Harnessing the Power of AI to Reimagine Cardiac Disease Detection

Dr. Tim Attebery is the CEO of Cardiovascular Associates of America (CVAUSA). He and Webster Equity Partners founded CVAUSA in December 2021 with the intent to partner with leading cardiovascular group practices around the US, with a common goal of providing high quality care and an excellent patient experience while reducing the overall cost of care to individuals with heart and vascular disease. At CVAUSA, Attebery has created a business model that enables cardiovascular specialists to retain autonomy augmented by sharing best practices, executive management support, and financial support for major projects and expansion. Practices within the network continue to make all clinical decisions, manage regional operations, maintain their physician compensation plan, and be highly involved in strategic planning and execution at a national level. As of June 2023, CVAUSA has 19 partner groups with 325+ CV specialists operating in eight states. This makes CVAUSA the largest PE-sponsored CV-focused platform in the US.

Elspeth Murray is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, where she has specialized in technology based ventures for the last 18 years. Prior to joining academia, she spent time as a software developer and a systems engineer at IBM, and as an owner/operator of several successful retail ventures. She has served both as a Director and as an advisor for numerous technology-based startups and companies, including Parteq Innovations, the technology transfer organization at Queen’s University.

James McLaren is a Managing Director of TM Capital Corp. and brings his extensive background in the healthcare industry to the firm’s newly formed TM Asante Healthcare Partners. James joins TM Capital from Asante Partners, which he founded more than twenty years ago to provide quality strategic advice to middle-market healthcare companies. Previously, James had a twenty-year career advising corporate clients at Goldman Sachs, where he served as head of European Corporate Finance in London and of International Corporate Finance in New York, leading teams that executed significant global transactions. James is a non-executive director of ABK Biomedical in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is an advisory board member of Radius Ventures, a New York-based firm focused on the healthcare industry. He was previously a director of RTP Pharma in Montreal until its sale to Skye Pharma. James earned a BA with Honors in Economics from Oxford University. James and his wife are active patrons of the arts, supporting emerging artists, theater and dance productions in New York and London. He serves as a Director and Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the leading venue in New York City for contemporary performing arts, and he is a Trustee of The Field, supporting emerging choreographers, composers and directors. James also serves as President of the American Friends of Eton College. He is known for his diverse interests and eclectic tastes, ranging from racquet sports to contemporary art to growing tomatoes, and particularly enjoys the company of his wife, three daughters, five granddaughters and one grandson – at last a boy!

Aaron L. Berez, M.D. is the founder and CEO of Alembic, LLC, a medical device development company in Mountain View developing new devices for Interventional Neuroradiology. At his previous company, Chestnut Medical, he led the development of the Pipeline Embolization Device for the treatment of complex intracranial aneurysms. Chestnut Medical was acquired by Ev3 (now Medtronic) in 2009. Aaron is currently an investor, advisor, and director to privately held medical device companies focused on capital-efficient medical device development. Aaron is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he received his M.D. degree. His postgraduate training was at UCSF/Mt. Zion in Internal Medicine, and Stanford University in Radiology and Neuroradiology.

Stephen has over 15 years of experience in the diagnostics sector of the medical device industry, with experience across various functions, including Quality, R&D, and Operations. He has proven experience in all phases of the medical device lifecycle, from product concept to decommissioning, across multiple jurisdictions, including Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Stephen has worked extensively with automating and modernizing medical device workflows and Quality frameworks and also has expertise in designing algorithms and machine learning. He holds a BS in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Shyam Ramchandani, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, is a serial life sciences entrepreneur with over a decade of drug discovery industry experience, having founded and successfully financed two biopharma ventures. Before his entrepreneurial endeavors, Shyam was a research scientist at Tularik Inc. and Cytokinetics, where he actively participated in preclinical activities, including drug discovery and business development efforts in cancer, immunology, and cardiac muscle biology. Shyam currently serves in adjunct appointments in Ophthalmology and the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. Shyam has an M.B.A. from Queen’s University and earned his doctorate in Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University with his thesis work being the basis for the founding of MethylGene, a prominent Canadian biopharma company that merged with Mirati Therapeutics.

Robyn Baek, Vice President of Finance, is a strategic finance leader with extensive experience in accelerating financial success and establishing a data-driven culture. Robyn previously provided financial leadership at SOC Telemed, an acute care telemedicine company through an IPO and three acquisitions. She also serves as an Editorial Board Member of Telehealth and Medicine Today, an international peer-reviewed journal for healthcare leaders and innovators around the globe. Previously, she was an investment banker at Citigroup and a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. Robyn holds a B.S. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a M.B.A. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Gabrielle Zaeska, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs & Quality, is an established Regulatory Affairs leader with over 15 years of experience in the medical device industry. Her expertise includes executing regulatory strategy and submissions for the US, EU, and Canada markets, as well as supporting new product applications globally (Australia, Asia, Latin America). Gabrielle began her career in biocompatibility before transitioning into Regulatory Affairs where she formerly led teams at St. Jude Medical and Abbott Laboratories within the Structural Heart divisions. She has also served as a working group member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) creating a standard for cardiac occluder devices. Gabrielle received a M.Sc. in Regulatory Affairs from St. Cloud State University and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Minnesota.

Charles R. Bridges, M.D., Sc.D., Executive Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer, was Chief Technology Officer for the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Therapeutic Areas at Janssen Pharmaceuticals and the scientific lead on nearly $1 billion of investments and acquisitions. He was previously Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Carolina’s HealthCare System. Dr. Bridges has 175 peer-reviewed publications and 15 patents. He received an A.B. in Applied Physics from Harvard University magna cum laude, entering Harvard Medical School at age 18, receiving an M.D. (with honors), an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a D.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from MIT.

Don Crawford, President & Chief Executive Officer, is a seasoned medical device executive with a proven track record of excellent results driven leadership through team efforts and focused execution. Don previously founded and led Sapheon Inc., a cardiovascular-focused medical device company, from inception to $238 million acquisition by Covidien in 2014. His career started with Medtronic and included sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility with Guidant Corporation, Ventritex, and Intermedics, including an international sales director role in charge of a $100 million cardiovascular business. Don received his B.Ch.E. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech and M.B.A. from Emory University.

Jonathan Woodward, CTO and General Manager, A4L, is a seasoned technologist with proven experience in researching, developing, and commercializing electronics and software products for the medical and consumer markets. Jonathan previously was the CTO for Zephyr Technology, a remote physiological monitoring company, where he oversaw product development from inception to commercialization, resulting in a successful acquisition by Covidien/Medtronic in 2015. After the acquisition, Jonathan led research and product development of Home and Hospital remote patient monitoring solutions for the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. Jonathan has a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.