We are empowering everyday people to do extraordinary things.
Our Story
Rory Beyer, Moseley Andrews, and Sameer Jafri came together with a seemingly simple idea – that anyone can and should be able to positively impact the outcome of a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) rescue.
Pursued by their complementary skills and background, they met at a conference focused on SCA prevention and quickly came together to share a vision for the profound impact that a more effective solution could have on thousands of families every year.
With Rory and Moseley’s technical expertise and a novel AED concept, they had developed at MIT, combined with Sameer’s experience in SCA prevention through his non-profit organization – Saving Hearts Foundation, the three co-founded Avive in 2017.
Our Mission, Vision, and Promise
We strive to increase the survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) by proactively empowering people with reliable life-saving tools. With passion and diligence, we meet people at their level and build technology that is as engaging as it is effective. We transform the SCA rescue scenario from an intimidating call to action into an accessible feat that real people can accomplish without hesitation.
Our Vision: That no witnessed SCA goes untreated.
Promise: To enable anyone to positively impact the outcome of a rescue.
Our Team
We are a diverse and inclusive team of engineers, doctors, first responders, families, and friends driven to create a positive impact. Our story is just beginning, and we hope you’ll come write it with us.
Sameer Jafri
CEO
Sameer Jafri
CEO
Linkedin
Bio
Sameer is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the CEO. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was as the Founder & President of Saving Hearts Foundation, a non-profit based in Los Angeles that is focused on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) prevention. Saving Hearts Foundation provides free preventative heart screenings for youth and also works to place AEDs throughout the community. The foundation has hundreds of volunteers across the Greater Los Angeles Area, and physician support from industry leading cardiologists and electrophysiologists from UCLA, Kaiser Permanente, HCA, and others. Sameer received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA.
Fun Fact
- During his elementary school years he won the award for best “Storyteller in Texas”. He’s still confused as to why his parents had him compete in that competition…
- Believes that ostriches should be eliminated from the Earth (yes he has somehow managed to be attacked by multiple ostriches).
- He’s such a big sports fanatic that he started watching ESPN religiously as a toddler before he watched more typical shows such as Spongebob, Jimmy Neutron, etc…
Rory Beyer
President / COO
Rory Beyer
President / COO
Linkedin
Bio
Rory is one of the Founders of Avive and serves as the President / COO. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was as a product design engineer at Apple, where he contributed to the development and design of future generation accessory products. Rory received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as Mechanical Engineering from MIT. During his time at MIT, Rory held numerous leadership roles in MIT research projects, including among others the electronics development of a car powered completely by Aluminum fuel!
Fun Fact
- Chases fastest known times for running and climbing up mountain peaks, trails, and multi-day routes in the Sierra Nevada and other mountain ranges. Worked four summers as a backpacking guide in Yosemite.
- Eats 8 – 10 Eggo Waffles every morning for breakfast.
- Dream vehicle is a self-driving sprinter van, to eliminate the sleepless nighttime drives to and from backcountry skiing, climbing, and trail running trips.
- In middle school planned to run a marathon on every continent by age 20. Has thus far been to each continent but only ticked off 3 marathons on them.
Moseley Andrews
CTO
Moseley Andrews
CTO
Linkedin
Bio
Moseley is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the CTO. His past experience and passion has revolved around developing innovative healthcare technology. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was working as a researcher at the MIT Media Lab where he helped develop novel sensing and imaging techniques. Moseley received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and while obtaining his degree he led multiple engineering projects that included rehabilitation products for spinal cord, stroke, and brain trauma as well as keyhole neurosurgical instrument design.
Fun Fact
- Made a bet with Rory (CEO) that he will complete a full Ironman before Rory runs the Badwater Ultramarathon.
- Secretly wants to kick his flatmate out of his apartment and turn his room into a fully tricked out dark room to fulfill his film photography dreams.
- Treasures everyday spent hiking or skiing in the Sierra backcountry.
Mike Perry
Executive Chairman & Chairman of Board
Mike Perry
Executive Chairman & Chairman of Board
Linkedin
Bio
Mike is the Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board at Avive. He has over 30 years of experience serving as CEO, founder, and senior executive in private and public healthcare technology companies whose successful exits have generated over $1 billion in shareholder value. Mike is also a founding director and serves as the Chairman for Immunicom, a company at the forefront of developing innovative, non-pharmaceutical approaches for treating cancer, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune diseases. Mike is a visionary entrepreneur who built two companies from start-ups through to completed acquisitions. He was named San Diego’s 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year for Medical Products and Technology. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). Mike served on the UCSD Cardiovascular Center Board of Advisors for over 20 years and the Perry family were founders of Pacific Ridge School, a highly successful independent school in North County San Diego.
Fun Fact
- Married the day after graduating college to the love of his life for 40+ years and together they have raised two amazing young women who rock their world!
- Rode motorcycles and flew airplanes when younger and now enjoys golf and hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (Mexico to Canada) in day increments.
- Grew up in southern Ohio and is a fanatic Ohio State football fan. Sparks fly in the Perry household each November when Ohio State plays his wife’s Michigan Wolverines in their annual rivalry.
Amir Jafri
Board Member
Amir Jafri
Board Member
Linkedin
Bio
Amir is a founding Board member of Avive. He has over 25 years of experience in healthcare technology and medical devices in Fortune 50 companies as well as his own startups. As a senior executive, he has managed multi-billion dollar product lines on a global basis and is highly experienced with global regulatory environments. Most notably, Amir has held the titles VP/CTO, VP R&D, and VP Operations at Cardinal Health, where he managed products with over $1 Billion in annual revenue. Currently, Amir is the CEO and founder of Immunicom, a company developing a revolutionary treatment for cancer.
Fun Fact
- While his professional pursuits keep him busy, his main profession is driving his wife to question her sanity for choosing him as her spouse of 25 years.
- His simple hobbies include restoring American muscle cars (1965 Mustang), model trains, radio control airplanes, matchbox cars, and collecting the complete power tool inventory at Home Depot; of which he knows how to use none.
- He thought he had fixed the brake line in his Mustang, only to have the brakes fail late at night when he was test driving near his house.
Jeff Trost
Board Member
Jeff Trost
Board Member
Linkedin
Bio
Jeff is currently the Managing Partner at Laerdal Million Lives Fund. Formerly, he founded and served as the managing director of Greenbox Venture Partners, while also managing the venture investing at Rock Health. Prior to forming Greenbox, Jeff was the director of healthcare investment banking at GCA Savvian, where he worked with and advised venture-backed, private equity and multinational public companies on fundraising, M&A, joint ventures, partnering and other strategic transactions across various areas of healthcare, including digital health, diagnostic imaging, connected and remote patient monitoring devices and many more. He has specific experience in the cardiac arrest/defibrillator industry, having advised Nihon Kohden on the acquisition of Defibtech, and other industry transactions. Jeff received his Bachelor’s Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Economics from Duke University.
Fun Fact
- Escapes the cold summers of San Francisco for as many Chicago Cubs games as possible.
- Has an overflowing vinyl record collection, but continues digging for near-mint copies of anything in Rod Stewart’s catalog.
- Enjoys viewing the streets of San Francisco through a Canon lens.
Darshana Zaveri
Board Member
Darshana Zaveri
Board Member
Linkedin
Bio
Darshana is a Founder and Managing Partner of CHV. She is actively involved in all aspects of fund management, including investments and capital raising in the medical device, women’s health and diagnostics markets. She led CHV I investments in Augmenix (acquired by Boston Scientific), nVision Medical (acquired by Boston Scientific), and Aria CV. Prior to joining CHV in 2007, Darshana was an Investigator at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and an integral part of drug development programs in oncology, metabolic disease, and immunology. She also has experience in biotechnology and completed an internship at the United Nations. She has authored several publications and scientific journal articles. Darshana currently serves on the Board of several medical device companies, including Avive’s, and is an advisor for various foundations and investment funds. Darshana received an M.P.A. from Harvard University, an M.A. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Boston University, and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Bombay University in Bombay, India.
Fun Fact
- Usually sings Indian classical music but has also been known to belt out Abba’s “Dancing Queen” when pushed to perform.
- Darshana is an avid global traveler but is known to frequently lose her passport, sometimes in foreign lands and has to be rescued by the American consulate.
- Takes pride in cooking at least 4 meals a week, each of a different cuisine as long as the good wine keeps flowing!
Ryan Drant
Board Member
Ryan Drant
Board Member
Linkedin
Bio
Ryan has been actively investing in healthcare since 1996. He specializes in healthcare investments in the medical device, healthcare services, healthcare technology and specialty pharma sectors. During his investment career, he has served on 45 boards of directors and has overseen the deployment of $1.0 billion in equity capital. Ryan has been named four times to the Forbes Midas List of best venture capital investors and most recently recognized as one of the Top 25 Healthcare Investors of 2022 by GrowthCap. Prior to founding Questa, Ryan was a General Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and was with the Health Care Investment Banking Group of Alex. Brown & Sons and Arthur Andersen & Co. Ryan graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Political Science.
Topher Croddy
VP of Finance
Topher Croddy
VP of Finance
Bio
Topher serves as the VP of Finance at Avive, where he is responsible for the Finance and Accounting functions. Prior to joining the team, Topher was most recently the Corporate Controller for NeoTract, a med-tech company which successfully developed a minimally invasive device to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Topher also served as Corporate Controller of Oclaro, a NASDAQ listed manufacturer of optical networking equipment. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from California State University, Hayward and earned his CPA license working for Arthur Andersen in Silicon Valley.
Fun Fact
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Lived the dream on his catamaran sailboat for over three years, sailing 6,000 nautical miles around the Caribbean with his wife and teenage son while listening to way too many Jimmy Buffett and Zac Brown songs to count.
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Has a passion for traveling and has journeyed to all seven continents. Sailed a tall ship to Antarctica, where he once scrambled 30 meters up the rigging above a raging sea off Cape Horn to furl in the highest sails during a storm.
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Enjoys building projects including bathroom remodels, building decks and making an excessive number of trips to Home Depot and Lowes. His favorite tools are his Makita cordless drill and his double compound miter saw.
Jess Koenig
Head of People
Jess Koenig
Head of People
Linkedin
Bio
Jess is passionate about building out the People function as Head of People at Avive. She has over 8 years of HR experience in growing startups and comes most recently from Concord in the Contract Lifecycle Management space. Prior to finding her love of HR, she taught elementary Art for several years.
Fun Fact
- Every Halloween Jess gets to showcase her art background by carving portraits in pumpkins, some of her favorites include RBG, Frida Khalo, and Steve Jobs.
- An avid traveler, Jess has been to all 7 continents.
- Jess spends her weekends recharging outdoors: hiking, camping, kayaking and exploring the city with her dog.
Jonathan Greeley
Recruiter
Jonathan Greeley
Recruiter
Linkedin
Bio
Jonathan is a Recruiter at Avive Solutions. He has over 5 years' experience within talent acquisition, in both agency and internal corporate recruiting. Prior to joining Avive, he helped scale a glycoproteomics biotech startup to three times its headcount. He is passionate about working for a mission-driven company and bringing people on board who want to save lives. Jonathan received his Bachelors in Business Administration from San Diego State University.
Fun Fact
- Jonathan won an impromptu dance competition with his wife at a club in San Salvador, El Salvador in 2017.
- He climbed Mt. Fuji while residing in Japan between 2010 and 2011.
- Jonathan was born on Halloween and coincidentally has a terrier chihuahua mix who resembles a bat.
Frank Fong
Controller
Frank Fong
Controller
Bio
Frank is a certified public accountant (CPA) and held several controllership positions with various software companies. In his most recent role, he helped manage the growth of a software company and its sales to private equity firms. Frank has many years of experience in industrial, governmental and public accounting. He graduated from San Francisco State University and also holds a master's degree from Golden Gate University.
Fun Fact
- Frank once drove solo all the way from New York city to San Francisco in just 52 hours!
- He traveled to nearly all 50 states while working as a U.S. government auditor.
- Enjoys hiking the Bay Area peaks – Mount Tamalpais, Mission Peak, and Mount Diablo.
Annette Kantorczyk
Office & Facilities Manager
Annette Kantorczyk
Office & Facilities Manager
Bio
Annette is Avive's Office & Facility Manager. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and currently lives in the East Bay. She worked in management at Target for 14 years before completely changing course and beginning work in the dental field. For the past three years she held an office manager role supporting both doctors and clients. Annette loves working with people and building connections with her teams.
Fun Fact
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Annette speaks Polish
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Her dog Dexter is named after the show
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She recently checked off a bucket list item, spending New Year's in Rome, Italy
Nicole Li
Staff Accountant
Nicole Li
Staff Accountant
Bio
Nicole worked in a cheese manufacturing company for 5 and a half years and has 7 years of experience in finance. She says the beautiful side of her daily work is that she gets to spend money for the company! Of course before she does that she does ensure that whatever she's paying for everything is legitimate.
Fun Fact
- Nicole enjoys spending time with her little one and hopes to be able to travel with her at least once every year!
- She loves to eat! Nicole enjoys baking and watching Mukbang clips.
- She is a lover of hiking and playing badminton with friends.
Micah Bongberg
VP of Commercialization
Micah Bongberg
VP of Commercialization
Linkedin
Bio
Micah is the VP of Commercialization at Avive where his focus is on bringing Avive’s fantastic AED unit to the masses. Previously, Micah ran a San Francisco-based AED distribution and CPR training organization that provided services for leading organizations across the United States. Most recently, Micah was the CEO of the world’s largest distributor of AED units and supplies. Over his career, Micah has been responsible for the sale and deployment of tens of thousands of AED units which have saved hundreds of lives (and counting!).
Fun Fact
- Micah loves authentic Mexican food; so much so that he opened and ran a popular taco truck one summer.
- Micah is an avid 49ers fan and somehow convinces himself every offseason that “this will be the year….”
- During his time in northern Wisconsin, he used to snowmobile to work, a faster mode of transportation than a car.
Meir Berkman
VP of Strategy & Business Development
Meir Berkman
VP of Strategy & Business Development
Linkedin
Bio
Meir serves as Avive's VP of Strategy & Business Development. With 10 years of service in the 911 industry, Meir offers expertise in digital health, Public Safety, EMS, home health, and healthcare insurance. Meir most recently led the healthcare partnerships at Butterfly Network, a recently publicly listed medical device company. He previously led healthcare partnerships and strategy for RapidSOS, which manages the flow of data for over 200M annual 911 calls. Prior to his time at RapidSOS, Meir worked in regulatory affairs at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and served as the Executive Director of an Upstate New York Emergency Medical Service Group. Meir received his bachelor’s degree and Masters in Public Administration from Binghamton University, and continues to volunteer as a medic in New York City.
Fun Fact
- Meir is a volunteer paramedic in New York City.
- His favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate-chip cookie dough with extra chocolate chips and extra cookie dough.
- Meir ran his own business at the age of 11 selling soda to construction workers out of a cooler he mounted to a homemade bike trailer.
Carly Meiller
Public Access Defibrillator Specialist
Carly Jackson
Public Access Defibrillator Specialist
Linkedin
Bio
Carly is a Public Access Defibrillator Specialist at Avive. Her initial involvement in the AED industry began almost a decade ago as a CPR & AED instructor, which led her to working in AED sales, and later managing the AED division of a Canada based AED distributor. She has held the position of Director of Distribution, and has championed public awareness campaigns dedicated to promoting awareness and understanding amongst the public of the importance of AEDs. Carly has played an integral role in creating two nonprofit organizations dedicated to placing AEDs in communities, as well as spearheading the development of startup companies in the field of AED accessories & AED remote monitoring. Most recently, she worked as a Medical Device Consultant allowing her the opportunity to work hand in hand with multiple AED distributors and manufacturers. Carly received her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physiology and Master of Science degree in Physiology & Pharmacology.
Fun Fact
- Is an avid lover of heights and some may have even called her an adrenaline junkie. This continued even after a rare malfunction occurred with the deployment of her shoot while Skydiving, but slowly came to a halt after an unfortunate bungee jumping mishap.
- If she could spend her day anywhere it would be boating in Muskoka with her family, friends, and of course her golden retriever!
- Her home town is a place called Utopia, Canada – and yes it is quite literally the perfect place.
Gina Rodriguez
Marketing Manager
Gina Rodriguez
Marketing Manager
Bio
Gina is a Marketing Manager at Avive where she facilitates the creation of engaging content and events. She recently worked for the State of Nevada in the economic development arena, planning all aspects of the Governor's international trade missions. Her other work experiences in the Washington, D.C. area and Nevada have been geared toward effective organizational management to drive positive social change. She earned her Bachelor's degree from UC Davis and her MPA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador.
Fun Fact
- Gina, along with her husband, two daughters and two Pugs, have traveled nearly all drivable miles of Route 66 together. This epic cross-country road trip took place before their French Bulldog joined the family.
- Gina is passionate about Halloween costuming.
- She is a collector of heart-shaped rocks, and a lover of cacti and camping.
Yvette Tam
Visual Designer
Yvette Tam
Visual Designer
Bio
Yvette is the Visual Designer at Avive and responsible for managing the Avive brand while leading creative initiatives. Yvette brings diverse design experience from a variety of industries and holds a Bachelors of Science in Graphic Design from the Academy of Art University.
Fun Fact
- Yvette enjoys the outdoors, especially sunrises and sunsets, but she doesn't love camping.
- She is the master of one-pot meals!
- And loves to do something creative every day.
Michael Wittmann
Account Executive
Michael Wittmann
Account Executive
Bio
Mike is the 4 Minute City Account Executive at Avive heading up our efforts to help communities across the nation develop a comprehensive and effective response strategy to Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Mike has more than 15 years of experience creating partnerships that leverage innovative technology solutions to improve lives and make the world a better place. He received his Bachelor‘s degree in Communication Studies from the University of Nebraska.
Fun Fact
- Mike and his wife have 7 children and haven‘t had a good night‘s sleep in years.
- The only time Mike sang karaoke he chose “Round Here” by The Counting Crows. It did not end well.
- When Mike‘s not on the phone or in Zoom meetings he‘s probably outside tending to his flock of chickens, consisting of 43 laying hens and 4 roosters. It‘s a good thing his kids like eggs.
Kat Perry
Content Marketing Specialist
Kat Perry
Content Marketing Specialist
Bio
Kat Perry is a member of the Content Team at Avive and works closely with the commercialization department to create thought provoking content, help organize 4 Minute City related projects, and manage Avive’s social media platforms. A lover of contemporary American poetry and Shakespeare, Kat received her Bachelor’s degree in Art History and English Literature from Kenyon College. Upon graduating, Kat moved to Los Angeles to pursue fashion. There, she worked for the largest multi-line showroom in the US, organizing trade show exhibits, coordinating seasonal collections for 30+ brands, and copywriting, before getting laid off at the onset of COVID. She pursued a teaching credential after that and taught 4th Grade prior to joining Avive. As a result of this eclectic background, Kat is a master writer and communicator who loves to see projects grow from inception to completion.
Fun Fact
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While working as a private tutor in Los Angeles, she taught English to Dwyane Wade’s son,“math” to Heidi Montag’s toddler, and worked with Dr. J’s granddaughter on college applications. (All of their homes are even more insane than you might imagine!!!!)
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Lover of Art History, and makes a lot of mixed media collages. One of which was even featured in Nylon Magazine some years ago!
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Went to college in a small Ohio town where she regularly encountered Amish horses and buggies on the way to class.
Michael Thompson
Sales Development Lead
Michael Thompson
Sales Development Lead
Bio
Michael is the Sales Development Lead at Avive. Previously, Michael was the Partnerships Manager at Blind, a tech company focused on transparency in the workplace, where he focused on building the sales development function of the Talent by Blind product. Michael brings to the team multiple years of enterprise sales development experience in the medical, financial, and tech industries. He received his Bachelor's degree in Communication and Media Studies from Sonoma State University.
Fun Fact
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Michael is an avid cyclist and golfer. When he isn’t riding or golfing, he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend going on hikes with his 125 lb. Leonberger named Leo.
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He is a sports fanatic and loves his professional Bay Area sports teams. He grew up in the We Believe Warriors era and never thought he’d see the Warriors win a championship let alone four. Also, he is a huge 49ers fan from birth because his grandpa played for them. Michael also gives back to his community and coaches youth basketball on the peninsula.
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Michael enjoys traveling the world and trying new food. He also loves cooking and barbecuing and is known for his smoked pulled pork and teriyaki salmon dishes by his friends and family.
Lillian Co
Director of Revenue Operations
Lillian Co
Director of Revenue Operations
Bio
Lillian is the Director of Revenue Operations at Avive. She has over 5 years of experience scaling revenue systems and operations in the IoT and autonomous robotics industry. Prior to Avive, she led sales operations and strategy at Fetch robotics (acquired by Zebra Technologies) and InVia Robotics, a Microsoft venture backed startup. She is passionate about organizational change and bringing teams and technology together. She received her Bachelor’s in Business Management, Decision Sciences from San Francisco State University.
Fun Fact
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Studied classical music for 10 years and has performed at Disney World
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She is a Seahawks fan despite growing up in the Bay Area
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Spends her weekends paddleboarding, hiking with her two dogs, or going to a HIIT workout class
Julie Buckingham
Community Program Manager
Julie Buckingham
Community Program Manager
Bio
Julie is Avive's Community Program Manager. An active member of the public safety communications profession for over 20 years, Julie has served as a telecommunicator, supervisor, training coordinator, EMD instructor, and training/QI program manager. Most recently, she developed and managed a nationally recognized T-CPR quality improvement program. Julie is also an active Resuscitation Academy faculty member, working with systems around the country to improve their outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. She is an active APCO and NENA member, and has served as a member of the NHTSA CPR LifeLinks working committee, AHA T-CPR Task Force, and is the co-chair of the NENA T-CPR standard writing group.
Fun Fact
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Julie actively trains and competes in a dog sport called Schutzhund (also known as IGP), which originated in Germany in the early 1900s as a breed suitability test for the German Shepherd Dog, and tests a dog's tracking, obedience, and protection skills.
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She is an avid astronomy fan and can typically be found in her backyard with her telescope when the even skies are clear.
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Julie's favorite activity to do while in Hawaii is going out for open water swims with the sharks.
David Liu
Client Services Lead
David Liu
Client Services Lead
Bio
David is the Client Services Lead at Avive. Before joining Avive, David was a Customer Success Manager at Anova Culinary, an IoT kitchen technology company specializing in bringing restaurant/industrial cooking practices into the home (sous vide + steam oven cooking). David brings years of experience working with customers in all capacities and troubleshooting connected devices. David received a Bachelors in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Fun Fact
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David is an avid 49ers and Warriors fan and a rare San Francisco native, born and raised in the mission district.
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He wants to travel more in the winter time to snowboard around the world. David once snowboarded into an ice cave in Whistler, Canada.
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A bit of a foodie, David loves to try new restaurants and foods. He's always happy to share/receive local food recommendations!
Maggie Dukes
Account Executive
Maggie Dukes
Account Executive
Bio
After graduating from the University of North Georgia with a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Multimedia Journalism Maggie worked four years at LogoNation powered by Halo as a Community Account Manager. During those four years Maggie grew the Athens, GA territory eventually selling throughout the entire state and training throughout the southeast. After layoffs in 2020 she was one of 5 employees who remained employed throughout the duration of Covid. In May of 2021 she changed paths taking on the role as New Business Representative with Cintas in their First Aid and Safety division. In this role she drove new business revenue through product sales and service. She was Rookie of the Year, member of the 500k Club and managed over 150 accounts. After working closely with her clients she developed her passion for ensuring safe environments and access to lifesaving devices.
Fun Fact
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Maggie was an Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Team Member (cheerleader) from 2010-2013.
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Maggie was also CMT’s Red Carpet CoverGirl at the 2014 Artist of the Year Awards event.
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She made it through 9 rounds of American Idol!
Jack Scala
Account Executive
Jack Scala
Account Executive
Bio
Jack has spent his career in the occupational health & safety industry with more than 5 years experience providing life-saving equipment and solutions to businesses and communities to help create a safe working environment. He was an American Heart Association certified CPR instructor and taught classes on proper emergency response, CPR compressions and AED use before moving into a Sales Representative role. Jack received his Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from The University of Central Florida.
Fun Fact
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One of four boys in his family (3 brothers), injuries were very common in his household. Two out of his four brothers (Jack being 1 of them) had to be airlifted to the ER in a helicopter during separate instances. Perhaps sparking Jack's interest in a career in the safety industry.
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Jack is an avid golfer and sports fan. He has season tickets to the Florida Panthers hockey team and if he is not at the game or out on the golf course he is enjoying time in the sun with his girlfriend Casey and their two dogs, Butters and Emma.
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He loves to cook and barbecue, especially when it means gathering family and loved ones together for a feast. Whether it is on the grill, the smoker, or in the kitchen, Jack loves trying new foods and testing his skills with a new recipe.
Robert Founds
Head of Quality Assurance
Robert Founds
Head of Quality Assurance
Linkedin
Bio
Bob is Head of Quality Assurance at Avive. He brings over 30 years of Quality and Regulatory experience in the medical device industry with small venture-backed medical device companies as well as with large Fortune 500 medical device companies including St. Jude Medical. Bob holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Idaho. Bob is passionate about helping to bring new medical technologies to the patients who need them.
Fun Fact
- Bob has one college-age son, who is currently studying computer science at Stanford University.
- Bob grew up in Alaska and Idaho and loves outdoor activities like camping and fishing.
- A baseball fanatic, the Giants are his team (sorry Dodger’s fans)!
Marcos Urquiza
Senior Supply Chain Manager
Marcos Urquiza
Senior Supply Chain Manager
Bio
Marcos is the Senior Supply Chain Manager at Avive. He brings over 15 years of experience between the medical device and biotech industries with small venture-backed companies as well as large Fortune 500 medical device companies. Most recently, Marcos managed post M&A operations activities for Stryker. Over his career, Marcos has been responsible for supply chain management, materials management, warehousing, logistics, procurement and planning. He has worked with teams to scale business operations and meet customer needs.
Fun Fact
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Marcos has two daughters and loves to spend time with them. Some of their favorite activities are: mountain biking, visiting theme parks & fishing local lakes as well as deep sea fishing.
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Grew up in Dallas, TX and is passionate about the Dallas Cowboys!
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Loves cooking - especially authentic Mexican cuisine, grilling and smoking BBQ
Manasvi Sharma
Lead Manufacturing Engineer
Manasvi Sharma
Manufacturing Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Manasvi is a Manufacturing Engineer at Avive focused on manufacturing operations with the goal of setting up highly efficient, effective, sustainable, and robust manufacturing/supply chain operations for the AED Units. Prior to joining the team, he has worked as an Engineering Intern at Maruti Suzuki India Limited (subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan) in the Operations and Process Control department and contributed in updating certain processes resulting in significant reduction in defects. He also interned at Mahindra and Mahindra Limited where he worked on developing models to optimize inventory and supply chain operations. Manasvi received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology and then a Master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Arizona State University.
Fun Fact
- As a kid, was really afraid of water and spent first month of his swimming lessons hiding in the locker room, eventually got over it, learned swimming, and won various swimming championships.
- In high school, worked with his dad (who is a doctor) to design and install an elevator at his dad’s clinic to move the patients to the second floor. He’s fascinated by powerful cars, follow Formula 1, and regularly do karting with friends.
Golda Cenadoza
Quality Specialist
Golda Cenadoza
Quality Specialist
Bio
Golda is a Quality Specialist at Avive Solutions. Prior to joining Avive, she worked on the Manufacturing and Operations team at Potrero Medical where she helped develop and standardize new processes for for the company’s Class II medical device.
Fun Fact
- Fun Fact: She has fun!
- Can’t get enough of driving up and down the Pacific Coast.
- Is notorious for assuming her friends are interested in spontaneous urban and natural treks which consume the daylight hours.
Marta Sanchez
Quality Assurance Specialist
Marta Sanchez
Quality Assurance Specialist
Bio
Marta is a Quality Assurance Specialist at Avive. She brings twenty eight years of experience in the Medical and Pharmaceutical Device Industry, at both large and small companies. She has supervised production teams of various sizes. At Avive she handles IQC/inspection, NCR, CAPA, materials, purchasing, shipping & receiving, production documentation, and office administration items, among other things.
Fun Fact
- Marta enjoys gardening, cooking and barbecuing with her family and friends.
- She used to enjoy mountain biking, but after taking a few falls, settled upon hiking as her new favorite outdoor activity, which she loves to do with her husband, two sons and daughter.
- Is passionate about ancient history. In her spare time she loves to read, watch documentaries, and learn about the places she visits.
Bingjing Francavilla
Document Control Specialist
Bingjing Francavilla
Document Control Specialist
Linkedin
Bio
Bingjing is Avive’s Document Control Specialist in the Quality Assurance Unit. She has over 20 years of experience working in the Pharmaceutical Industry in QC and Analytical Research & Development area. Her most recent role was the Sr. QC Document Specialist/Data Reviewer in a medical device company (Alexza Pharmaceuticals in Mountain View), where she was responsible for reviewing and releasing all QC related data and was in charge of all compliance related activities in the department.
Fun Fact
- Bingjing has two tuxedo cats, one sleeps and snores all the time. During his rare waking moments, he likes to watch TV and will strike an endless conversation by meowing. Her other cat is very active all the time, and has asthma, sometimes requiring an inhaler to help her breathe.
- An amateur photographer, Bingjing loves taking photos of nature. She is excited by looking at ordinary things from a different perspective and loves to create lasting memories with her photos.
- Took oil painting classes for about two years and produced about a dozen or so paintings that she proudly displays on her dining room walls. When you have the right teacher/mentor and the mindset, anything is possible!
Jenny Lee
Quality Engineer
Jenny Lee
Quality Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Jenny is a quality engineer at Avive Solutions. Prior to joining Avive, Jenny worked for other start-up companies where she worked on both pharmaceutical products and Class II and III medical devices. Jenny is passionate about learning innovative products which can have an impact on improving people’s lives. Jenny received her Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of California, Irvine.
Fun Fact
- Jenny is on a mission to try all of the famous sushi restaurants in the world!
- Loves outdoor activities - hiking, camping, running, climbing, and snowboarding.
- Did not watch any Disney movies when she was a kid so now she is trying to watch all of them. So far, she has loved Lion King & Aladdin the most!
Jase Sanz
Medical Device Assembler
Jase Sanz
Medical Device Assembler
Bio
Jase is and Assembler at Avive Solutions. Prior to joining Avive, Jase worked at an Aesthetics device company where he manufactured several of their devices. Jase aspires to learn and work his way to become an engineer.
Fun Fact
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Jase is a huge fan of Star Wars, you can ask him almost any question about the Star Wars universe and he’ll most likely have an answer for you. With that being said he has a three lightsabers and his collection is still growing.
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As a person who appreciates music, Jase has gone to many festivals over the last few years. His favorites so far are EDC, Coachella, and Countdown.
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Jase also loves to take pictures, he mostly takes portrait photos for his friends and family, but he’s trying to branch out into more landscape and motion photography. He also spent way too much money on a camera he never uses.
Dexter Li
Quality Assurance Specialist
Dexter Li
Quality Assurance Specialist
Bio
Dexter is a Quality Assurance Specialist at Avive. Prior joining Avive, Dexter was a production controller at Culture biosciences in South San Francisco where he managed materials, costs, forecasting and issuing work orders for operations to assemble bio reactors and single use medical equipment.
Fun Fact
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A lover of EDM music, Dexter and has been going to festivals since 2012.
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Dexter loves his cat "Emi" very much. She is a grey Tabby and loves head and belly rubs.
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Dexter is a movie/show connoisseur. His favorite movies are the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He enjoys Star Wars, Marvel, Vikings, and thrillers, shows that keep him on the edge.
Tony Luo
Distribution Supervisor
Tony Luo
Distribution Supervisor
Bio
Tony has been in shipping and materials handling across a diverse range of industries, including fashion, biotech, and the medical device industries for most of his career. His last position was in customer service, where he helped coordinate shipping with customers. As Avive's Distribution Supervisor he's here to help ship our amazing product wherever it needs to go!
Fun Fact
- Tony loves backpacking in different countries, experiences all aspects of new cultures- the food, sightseeing and everyday life.
- He is a good cook who enjoys cooking, but sometimes he would like someone else to do the cooking so he can do the eating!
- Tony loves outdoor sports. Volleyball, snowboarding, hiking, and biking are some of his favorites.
Eric Meza
Materials Handler
Eric Meza
Materials Handler
Bio
Before joining Avive, Eric worked at Amazon as a Warehouse Associate/Picker for customer order fulfillment. Shortly after, he was presented with an opportunity to move and work in Minnesota for Stryker. While at Stryker he managed materials, incoming receiving, product shipment to distribution centers, and material transfers between sites.
Fun Fact
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Eric loves watching and listening to true crime documentaries/podcasts. He hopes to attend true crime conventions in the near future.
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He's a proud Texan, with Dallas being his home city most of his life.
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A lover of watching sports, most notably his favorite team, the Dallas Mavericks.
Sean Cohen
VP of Hardware
Sean Cohen
VP of Hardware
Linkedin
Bio
Sean has built a career in life science and medical device instrumentation and is currently our VP of Hardware. He is a leader of our talented multidisciplinary Research and Development team that works diligently for the opportunity to save more lives and improve outcomes from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Sean worked as a computer repair tech and IT administrator through college and started his career as an independent field service engineer where he was exposed to hundreds of different medical devices and instruments. He learned how to approach highly technical problems in complex systems without support or literature from the original manufacturers. He has been a part of medical device design and production launch teams for ECG, SpO2, and other vital signs monitoring devices as well as medication adherence, in vitro diagnostics, and cosmetic implantables.
Fun Fact
- Sean was a member and leader of multiple autonomous vehicle teams at the University of Florida including SubjuGator, the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) that won international competitions for three consecutive years.
- Has a hobby of building his own custom ebikes from the bare frame up. Sean has built many models suited for leisure, mountain biking, urban commuting, and kid towing.
- Sean has a young family and enjoys coaching his kids teams for youth sports.
Chris Kohlbrecher
Director of Software Quality & Cyber Security
Chris Kohlbrecher
Director of Software
Linkedin
Bio
Chris Kohlbrecher is the Director of Software Engineering at Avive with 20+ years of experience in creating novel and high-performing software solutions as both a leader and hands-on technical expert. He has over 10+ years of expertise in Medical Device development including leading software and systems engineering teams, 510k / CE Mark submissions, alpha, beta, release to market, QMS, audit and post-market. Chris has a track record of success developing and implementing software products, systems integration, device integration, analytics, cybersecurity, SaaS and Cloud solutions from concept to production release. He holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Illinois State University in Applied Computer Science.
Fun Fact
- He is a dedicated, hands-on sports dad. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to root for his kids at baseball, basketball, football or gymnastics.
- He loves to cook for his family and friends. His wife and friends most enjoy any meat he smokes and his friends want him to open a restaurant.
- He will always participate in Karaoke when available and is partial to performing in a duet.
- He loves the family’s pug to the point where his kids wonder who is higher priority.
Jimy Pesin
Director of Hardware
Jimy Pesin
Director of Systems Engineering
Linkedin
Bio
Jimy is the Director of Systems Engineering at Avive Solutions. He has worked both in several start ups as well as large corporations developing medical devices. His past experiences include leading a technical team developing high power laser systems for stone and tissue ablation in the urinary pathway, developing neurostimulation systems for peripheral neuropathy and overactive bladder, and designing a novel respiratory monitoring system for premature infants. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from RIT in Rochester, NY and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.
Fun Fact
- Loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen which have led to various fermentation projects/explosions.
- Fascinated by linguistics, etymology and their cultural evolution.
- Has a dog, Mango, that managed to eat batteries and a toaster when he was home alone. Mango was unfazed and is happy and healthy.
- “Secretly” wants to buy a plot of land, build his own house with a woodshop and pottery studio, start a small self-sustaining farm and raise alpacas.
Greg Feneis
Senior Electrical Engineer
Greg Feneis
Senior Electrical Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Greg is a Senior Electrical Engineer at Avive Solutions. He has over 20 years of electronics design and manufacturing experience, and nearly 10 of those years have been focused on medical device products. Throughout his career, Greg has developed a variety of Class II and III medical device products that have gone on to receive FDA approval. His most recent role prior to joining Avive was as a Senior Electrical Engineer at Element Science – a medical device company that has developed a novel wearable defibrillator technology. Greg received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from Old Dominion University, where he specialized in machine controls and control system theory.
Fun Fact
- Greg is an avid baker, and frequently enjoys the peace of mind and satisfaction that comes from baking rustic artisan loaves on a daily basis.
- He once belonged to an award-winning NASCAR team that took Rookie of the year, track champion, and second place, all in 3 seasons.
- In a previous work situation he was given the nickname “Ol’ Greg” a la The Mighty Boosh’s character of the same name.
- Greg likes to sing karaoke but struggles with pop music because it’s typically performed by tenors or higher registers, and poor Ol’ Greg is a baritone.
- He thinks puns are mountainous (beyond hill areas), and they’re great because Annie Juan can do it.
Andreea Martin
Electrical Engineer
Andreea Martin
Electrical Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Andreea is an Electrical Engineer at Avive Solutions. Prior to joining the team, she worked as an Electrical Engineering Intern at Fitbit where she worked on developing an alternative heart rate monitoring solution for the Alta HR and their future devices. Andreea received her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT. During her time at MIT, she focused her research efforts on power electronics and has a pending publication from the work she did during her time at the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT.
Fun Fact
- As an Electrical Engineer, she secretly wishes more people who ask about MCUs actually want to talk about Marvel.
- She lurks on cinematography forums with the hope of one day actually making a film.
- She’s a pro at making sangria (or maybe just forgets things in the fridge for too long).
- She once got stuck in a stand-off with a gator at the dead-end of a swamp trail.
Priscilla Agosto
Mechanical Engineer
Priscilla Agosto
Mechanical Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Priscilla is a Mechanical Engineer at Avive Solutions. Her most recent role prior to joining the team was working as a Mechanical Engineer at Brooks Automation where she contributed to designing and building a cryogenic sample management robot as well as using machine learning to predict the performance of semiconductor automation robots. Prior to her time at Brooks Automation, Priscilla worked at Medtronic where she was a part of a team that designed and built a surgical robot system. Priscilla received her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. During her time at MIT, Priscilla mentored students taking a Design and Manufacturing class as they used machinery to build robots.
Fun Fact
- Was born and raised on an island but somehow dislikes seafood and swimming.
- Hopes to attend all four Grand Slam singles finals before turning 30. Has so far been to none of them.
- Loves to rock climb but is terrified of heights.
Richard Denton
Lead Quality Assurance Engineer
Richard Denton
Lead Quality Assurance Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Richard is the Lead Quality Assurance Engineer at Avive. Prior to joining the team, Richard was a Quality Assurance Technician for CRISI Medical Systems (acq. by Becton Dickinson), where he ran verification and validation testing and systems engineering for their 510(k) medical device.
Fun Fact
- Connoisseur of eclectic music; from twelve-tone serialism to avant garde jazz to technical metal – the stranger the better!
- Regularly submits self to the tortures of cat allergies in order to experience the joys of the relentlessly adorable and world’s greatest domesticated predator.
- Avid lover of both astronomy and sushi – plans to retire on whichever colonized Jovian moon has the largest sustainable salmon farms.
- Firm believer in the dietary discipline of ‘breakfastism’ – a practice that sees no distinction relating the time of day and the consumption of traditional breakfasts foods.
Chris Lawson
Senior Firmware Engineer
Chris Lawson
Senior Firmware Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Chris is a Senior Firmware Engineer at Avive Solutions. He has over 20 years of experience designing embedded systems for products in various industries, including ag-tech and healthcare. Throughout his career, Chris has taken numerous complex electro-mechanical products from concept through commercial production. He received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Nebraska. Go Huskers!
Fun Fact
- Loves all things soccer. Plays futsal with friends each week, coaches his kid’s teams, and watches Premier League games whenever possible.
- Plays the bass guitar, because bass holds the band together.
- Has an overly technical process of making homemade popcorn, which includes spinning and tossing the bowl to evenly distribute butter and salt.
- Developed a product that was used by the USA Bobsled Team during training, leading to a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics!
Ben Yuan
Senior Firmware Engineer
Ben Yuan
Senior Firmware Engineer
Bio
Ben is a Senior Firmware Engineer at Avive. He has over 30 years of experience in embedded systems R&D. He is a lifelong dreamer with ambitions of working on the greatest technologies and building the very best products. During his career he has worked on everything from surveillance cameras, to monitor wall processors, to hi-fi smart speakers, to vapor devices. Prior to joining the Avive team, he led the firmware team at Pax Labs.
Fun Fact
- Ben is often told, “You look younger than your age!” In fact, he was asked to show his ID to prove his age when purchasing wines at Costco just a few years ago.
- Could not swim a single lap long until joining his college's winter swim team! The training exercise for his first lap was in an outdoor non-heated pool with freezing cold water. It took just a moment for him to reach the other side. He is grateful that his survival instinct kicked in!
- He will always participate in Karaoke when available and is partial to performing in a duet.
- Ben loves to garden, hike, and cook. He cooks every dish with unique flavors and lets his life circumstances and feelings guide him in the kitchen. He does not rely upon specific ingredient lists or measurements. His Sweet and Sour Ribs and Mapo Tofu are the best in the entire world, according to his friends.
Scott Ellerthorpe
Senior Firmware Engineer
Scott Ellerthorpe
Senior Firmware Engineer
Linkedin
Bio
Scott is a Senior Firmware Engineer at Avive. He brings over 20 years experience designing embedded systems. He holds a BSEE from Purdue and an MSEE from Illinois. After an initial career focus in motion control systems, he has focussed on medical systems for the past 7 years. In addition to creating firmware, past experiences include hardware design and algorithm development (including 5 patents).
Fun Fact
- Scott’s favorite season is ski season.
- He used to play both the Bassoon and the Tenor Sax.
- Scott grew up in a small Michigan town of just 1200 people.
Cyrus Walker
Senior Mobile Software Developer
Cyrus Walked
Senior Mobile Software Developer
Bio
Cyrus graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelors in Computer Science in 2010 and has 10+ years of experience working with web and mobile technologies. Prior to Avive he worked as a Senior Mobile Developer at Immertec. Prior to Immertec, he was the Lead Mobile Developer at DadeSystems for 4 years.
Fun Fact
- Cyrus is a father to 3 beautiful children who he is absolutely obsessed with.
- He is a major Batman fan and has amassed a massive collection of Batmobile Hotwheels and memorabilia.
- Never misses an opportunity for Korean BBQ, Soju and Karaoke
- Loves going to Miami Dolphin football games and tailgating with friends
Deval Gupta
Firmware Engineer
Deval Gupta
Firmware Engineer
Bio
Deval is a Firmware Engineer at Avive Solutions. Prior to joining Avive, he was the sole firmware engineer at another medical device startup, where he developed low power firmware for a micro-needle based continuous glucose monitoring system as well as the software for its manufacturing platform. He is passionate about solving complex hardware/software problems in the medical device and biotechnology startup space, and developing products that can improve and save lives. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and then his Masters in Biomedical Engineering from UC San Diego.
Fun Fact
- Loves to play tennis, or any other racket sport; you can usually find him on the tennis court
- Is an avid reader, whether it be science fiction, economics/history, or novels
- On a mission to explore all the US National Parks!
Michael Robinson
Embedded Test Engineer
Michael Robinson
Embedded Test Engineer
Bio
Michael is an Embedded Test Engineer at Avive. He creates data-driven embedded software test automation frameworks. He is skilled in test case development, test case automation, and test case failure analysis. He has extensive experience in the automotive industry.
Fun Fact
- Michael is a SCUBA diver.
- He previously worked as an Automotive Diagnostic Technician.
- Michael loves motorcycles!
Gaurav Rao
Director of Software
Gaurav Rao
Software Architect
Linkedin
Bio
Gaurav is the Software Architect at Avive, where he leads the development of the product’s backend architecture. Prior to joining the team, Gaurav built up 8 years of valuable experience with software and web development, database management, and data analysis. Gaurav received his Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Computer Applications as well as a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Innovation in Halifax, Canada.
Fun Fact
- You may find a collection of more than two dozen cellphones in his desk drawers.
- He is surprisingly, a lover of nature over technology.
- Like a true renaissance man, he has modified two cars and one bike.
Dan Galkowski
Software Architect
Dan Galkowski
Software Architect
Linkedin
Bio
Dan is a Software Architect at Avive Solutions. He has over 30 years of experience as a software developer developing software for a number of industries, most notably banking and medical devices. His most recent role prior to joining the team has been as Principal Software Engineer of CRISI Medical Systems (acq. by Becton Dickinson). Dan is a strong software engineering professional with a BA in Computer Science from University of California, San Diego.
Fun Fact
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- Avid fish collector. Has 4 aquariums with ~100 Lake Malawi African cichlids and a backyard pond containing ~20 Koi.
- Enjoys creating art work using various paint pouring techniques and turned his half of the garage into a painting studio.
- Once accepted a pushup challenge and was able to complete 1,004 pushups in one hour.
Andrew Galkowski
Software Engineer
Andrew Galkowski
Software Engineer
Bio
Andrew is a Software Engineer at Avive Solutions. Prior to joining the team, he was a Software/QA Intern at CRISI Medical Systems (acq. by Becton dickinson), where he performed AD HOC QA testing, ran verification and validation testing and developed test applications for the company’s Class II medical device.
Fun Fact
- Andrew has a 3rd Degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
- He come close to the world record snapping speed (296 snaps in 1 minute)
- He also loves playing laser tag and attending hour long laser tag events with his father and friends.
Kellen Carpenter
Cloud Test Engineer
Kellen Carpenter
Cloud Test Engineer
Bio
Kellen is a Cloud Test Engineer at Avive. He holds a BSEE degree from UC Riverside. With 16 years of experience in software testing, Kellen has worked for a variety of industries. Before coming to Avive, Kellen was an QA AI Architect where he was working on a Conversational AI project.
He has worked in several FDA regulated environments such as manufacturing a raw human milk fortifier, medical ventilators and medical ultrasound. Kellen brings knowledge of modern SDLC practices and test automation capabilities for desktop, mobile and websites. Kellen has been SRE and QA Manager in previous roles.
Fun Fact
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Kellen is a Reiki Master Healer.
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He is an avid reader of self-development books.
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Kellen loves Hatha Yoga because of the groundwork and slow pace.
Hawley Jean
Full Stack Software Developer
Hawley Jean
Full Stack Software Developer
Bio
Hawley is a software developer at Avive. Prior to joining Avive, Hawley has hopped between a medical device start-up, an application product agency, and an accounting corporation all as a backend engineer. Hawley is highly interested in embedded software technology and engineering software systems. Hawley received his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Dalhouse University, Halifax.
Fun Fact
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Hawley is an avid swing dancer and travels to different cities for workshops.
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Hawley’s parents ran a Chinese Restaurant back in Halifax Nova Scotia in Canada. So he takes a lot of inspiration in his at home cooking from helping out there as a teenager.
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Hawley is a huge fan of classical guitar, hiking, bouldering, reading, dodgeball, and the oxford comma
Erik Buchholz
Senior Embedded Software Test Engineer
Erik Buchholz
Senior Embedded Software Test Engineer
Bio
Erik has worked in software for about 20 years, 13 of which was spent developing embedded systems. The remaining time was spent writing test automation and working in Software Quality. Almost all of his career has been spent in medical devices. He holds an MS in Computer Science from Cal Poly (SLO).
Fun Facts
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Erik loves being a dad and takes his children very seriously. If you are not careful, he will talk your ears off about how much he adores them!
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He enjoys learning foreign languages and claims he can misunderstand a conversation in a half dozen languages. He lived in Austria and Germany for several years and stays close with his friends and adopted family in Salzburg.
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He used to be an athlete, enjoying swimming, playing water polo, wrestling, and doing Judo and Jiu Jitsu. Nowadays, he just rubs his ever expanding belly and takes lots of ibuprofen.
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He likes to make things with his hands including tiny toy soldiers and old fashioned, traditional pocket knives.
Ian Brune
Senior Mobile Software Developer
Ian Brune
Senior Mobile Software Developer
Bio
Ian spent the last 7 years working at early-stage startups in the Boise area. Most recently, a 4 year tract at Cauze Inc doing fullstack work with a focus on mobile and team development.
Fun Fact
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Ian's biggest hobbies are cooking and gardening. Most of his summer weekends are spent in the garden and kitchen, with a nap in between.
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Before committing to software development, he wanted to be a music teacher.
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For most of his 20s Ian would periodically travel around the country to compete in Magic: the Gathering tournaments (for money!). He still does sometimes.
Senior Backend Software Developer
Bill Blanchard
Senior Backend Software Developer
Bio
Bill is a Senior Software Engineer who works on the product's backend architecture. Prior to joining Avive, Bill built up over 20 years of technology experience in roles ranging from cloud architecture, software development, operations management, and professional services. Bill holds a BS in Computer Science from American University and an MBA from Framingham State University.
Fun Fact
- Bill holds an associates degree in Arabic and did a tour of duty with the US Army in Iraq.
- Moved to Argentina with his family for a year to open an office for a former company.
- Loves spicy food (even if his family doesn't) and grows his own peppers.
- If you're looking for him on Sunday mornings, he'll most likely be watching a Formula 1 race.
Swati Gogineni
Cloud Test Engineer
Swati Gogineni
Cloud Test Engineer
Bio
Swati is a Cloud Test Engineer at Avive. A highly skilled SDET with 5 plus years of experience in the software industry, she has a strong track record of developing test frameworks from scratch, which has resulted in significant improvements in the quality and efficiency of software testing processes. She has worked in various types of software industries, including the healthcare industry, web development, mobile applications and enterprise software. This diverse experience has given her a broad understanding of software development and testing practices. She is committed to ongoing professional development and stays up-to-date with latest trends and best practices in software testing and development.
Fun Facts
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Swati is not just an expert in software development and testing but also has a deep appreciation for music. She holds a diploma in Indian classical music and enjoys practicing in her free time.
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She also loves to channel her creativity into interior decoration. She enjoys experimenting with different styles and themes to create unique and inspiring living spaces.
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Swati is also an adrenaline junkie who loves extreme sports like bungee jumping, skydiving and snowboarding. She is always up for experiencing new levels of excitement and adventure.
Emre Sakarya
Senior Software Engineer, Frontend
Emre Sakarya
Senior Software Engineer, Frontend
Bio
After graduating in the spring of 2017, Emre worked for Deutsche Bank as a software developer, first back-end, then transitioning to full stack, and eventually front-end. He realized that this is the part of the stack he's passionate about, and pivoted to doing front-end exclusively, rewriting the internal record team’s UI in angular 10. After 4.5 years at Deutsche Bank, he joined a med tech startup called Clinic in Durham, NC as a front-end developer. He helped build out a SAAS and an on-prem platform to help clinical study coordinators identify and connect with potential study participants. He was at Clinetic for 1.5 years and left there to join Avive. He is looking to have a greater impact and more ownership in the software he's building. Emre is excited to contribute and make a difference at Avive!
Fun Facts
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Emre was born and raised in Germany until age 14.
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While at UNC Chapel Hill he minored in music with a focus on vocal performance, specifically opera.
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Even though he's a front-end developer, he's actually colorblind (and very grateful for hex codes)!
Sameer Jafri
CEO
Sameer Jafri
CEO
Linkedin
Bio
Sameer is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the CEO. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was as the Founder & President of Saving Hearts Foundation, a non-profit based in Los Angeles that is focused on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) prevention. Saving Hearts Foundation provides free preventative heart screenings for youth and also works to place AEDs throughout the community. The foundation has hundreds of volunteers across the Greater Los Angeles Area, and physician support from industry leading cardiologists and electrophysiologists from UCLA, Kaiser Permanente, HCA, and others. Sameer received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA.
Fun Fact
- During his elementary school years he won the award for best “Storyteller in Texas”. He’s still confused as to why his parents had him compete in that competition…
- Believes that ostriches should be eliminated from the Earth (yes he has somehow managed to be attacked by multiple ostriches).
- He’s such a big sports fanatic that he started watching ESPN religiously as a toddler before he watched more typical shows such as Spongebob, Jimmy Neutron, etc…
Rory Beyer
President / COO
Rory Beyer
President / COO
Linkedin
Bio
Rory is one of the Founders of Avive and serves as the President / COO. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was as a product design engineer at Apple, where he contributed to the development and design of future generation accessory products. Rory received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as Mechanical Engineering from MIT. During his time at MIT, Rory held numerous leadership roles in MIT research projects, including among others the electronics development of a car powered completely by Aluminum fuel!
Fun Fact
- Worked four summers as a backpacking guide in Yosemite. Have run to the top of Half Dome and back down in 2:47.
- In middle school planned to run a marathon on every continent by age 20. Have thus far been to each continent but run 0 marathons.
- Frequently sacrifices feeling in fingers for night-time photos in the Sierras.
- Striving to one day break the record for the fastest time to reach the highest peak in all 50 states (currently 21 days!)
Moseley Andrews
CTO
Moseley Andrews
CTO
Linkedin
Bio
Moseley is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the CTO. His past experience and passion has revolved around developing innovative healthcare technology. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was working as a researcher at the MIT Media Lab where he helped develop novel sensing and imaging techniques. Moseley received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and while obtaining his degree he led multiple engineering projects that included rehabilitation products for spinal cord, stroke, and brain trauma as well as keyhole neurosurgical instrument design.
Fun Fact
- Made a bet with Rory (CEO) that he will complete a full Ironman before Rory runs the Badwater Ultramarathon.
- Secretly wants to kick his flatmate out of his apartment and turn his room into a fully tricked out dark room to fulfill his film photography dreams.
- Treasures everyday spent hiking or skiing in the Sierra backcountry.
Mike Perry
Executive Chairman & Chairman of Board
Mike Perry
Executive Chairman & Chairman of Board
Linkedin
Bio
Mike is the Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board at Avive. Mike has over 30 years of experience serving as CEO, founder, and senior executive in private and public healthcare technology companies. Those companies have gone on to achieve three consecutive successful exits, which have generated over $1 Billion in shareholder value. Most notably, Mike served as the Vice President of Operations and Research and Development at Pyxis Corporation, where he was a part of the executive team that successfully acquired and integrated three businesses into Pyxis and in 1996, sold to Cardinal Health, Inc. for over $900 Million. Following his success at Pyxis, he became the CEO of CardioDynamics, an innovative medical device in the cardiology space that was struggling. He led the company’s turnaround and efforts to get their device approved by the FDA, and ultimately grew the company until he sold it to Sonosite in 2009. Most recently, he was the CEO of CRISI Medical Systems, where he led the company from the infancy stages of product development all the way through FDA approval, and ultimately sold the company to Becton Dickinson (BD) in 2015. Mike received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), and his MBA from Harvard University.
Fun Fact
- Married the day after graduating college to the love of his life for over 35 years and together they raised two incredible young women who rock their world!
- Traded riding motorcycles and flying airplanes in the first half of his life with chasing birdies on a southern California golf course or high in the mountains on extreme day hikes.
- With his wife, he helped found a highly successful independent middle and high school and a renowned cardiovascular center in San Diego.
Topher Croddy
VP of Finance
Topher Croddy
VP of Finance
Bio
Topher serves as the VP of Finance at Avive, where he is responsible for the Finance and Accounting functions. Prior to joining the team, Topher was most recently the Corporate Controller for NeoTract, a med-tech company which successfully developed a minimally invasive device to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Topher also served as Corporate Controller of Oclaro, a NASDAQ listed manufacturer of optical networking equipment. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from California State University, Hayward and earned his CPA license working for Arthur Andersen in Silicon Valley.
Fun Fact
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Lived the dream on his catamaran sailboat for over three years, sailing 6,000 nautical miles around the Caribbean with his wife and teenage son while listening to way too many Jimmy Buffett and Zac Brown songs to count.
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Has a passion for traveling and has journeyed to all seven continents. Sailed a tall ship to Antarctica, where he once scrambled 30 meters up the rigging above a raging sea off Cape Horn to furl in the highest sails during a storm.
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Enjoys building projects including bathroom remodels, building decks and making an excessive number of trips to Home Depot and Lowes. His favorite tools are his Makita cordless drill and his double compound miter saw.
Micah Bongberg
VP of Commercialization
Micah Bongberg
VP of Commercialization
Linkedin
Bio
Micah is the VP of Commercialization at Avive where his focus is on bringing Avive’s fantastic AED unit to the masses. Previously, Micah ran a San Francisco-based AED distribution and CPR training organization that provided services for leading organizations across the United States. Most recently, Micah was the CEO of the world’s largest distributor of AED units and supplies. Over his career, Micah has been responsible for the sale and deployment of tens of thousands of AED units which have saved hundreds of lives (and counting!).
Fun Fact
- Micah loves authentic Mexican food; so much so that he opened and ran a popular taco truck one summer.
- Micah is an avid 49ers fan and somehow convinces himself every offseason that “this will be the year….”
- During his time in northern Wisconsin, he used to snowmobile to work, a faster mode of transportation than a car.
Meir Berkman
VP of Strategy & Business Development
Meir Berkman
VP of Strategy & Business Development
Linkedin
Bio
Meir serves as a Public Safety & Healthcare advisor to Avive. With 10 years of service in the 911 industry, Meir offers expertise in digital health, Public Safety, EMS, home health, and healthcare insurance. Meir currently leads healthcare partnerships at Butterfly Network, a recently publicly listed medical device company. He previously led healthcare partnerships and strategy for RapidSOS, which manages the flow of data for over 200M annual 911 calls. Prior to his time at RapidSOS, Meir worked in regulatory affairs at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and served as the Executive Director of an Upstate New York Emergency Medical Service Group. Meir received his bachelor’s degree and Masters in Public Administration from Binghamton University, and continues to volunteer as a medic in New York City.
Fun Fact
- Meir is a volunteer paramedic in New York City.
- His favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate-chip cookie dough with extra chocolate chips and extra cookie dough.
- Meir ran his own business at the age of 11 selling soda to construction workers out of a cooler he mounted to a homemade bike trailer.
Sean Cohen
VP of Hardware
Sean Cohen
VP of Hardware
Linkedin
Bio
Sean has built a career in life science and medical device instrumentation and is currently our VP of Hardware. He is a leader of our talented multidisciplinary Research and Development team that works diligently for the opportunity to save more lives and improve outcomes from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Sean worked as a computer repair tech and IT administrator through college and started his career as an independent field service engineer where he was exposed to hundreds of different medical devices and instruments. He learned how to approach highly technical problems in complex systems without support or literature from the original manufacturers. He has been a part of medical device design and production launch teams for ECG, SpO2, and other vital signs monitoring devices as well as medication adherence, in vitro diagnostics, and cosmetic implantables.
Fun Fact
- Sean was a member and leader of multiple autonomous vehicle teams at the University of Florida including SubjuGator, the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) that won international competitions for three consecutive years.
- Has a hobby of building his own custom ebikes from the bare frame up. Sean has built many models suited for leisure, mountain biking, urban commuting, and kid towing.
- Sean has a young family and enjoys coaching his kids teams for youth sports.
Robert Founds
Head of Quality Assurance
Robert Founds
Head of Quality Assurance
Linkedin
Bio
Bob is Head of Quality Assurance at Avive. He brings over 30 years of Quality and Regulatory experience in the medical device industry with small venture-backed medical device companies as well as with large Fortune 500 medical device companies including St. Jude Medical. Bob holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Idaho. Bob is passionate about helping to bring new medical technologies to the patients who need them.
Fun Fact
- Bob has one college-age son, who is currently studying computer science at Stanford University.
- Bob grew up in Alaska and Idaho and loves outdoor activities like camping and fishing.
- A baseball fanatic, the Giants are his team (sorry Dodger’s fans)!
Jess Koenig
Head of People
Jess Koenig
Head of People
Linkedin
Bio
Jess is passionate about building out the People function as Head of People at Avive. She has over 8 years of HR experience in growing startups and comes most recently from Concord in the Contract Lifecycle Management space. Prior to finding her love of HR, she taught elementary Art for several years.
Fun Fact
- Every Halloween Jess gets to showcase her art background by carving portraits in pumpkins, some of her favorites include RBG, Frida Khalo, and Steve Jobs.
- An avid traveler, Jess has been to all 7 continents.
- Jess spends her weekends recharging outdoors: hiking, camping, kayaking and exploring the city with her dog.
Megan Moynahan
FDA Strategist
Megan Moynahan
FDA Strategist
Linkedin
Bio
Megan is Avive’s FDA Strategist, and advises the company on its regulatory strategy and participates in all FDA interactions. Most notably, Megan was the former FDA Branch Chief of Cardiac EP Devices, where she led the Cardiac Electrophysiology and Monitoring Network. Specifically, she was responsible for ensuring coordinated regulation of pacemakers, defibrillators, EP devices, and cardiac monitoring systems at FDA.
Darlene Crockett-Billig
Regulatory Advisor
Darlene Crockett-Billig
Regulatory Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Darlene is Avive’s Regulatory Advisor, and supports Avive’s day-to-day interaction with regulatory agencies. During her 40+ year career in the medical device industry, Darlene has directed over 300 successful submissions, including PMAs, IDEs, 510(k)s, HDEs, De Novos, Technical Files and Design Dossiers. She has been responsible for regulatory affairs, quality systems and clinical research activities for a myriad of products, including implantable and active implantable devices, combination products, in vitro diagnostics, and instruments.
Dr. Ronald Berger
Medical Advisor
Dr. Ronald Berger
Medical Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Dr. Ronald Berger serves as a Medical Advisor to Avive and is one of the company’s clinical experts for interaction with the FDA. He serves as the Chief of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Berger has nearly 250 papers published in peer-reviewed medical journals and holds over 30 patents in the fields of arrhythmia detection, catheter ablation, defibrillation, and cardiopulmonary resuscitations. Finally, he has received numerous honors including a FIRST award from the NIH and an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. Dr. Berger received his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, his M.D. from Harvard University, and completed his Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Fred St. Goar
Medical Advisor
Dr. Fred St. Goar
Medical Advisor
Bio
Dr. Fred St. Goar serves as a Medical Advisor to Avive Solutions. He is known as a an active participant in the medical device industry, and was part of the founding teams at Evalve (acq. by Abbott) and Heartport (acq by Johnson & Johnson). Dr. St. Goar is still a practicing interventional cardiologist at El Camino Hospital and serves as the Medical Director of the Norma Melchor Heart and Vascular Institute based at El Camino. He also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board at the Fogarty Institute for Innovation. Dr. St. Goar received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and completed his medical and cardiology training at Stanford University.
Dr. Maulik Majmudar
Medical Advisor
Dr. Maulik Majmudar
Medical Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Dr. Maulik Majmudar serves as a Medical Advisor to Avive Solutions. Known as a renowned cardiologist and “master of bringing technology into the clinic”, Dr. Majmudar was hired by Amazon to help implement and massively scale new healthcare innovation. Prior to his role at Amazon, Dr. Majmudar practiced cardiology and served as the Associate Director of the Healthcare Transformation Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital – where he successfully incubated numerous healthcare technologies and had a specific focus on leveraging technology to improve the experience and value of care for both patients, providers, and the health system. He also served as a lecturer and visiting scientist at MIT, as well as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Majmudar received his M.D. from Northwestern University, completed his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed his cardiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Joseph Smith
Medical Advisor
Dr. Joseph Smith
Medical Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Dr. Joe Smith serves as a Medical Advisor to Avive Solutions, and is one of the company’s Key Opinion Leaders in the med tech industry. His current role is as President and Chief Executive Officer of Reflexion Health, a Digital Health Corp company. Dr. Smith’s leadership background also includes serving as Vice President of Emerging Technologies for Johnson & Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Guidant/Boston Scientific’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division, and Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Before that, Dr. Smith was a practicing cardiologist/electrophysiologist for almost twenty years, training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, with subsequent sub-specialty training in clinical cardiac electrophysiology and faculty appointments at Washington University in St Louis and Johns Hopkins University. He also Founded the Arrhythmia Institute, which specializes in interventional cardiac electrophysiology and clinical research. An international speaker on healthcare innovation, Dr. Smith has testified before various Congressional committees on the value of healthcare technology, and has served on the Food and Drug Administration Safety Innovation Act (FDASIA) workgroup. He’s also held various advisory and board roles in an array of start-up companies, foundations, and universities, and is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Ricardo Martinez
Medical Advisor
Dr. Ricardo Martinez
Medical Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Dr. Ricardo Martinez serves as a Medical Advisor to Avive Solutions. As a nationally recognized emergency physician, he is the company’s Key Opinion Leader to the emergency medicine community. Currently, Dr. Martinez is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Adeptus Health, a leading patient-centered healthcare services company that is also the parent company of the largest freestanding emergency-room network in the U.S. – First Choice Emergency Room. Among many notable senior roles that he has held in business, academia, and federal government, Dr. Martinez previously served as the Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs for the Schumacher Group, a leading emergency medicine practice management company, and was also appointed Federal Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) by President Clinton. Finally, he has been a senior medical advisor to the National Football League since 1988, facilitating medical care, emergency planning, preparedness and public health for The Super Bowl. Dr. Martinez received his M.D. from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, and completed his residency at LSU-Charity Hospital, where he was Chief Resident.
Mark Hermes
Strategic Advisor
Mark Hermes
Strategic Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Mark Hermes serves as a Strategic Advisor to Avive, guiding the company on commercialization and sales strategy. Mark has over 14 years of experience in the AED industry at Cardiac Science Corporation. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Sales at Cardiac Science during a time where the Company significantly grew market share and was eventually acquired by ZOLL Medical Corporation in 2019.
Mark Taylor
Strategic Advisor
Mark Taylor
Strategic Advisor
Bio
Mark Taylor serves as a Strategic Advisor to Avive. He began his career in Medical Equipment sales in 1999. In 2011, he founded Master Medical Equipment (MME) with the goal of being able to fill the gap in quality sales and service of small electronic medical equipment, specializing in Professional Grade Defibrillators and AEDs. Over the last 10 years, MME has become one of the leading AED distributors in the country. Mark is also the founder and President of ReNew Biomedical, a Medical Services company specializing in Repair and Service of Electronic Medical Equipment.
Dr. Frank Laws
Clinical Expert & Medical Advisor
Dr. Frank Laws
Clinical Expert & Medical Advisor
Bio
Dr. Frank A. Laws serves as a Medical Advisor to Avive, and is one of the company’s clinical experts for pre-clinical validation work and interaction with the FDA. He is one of a handful of physicians in the country that practices as both an Interventional Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist. Dr. Laws serves as the Director of the Heart and Vascular Institute and Director of Cardiovascular Innovations and Research Institute at Valley View Hospital in Colorado, where they perform some of the most cutting edge cardiovascular procedures in the U.S. Dr. Laws received his M.D from University of West Indies (Jamaica), and he completed his fellowship in Interventional Cardiology from University of Texas – Houston Medical School and his fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology from Tufts University School of Medicine.
Walt Bochenko
R&D / Quality System Advisor
Walt Bochenko
R&D / Quality System Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Walt serves as an R&D and Quality System Advisor to Avive, and plays an important role in product development and quality system documentation review. He has over 30 years of R&D/Quality System experience in the medical device industry, and during that time has developed and launched over 20 regulated medical devices that had to either go through 510k or PMA approval pathways. His most recent experience was as the VP of Product Development and Quality at CRISI Medical Systems (acq by Becton Dickinson). Walt received his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Joseph Calabro
Operations/Manufacturing Advisor
Joseph Calabro
Operations/Manufacturing Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Joe serves as an Operations and Manufacturing Advisor to Avive, and helps the company interface with its various manufacturing partners and suppliers. He has over 30 years of experience working in lead operations/engineering roles for Fortune 50 companies, as well as startups, to bring innovative medical devices to market. His most notable experience was as the VP of Operations at CRISI Medical Systems (acq by Becton Dickinson). Joe received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and later went on to receive his MBA from Boston University.
Dr. Asif Ali
Medical Advisor
Dr. Asif Ali
Medical Advisor
Linkedin
Bio
Dr. Asif Ali serves as a Medical & Business Development Advisor to Avive, and is influential in connecting Avive with prominent physician and potential industry collaborators across the country. He is one of the leading Cardiologists in the Greater Houston Area, and is a champion for prevention of cardiac arrest (specifically mass AED dissemination), and has served as a Medical Expert for legislative efforts that pertain to this topic in Texas. Dr. Ali received his M.D. from University of Texas – Houston Medical School.
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