LUMINARY LEADERSHIP

Jason Howe is the consummate 'Selling CEO’ & a highly proficient executive with 30+ years of success driving MedTech companies & markets. He is a CST in 9 discreet sales methodologies & has joined in 10K+ surgeries. Jason began his career in 1991 with Eli Lilly IVAC, acquired by Genzyme BioSurgical, where he helped establish the anti-adhesion surgical market with Seprafilm. In 1996, Jason founded Medical Dynamics, innovator of the first MIS endo-cardiac stabilizer acquired by Medtronic. Over the next decade, Jason served in various executive sales roles for high-tech companies, including PTC, Edgix, Unibex, CreekPath & Federation AG. In 2007, Jason accepted his first CEO position at Awarepoint, a hospital RTLS provider, where he took the company from $5M to $125M in valuation in a little over 3 years. Jason had similar successes as CEO of multiple MedTech companies, including BioVigil & VaporStream, and was involved in the success of 2 surgical game-changers, RF Surgical & Care Integrations. Under his leadership, collectively, these companies achieved revenues of nearly $1B, with exits totaling over $1B.

Jason holds BS in Business Administration from CU Leeds School of Business, Molecular Science from CU Anschutz School of Medicine, and an MSBA in Data Analytics & an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. Jason graduated Suma Cum Laude in all programs. Jason has merited numerous awards & distinctions, including Fortune's "Top 40 Under 40", Healthcare Digital's "100 Most Influential In Healthcare," Modern Healthcare's "Top Places to Work," and is a Mensa International inductee. Jason is a true American patriot who has served this country for over 30 years working in nontraditional capacities fighting the war on terror. Jason has been married for 22 years to a "unicorn" who shares the vision of raising standards of care.

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Frederick Morrison is a seasoned executive officer, entrepreneur, and financier with over 35+ years of experience simplifying complex processes across multiple businesses in highly regulated industries like aviation, banking & healthcare. Frederick started his career in South Africa working for JSE on the R&D team to develop the first scalable paperless GILT trading system for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. He continued in fintech, leading the implementation & support for the Interbank settlement system between all registered banks and the National Reserve Bank of South Africa. In 1994, Frederick then founded Vesta Technologies, South Africa’s leading IT IBM Premier Business Partner responsible for developing an award-winning ERP system for city-state infrastructure billing & management. As one of the youngest CEOs in Johannesburg Stock Exchange history, he took the company through a record-breaking IPO. Frederick continued as CEO for 8 years and exited as Chairman Emeritus. For the next decade, he went on to found, grow & exit numerous high-tech companies in South Africa. In 2015, Frederick moved to the US, where he founded & managed the Symplexity Venture Fund.    

Frederick holds a BS in Computer Science & Advanced Mathematics from North West University South Africa and a Masters of International Business Law from Cumbria University, United Kingdom. He has also completed numerous postgraduate courses, including the Specialized Investment LLM & the Harvard Business School Management Development Program. In 2022 Frederick was awarded the Senator Joel Anderson Supervisor Certificate and was named President of EO for San Diego, representing 230+ businesses. Frederick is an avid pilot holding ATPL aircraft, instructor, and commercial helicopter licenses. He has been married for 31 years and has twin boys gearing up for middle school.  

Mike Koclanes has 35+ years of experience bringing innovative high-tech software & hardware solution offerings to market. Mike has architected & developed a multitude of technology platforms, both physical & virtual, for information technology infrastructures, electronic messaging systems, data transport networks, Big Data storage structures, and relational data management frameworks. He has significant technology proficiencies in Cloud Management, SaaS Services, Mobile IT, Cybersecurity, Machine Learning applications, Medical Records, and robotic control systems. He has held numerous executive leadership positions at leading technology companies like Vaporstream, VMware, Schlumberger, Exabyte, and Sun Microsystems. Mike also founded, served as CEO & CTO, and successfully exited several software companies, including Bolder Data Solutions & CreekPath Systems Inc acquired by HP. Additionally, he served as Chief Marketing Officer & Strategy Officer for Plasmon providing integrated archive & retrieval imaging solutions for leading PACS systems to major healthcare systems.

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Mike holds a BS in Computer Engineering & Computer Science from the Missouri Institute of Science & Technology, where he was one of the first honorary inductees to the Academy of Computer Science. Mike is an accomplished lecturer with a wide variety of published works. Mike is also distinguished as a “Digital Transformation Expert” from Server I/O Management, recognized as the “Storage CTO of the Year” by the Enterprise Strategy Group, and Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst for TechTarget, identified Mike as one of the storage industry’s best CTOs. Mike has been married for 44 years, has two daughters & five grandchildren, and is aka Dallas “Cowboy Mike” on football social media.

Dr. Niren Angle is a renowned board-certified, fellowship-trained vascular surgeon, physician, educator, and medical statesman with an active clinical practice serving as the Medical Director of the Vascular Ultrasound Laboratory Director for East Bay Cardiovascular & Thoracic Associates. During a 30+ year career, Niren has pioneered several operative procedural enhancements, and his work has helped transform vascular surgery, raise medical education standards, and influence national healthcare policy. In addition to being one of the most clinically active surgeons in the Department of Surgery at one of California's most prestigious health systems, John Muir Health, he was elected to become Chief of Staff, overseeing an 800-plus physician medical staff. Niren is also active in basic science research, authoring multiple publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals. He has mentored numerous residents and garnered various teaching awards. Niren is also active in national surgical societies, a reviewer for multiple journals, and on an editorial board of a major international journal.

Niren holds an MD from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine & completed one of most competitive General Surgery residencies at the University of California San Diego. During his surgical residency, Niren joined the US Air Force as a reserve officer, and after completing his surgical training, he joined the 752nd Medical Squadron at March Air Reserve Base California as a captain and was promoted through the ranks to full Colonel. Niren was also selected to attend the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School where he earned an Executive MBA with degrees in Finance & Business Analytics major. He has been married for 27 years with one daughter, Magvation’s Director of Marketing.

DNP Thomas Hamelin is a board-certified nursing doctorate, a consummate healthcare professional, and an accomplished hospital executive administrator with 35+ years of experience in clinical & operational roles.

With a diverse career serving both sides of the surgical value chain in a nursing capacity, his bounteous healthcare informatics acumen, and industry standards proficiency, Thomas has driven success for numerous MedTech players. He is an accomplished medical device innovator with adeptness in guiding product development, facilitating perioperative implementation, and driving operating room utilization. At the beginning of his career, Thomas worked at Hewlett Packard in the HIS division, developing information systems for major integrated hospital delivery networks. He also worked at Awarepoint, delivering RTLS networks to over 100 hospitals. For the past three decades, Thomas has primarily been emersed in perioperative executive administration, running surgery & radiology departments at tier-one health systems like the University of California San Diego and Boston Medical ~ Boston University.

Thomas holds a DNP from American Sentinel University, an MBA from Babson College, a BSN & MSN from Anna Maria College, and a BS in Psychology from Worcester State. He has taught nursing & business administration in several undergraduate & graduate programs. Thomas is an avid clinical pundit who has been published in various nursing & medical journals. He also holds several patents, including a surgical object tracking system patent for use with operating room sharps. Thomas has been married for 43 years and has raised three exceptional children. His daughter and son are closely following in his footsteps, have earned their DNP, and have dedicated themselves to improving American hospitals.

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John Friel is a results-oriented senior executive with extensive global management experience & MedTech proficiency. He has a strong track record of building & growing medical device companies focusing on new product development & global expansion. John delivers results through performance excellence and is passionate about building profitable businesses through dedicated, motivated employees with an unrelenting focus on customer satisfaction. John was CEO of MEDRAD, Inc. from 1998 -2010 and was the leading architect of MEDRAD’s worldwide strategies for three decades, emphasizing sales & marketing, international expansion, R&D, and operations performance excellence. Under John’s leadership, MEDRAD achieved 15% average YoY revenue growth, expanded domestic manufacturing capacity 3X, and added vital operations in Australia and China. While CEO of MEDRAD in 2003 & 2010, he received the only formal recognition of performance excellence of both public & private organizations, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, given by the US President. He is the only person to ever receive this award twice at the same company.

John holds BS in Accounting from Penn State University, a BA in Political Science from Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and a MALD in International Economics from Tufts University.  John is a Board Director & Chair of the Compensation Committee of Daktronics, a publicly traded LED display company (DAKT).  John is also a Board Director of PreservationsTechnologies LP (PTLP), a deacidification & digitization service company.  Additionally, he serves on several non-profit boards & committees, including Emeritus Trustee of Pittsburgh Public Theater, APQC, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Council, Chair of FortyX80, and the  Forward Committee Chair of the United Way. John is married and spends his free time enjoying his kids & grandkids.

Greg Arnold is a hardened CFO with a distinguished career serving in almost every finance capacity, from startups to well-established companies. He has developed a winning strategy for building solid company fiscal discipline, strong investment community relationships, and disseminating a company's value creation narrative to external stakeholders. Greg is proficient at developing talent, driving innovation, and providing superlative customer service. He has an astounding track record of success marked by exceptional financial results and exits for his clients. Greg has consistently played a pivotal role in driving the economic success of numerous early-stage companies across various industries. As a CPA with a foundation rooted in Ernst & Young's audit practice, Greg possesses the experience to navigate complex financial landscapes and deliver tangible results. Throughout Greg's career, he has been a driving force behind early-stage companies' growth stories, adeptly steering financial strategies, fundraising initiatives, and risk management to optimize performance and sustain high profitability.

Greg holds a BCom from The University of Calgary and a CPA from the prestigious CA School of Business, where he was a Certified Learning Facilitator. He is a former Ernst & Young senior accounting and finance professional with a wealth of audit and compliance expertise, ensuring financial transparency and integrity. Greg is also a Managing Director of Symplexity Services LLC, which provides accounting and back-office services for startups and fast-growing companies. This invaluable experience, combined with his ability to communicate complex financial concepts clearly and concisely, empowers Greg to build strong economic foundations for startups and drive them toward lasting success. Greg has been married for 13 years and has two children.

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