Leading medical device experts and MDO launch Medtech Innovation Board

We’re starting something special to supercharge medical device industry collaboration and innovation.

Medical Design & Outsourcing has pulled together innovators and leaders with experience at major medtech developers such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott and Edwards Lifesciences, plus groundbreaking startups and outsourcing partners for candid conversations about innovation challenges and opportunities to help our industry bring new and improved devices to patients and physicians.

Our Medtech Innovation Board will meet regularly for private conversations and will later publicly share our findings, including innovation success stories, trends and advice that can help other medical device professionals succeed in their own efforts.

As the board’s founding chair, I’ve personally invited 17 board members who are already saving lives and tackling the biggest challenges in healthcare.

Our board members have a variety of R&D and leadership roles and focus on fast-growing applications like pulsed-field ablation (PFA), minimally invasive heart valves, next-gen pacemakers, smart implants, renal denervation (RDN), novel diabetes therapies, neuromodulation and drug delivery systems. They have experience in advanced materials like nitinol and specialty polymers, cutting-edge components and complex manufacturing processes.

The inaugural Medtech Innovation Board’s members are:

• Jim Hammerand, managing editor at MDO and founding chair of the Medtech Innovation Board
• Ashish Bhargava, VP of global research & development at Phillips Medisize
• April Butterfield, SVP of technology at Jabil
• Matthew Fishler, chief engineer and director of systems engineering for the leadless pacemaker platform at Abbott
• Jason Fontana, former VP and GM of renal denervation at Medtronic
• Maria Grahm, global VP for life sciences at Siemens
• Deanna Harshbarger, CEO at Cala Health
• Bill Hunter, president, CEO and chief medical officer at Canary Medical
• Ryan James, co-founder and CEO of Dopl Technologies
• Eric Leopold, VP of product development at Aptyx
• Jose Maeso, CTO at Lighteum
• Sean McNulty, global VP of R&D for electrophysiology at Boston Scientific
• Darshin Patel, VP of aortic regurgitation at Edwards Lifesciences
• Stacey Pugh, CEO at Endogenex
• Scott Robertson, VP of nitinol technology at Resonetics
• Katie Schindler, medical device innovation leader at Mitsubishi Chemical Group
• Luke Wellington, associate VP for drug delivery systems and medical device development at Eli Lilly
• Shane Wood, director of technology, polymers at Confluent

No one focuses on medical device expertise like MDO. Our medical device editors and brands (including MassDevice and DeviceTalks) have built deep relationships with OEMs and their outsourcing partners, and an initiative like this is only possible thanks to the support of experts across the industry.

Learn more about each of these board members below or at our board website:

Ashish Bhargava, VP of global research & development at Phillips Medisize

Ashish is an accomplished technology and innovation leader with more than 30 years of experience driving product development, digital transformation and engineering excellence in the healthcare industry. Throughout his career, he has led global teams focused on medical device innovation, cloud technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity and digital health solutions. Ashish joined Phillips Medisize in 2025 and is responsible for the R&D business, including design and development centers in Hudson, Denmark, India and China, as well as platform programs and R&D production facilities.

Ashish previously served as senior director of product development at Abbott Laboratories, where he played a key role in advancing the company’s electrophysiology business. His leadership contributed to the development of AI and machine learning strategies, the launch of cloud-enabled systems and enhancements to cybersecurity capabilities. Earlier in his career, Ashish held leadership positions at Medtronic, including director of mobility engineering and data management, where he built high-performing teams and led the implementation of digital health, cloud and big data initiatives. Ashish holds a master’s degree in computer science from Kent State University.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashish-bhargava2/

April Butterfield, SVP of technology at Jabil

April leads product design and engineering for Jabil’s customers operating in regulated industries including Automotive, Healthcare, Connected Living & Digital Commerce, and Defense & Aerospace. Joining the company in 2005, April rapidly progressed through Jabil’s engineering ranks within the company’s Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) division. Upon becoming Director of Engineering Services, April was tasked with creating a new organization for Jabil that would better define and improve all design, engineering, and product development processes and procedures in place for meeting customer needs.

Prior to her long career with Jabil, April worked at Motorola developing both handheld and infrastructure products. April earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-butterfield-28830a11/

Matthew Fishler, chief engineer and director of systems engineering for the leadless pacemaker platform at Abbott

Matthew started working on the leadless system in Abbott’s Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) organization in 2012 and became responsible for system-level design and development of the platform in 2014. Matthew was a member of the core team at Abbott that designed the original architecture for what is now the AVEIR DR system, the world’s first and only dual-chamber leadless pacemaker system. His contributions to this groundbreaking effort include conceptualizing and developing Abbott’s proprietary implant-to-implant (i2i) communication modality, which enables dynamic beat-by-beat synchronization of separate implanted pacemakers via ultra-low-power encoded signals transmitted through the naturally conductive characteristics of the body’s blood. In 2022, Matthew and the leadless platform team were honored with Abbott’s 2022 Donalee Tabern Outstanding Research Team Award for the development of the AVEIR DR pacing system. Then in 2023, he was inducted as a Research Fellow into Abbott’s Volwiler Society, which recognizes the company’s most distinguished scientists and engineers.

Matthew earned his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, his MBA from Cornell University, and his BSE from Duke University. He is the author and coauthor of more than 50 articles and abstracts that have been featured in leading scientific publications and conferences, and has been granted over 60 U.S. patents.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgfishler/

Jason Fontana, former VP and GM of renal denervation at Medtronic

Jason has more than 20 years of leadership experience building and scaling global cardiovascular and hypertension businesses. As the former VP and GM of renal denervation at Medtronic, he led the commercialization of one of the first device-based therapies for hypertension, integrating commercial, clinical, market development, patient access, and innovation strategies to drive growth. Throughout his career, Jason has led global product launches, developed new therapy categories, and delivered significant market share and revenue growth across coronary and cardiometabolic markets. He holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Yale University and is recognized for his ability to translate breakthrough science into commercial success and improved patient outcomes.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-fontana-86aa8410/

Maria Grahm, global VP for life sciences at Siemens

Maria leads a global organization focused on accelerating digital transformation across the entire pharmaceutical and biotech value chain. Her team supports customers worldwide in modernizing R&D, optimizing manufacturing, and enabling data‑driven operations that strengthen compliance, quality, and sustainability. With a degree in electrical engineering from Lund University, Maria brings together technical expertise and extensive leadership experience in the life sciences industry. She partners closely with executives and innovators to translate emerging technologies — such as AI, digital twins, and advanced automation — into measurable business impact. Maria is also a recognized industry voice and frequent speaker on the future of digitalization in Life Sciences, highlighting how innovation can unlock safer therapies, faster development cycles, and more resilient supply chains globally.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariagrahm/

Jim Hammerand, managing editor at Medical Design & Outsourcing and founding chair of the Medtech Innovation Board

Jim leads coverage of medtech innovation, R&D, design, engineering and manufacturing at Arrowfly’s life sciences brands, which include MDO, MassDevice and DeviceTalks podcasts and live events. He has a particular interest in first-of-their-kind medical devices, minimally invasive medtech and the advanced materials, cutting-edge components and complex manufacturing processes that make them possible.

Jim has more than two decades of journalism experience spanning newspapers, magazines, websites, live events, radio and TV news. He holds degrees in journalism and management from the University of Minnesota and has won journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), and Trade, Association, Business Publications International (TABBI). Jim lives near Seattle with his wife and two young children, and often travels to medtech hubs like California, Boston and Minneapolis for our DeviceTalks shows and to meet with innovative medical device experts.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimhammerand/

Deanna Harshbarger, CEO at Cala Health

Deanna brings over two decades of experience and leadership in the global medical device space, having the ideal blend of expertise across the entire business continuum, from early product development to successful commercialization in movement disorders, neuromodulation and durable medical equipment (DME). Deanna successfully led the oversubscribed commercial funding raise for Cala.

Prior to her most recent role as chief product officer at Cala, Deanna served in leadership positions at Medtronic Diabetes, Boston Scientific Neuromodulation and Johnson & Johnson, focused on building businesses, developing winning portfolios, and guiding strategic business development acquisitions. Deanna holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-harshbarger-mba/

Bill Hunter, president, CEO and chief medical officer at Canary Medical

Bill is the founding member of Canary Medical, a medical technology company pioneering active implantable platforms and AI-driven analytics to build a future where connected devices continuously inform treatment and lower the overall cost of healthcare. Bill brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare as a former practicing physician, serial medtech entrepreneur and chief executive.

He is a lifelong inventor with over 200 patents and patent applications. He was involved in the discovery and development of the TAXUS Coronary Drug-Eluting Stent, the Zilver PTX Peripheral Drug-Eluting Stent, paclitaxel-eluting balloons, the Quill barbed wound closure device and Persona IQ The Smart Knee. Bill holds a doctor of medicine from University of British Columbia, a master of science from University of British Columbia and a bachelor of science from McGill University.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-hunter-447107106/

Ryan James, co-founder and CEO of Dopl Technologies

Ryan leverages his background in data, AI and startup leadership at Dopl, which is developing a platform for remote, robotic ultrasound procedures. He received his bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in biomedical and health informatics from the University of Washington where his dissertation focused on novel methods to perform procedures. After undergrad, he worked as a software developer at Microsoft where he developed large scale applications for millions of customers. After his Ph.D., he worked as a senior medical software engineer at Nvidia where he developed a platform for third party GPU-accelerated AI image processing algorithms. He then worked as the VP of engineering at Pluto VR, where he grew and led a team of engineers building a product that helps people transcend distance.

When Ryan was 6 weeks old, his family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. At the time, Kalamazoo had one of the highest black infant mortality rates in the United States. His dad, an obstetrician, led community-wide efforts that brought care into black communities and resulted in Kalamazoo having one of the lowest black infant mortality rates in the nation, clearly demonstrating that equal access can dramatically improve health outcomes. Ryan intends to apply his dad’s formula on a global scale using technology to democratize access to procedural healthcare.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjameshealth/

Eric Leopold, VP of product development at Aptyx

Eric is at Aptyx’s facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, which develops and manufactures transcatheter implants and complex catheters. A medtech veteran with more than 35 years of experience, he brings deep expertise in endovascular and minimally invasive devices and is a named inventor on 30 U.S. patents. Eric’s career spans development and production, with a track record of taking products from early-stage design to manufacturing at scale.

He previously held senior roles on the OEM side, including VP of R&D at Altura Medical, where he led development of the Altura Endograft System for AAA, plus earlier work on the Micrus Endovascular Microcoil System and Gore covered stent graft production. Eric holds an MBA from UC Berkeley, an MS in materials engineering from San Jose State University, and a BS in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-leopold-17a63b1/

Jose Maeso, CTO at Lighteum

Jose leads technological innovation and strategy for the company’s precision components business, specializing in advanced nitinol processing and platinum group metals. With a mechanical engineering background and deep expertise in laser-based manufacturing for medical devices, he co-founded Lighteum LLC to advance high-complexity nitinol processing. Now under private equity ownership as Lighteum Medical, he leads the integration of cutting-edge femtosecond laser systems, material science, and collaborative innovation to deliver complex microcomponents as a true technology partner to leading medtech OEMs.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-maeso-79605680/

Sean McNulty, global VP of R&D for electrophysiology at Boston Scientific

Sean leads the teams responsible for advancing the company’s electrophysiology innovation portfolio, including new product development and sustaining engineering. Since joining Boston Scientific in 2019, he has held leadership roles across the company’s structural heart and electrophysiology businesses.

Prior to Boston Scientific, Sean spent 12 years at Abbott leading R&D and program management efforts focused on congenital heart disease, stroke prevention, and electrophysiology technologies. With more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of engineering and medicine, he is passionate about developing innovative technologies that improve patient outcomes and collaborating with physicians to bring next-generation therapies to market. Sean holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota and is an active advocate for STEM education and industry partnerships.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-mcnulty-2952b7a/

Darshin Patel, VP of aortic regurgitation at Edwards Lifesciences

Darshin currently serves as VP of aortic regurgitation at Edwards Lifesciences. In this role, he is responsible for setting the strategy and leading the execution for the aortic regurgitation therapy, helping accelerate innovation and strengthen the path to market leadership in this important, rapidly evolving area. Darshin brings more than 15 years of experience at Edwards, having progressed from an early-career engineer to VP of engineering. He has led highly complex, cross-functional product development efforts. Darshin has played a pivotal role in advancing transcatheter therapies, including leading work from concept through commercialization on the SAPIEN M3 platform, demonstrating a strong ability to translate technical innovation into meaningful patient impact. Darshin holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering and engineering management from Duke University.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darshin-p-90018816/

Stacey Pugh, CEO at Endogenex

Stacey is a seasoned medical technology executive with more than 20 years of experience spanning clinical research, product development, and global commercialization. Her career traces an uncommon arc — from critical care nursing to chief executive — giving her a rare combination of patient-centered insight and operational command across five medtech companies, seventy-plus products.

She currently serves as CEO of Endogenex, a clinical-stage medical device company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that is developing a first-of-its-kind endoscopic therapy for type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease. Appointed CEO in March 2023, Stacey leads the company through its pivotal clinical program and the continued development of the Endogenex System, an outpatient, non-thermal pulsed electric field therapy designed to regenerate the duodenal mucosa and submucosa and restore healthy metabolic signaling in patients with T2D.

Prior to Endogenex, Stacey was chief commercial officer at Butterfly Network (Nasdaq: BFLY), the pioneer of handheld, whole-body ultrasound, where she led the planning, organization, and execution of global sales and marketing. Before Butterfly, Stacey spent more than a decade in neurovascular leadership at Covidien and Medtronic. She served as President of the Neurovascular Operating Unit at Medtronic, where she provided global strategic leadership and drove revenue growth toward the business’s $1 billion milestone. Earlier in her career, Stacey held a progression of clinical development roles at Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI), the wound-care and regenerative medicine leader, where she advanced from clinical research into senior clinical leadership.

Stacey is currently chair of the board of BrainQ Technologies, an AI-driven precision therapeutics company whose BQ 2.0 device received CE mark as a breakthrough therapy for stroke recovery in early 2025. She originally joined BrainQ’s board in August 2021 and was elevated to board chair in January 2025. She has also served as a director and executive committee member on the boards of two leading industry organizations: the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA), where she was appointed in 2019, and the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC), where she joined the board in 2022 and went on to serve as vice chair of the Executive Committee.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceypughendogenex/

Scott Robertson, VP of nitinol technology at Resonetics

Scott is a recognized leader in medical device innovation with over 20 years of experience in nitinol technology, spanning design, manufacturing, testing, and FDA submissions. As VP of nitinol technology at Resonetics, he drives advancements in next-generation medical implants. He has led engineering teams at Adona Medical and Medtronic, developed breakthrough shape-memory implants, and holds 40+ publications and patents. Scott earned his Ph.D. in materials science from UC Berkeley and is an active member of the SMST community. He also serves as an expert witness in medical device litigation and specializes in failure analysis.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-robertson-43a99b5/

Katie Schindler, medical device innovation leader at Mitsubishi Chemical Group

Katie is a medical technology leader with more than 20 years of experience spanning product development, commercialization, and innovation across the healthcare industry. She collaborates with leading medical device companies, startups, incubators, and academic institutions to advance next-generation healthcare technologies through advanced specialty materials. Katie is a co-inventor on three issued patents and holds a degree in chemistry from Franklin College.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-schindler-10239898/

Luke Wellington, associate VP for drug delivery systems and medical device development at Eli Lilly

Luke leads delivery and device technology development across mechanical, electrical, embedded software, systems, and human factors engineering, as well as test method development. His group drives technical engagement across development, sales and marketing, and manufacturing to optimize value across Lilly’s therapeutic portfolio and expand systems thinking in the development of patient centric solutions.

Luke has more than 25 years at Lilly, with leadership roles spanning product launch, supply chain, device assembly and packaging, parenteral manufacturing, engineering site leadership, external manufacturing, device commercialization and connected care, and R&D. Earlier in his career, he spent five years at Abbott Laboratories. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-wellington-70a72799/

Shane Wood, director of technology, polymers at Confluent

Shane has approximately 20 years of experience in medical device manufacturing and has led production and new product introduction engineering teams utilizing filmcast, extrusion, balloons, catheter assembly technologies and complex catheter manufacturing. Prior to medical device manufacturing, she held engineering positions in the semiconductor and optical fiber industries.

Shane holds undergraduate degrees in chemistry/math and chemical engineering from Agnes Scott College and the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has a master’s of engineering degree from North Carolina State and a master’s of biomedical engineering from Colorado State University. Shane also holds a graduate certificate in regulatory affairs from the University of Georgia and is a Certified Six Sigma Blackbelt.

Shane lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her wife and two awesome kids. In her spare time, she enjoys hands-on projects and artistic welding.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-wood-7b99aa6/

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