MEET OUR TEAM
Backed by a strong track record of entrepreneurship, our leadership team has the clinical expertise, commercial acumen and proven business model to identify, innovate, and commercialize high-margin products in attractive markets with far less capital and greater speed to market than typical medical device companies.
Lishan Aklog, MD
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Lishan Aklog, M.D. has been the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since its inception. Dr. Aklog has also served as a member of the board of directors of HCFP, Inc., a financial advisory and investment firm, since its inception, and as a co-founding Partner of both Pavilion Holdings Group (“PHG”), a medical device holding company, since its inception in 2007 and Pavilion Medical Innovations (“PMI”), a venture-backed medical device incubator, since its inception in 2009. Dr. Aklog previously served as Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Vortex Medical Inc., a PHG portfolio company, from its inception in 2008 until its acquisition in October 2012 by AngioDynamics Inc. (Nasdaq: ANGO) for $55 million.
Dr. Aklog has been a consultant to Biomet Inc., now Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH), since 2009. He previously served as a consultant to AngioDynamics, from 2012 to 2016, Edward Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW), from 2007 to 2012, On-X Life Technologies Inc. from 2009 to 2012 and Atricure Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRC) from 2007 to 2016. Dr. Aklog also previously served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of numerous leading medical device companies, including Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Guidant Cardiac Surgery (now, Maquet Cardiovascular) and Cardiovations (then, a division of Johnson & Johnson).
Dr. Aklog is an inventor on 13 issued patents and over 30 patent applications, including the core patents of Vortex Medical’s AngioVac system and the patents for a majority of the Company’s products. Prior to entering the medical device industry full-time in 2012, Dr. Aklog was, from 2006 to 2012, Associate Professor of Surgery, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery and Chair of The Cardiovascular Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center’s Heart and Lung Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. From 2002 to 2006, Dr. Aklog was Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Associate Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Director of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. From 1999 to 2002, Dr. Aklog was Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory and an attending cardiac surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Aklog received his clinical training in general and cardiothoracic surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, during which he spent two years as the Medtronic Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School’s Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory. He was then awarded the American Association of Thoracic Surgery Traveling Fellowship pursuant to which he received advanced training in heart valve surgery under renowned cardiac surgeons Sir Magdi Yacoub at Harefield Hospital in London and Professor Alain Carpentier at L’Hopital Broussais in Paris. Dr. Aklog is a co-author on 38 peer-reviewed articles and 10 book chapters. He has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery since 2006. He is a member of numerous professional societies and has been elected to the American Association of Thoracic Surgery. He served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery from 2006 to 2009 and as President of the 21st Century Cardiothoracic Surgery Society in 2011. Dr. Aklog was recognized as one of America’s Top Doctors in the Castle Connolly Guide from 2002 to 2013. He serves as Chairman of the Boston ECG Project Charitable Foundation and the New York Executive Committee of Human Rights Watch. Dr. Aklog received his A.B., magna cum laude , in Physics from Harvard University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Aklog received his M.D., cum laude, from Harvard Medical School. The Company believes Dr. Aklog is well-qualified to serve on the Board due to his extensive experience in founding and building successful medical device companies, his distinguished career as an academic cardiac surgeon, his recognition as a thought leader and innovator both as a surgeon and a medical device entrepreneur and his widespread relationships in the healthcare and medical device communities.
Dennis McGrath
President & Chief Financial Officer
Dennis M. McGrath has served as the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2017.
Previously, from 2000 to 2017 Mr. McGrath served in several senior level positions of PhotoMedex, Inc. (Nasdaq: PHMD), a global manufacturer and distributor of medical device equipment and services, including from 2011 to 2017 as director, President, and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to PhotoMedex’s reverse merger with Radiancy, Inc in December 2011, he also served as Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2011 and served as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer from 2000 to 2009.
He received honors as a P.A.C.T. (Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology) finalist for the 2011 Investment Deal of the Year, award winner for the SmartCEO Magazine 2012 CEO of the Year for Turnaround Company, and finalist for the Ernst & Young 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, both domestically and internationally, and particularly involving public company acquisitions, including Surgical Laser Technologies, Inc, (formerly, Nasdaq: SLTI), ProCyte Corporation (formerly, Nasdaq: PRCY), LCA Vision, Inc. (formerly, Nasdaq: LCAV) and Think New Ideas, Inc. (formerly, Nasdaq: THNK). Prior to PhotoMedex, he served in several senior level positions of AnswerThink Consulting Group, Inc. (then, Nasdaq: ANSR, now, The Hackett Group, Nasdaq: HCKT), a business consulting and technology integration company, including from 1999 to 2000 as Chief Operating Officer of the Internet Practice, the largest division of AnswerThink Consulting Group, Inc., while concurrently during the merger of the companies, serving as the acting Chief Financial Officer of Think New Ideas, Inc. (then, Nasdaq: THNK, now, Nasdaq: HCKT), an interactive marketing services and business solutions company. Mr. McGrath also served from 1996 until 1999 as Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and director of TriSpan, Inc., an internet commerce solutions and technology consulting company, which was acquired by AnswerThink Consulting Group, Inc. in 1999.
During his tenure at Arthur Andersen & Co., where he began his career, he became a Certified Public Accountant in 1981 and he holds a B.S., maxima cum laude, in accounting from LaSalle University. In addition to continuing as a director of PhotoMedex, he serves as the audit chair and a director of several medical device companies, including DarioHealth Corp. (Nasdaq: DRIO), Noninvasive Medical Technologies, Inc. and Cagent Vascular, LLC, and as an advisor to the board of an orphan drug company, Palvella Therapeutics, LLC. Formerly from 2007 to 2009, Mr. McGrath served as a director of Embrella Cardiovascular, Inc. (sold to Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, NYSE: EW). He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Manor College and the Board of Visitors for Taylor University.
Brian DeGuzman, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. deGuzman has served as PAVmed’s Chief Medical Officer since October 2014 and served as a Director from October 2014 to January 2015. Dr. deGuzman has previously served as a co-founding Partner of Pavilion Holdings Group (“PHG”), a medical device holding company, and Pavilion Medical Innovations (“PMI”), a venture-backed medical device incubator, since their respective inceptions in 2007 and 2009.
Dr. deGuzman has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaleidoscope Medical since its founding in February 2013 and has also served as a Senior Advisor to PMI portfolio companies Saphena Medical since February 2013 and Cruzar Medsystems since July 2013. Dr. deGuzman served as Chief Medical Officer of Vortex Medical from inception until its sale to AngioDynamics, for whom he continues to serve as a consultant. Dr. deGuzman has also been a consultant to Biomet and Atricure since 2007, and on the Revascularization Scientific Advisory Board of Maquet Cardiovascular (formerly Boston Scientific and Guidant Cardiac Surgery) since 2006.
During his surgical career, Dr. deGuzman also served as a consultant to various medical device companies, including Edward Lifesciences. Prior to moving into the medical device industry full-time in 2012, Dr. deGuzman was Assistant Professor of Surgery, Associate Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Surgical Director of the Atrial Fibrillation Clinic at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center’s Heart and Lung Institute from 2006 to 2012. From 2002 to 2006, Dr. deGuzman was Assistant Professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine and an attending cardiac surgeon at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Massachusetts. From 2001 to 2002, Dr. deGuzman was a Clinical Associate of Cardiac Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. deGuzman received his general surgical training at the University of Connecticut/Hartford Hospital, was a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School’s Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory, and received his cardiothoracic surgical training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. deGuzman was recognized as a Top Doctor in Cardiovascular Surgery by Boston Magazine. Dr. deGuzman received his B.S. in Biology from Boston College and his M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Shaun ONeil, MBA
EVP & Chief Operating Officer
Shaun M. O’Neil has served as the Company’s Chief Commercial Officer since July 2018.
As PAVmed’s Chief Commercial Officer he is responsible for the planning and execution of both sales and marketing activities for the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia. His responsibilities include the development of PAVmed’s strategic partnerships, distribution channels, creation of growth strategies and successful business solutions for branding and positioning of the product lines as well as organize, develop, and grow the sales organization. Shaun works closely with, surgeons, clinicians, medical device manufacturers and distributors, technology business managers, as well as research and development partners around the globe.
With a solid track record of sales and marketing leadership, and product and business development expertise in both startup and established companies, including a particularly strong track record in growing sales and increasing market share for innovative medical devices. Since 2011, Mr. O’Neil has held various sales and marketing leadership positions with AngioDynamics (Nasdaq: ANGO), a leading provider of innovative medical devices used by interventional radiologists, interventional cardiologists, surgeons, and other physicians for the minimally-invasive diagnosis and treatment of cancer and peripheral vascular disease. Most recently he served as regional sales manager for its peripheral vascular division, where he oversaw multiple territory managers and clinical specialists. He was responsible for multiple product launches and was a perennial recipient of sales and performance awards. Prior to AngioDynamics, he served in various sales, marketing and engineering roles at Aycan Medical Systems, a privately-held medical imaging company.
Mr. O’Neil received a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus in management information systems from Alfred University and an M.B.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
