Board of Directors
Amir Abolfathi
Amir founded Sonitus Medical, Inc. in 2006, leveraging 20 years of experience in founding, building, and managing medical device companies. Prior to Sonitus, Amir served for six years as an Officer, Vice President of R&D at Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN), creators of a unique, invisible orthodontic product. Previously, Amir was the first member of the senior management team at Embolic Protection Inc., where he was a consulting VP of Operations. EPI was successfully acquired by Boston Scientific in 2001. In early 1995, Amir co-founded EndoTex Interventional Systems, developers of minimally invasive solutions for treatment of carotid artery disease, which was also acquired by Boston Scientific in 2006. Amir has also held various management and engineering positions at Pfizer, Guidant, and Baxter-Edwards. As a seasoned entrepreneur, Amir has over 60 issued and pending patent applications, including 11 publications in peer review journals. Amir received his M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from UC San Diego.
M. Jennifer Derebery, M.D.
Jennifer Derebery, M.D., was elected president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) for the 2003-2004 term. She is the first and only woman president in the 106-year history of the AAO-HNS.
Dr. Derebery works in private practice at the House Clinic in Los Angeles, where she specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of allergy-related hearing loss and associated disorders. She is also on the medical board of the House Ear Institute, and serves as a Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Derebery received her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She then completed an Otolaryngology residency at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon, and an allergy fellowship sponsored by the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy in Kansas City, MO.
Dr. Derebery is a fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy, the American College of Surgeons, the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, the American Otologic Society, and the American Neurotology Society. She is Past President of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy, and is a member of the AAO-HNS Board of Directors.
Dr. Derebery is the author and co-author of numerous papers in the subjects of both otolaryngology and allergy, particularly as related to otologic conditions. She was a co-principle investigator of a double-blind study on the treatment of autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED), sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. She is listed in the Guide to Best Doctors in America, America's Top Doctors, Marquis Who's Who, and is the recipient of numerous awards for her clinical and research studies.
Mark Foley
Mark J. Foley is a Managing Director at RWI Ventures where he focuses on Life Science investments. Before RWI Ventures, Mark founded and was CEO of a cardiac device company, Ventrica, which was purchased by Medtronic in 2004. Prior to this, Mark held senior operating roles with companies such as Perclose (acquired by Abbott), Guidant Corporation, DVI (acquired by Eli Lilly), and US Surgical Corporation. Mark is a named inventor on 13 patents and currently serves on the Board of Directors for BaroSense, Chakshu, Sonitus, Therative and Voyage Medical. Mark has a BA from the University of Notre Dame.
Sami Hamadé
Sami Hamadé joined Aberdare as a Partner in 2006. Prior to Aberdare, Sami was Vice President at the Guidant Corporation and head of the Compass Group, where he was responsible for Guidant's venture capital and M&A activities. Additionally, Sami led the West Coast Business Development unit which was composed of business development groups from Vascular Intervention, Cardiac Surgery and Endovascular Solutions divisions. Previous to this, Sami played founding roles in the launch and development of significant businesses for Guidant including coronary stents, carotid and peripheral systems. Sami began his career in medical devices at Advanced Cardiovascular Systems.
Sami holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering from the American University of Beirut, a Masters Degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
R. Scott Rader, Ph.D.
Scott has over 18 years of experience in diverse corporate and product development roles in the medical device industry. He is currently President and CEO of WMR Biomedical, Inc. Prior to joining WMR, he was President and CEO of Bacchus Vascular, a privately held company developing and commercializing minimally invasive devices for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. Prior to Bacchus, he was the Executive VP of Marketing & Business Development at Sound ID, and a Founder of MonoDrive, Inc.
Scott was the Director of Advanced Technology for United States Surgical Corporation (USSC) at the time of its acquisition by Tyco International for $3.3 billion. Before entering industry, Scott was an assistant professor of both ophthalmology and mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and a founding member of the Microsurgery Advanced Design Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D., M.S.E. and B.S.E. in mechanical engineering and materials science from Duke University.
Peter Riepenhausen
Peter served as Chairman of Align Technology, Europe until March 2002. From 1994 to 1998, he held the position of Chief Executive Officer of ReSound Corporation, a leading manufacturer of advanced hearing aids. Previously, Peter was Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cooper Companies, Inc., a medical device company serving the vision and surgical markets. Peter has also been the Chief Executive Officer of Blendax-Werke R. Schneider Gmba & Co., a leading German consumer products company. Peter also was PepsiCo's Senior Vice President for Eastern Hemisphere operations, where he oversaw Pepsi's entire operation in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Riepenhausen is also a director of AP Pharma (NASDAQ: APPA), TRG, OrthoClear and Audimed Gmbh, Munich.
Peter received his Industrie-Kaufman degree in Commerce from IHK, Wuerzburg, Germany.
Steven D. Weinstein
Steven Weinstein is a Managing Director of the Novartis Venture Funds in Cambridge, MA, USA.
Steve joined the Novartis Venture Fund in 2006 as a Managing Director. From 2001, Steve was a Principal at Prism Venture Partners, where he focused on investments in medical devices and life sciences. He led the investments and/or served on the boards of iScience Interventional, ROX Medical, and Sensitech (acquired by Carrier/UTX).
With over two decades of operating, entrepreneurial, and venture experience he started his career as an entrepreneur and turnaround CEO, raising angel funds to buy the assets of a defunct distribution business out of bankruptcy, and rebuilding the business over the for next five years.
Prior to Prism, Steve was a Principal and Kauffman Fellow with Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds. There he invested in and served as a board observer for several early stage communications and software companies.
Steve holds an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan Business School and a BS in mechanical engineering from Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. He serves on the University of Michigan Wolverine Venture Fund Advisory Board and on the board of the Family to Family Project.
Steve focuses on both medical device and bio/pharma investments for the fund.
To learn more about the company or the SoundBite hearing system, contact Sonitus Medical online.
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