Medical Devices Center welcomes new class of Innovation Fellows

Contacts:

Rhonda Zurn, College of Science and Engineering, rzurn@umn.edu, (612) 626-7959

Preston Smith, University News Services, smith@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/31/2011) – The University of Minnesota’s Medical Devices Center welcomes media device industry professionals, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs as part of its fourth class of Innovation Fellows.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Maslowski Family Charitable Trust, the Medical Devices Center Innovation Fellows program will double in size this year from four fellows to eight. This expansion will allow the Medical Devices Center to better meet its mission of educating the next generation of medical device innovators and create new medical device technology.

The Medical Devices Center Innovation Fellows Program is an intensive year-long, full immersion educational and intellectual property development program for medical devices sponsored by the University’s College of Science and Engineering and the Academic Health Center. A cross-disciplinary team with a combination of degrees in engineering, medicine, and biosciences works with faculty, medical professionals, and industry collaborators to develop and test ideas for new medical devices with the goal of improving health care worldwide.

To date, the Innovation Fellows program has patented more than 30 new medical devices, launched two start-up companies, and licensed one technology. The third fellows team will complete its work at the end of August and will add to these numbers this fall.

The new class of Innovation Fellows includes:

David Amor, M.S.B.E., is a clinically trained R&D and Quality consultant to the medical device industry. He has assisted companies such as Navilyst Medical, TOBY Orthopaedics and Boston Scientific in design, development and recertification activities in this capacity over the last two years. Amor is also a guest lecturer and teaching assistant at the University of Miami Department of Biomedical Engineering, where he focuses on FDA and international regulations governing the design, development and commercialization of medical devices. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota Medical Devices Center as an Innovation Fellow, Amor was in the process of finalizing his graduate thesis in the design of a novel, adjustable length ventriculoperitoneal shunt for resolution of pediatric hydrocephalus. As a distinguished researcher, Amor has held a FORE-SCI fellowship at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis where he was heavily involved in the investigation of deep brain stimulation and its analgesic effects on spinal cord injury patients. He also served as an NIH IMSD Fellow where he developed an injectable collagen scaffold that served as a spinal cord biomimetic designated for use in acute spinal cord injury settings as a temporary regional bridge to impede cellular death.

John Ferguson, Ph.D., received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Minnesota, where he developed novel devices and techniques in the fields of neural engineering, neuroscience, and nanotechnology. He has also performed research at Johns Hopkins University as part of DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics program. Ferguson received his bachelor's degree in physics from Caltech and master's degrees in international health policy from the London School of Economics and in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge. Ferguson has also worked with biomedical startups in both the U.S. and U.K.

James Krocak, M.S., M.B.A., is a healthcare technologist and serial entrepreneur, who founded Theraone and Quantitative Insights and helped build the scientific teams at Sutro Biopharma. While at these companies, Krocak facilitated strategic collaborations with large and small medical device and pharmaceutical companies, participated in more than $60 million of external financing, and was an NSF Principal Investigator. Outside of raising capital, Krocak brought a distinct business vision to these companies, enabling him to win the 2010 Chicago Biomedical Consortium Business Plan Competition as well as the “Best Business Plan” at the 2011 Rice Business Plan Competition. While at these companies, Krocak was invited speaker at 14 international conferences and was author on several scientific articles and patents. In addition, Krocak has notable experience within the venture capital community, with work at Foundation Capital, Hyde Park Angels, and elsewhere. At these firms he has personally screened more than 500 investment opportunities, and led due diligence into six early-stage financings in the healthcare and technology sectors worth more than $10 million. Krocak holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering with honors and distinction in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota, where he was an NSF fellow, a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was an NIH and Management of Technology Fellow, and an M.B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he was the O’Brien Fellow.

Nicole E. Pardo, M.D., M.S.M., M.B.A., is a researcher-physician from Bogota-Colombia, where she obtained her medical degree from El Bosque University in 2001. She moved to the United States in 2002 to complete her post-doctoral training in neuro-physiology and neuro-pharmacology at Michigan State University. There, she studied the role of calcium channels on the physiopathology of neurological diseases. As a result of her research, Pardo received the Osserman/Sosin/McClure Research Fellowship award by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America in 2003-2004. In 2010, Pardo received her master’s degree with an emphasis in health care management from Globe University-Minnesota School of Business, and in 2011 an M.B.A. from the same institution. Pardo has authored and collaborated on several scientific publications, she has served as an expert reviewer for the National Science Foundation and the Neuro Toxicology journal. She has also collaborated on a wide variety of research projects involving behavioral and community health programs as well as molecular biology, biochemistry, mouse genetics and neuro-pharmacology projects. Prior to the Innovation Fellowship, Pardo worked as a contract research associate/consultant for American Preclinical Services where she provided consulting services and assisted with the post-operative and daily care of animals implanted with a cardiac device.

Felicity Pino, M.S., received her bachelor's degree in biological engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, specializing in biomedical engineering. As an undergraduate, Pino conducted university research in neurological-locomotor behavior, as well as research with NASA in the areas of chemical decomposition in microgravity, and human vestibular performance in microgravity. While at NASA, Pino also participated in the development of a cardio-analysis software tool, with applications in clinical and space medicine. Pino went on to receive a master's degree in biomechanical engineering at Stanford University. Her studies, which were conducted through Stanford's Biodesign Program and Mechanical Engineering Department, focused in cardiovascular biomechanics. At Stanford, Pino applied Design School coursework to collaborate with Stanford Hospitals and Clinics in the design of a novel cardiomyopathy treatment device. Pino has spent the past five years at NASA, serving as a Space Station Life Support and Emergency-Response instructor, training and developing training for astronauts and flight controllers.

Greg Ruth, M.D., is a board certified general surgeon at Mayo Health Systems in Menomonie, Wisconsin. This month he will be transitioning from surgical clinical practice to working as an Innovation Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Ruth previously attended the University of Minnesota for three years studying entrepreneurship and international relations before transferring to the University of California Irvine where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. He then worked for two years with Dr. Kurt Amplatz in a medical device lab, working on multiple projects including cardiac defect repair, novel thrombectomy devices and vascular stents. The following year, he enrolled in the University of Minnesota medical school to earn his M.D. and later completed general surgery residency in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ruth has been involved in research projects across multiple fields including vascular, gastrointestinal, pharmaceutical, dental, and biliary among others. He enjoys involvement with the community food shelf and has been active in multiple mission experiences.

Blaine Schneider, Ph.D., received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota. Schneider has pursued his interest in medical device design during his academic career by collaborating on projects that include the creation of a synthetic dura, the customization of neural recording chambers, the development of a stroke risk assessment device, and the design of a device for the treatment of osteoarthritis using PEMF therapy. He has also worked for an experimental surgery lab (Experimental Surgical Services) and for Medtronic's Neuromodulation unit.

Ashish Singal, Ph.D. candidate, obtained a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. He was a research associate at the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, where he performed research on various projects with particular emphasis on biosensors. Singal received a master’s in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, where he developed optical mapping techniques to study the electrophysiology of the heart. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota. Following graduate studies, he worked at Siemens and GE Healthcare as project lead, designing and developing diagnostic radiology equipment. While at Medtronic, he led the research, design and development of the world’s first cardiac pacemaker that can safely operate in an MRI environment. He was also involved with product development of neuromodulation devices for management of chronic pain, contributed to two product launches, and generation of numerous ideas. He has more than 15 years of medical device industry experience involved with research, design and development, and service and maintenance of medical equipment ranging from diagnostic radiology suites to implantable devices. He has presented at conferences and published papers on diverse topics, such as biosensors, optical imaging, MRI compatibility, and pain management.

For more information about the Medical Devices Center or the Innovation Fellows Program, visit www.mdc.umn.edu.