Management Team
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John B. Simpson
Chief Executive Officer -
Matt Ferguson
Chief Business Officer -
Michael Terner
Chief Operating Officer -
JD Simpson
Chief Marketing Officer -
Bunty Banerjee
Senior Vice President of Operations -
Ted Karmon
Vice President of Sales -
Ziad Rouag
Vice President of Clinical, Regulatory & Quality -
Phil Preuss
Vice President of Corporate Development
Dr. John Simpson has revolutionized the field of medicine through innovations that have fundamentally altered how physicians treat cardiovascular disease. He invented and commercialized the first over-the-wire balloon catheter used for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). This single idea created the field of interventional cardiology as we know it today. Dr. Simpson’s unique approach to patient care and the success of less invasive interventional techniques, specifically PTCA, have generated a multi-disciplinary shift in medicine as ophthalmologists, radiologists, cardiologists, neurologists and surgeons alike have adopted this technique.
Dr. Simpson has a unique ability to recognize unmet clinical needs, generate concepts to address these needs, and transform these concepts into clinically and commercially relevant products. Dr. Simpson has started several companies dedicated to providing patients with the most cutting-edge therapies in a variety of different areas, including directional atherectomy (coronary and peripheral), chronic total occlusions (CTOs), ultrasound, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, suture-mediated vascular closure, and local drug delivery. His companies have sold for +$1.7 billion in aggregate, and include Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (sold to Eli Lilly in 1981 for stock on an earnout basis), Devices for Vascular Intervention (acquired by Eli Lilly in 1990), Perclose (purchased by Abbott in 1999), and FoxHollow Technologies (merged with ev3 in 2007).
Dr. Simpson received his PhD in Immunology from the University of Texas and his MD from Duke University. He completed his fellowship in interventional cardiology at Stanford University. Dr. Simpson is a member of the American College of Physicians and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He has published extensively on a wide variety of subjects and lectured throughout the world.
Matt Ferguson joined Avinger in December 2010 with a successful track record in the management of growth-stage life sciences and technology businesses.
Prior to joining Avinger, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Tethys Bioscience, a provider of molecular diagnostic tests for cardiometabolic conditions. Prior to Tethys, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Proteolix, a developer of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. Proteolix was acquired in 2009 by Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Before Proteolix, Mr. Ferguson served as Chief Financial Officer at FoxHollow Technologies, where he was responsible for the company's 2004 initial public offering and played a significant role in the company's 2007 merger with ev3 inc. Earlier in his career, he held a variety of financial, corporate development and operational positions at ChannelPoint and Hewlett-Packard.
Mr. Ferguson’s educational background includes a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.
As the Chief Operating Officer, Michael Terner brings over 20 years of International Medical Device and Information Technology industry experience to the role.
Before joining Avinger in August of 2010, Mr. Terner held the Chief Operating Officer position at Aesthera Corporation where he built business processes accelerating company growth and helped position the company for acquisition. Prior to Aesthera, Mr. Terner was the CEO at KnowNow, Inc. a start-up focused on web-driven enterprise software. Prior to KnowNow Mr. Terner was the President of Puritan Bennett, a $200M respiratory business under Tyco Healthcare (now Covidien). Mr. Terner also spent several years in Europe as Vice President of Shared Services for the $400M European Distribution operation of Mallinckrodt, Inc.
Mr. Terner’s education background includes an M.A. from The Ohio State University, and a B.A. from Boston University in Massachusetts.
As the Chief Marketing Officer, JD Simpson is responsible for general business management and oversees Avinger’s Marketing activities including strategic and operational execution.
Prior to joining Avinger, Mr. Simpson worked at FoxHollow Technologies. During this time, he held positions in Marketing (Product Manager, SilverHawk TM), Sales (District Sales Manager, Phoenix, AZ), and Corporate Development (Senior Associate). During his tenure at FoxHollow, Mr. Simpson supplemented his operational experience as a health care analyst for Palo Alto Investors.
Mr. Simpson holds a B.A. in Sociology from Duke University.
As Senior Vice President of Operations, Bunty Banerjee brings 18 years of management experience in the life sciences industry, encompassing disposable devices and capital equipment. Before Avinger, Mr. Banerjee was Vice President of Operations & Quality at Evalve, Inc. where he provided operational leadership from clinical stage to product commercialization. Mr. Banerjee, as part of the leadership team, oversaw the acquisition of Evalve, Inc. by Abbott Laboratories in 2009 and lead the post-acquisition integration and business expansion as Head of Operations at Abbott Vascular, Structural Heart.
Prior to Evalve, Mr. Banerjee served as Plant Manager at Epicor, Inc. (a St. Jude Medical acquisition), holding general management responsibilities including operations, quality, product development, finance, human resources, and providing leadership in product commercialization and new product introductions. Before Epicor, Mr. Banerjee held several operations leadership positions at several newly-acquired, high-growth business units of Boston Scientific. Earlier in his career, Mr. Banerjee held various engineering positions at Crompton-Greaves, Caterpillar, and Larsen-Toubro.
Mr. Banerjee received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Jadavpur University, India and M.S. in Industrial Management from Clemson University, USA.
Ted Karmon joined Avinger as an Area Director in October of 2009 and was promoted to Vice President of US Sales in July 2011. Mr. Karmon has more than 17 years of sales experience working with a variety of medical device companies in the vascular market.
Prior to joining Avinger, Mr. Karmon was the Director of Sales at FoxHollow Technologies where he was responsible for leading a team of sales professionals that effectively expanded the customer base and significantly increased revenue. Earlier in his career, Mr. Karmon held several positions within various divisions at Guidant Corporation (now part of Boston Scientific and Abbott Labs).
Mr. Karmon holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Western Michigan University.
Ziad Rouag joined Avinger in April 2010 and is currently Vice President of Regulatory, Quality and Clinical Affairs. Prior to joining Avinger, Mr. Rouag held several positions with various medical device companies, serving as Regulatory Affairs Director with Evalve Inc., an Abbott acquisition, Regulatory Affairs Director with Johnson & Johnson, and Regulatory and Clinical Director with Guidant Corporation.
He is fluent in several languages and holds B.S. degrees in Biology and Economics from McGill University Montreal Canada and a Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers University School of Law.
As the Vice President of Corporate Development, Phil Preuss handles general business management, strategic operations and partnerships, and finance.
Mr. Preuss spent almost five years in New York City working in equity research, eventually becoming an Associate Director at UBS. During this time, he also supplemented his finance, accounting, and analytical skills by becoming a CFA charterholder. Following his MBA and prior to Avinger, he joined Foxhollow Technologies as a Senior Associate in Corporate Development, where he worked on internal strategic priorities and the exploration of external business opportunities.
Mr. Preuss holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.A. from Stanford University.
