2024 Innovation Nexus Conference Program Speakers
Meghan Scanlon, MSME, MBA
2024 Innovation Nexus Keynote Speaker
Meghan Scanlon is senior vice president and president, Urology at Boston Scientific. In this role, she is responsible for developing and bringing innovative, industry-leading solutions to market to support kidney stone removal, prostate health, erectile restoration and urinary continence. She is also chair of the Boston Scientific Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Executive Steering Committee, a member of the Global Council for Inclusion and serves as the executive sponsor for the company’s PRIDE employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees and allies. Prior to joining Boston Scientific in 2014, Meghan spent nearly 15 years in leadership roles within the medical device industry and started her early career as a design engineer.
Steven Kaplan, MD, FACS
Professor of Urology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Kaplan is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Medidata Solutions Inc. (electronic data capture), Medivizor, Inc. (medical informatics), and InspiReN (digital analysis of patient experiences). He is also the current AUA Research Chair.
Tommy Johns, MBA
President, Interventional Urology, Coloplast
Tommy Johns, MBA, is a 30+ year veteran of the medical device industry, with a broad general management background culminating in his current position as President of Coloplast’s Interventional Urology business. Prior to Coloplast, Tommy held a variety of global leadership roles at Medtronic and Smiths Medical. He has successfully applied his cross-cultural, global experience to build and grow mission-driven businesses. Tommy has lived and worked in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, Dallas and Minneapolis.
Mira Sahney, MS, MBA
President, Pelvic Health Operating Unit, Medtronic Inc.
Ms. Sahney has over 25 years of executive leadership in founding, scaling and transacting innovation-driven businesses. Currently, she serves as the global President of the Pelvic Health Operating Unit at Medtronic. She sits on the Board of MassMEDIC and has served as a mentor, investor, and board member for multiple MedTech companies. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Stanford University and MIT.
Liz Barrett, MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer, UroGen Pharma
Liz is a highly regarded industry leader with extensive experience leading business organizations at Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies. Prior to UroGen, Liz was CEO of Novartis Oncology and a member of the Novartis Executive Committee. She previously served as Global President of Oncology at Pfizer Inc., where she held numerous leadership positions, including President of Global Innovative Pharma for Europe, President of the Specialty Care Business Unit for North America, and President of United States Oncology. Prior to Pfizer, Liz held positions at Cephalon Inc., where she was Vice President and General Manager of the Oncology Business Unit, and at Johnson & Johnson.
Susan Stimson, BS
Managing Director, KCK Medtech
Ms. Stimson is recognized as a visionary leader in the medical device industry, having spent over 25 years developing & commercializing new medical technologies. Her commitment to innovation spans executive, venture capital, and board director roles. She currently serves as Managing Director at KCK, a leading venture capital and growth equity investment firm and serves on the Board of Directors for Zenflow.
Dennis McWilliams, MS
Managing Director, Sante Ventures
Dennis is a serial life science entrepreneur and innovator dedicated to globally commercializing medical technologies. Prior to joining Santé, Dennis founded Apollo Endosurgery, a medical device company developing novel flexible surgical devices for less invasive surgery, SparkMed Advisors, a boutique advisory to the medical device space, and co-founded Chrysalis BioTechnology‚ a development-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel drug therapies for tissue regeneration. He started his career as an analyst for the IC2 Institute, a global think tank focused on applied entrepreneurship and commercialization research.
Jennie Xue, BS
Senior Managing Director, Guggenheim Securities, LLC
Jennie Xue is a Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities, where she specializes in mergers and acquisition advisory for medical device companies on both the sell-side and buy-side. Over the last 15 years, she has also advised on IPOs, private financing and leveraged finance transactions at BofA Merrill and Merrill Lynch.
Jon Norris, JD, BS
Managing Director, HSBC Innovation Banking
Jonathan Norris joined HSBC’s Innovation Banking Division in April 2023. He manages healthcare venture relationships and works with investors and companies on commercial banking and debt products. In addition, for more than a decade, Jonathan has written comprehensive reports on the venture healthcare ecosystem, covering venture fundraising, investment, valuations and exits.
Michelle Tarver, MD, PhD
Deputy Center Director, Chief Transformation Officer, Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Michelle Tarver is a board-certified ophthalmologist and epidemiologist, serving as the Deputy Center Director for Transformation. In this role, Dr. Tarver facilitates the development, implementation, and direction of CDRH’s transformative projects and initiatives. Dr. Tarver received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, and completed the M.D./Ph.D. program at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Andrew Cleeland, BS
CEO, Fogarty Innovation
Andrew Cleeland is the CEO of Fogarty Innovation. He is a seasoned executive with 30+ years in the medical device industry in both the private and public sectors. He is on the boards of Saluda Medical, Zenflow, Inc. (chairman), MMI S.p.A. (chairman), Francis Medical and atHeart Medical and holds advisory positions at two top-tier VCs: Longitude Capital and Arboretum Ventures.
Greg Bakan, MBA
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Fogarty Innovation
Greg has nearly 35 years of experience in the medical device industry. He has worked at both large strategies and a series of successful start-ups. His roles have included strategic planning, business development, marketing, sales, and start-up CEO. In his current role at non-profit educational incubator, Fogarty Innovation, Greg seeks to give back by leveraging his experience to coach and mentor aspiring entrepreneurs.
Douglas Kelly, MD, MBA
Deputy Center Director for Science & Chief Scientist, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Doug Kelly, MD, joined the FDA in 2020 after a very successful 30-year-long venture capital career at Alloy Ventures/Asset Management, where he started, financed, grew and sold or took public companies spanning biotech, medical devices, robotics, laboratory tools, healthcare IT, ADME/Tox simulation and clinical trial software. As the Deputy Director and Chief Scientist at CDRH, Doug helped lead strategy for MDUFA V, was an author and founder of MDUFA V’s TAP Pilot that is the interface between the FDA and patient and physician groups, payers, industry, academia, innovators, investors, and other agencies and governments. His focus is on creating a more vibrant and sustainable medtech ecosystem based on deep integration of relationships between medtech stakeholders, to bring new and better characterized, safer and more effective innovations to patients faster to relieve suffering, especially in unserved and underserved populations.