September 24, 2021
We’re a team of engineers, doctors, and innovators, a team of first responders, families, and friends on a mission to significantly increase survival rates from Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
We started with a seemingly simple idea – that anyone can and should be able to positively impact the outcome of a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) rescue. Our three Co-Founders met at an industry conference that was focused on Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) prevention, where their complementary skills and background 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. Today we are a committed team of inventors, creative thinkers, and problem-solvers who are intensely driven to achieve our collective mission of significantly increasing SCA survival rates with our next-generation AED and response system.
Our story is just beginning, and we hope you’ll come write it with us.
Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to learn about all of the Avive Connect AED’s features and capabilities as we unveil them. What you see here is just the beginning!
Meet the amazing people on our team!
CEO
Rory is one of the Founders of Avive and serves as the CEO. 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!
President / COO
Sameer is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the President/COO. 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.
CTO
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.
Executive Chairman & Chairman of Board
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.
VP of Operations & Quality
Eric is the VP of Operations & Quality at Avive, where he leads manufacturing operations. Eric has over 20 years in operations leadership roles developing innovative Class III and Class II medical devices and combination products. He has worked at companies which designed, manufactured, and sold devices for cardiology, hemodialysis, OB/GYN, intensive care therapy, angioplasty, stent, coronary artery bypass grafts, AAA, custom stent delivery systems, mitral valve repair, and most recently worked on a critical care monitoring diagnostic tool for predictive health. Most notably, Eric has served as the Director of Manufacturing Operations at XTENT (NYSE: XTNT), the Director of Manufacturing Engineering at Evalve (acq. by Abbot), and most recently the Director of Manufacturing at Potrero Medical. All in all, Eric has worked at startup and corporate environments and has been involved with six acquisitions by large medical technology companies. Eric earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Studies from California State University, San Diego.
VP of Commercialization
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!).
VP of Business Operations
Fouzia is the VP of Business Operations at Avive, where she wears many hats from capital management and budgeting, to human resources. Prior to joining the team, her most notable role was as the Director of Financial Operations at Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). She received her Bachelor’s in Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her MBA in Entrepreneurship from Pepperdine University.
Director of Software
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.
Director of Systems Engineering
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.
Design Assurance Engineering Manager
Sheela is the Design Assurance Engineering Manager at Avive Solutions. She has over 10 years of experience in R&D and Design quality roles developing Class II microfluidic medical devices and Class III combination medical devices. She has worked at small start ups working hands-on in designing prototypes as well as larger corporate companies developing products from the concept to commercialization phase. Most recently she was the Design Quality Engineering Lead for drug catheter balloons at Philips IGT. She has a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of Akron, OH.
Senior Electrical Engineer
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.
Software Architect
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.
Senior Firmware Engineer
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!
Head of Design
Maggie is the Head of Design at Avive Solutions, where she leads all design and creative initiatives. Before joining the team, Maggie ran a digital design business where she specialized in Web Design, UI/UX, and Branding. Maggie holds a Bachelors of Science in Digital Arts from the University of Oregon.
Public Access Defibrillator Specialist
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.
Software Architect
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.
Lead Quality Assurance Engineer
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.
Mechanical Engineer
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.
Quality Specialist
Quality Specialist
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.
Electrical Engineer
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.
Manufacturing Engineer
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.
Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer
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.
Associate Software Engineer
Associate Software Engineer
Andrew is an Associate 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.
Board Member
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.
Board Member
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.
FDA Strategist
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.
Regulatory Advisor
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.
Strategic Advisor
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.
Medical Advisor
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.
Medical Advisor
Medical Advisor
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.
Medical Advisor
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.
Medical Advisor
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.
Medical Advisor
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.
Clinical Expert & Medical Advisor
Clinical Expert & Medical Advisor
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.
Public Safety & Healthcare Advisor
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.
R&D / Quality System Advisor
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.
Operations/Manufacturing Advisor
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.
Medical Advisor
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.
September 24, 2021
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