Management
Eugene G. Chen
President and CEO
Eugene has over 20 years of experience in medical device management, development, distribution and venture capital. Prior to founding USGI, Mr. Chen had been a venture partner and entrepreneur-in-residence with Alta Partners, a leading life science venture capital firm. Before Alta, Mr. Chen spent seven years at Applied Medical, including as General Manager of the Cardiovascular and Urology operating divisions, Sr. VP of Corporate Operations and International distribution. Earlier in his career, Mr. Chen was founder and CEO of BioFlex Inc. and Kinesys Inc., medical device startups in orthopedic knee orthotics and held various positions at Procter & Gamble. He holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
Bart Bandy
General Manager, Flexible Surgery Division
John Cox
General Manager, Endosurgery Division
John has over 19 years of experience in medical device marketing, sales, and logistics. Prior to joining USGI, John served as Vice President of Marketing at B. Braun Aesculap. Previously, he served as Vice President of Marketing and Global Logistics at Applied Medical, Project Manager at Stryker Osteonics, Regional Sales Director and Sales Representative at U.S. Surgical, and District Sales Manager and Sales Representative at General Medical. In addition, John holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, and received his MBA with Academic Honors from Virginia's Darden School of Business.
Richard Ewers
Senior Director of Engineering
Rich has over 10 years of experience in the concept and development of medical devices and is named as sole or co-inventor on over 100 patents and applications. Rich has a BSME from California State University, Long Beach, and began his medical device career with Applied Medical while still attending college. While at Applied, he assumed positions of increasing responsibility with a talent for quick development of ideas into clinical ready instruments. Rich has been directly responsible for over ten clinical and commercial products and has overseen multiple others. As a member of the team from the company’s inception, Rich has been closely involved with all of USGI’s numerous technologies.
John L. Gonzalez
Vice President of Finance and Administration, CFO
John has over 15 years of experience in medical device finance, marketing, and business development. John served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at ATI Medical, Vice President of Finance and Administration at A-Med Systems, Manager of Business Development at Guidant, and Product Manager and Financial Analyst at Medtronic. Additionally, prior to his medical device career, John served as a U.S. Naval Officer, with tours of duty aboard a destroyer and submarine. John holds a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Tracy Maahs
Vice President of Operations and Engineering
Tracy has over 15 years of experience in Engineering and Operations management. Prior to joining USGI, Tracy served as Director of Product Development at Volcano Therapeutics, as Senior Product Development Engineer and Director of Research and Development at EMBOL-X and as Product Development Engineer at ArthroCare. Earlier in his career, Tracy also served in professional and management roles at Guidant. Tracy holds a BSME from GMI Engineering and Management Institute, and is named as sole or co-inventor on over 35 patents in the medical device field
Mary Lou Mooney
Vice President Regulatory, Clinical & Quality
Mary Lou has over 25 years of experience in the medical device industry. Most recently, Mary Lou served as the Vice President of Regulatory, Clinical & Quality for SenoRx, a developer of devices for the diagnosis and treatment of breast disease. Previously, Mary Lou held the position of Vice President of Regulatory, Clinical & Quality for Focal, a developer of bioresorbable surgical sealants. Her prior regulatory and clinical experience also includes tenures with several cardiovascular and surgical device manufacturers. In addition, she has served as the industry representative on the FDA Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Advisory Panel. Mary Lou holds an MS in Biomedical Science from Drexel University and a BA in Biology from La Salle University.
Advisors
William G. Mavity,
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Paracor Medical
William Mavity joined Paracor Medical, Inc. as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director in March, 2003. Prior to Paracor, he served as President, CEO, and a Director of Cohesion Technologies, Inc., a publicly-traded (NASDAQ) biomaterials company that was acquired by Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in January, 2003.
From March 2001 until September 2001, William led the spinout and initial organization and funding of Biosurface Engineering Technologies, Inc. as its Chairman, CEO and Director. Prior to the creation of BioSET, he served as President, CEO, and a Director of InnerDyne, Inc. and its predecessor organization, CardioPulmonics, Inc.
William currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Biosurface Engineering Technologies, Inc. and as a Director of USGI Medical, Inc. He has previously served on the Boards of Cohesion Technologies, Inc., InnerDyne, Inc., Cardeon, Inc., AMed Sytems, Inc., Aspire Medical, Inc., Fidus Medical Technologies, NeuColl, Inc. and the Michigan Technology Council. William also serves on the Advisory Council for the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware.
From 1972 until 1993, William served in various operations and general management roles with the 3M Company, including heading its cardiovascular subsidiary, Sarns/3M Health Care, and serving as the head of European Health Care manufacturing.
William Mavity holds a Bachelor of Engineering Administration degree from the University of Delaware (1972), and did graduate study in Business Administration at Rider College and Furman University. He also served as an officer in the U. S. Army Reserve, Corps of Engineers, from 1973 until 1983.
Guy Nohra
Co-Founder and Managing Director, Alta Partners
Guy Nohra is a co-founder of Alta Partners, and was also a partner at Burr, Egan, Deleage and Co., which he joined in 1989. Guy has been involved in the funding and development of notable medical technology and life science companies including Cutera, Innerdyne, R2 Technology, deCODE genetics, and Vesica.
Previously, Guy was Product Manager of Medical Products with Security Pacific Trading Corporation. He was responsible for a multi-million dollar product line and traveled extensively in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia.
Currently, Guy is the Chairman of the Board of USGI Medical and serves on the boards of directors of several other private companies, including AcelRx, ATS Medical, Carbylan Biosurgery, Coapt Systems, Paracor Medical, PneumRx and Vertiflex. He also serves on the board of directors of the Medical Device Manufacturing Association (MDMA). He was recently named to the Forbes "Midas List" of dealmakers in high-tech and life sciences.
Guy holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Stanford University.
Michael Sweeney
General Partner, InterWest Partners
Michael Sweeney focuses on early-stage investment opportunities in the medical technology sector. Michael serves on the boards of directors of USGI Medical and other InterWest portfolio companies, including Cardiac Dimensions, Carbylan Biosurgery, CVRx, Devax, and Paracor Medical.
Michael is a pioneer of multiple anti-arrhythmia cardiac devices, and has more than 20 years’ experience in the fields of cardiovascular technology.
Michael has worked in multiple roles at InterWest. First, as the founding CEO of Epicor Medical, and founder of Ventritex, both highly successful InterWest portfolio companies; later as an InterWest Entrepreneur-in-Residence, then as a Venture Partner, and ultimately as a General Partner. Michael received his B.A. from Drake University.