Session Organizer: Will Durfee, University of Minnesota
Moderators: Steven Parente and Thomas Gunderson
While the United States is the largest market for medical technology products, companies inside and outside the USA know that strategies for growth likely includes non USA markets, and further that many of the most promising new medical technologies are developed around the globe. Companies looking to sell in international markets face a range of regulatory, intellectual property, reimbursement, and other issues as each country is different. For example, China is looking to increase the share of medical technology products developed in China in its home market.
Join us for a moderated discussion on global medical technology innovations and in developing medical technology for non USA markets. The discussion will be led by Steven Parente, Medical Industry Leadership Institute, University of Minnesota, and Thomas Gundersin, retired managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffrey.
Tim Laske, Vice President of Research and Business Development at Medtronic AF Solutions
Timothy Laske, PhD
Vice President of Research and Business Development at Medtronic AF Solutions
Dr. Tim Laske is currently the Vice President of Research & Business Development for the Cardiac Ablation Solutions Business at Medtronic. He is a Medtronic Bakken Fellow and Technical Fellow and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. His previous roles at Medtronic include VP of Product Development for AF Solutions, Senior Product Development Director for Heart Valves, Senior Program Director for Transcatheter Heart Valves, Technology Director for Cardiac Rhythm Therapy Delivery, and various technology management and design engineering positions. Prior to his 31-year tenure at Medtronic, he worked as a Design Engineer at Ford Motor Company in Crash Safety and Advanced Vehicle Systems Engineering. He has a B.S. degree in both Biological Sciences and Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota where he serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery. His doctoral research was centered on the use of isolated working hearts in the design of medical devices and in parallel co founded the Visible Heart ® Laboratory ( www.visibleheart.com ). In addition to medical device design and cardiac physiology, his research interests include the study of hibernation physiology in wild black bear and brown bear populations and conservation of endangered species. He has more than 90 U.S. patents and numerous publications in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Wildlife Biology/Ecology.
Jason Mellad, Co-Founder and CEO at Start Codon
Jason Mellad
Co-Founder and CEO at Start Codon
Jason is Start Codon's Co-Founder and CEO and is responsible for developing and implementing its strategy, managing and dealing with investor relations and working closely with Start Codon's portfolio companies to set and monitor their progress and to help them secure further investment and non-dilutive finance. Jason regularly sits as a director or observer on the boards of Start Codon's portoflio companies.
Jason is a scientist entrepreneur passionate about translating innovative technologies into more effective therapies and better patient outcomes. Previously, he was CEO of Cambridge Epigenetix which has developed a proprietary epigenetic biomarker discovery platform for the development of new diagnostic assays and the identification of novel drug targets. While at Cambridge Epigenetix, Jason transformed the research tools company into a leading liquid biopsy player and led two successful fundraises (Series B and C) for a total of $49.8m.
Prior to joining Cambridge Epigenetix, Jason was a Business Development Manager for Horizon Discovery’s diagnostics division where he was responsible for developing and launching new reference standards for genomic clinical assays. He also served as an Associate at Cambridge Enterprise, the technology transfer office of the University of Cambridge, where he managed a broad intellectual property portfolio and fostered new spinouts.
Jason was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to obtain his PhD in Medicine from Clare College, University of Cambridge with a focus on vascular biology. He has a BSc (Summa Cum Laude) in Molecular Biology and Chemistry from Tulane University.
Moderators
Steve Parente
Professor in the Department of Finance
Minnesota Insurance Industry Chair of Health Finance
Associate Dean of the Global Institute
Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
From 2014-2017, he served as Associate Dean of MBA and MS programs. Dr. Parente is the longest-serving Director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute (2006-2017). As a Professor in the Finance Department, he specializes in health economics, information technology, and health insurance. Dr. Parente has been the principal investigator on large funded studies regarding consumer-directed health plans, health information technology, and health policy micro-simulation. In Washington DC, he served as Chief Economist for Health Policy and Senior Economist on the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President at the White House in Washington, DC from 2019 to 2021. Previously, he was Senior Adviser to the Secretary for Health Economics in the Department of Health and Human Services, Vice-Chair of Academy Health, and the Governing Chair of the Health Care Cost Institute from 2013 to 2017. He is the Founding Director of the Medical Valuation Laboratory, a nine-college interdisciplinary effort to accelerate medical innovation from scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs. Dr. Parente was a health policy advisor for the McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign and served as Legislative Fellow in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D‑WV) in 1992/93. He has a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.
Thomas Gunderson
Now retired, Thomas Gunderson was a managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, following medical technology companies. In more than 20 years as an analyst, Gunderson was recognized by several industry publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Institutional Investor, Thomson Reuters and First Call. In retirement he has kept involved in healthcare, serving on the Boards of both for-profit and non-profit healthcare organizations. As an unpaid staff member at the University of Minnesota since 2016, he is currently Chairman of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute's Executives in Residence group at the Carlson School of Management Gunderson holds a bachelor's degree from Carleton College and graduate degrees in cell biology and business administration.