Team

John Goodrich, J.D., L.L.M.
Director, Secretary

Mr. Goodrich was a senior partner of the law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, where he practiced corporate law from 1970 until 2002. He joined the firm as a partner in 1970, and was a senior manager during the ensuing three decades in which Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati became a key component of the preeminent innovation ecosystem in the world. The firm is noteworthy in the development of its pioneering efforts to adapt itself to the needs of cash-poor entrepreneurs; for example, by being one of the first firms to accept equity from client companies as compensation, and by offering legal services to start-up companies on a deferred-until-financing basis. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of both Navigation Ltd. and Tessera Technologies, Inc., and he operates a cattle ranch in San Louis Obispo.

Frederick St. Goar, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Director

A board certified interventional cardiologist at El Camino Hospital, Dr. St. Goar pursues a clinical practice along with successful, active participation in the cardiovascular medical device industry. His work has focused on cardiac interventions, and he has a special interest in structural heart disease. He has published extensively , is listed on multiple new device patents and is recognized as a thought leader in the area of valvular heart disease,. He has served as a consultant for both start-ups and established medical device companies. Companies that he has worked with recently include Ardian, Nanostim, and HeartFlow. His entrepreneurial work includes helping to found Evalve, and HeartPort. Dr. St Goar participates closely with the Fogarty Institute Innovation program and teaches at Stanford Medical School in the BioDesign program.

Lewis Wexler, M.D.
Director, Vice Chairman

During the 30 years of teaching medical education, Dr. Wexler held the position as Chief of Cardiovascular Radiology and co-director of the Cath-Angio Laboratories at Stanford University Hospital. His bibliography includes over 200 published articles, book chapters and abstracts on various aspects of cardiac and vascular imaging and interventions. Throughout his career, Dr. Wexler has held many public service positions. He was an original founder of the AHA Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and the President of the North American Society of Cardiac Imaging. He received the first Gold Medal Award from NASCI in 2002, and was also named Physician Volunteer of the Year by the California Affiliate of the AHA. The Council on Cardiovascular Radiology of the American Heart Association presented him with its Distinguished Achievement Award in 1993.

Ann Fyfe
President and Chief Executive Officer

A 30-year veteran of health care business development, strategic planning, marketing and management, Ann Fyfe has held key strategic planning and business development positions for El Camino Hospital and its Genomic Medicine Institute, Stanford Hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and Mills Peninsula Hospital. Ms. Fyfe is a sought-after speaker on marketing and business development. She has served as a board member of the American Marketing Association and President of the Academy of Health Care Marketing and Planning. She also served as President of the Women Health Care Executives Association and was the first president of the Northern California Healthcare Marketing Association. In 2007, she was a recipient of the Santa Clara County YWCA's Tribute to Women in Industry Award.

James Joye, D.O., F.A.C.C.
Chief Medical Officer

A board-certified interventional cardiologist and the Director of Research and Education at the Heart & Vascular Institute at El Camino Hospital, Dr. Joye has spent much of his career devising new ways to improve care, through inventing new devices and procedures that have revolutionized vascular care. Dr. Joye developed Cryoplasty and percutaneous bypass, pioneering endovascular techniques that target peripheral vascular disease (PVD). Both procedures were developed and first performed at El Camino Hospital. He has also developed an interactive national education course for endovascular interventions (known as "VIVA"), designed to provide an efficient and effective new method to educate physicians located throughout the United States. Dr. Joye is currently involved in several groundbreaking clinical trials at the Taft Center for Clinical Research.

Michael C. Needels, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer

A 20-year veteran of the biotechnology industry, Dr. Needels has been a key contributor at multiple start-up and early-stage biotechnology companies, and has extensive experience in the areas of life science technology creation, corporate operations, and scientific management. He was Research Director at Affymax Research Institute where he co-invented the first technology to encode synthetic combinatorial libraries, and lead a large multidisciplinary team of chemists, biologists, and engineers in efforts to create new drug discovery technologies. He served in the position of Research Fellow at XenoPort, Inc., where he researched novel technologies for drug delivery and drug targeting. He has served as an advisor to multiple early stage life science companies and venture capital firms to provide advice regarding technology strategy, business plans, IP generation, and financing. Additionally, Dr. Needels is co-founder, and former President and CFO, of Nodality, Inc., a company that has developed technology that has the potential to guide treatment decisions by revealing patient-specific intracellular signaling pathway dynamics.

A world-renowned vascular surgeon, Dr. Zarins has also held a number of administrative positions over his 30-year career, including Chief of Vascular Surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Zarins is recognized for his unique expertise in the basic understanding of hemodynamics and atherosclerosis as well as the treatment of aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease, and peripheral occlusive disease. He has written over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, 115 book chapters, six books, and has extensive experience in clinical trials and medical device development. In 2007 he co-founded HeartFlow, Inc. which is focused on non-invasive cardiac diagnosis using computational technologies.

Betty deBettencourt brings 10 years of both device and pharmaceutical experience in cardiovascular clinical trials to her current position. Prior to this appointment, she was the Clinical Research Manager for Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists. Ms. deBettencourt's clinical career has included involvement in acute care hospital nursing and neurological rehabilitation. In addition, she has held positions in quality management, community case management, managed care, and nursing leadership. Ms. deBettencourt has also been an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at San Jose State University.