Gautam Gupta, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Medical Devices at 3D Systems
Gautam Gupta, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Medical Devices at 3D Systems
Dr. Gautam Gupta joined 3D Systems in 2015 as vice president, business development, Healthcare, and was promoted to vice president, global go to market, Healthcare in 2019. He was subsequently promoted to general manager of the Medical Device business in 2020 and to senior vice president and general manager of the Medical Device business in 2022. Prior to joining 3D Systems, Dr. Gupta worked at Biomet for nine years where he started in the Biomaterials research group developing surface coating technologies to improve implant performance. He also invented and commercialized a porous metal technology for bone ingrowth using additive manufacturing and was instrumental in bringing several of the first additively manufactured orthopedic devices to market in the U.S. Dr. Gautam has a Bachelor's degree in Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur, India) and a Master's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Missouri - Rolla. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Kentucky and has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Lane Hale
President & CEO, ECA Medical
Lane Hale
President & CEO, ECA Medical
Lane Hale is president and CEO of ECA Medical. ECA is the premier, single-procedure instrument and surgery-ready procedural kit developer and manufacturer for the medical device industry. ECA is a proven partner demonstrated by its 43 years in the cardio and neuro sectors designing and manufacturing single-procedure instruments to secure medical implants. The company’s core technology and knowledge have been effectively applied to the orthopedics sector. ECA offers a portfolio of single-procedure instruments, including precision torque limiters that are hand or power operated, and develops and manufactures implant-specific, surgery-ready instrument and implant systems. These systems allow implant companies to deliver instruments and implants more efficiently to hospitals and outpatient surgery centers throughout the world. Hale has held leadership positions in medtech, serving in operations, business development, and product development roles during his 20-plus year career in the medical device industry. Earlier in his career, Hale worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and the business consulting industry.
Vernon Hartdegen
Vice President of R&D for Trauma, CMF, Sports, and Extremities at DePuy Synthes
Vernon Hartdegen
Vice President of R&D for Trauma, CMF, Sports, and Extremities at DePuy Synthes
Vernon Hartdegen is a life-long orthopedic professional. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Louisiana Tech, he joined Smith and Nephew Orthopedics as a product development engineer while simultaneously completing his master’s degree in Biomechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee. In 2000, he moved to Wright Medical Technology where he progressed through the ranks from engineer to senior director of product development. During his nine-year tenure at Wright, he oversaw the development of the total knee arthroplasty, upper extremity, and foot & ankle product portfolios. Hartdegen then moved into the start-up company environment with senior leadership roles at two companies before co-founding CrossRoads Extremity Systems in 2014. As president and CEO of CrossRoads Extremity Systems, Hartdegen successfully navigated the 2022 acquisition of CrossRoads by DePuy Synthes. He has continued with DePuy Synthes and is currently the vice president of R&D for the DePuy Synthes Trauma, Extremities, CMF, Animal and Sports franchise.
Eric Heinz
Founder, CEO, and General Partner of Heinz Ventures
Eric Heinz
Founder, CEO, and General Partner of Heinz Ventures
Eric Heinz is founder, CEO, and general partner of Heinz Ventures, a life sciences venture studio. Prior to Heinz Ventures, he most recently worked as vice president, market and corporate development for Titan Medical, a surgical robotics company based in Toronto. Prior to Titan, he developed his 22-year career in the medtech industry across multiple companies and functional areas, including product development at Medtronic Sofamor Danek, product management at Intuitive Surgical, marketing management at IMRIS and corporate development (M&A) at Smith and Nephew. He’s an inventor on over 20 issued patents and 42 patent applications. Heinz graduated with a BS in bioengineering from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a MEM from Christian Brothers University, and an Executive MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Lisa Hiller, PMP
Commercial Leader, Forming and Coating, at Orchid Orthopedic Solutions
Lisa Hiller, PMP
Commercial Leader, Forming and Coating, at Orchid Orthopedic Solutions
Lisa Hiller has more than 15 years of experience in the orthopedic industry. In her current role at Orchid Orthopedic Solutions, a leading contract manufacturer of orthopedic devices, she is primarily responsible for the commercial success of the company’s implant business. Her roles within Orchid have required a comprehensive understanding of the supply chain, market drivers, operations, and the intricate processes required to deliver complete solutions and finished devices to Orchid’s OEM customers. Hiller earned both her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and her M.S. in Manufacturing Operations from Kettering University. Her expertise and experience bridge the gap between the operational side of manufacturing and the strategic market drivers that influence the orthopedic industry.
Bryan Hughes
Director at P&M Corporate Finance
Bryan Hughes
Director at P&M Corporate Finance
Bryan Hughes is a director of PMCF and leads the firm’s medical technology team. His practice focuses on assisting clients with mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, private placements, financings, valuation and strategic consulting. His clients have ranged from global medical technology companies to small, privately held businesses.
Mike Lawrenchuk
Sr. Business Development Manager at Materialise
Mike Lawrenchuk
Sr. Business Development Manager at Materialise
Mike Lawrenchuk is a senior business development manager at Materialise, responsible for supporting the North American medical device industry. For nearly 20 years, he has helped companies in the orthopedic industry implement patient-specific solutions and additive manufacturing processes. Lawrenchuk also supports the cranial maxillofacial and dental markets in a similar capacity. His recent focus has been on utilizing AI techniques and design automation to help groups streamline their pre-operative planning and production workflows. Lawrenchuk is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BSE and MSE in Biomedical Engineering.
Marc Mackey
General Manager and Senior Vice President of Enabling Technologies at Enovis
Marc Mackey
General Manager and Senior Vice President of Enabling Technologies at Enovis
Marc Mackey is general manager and senior vice president of Enabling Technologies at Enovis, where he leads strategy, marketing, R&D, and commercialization of the Enovis portfolio of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and robotics surgical technologies. Mackey has more than 25 years of experience in surgical enabling technologies in neurosurgery, ENT, spine, and orthopedics, with a focus on surgical navigation, robotics, medical imaging AI, augmented reality, and healthcare cloud. Prior to joining Enovis, Mackey was executive vice president at Surgalign, where he led R&D and marketing for augmented reality and imaging AI technologies, and led strategy and commercialization for robotics and digital surgery as vice president of global marketing at Smith+Nephew. Earlier in his career, Mackey had diverse and international roles at Brainlab, including as general manager of the Orthopedic Joint Reconstruction business unit. He earned his B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, and a M.S. in Bioengineering from University of California, San Diego.
Nick Morrison
Chief Operating Officer at Cretex Companies
Nick Morrison
Chief Operating Officer at Cretex Companies
Nick Morrison, COO at Cretex Companies, is focused on fostering a culture of operational excellence and investment in innovative technologies to sustain industry leading organic growth. His approach centers on unifying people and processes, with demonstrated success scaling operations to support aggressive customer product launches. Morrison previously served as group president of three Cretex Medical operating companies and led the successful consolidation of the manufacturing footprint into a newly constructed flagship facility. Prior to his leadership roles in Cretex Medical businesses, Morrison was director of operations for the Cretex Infrastructure segment. In this capacity, he oversaw 21 facilities across 8 states in the upper Midwest, showcasing his ability to manage complex operations on a large scale. Morrison holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.
Melanie Prevost
Associate Director, ASC Solutions, at Zimmer Biomet
Melanie Prevost
Associate Director, ASC Solutions, at Zimmer Biomet
Melanie Prevost’s journey within the healthcare industry is deeply rooted in her DNA. With over two decades of experience in marketing and advertising, she has seamlessly navigated between two distinct realms: the healthcare sector itself and the advertising agencies serving it. Her career began in communications at Medtronic Spine and Biologics, where she gained firsthand insight into the inner workings of the healthcare landscape. Transitioning back to the agency side, Prevost assumed a pivotal role in leading a prominent healthcare account, orchestrating impactful campaigns that resonated with audiences across the industry. After twelve years, she embarked on a new chapter of academic pursuit, enrolling at Arkansas State University where she completed her Master of Science, Strategic Communications, further extending her expertise in the field. Today, Prevost leads all national marketing for Zimmer Biomet’s ASC Solutions, where she continues to innovate and shape the future of healthcare marketing. Her unwavering commitment to healthcare excellence and her prowess in marketing and communications continue to shape her journey as a trailblazer in the industry.
Beth Roach
Director Data Strategy at SmartTRAK
Beth Roach
Director Data Strategy at SmartTRAK
Beth Roach celebrates more than 30 years in the orthopedic device industry. Currently, she is the director of data strategy for SmartTRAK, a leading global medtech business and market software intelligence solution in the orthopedics, wound care, regenerative medicine, and neurotherapy markets. She’s been with the company for two years, focusing on identifying data needs and partnerships to include needs around the ASC space. Before joining SmartTRAK, Roach worked with a startup—Relatable—managing ASC utilization insights and GuidePoint leveraged large data assets. She also directed the development of strategic tools tracking market share and pricing trends. Roach’s orthopedic industry experience spans working at Smith & Nephew, MDT Spine, and Wright Medical in various market research and competitive intelligence roles.
Kip Roberts
Vice President of Strategy, M&A & Portfolio Management for Medtronic’s Neuroscience Portfolio
Kip Roberts
Vice President of Strategy, M&A & Portfolio Management for Medtronic’s Neuroscience Portfolio
Kip Roberts is currently the VP of Strategy, M&A & Portfolio Management for Medtronic’s Neuroscience Portfolio, which comprises the Cranial & Spine, Neuromodulation, Neurovascular, ENT, and Pelvic Health operating units. His healthcare career began at Eli Lilly & Company in sales, where he won numerous awards including Rookie of the Year and MVP. In 2008, Roberts joined Medtronic’s Spine & Biologics business unit as a market development and referral marketing manager. Since then, he has held numerous roles of increasing responsibility across downstream and upstream marketing, strategy, and mergers & acquisitions. He is also a recipient of Medtronic’s Marketing Excellence & Compass Awards. Roberts received his undergraduate degree (BS) from Murray State University and an MBA from the University of Memphis.
Olaf Schulz
Director of Venture Development and Zero-to-510
Olaf Schulz
Director of Venture Development and Zero-to-510
Olaf Schulz is a biomedical engineer with over 25 years in the medical device industry. Utilizing his expertise in full-cycle product development, he has overseen 27 product launches, which contributed to approximately more than $250 million in sales. He spent more than a decade at Wright Medical leading their hard-tissue biologics group. This was followed by work at several startups including Ariste Medical, where Olaf led the effort to secure FDA clearance for the company’s drug-eluting mesh product. Since 2019, Schulz has been actively involved in Zero-to-510, exercising his passion for mentoring startups and entrepreneurs as well as fostering growth and innovation in the Memphis medtech ecosystem.
David Sheppard
Managing Director at MedWorld Advisors
David Sheppard
Managing Director at MedWorld Advisors
David Sheppard has been a leader in the medical device industry for more than 30 years. His experience includes positions such as GM and VP, as well as high impact sales and marketing leadership roles at major Fortune 500 corporations (Medtronic/Covidien, BD/Bard, Cooper and Ciba). His achievements also involve work at startup organizations (including working pre-IPO on a successful IPO company). As a managing director at MedWorld Advisors, Sheppard is focused on exit strategies for the MedDevice, BioTech, DentalTech, DigitalHealthTec, and OEM Medtech companies. For M&A, the goal is to help small- and medium-sized companies maximize their value with their exit strategy and/or achieve success with their acquisition strategy. Having completed international/cross-border deals, an important component to MedWorld’s success is its global reach and ability to cross boundaries to successfully facilitate transactions. In addition to M&A achievements at MedWorld Advisors, his medtech career worldwide results include completing distribution and licensing deals with international businesses, comprised of major Fortune 500 companies (e.g., GE, Philips, Stryker, NK, Mindray, etc.) as well as smaller entities. These experiences have led to a global network of contacts with channel partners both large and small. Sheppard has been involved in “go-to-market” strategies on every major developed continent (Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America).
Gary Stevenson
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MB Venture Partners
Gary Stevenson
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MB Venture Partners
Gary Stevenson co-founded MB Venture Partners in 2001 after six years in healthcare investment banking and equity research. At MBVP, he has raised $120 million in committed capital to four funds and invested in more than 50 start-ups, most of which are focused on product solutions for musculoskeletal disease. He also spent seven years in a variety of general management roles with Abbott Laboratories. Gary holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Missouri. He also received an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a certified public accountant and a chartered financial analyst. Gary is a board member or observer for several MBVP portfolio companies. Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic, Smith + Nephew, Zimmer Biomet, and Wright Medical have each acquired MBVP-funded start-ups. In November, Gary will be hosting the Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference for the 21st straight year.
Ibim Tariah, Ph.D.
Technical Business Development Director—Medical Devices for SGS North America Inc.
Ibim Tariah, Ph.D.
Technical Business Development Director—Medical Devices for SGS North America Inc.
Dr. Ibim Tariah is the technical director, business development Medical Devices at SGS North Americas, responsible for EU Regulations implementation, regulatory affairs training activities, and support to Medical Devices commercial activities. Dr Tariah’s vast experience spanning over 25 years in European regulatory affairs includes regulatory knowledge of combination devices incorporating biologics, drugs, and drug-biologics together with quality management systems assessment of medical devices. His expertise lies in innovative vascular, orthopedic and dental, and other long-term implantable devices for clients needing technical documentation assessment and reviews in compliance with the Medical Device Regulations (MDR). He also acted as a liaison with regulatory authorities including MHRA (UK), European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Medical Products Agency (Sweden). Dr. Tariah earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science with emphasis on polymer science and technology from the University of Manchester, U.K.
Ben Thompson
Chief Commercial Officer at Avalign Technologies
Ben Thompson
Chief Commercial Officer at Avalign Technologies
Ben Thompson was named chief commercial officer for Avalign Technologies in January of 2022. He has global responsibility for all sales, service, and marketing activities for Avalign Orthopaedics. Thompson has over 30 years of healthcare industry experience in sales, sales leadership, operations, and customer service. He has 24 years of leading teams in the medical device, medical product, diagnostics, and distribution services industries. Prior to Avalign, Thompson held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including national vice president of Laboratory Products, national vice president of Strategic Accounts, and senior vice president of U.S. Acute Sales for Cardinal Health. Prior to his senior leadership roles, Thompson held various sales, service, and sales management positions at Baxter International, Allegiance Healthcare, and Cardinal Health. He earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL.
Gary Turner
Managing Director of Additive Manufacturing, North America, for Ricoh USA Inc.
Gary Turner
Managing Director of Additive Manufacturing, North America, for Ricoh USA Inc.
Gary Turner has spent the last seven of his 27-year career with Ricoh, focused on additive manufacturing and the partnerships, technology, and business processes development required to bring RICOH 3D for Healthcare to market. An experienced business leader, Turner has led numerous business transformation initiatives for Ricoh both in the U.S. and abroad, all aimed at driving new value for customers and the market. This includes the successful launch of RICOH Service Advantage in the Americas and developing and launching Ricoh’s growth strategy in Latin America.
Elise Wolf
VP & GM, Orthopedics, Digital and Quality at SmartTRAK
Elise Wolf
VP & GM, Orthopedics, Digital and Quality at SmartTRAK
With over a decade of experience at SmartTRAK, Elise Wolf has played a pivotal role in driving the success of the company’s Orthopedic and Digital Businesses. SmartTRAK is the medtech industry’s only global insights-as-a-service solution for the Orthopedics, Wound Care, Regenerative Medicine, and Neuro Therapy markets. Before joining SmartTRAK as its first orthopedic analyst, she enjoyed a notable career in a range of strategic leadership roles in the areas of product development, marketing, and business development for emerging medical device technologies. Prior to entering the medtech space, Elise designed biologically inspired robots for the Department of Defense at a spin-off of Carnegie Mellon University. Her unwavering commitment to excellence and her strategic leadership have solidified her reputation as a respected and influential figure in the field.
Nathan Wright, MS, RAC
Engineer & Regulatory Specialist at Empirical Technologies, an ATS Company
Nathan Wright, MS, RAC
Engineer & Regulatory Specialist at Empirical Technologies, an ATS Company
Nathan Wright has spent nearly a decade at Empirical Technologies as a leading expert in regulatory affairs and mechanical testing of orthopedic implants. Authoring over a hundred submissions to the FDA, he has established a reputation as an advocate for manufacturers on behalf of the FDA and as an advocate to the FDA on behalf of manufacturers to facilitate the easiest and smoothest pathways for each party. Among the products he has seen cleared, he is recognized as an authority in spinal, sacroiliac, and trauma implants, as well as surgical navigation instrumentation. His clients include many domestic and international manufacturers. On the testing side, Wright is a member and contributor to ASTM's medical device sub-committees and has developed several test methods including the recently published ASTM F3574 standard for sacroiliac fusion implant testing.
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