Anniversary Keynote Luncheon

Senior Vice President of R&D
Interventional Cardiology & Vascular Therapies
Boston Scientific

Bio: Senior Leader at Boston Scientific responsible for driving research and development in the Interventional Cardiology and Vascular Therapies Group (ICVT). Prior to Boston Scientific held roles in leadership at Abbott, St. Jude Medical, Upsher-Smith and Texas Clinical.

Successful technology leader with proven track record of building and leading high-performance teams, resulting in sustained company growth and profit. Experience in multiple therapy/product areas across medical technologies including cardiac surgery, structural heart, electrophysiology, coronary therapies, interventional heart failure, renal denervation, and vascular therapies.

Over 35 years MedTech experience, cultivating both business and technical relationships at all levels in an organization. Drawing on a global career spanning a variety of disease states and disciplines; biomedical science, engineering, product development, early research, physician interface, business and strategic development. I know how to identify opportunities, drive innovative solutions and deliver results.

Extensive experience in strategic development, customer relationships, strategy execution and technology integration. Strong communicator with a passion for excellence coupled with a sound work ethic and a track record of success.

Professor of Surgery, Critical Care, Nutrition, University of Minnesota

Former Senior Vice President of Health Sciences, University of Minnesota

Former Dean of Medical School, University of Minnesota

Bio: Frank Cerra was born in Oneota, New York in 1943 and grew up in Worcester, New York. He completed his bachelor’s degree in 1965 at the Binghamton University - State University of New York (SUNY), his medical degree at Northwestern University Medical School in 1969, and his residency at SUNY Buffalo. Dr. Cerra became a professor of surgery (1975) and a professor of biophysics (1980) at SUNY Buffalo. He also held attending staff and leadership positions at Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo Veterans Administrations Hospital, and Erie County Medical Center. He was recruited to the University of Minnesota in 1981 to initiate the surgical Intensive Care Unit service and Surgical Nutrition Service. He served as chair of the Department of Surgery from 1993 to 1995 and Dean of the Medical School in 1995. He became Provost (the position was later renamed Senior Vice President) of Health Sciences in 1996 and again became Dean of the Medical School when the positions of Senior Vice President and Dean were merged in 2008. He retired from the University in 2011.

CEO, ACT 3, LLC

Board Member, Rona’s FUN LAB (ronasfunlab.org)

Steering Committee, Norway House Business Acceleration and Resource Network Program

Bio: Dale retired from Medtronic in 2006 after 24 years. Most recently he served as V.P. of CRDM Venture Programs. Prior to this he served as VP/GM of the CRDM Therapy Delivery business. Before Medtronic, he held management and sales positions at Litton Microwave and Burroughs Corporation and started and managed a clean technology start-up company.

From 2006 until May of 2014 he served as the President and CEO for LifeScience Alley and The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, now called Medical Alley Association.  From 2007 until 2009 Dale led efforts to develop a long-term strategy for the State of MN called Destination 2025 that focused on the development and growth of high potential biology-based industries.  From 2011 until 2013 he served as the Founding Executive Director of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), a public private partnership between the FDA and the medical device industry with a mission to enhance the productivity of the medical device eco-system within the United States.  From 2015 until 2022 Dale served as the Co-Founder and Founding CEO of Pelvital Inc., a med-tech company with Norwegian origin that has incorporated in MN to launch into the U.S. market.  FlyteTM, the first of Pelvital’s products, received FDA Clearance and is currently available in the U.S.  

Today he is the President and CEO of Act 3, LLC, a consulting firm that focuses on helping companies to expand their global markets, assisting start-up companies, and helping companies to enter the U.S. market. Act 3 has established an experienced global network of professionals and academic experts that can be leveraged to meet the needs of virtually any high-knowledge content company ranging from an early-stage startup to fortune 500 global enterprises.  

Dale is currently a member of several board of directors, industrial advisory boards, and academic governance boards for different universities, non-profits, and companies. In 1988 he was a recipient of the Medtronic Star of Excellence Award, and in 1997 received the Wallin Leadership Award. In 2002 Dale was recognized as the outstanding graduate of the year by the engineering department of St. Cloud State University. In 2007 he was honored by Twin Cites Business Magazine and was the recipient of the Bioscience Success Story Award. In 2010 and again in 2011, Twin Cities Business Magazine selected Dale as one of 200 "Minnesotans You Should Know."  In 2013 he was awarded the Engineering Manager of the Year Award by the American Society of Engineering Managers. In 2013 he was also awarded the “Leaders in Health Care 2013: Champion Award” by Minnesota Business Magazine. In 2014 he was inducted as a fellow into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and in 2015 he became an Executive in Residence at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business.   He currently has twelve issued patents in medical technology.

Former:  

• Co-Founder, Founding CEO, and Board member Pelvital USA, Inc.
• Co-Founder and Founding Executive Director of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium. 
• CEO, LifeScience Alley (Now called Medical Alley Association) 
• Co-Founder and Founding CEO, The BioBusiness Alliance of MN (Merged with LIfeScience Alley, now Medical Alley)
• Medtronic
• V.P. Venture Programs 
• VP/GM Therapy Delivery Systems  
• Director, European Engineering Operations

Education:  
BS, Engineering, St. Cloud State University, 1978
MS, Systems Engineering, University of St. Thomas, 1994

Founding Co-Chair of the Design of Medical Devices Conference
Founding Director of the Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center
Member of the National Academy of Engineering
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Minnesota

Bio: Dr. Erdman currently has a number of ongoing projects of which many are related to biomedical engineering and medical device design. Dr. Erdman has had research collaborations with faculty in Ophthalmology, Neuroscience, Epidemiology, Orthopedics, Surgery, Dentistry, Otolaryngology and Sport Biomechanics. He has collaborated with over 50 companies in mechanical and product design, including Honeywell, Medtronic, Xerox, 3M, BSC, Andersen Windows, Proctor and Gamble, Graco, HP, Rollerblade, Sulzer Medica, Gillette, Dell, Abbott (formerly St Jude Medical) and Yamaha. He also led the effort to create LINCAGES, a mechanism software design package that has been use worldwide.