Board of Directors
Michael Rice
Mike Rice became president and chief executive officer and a member of our Board of Directors in August 2006, and Chairman in August 2007. He has more than 20 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the medical and high tech industries. He was most recently the senior business development manager for medical and wireless products at AMI Semiconductor (NASDAQ:AMIS). Mr. Rice also served as the director of marketing and business development at Cardiac Science, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCX), a manufacturer of automated external defibrillators. Prior to that, he was the Vice President, Sales and Marketing for TEGRIS Corporation, a privately held network services provider. Mr. Rice also spent 12 years at Physio Control Corporation in several sales and marketing management roles prior to its acquisition by Medtronic Inc.
Howard S. Breslow (member – Corporate Governance Committee)
Howard S. Breslow has served as a director of the Company since
July 1988. He has been a practicing attorney in New York City
for more than 40 years and is a member of the law firm of
Breslow & Walker, LLP, New York, New York, which firm serves as
general counsel to the Company.
Roderick de Greef (member – Corporate Governance, Audit & Finance Committees)
Roderick de Greef has served as a director of the Company since
June 19, 2000. From March 2001 to September 2005, Mr. de Greef
has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
and Secretary of Cardiac Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCX). In
October 2005, Mr. de Greef became the Chief Financial Officer of
Cambridge Heart, Inc., a medical device manufacturer located in
Bedford, MA. Since 1995, Mr. de Greef has provided corporate
finance advisory services to a number of early-stage companies,
including the Company, where he was instrumental in securing the
Company’s equity capital beginning in June 2000, and advising on
merger and acquisition activity. From 1989 to 1995, Mr. de Greef
was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of BioAnalogics,
Inc. and International BioAnalogics, Inc., publicly held,
development stage medical technology companies located in
Portland, Oregon. From 1986 to 1989, Mr. de Greef was Controller
and then Chief Financial Officer of Brentwood Instruments, Inc.,
a publicly held cardiology products distribution company based
in Torrance, California. Mr. de Greef has a B.A. in Economics
and International Relations from California State University at
San Francisco and an MBA from the University of Oregon.
Thomas Girschweiler (member – Compensation, Audit & Finance Committees)
Thomas Girschweiler joined the Board in 2003. Mr. Girschweiler has been engaged in corporate financing activities on his own behalf since 1996. From 1981 to 1996 he was an investment banker with Union Bank of Switzerland. Mr. Girschweiler was graduated at the Swiss Banking School.
Raymond Cohen (chair – Audit & Finance Committee, member – Compensation Committee)
Raymond W. Cohen joined the Board in May 2006. Mr. Cohen is an
Accredited Public Company Director. He currently serves as the CEO and member of the Board of Directors of CardioPolymers, Inc., a venture
backed developer of novel biotherapeutic therapies and as an advisor to
Fjord Ventures, LLC., a life science incubator. Cohen also serves on the
Board of publicly traded Cardiogenesis, Inc., (CPCG) a manufacturer of
transmyocardial revascularization lasers, Syncroness, Inc., a
privately-held engineering and product development firm and BioGenex, a
privately-held manufacturer of immunohistochemistry devices. In 2008,
Mr. Cohen was named by AeA as the Private Company Life Science CEO of
the Year. Previously, Cohen served as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Cardiac Science (CSCX). In 2004, Cardiac Science was ranked
as the 4th fastest growing technology company in North America on
Deloitte & Touche's Fast 500 listing. Mr. Cohen was named Entrepreneur
of the Year in 2002 by the Orange County Business Journal and was a
finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in the medical
company category in 2004. Mr. Cohen is a member of a number of local
Southern California organizations, notably the Forum of Corporate
Directors and OCTANe where he is a member of the Biomedical Leadership
Council. Mr. Cohen holds a B.S. in Business Management from the State
University of New York at Binghamton.
Andrew Hinson (member – Compensation, Corporate Governance Committees)
Andrew Hinson joined the Board in February 2007. He is currently
the Vice President for Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for
Symphony Medical, Inc., a developer of proprietary biopolymer
and cellular-based biologic therapies to effectively treat
chronic and post-operative atrial fibrillation and other cardiac
conduction abnormalities. Mr. Hinson has diverse experience in
the cell and gene therapy markets and extensive experience
managing clinical trials for new biologic based therapies for
cardiac, neurologic, and gastrointestinal applications.