Leadership Team
Lloyd Mencinger
President/CEO
Virender K. Sharma, MD
Founder/CMO/Director
Scott McGill
VP Research & Development
Lloyd Mencinger
President/CEO
Lloyd Mencinger, MBA
President/CEO
Lloyd Mencinger has led business development and competitive strategy at some of the industry’s most notable blue-chip companies. He successfully steered Boston Scientific’s $1 billion Endosurgery Group in two key roles: Global Vice President for Strategy and Business Development and (earlier) Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Europe. He also served as director of the company’s Strategic Initiatives Europe division.
At Edwards Lifesciences, he led business development for its Edwards Critical Care business. And at Baxter Healthcare, he served as Corporate Field Director. His experience also includes guiding early-stage companies, such as DFINE, Inc., to a lucrative $100 million exit as Vice President, International, as well as strategic positions at EndoStim, Inc. (Vice President, Sales and Marketing) and Uptake Medical (General Manager, Europe).
His breadth of expertise goes beyond medtech, though. He served as Senior Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, at Tenet Healthcare Corp., and he guided Spiration, Inc., toward its acquisition by Olympus as a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
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Virender K. Sharma, MD
Founder/CMO/Director
Virender K. Sharma, MD
Founder/Chief Medical Officer/Director
Virender K. Sharma, MD, is a world-renowned physician with deep entrepreneurial experience in developing multiple innovative technologies in gastroenterology and endoscopy, with 32 patents currently issued and more than 30 pending.
He was responsible for the successful execution of a $70 million funding initiative, a European commercial launch, and a U.S.-based clinical trial during his tenure at EndoStim, Inc., developer of a revolutionary neurostimulation technology for gastroesophageal reflux disease. And under his leadership at SynerZ Medical, Inc., the company experienced one of the fastest acquisitions of gastrointestinal medtech companies in recent history after successful completion of animal trials for its obesity and diabetes therapy.
Dr. Sharma is Founder and Director of the Arizona Center for Digestive Health and runs a clinical practice in Phoenix, Arizona. He is board-certified in gastroenterology and hepatology and has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and presentations. He is also a past Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair of GI Research at Mayo Clinic Arizona.
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Scott McGill
VP Research & Development
Scott McGill, MBA
Vice President, Research & Development
Scott McGill leads Aqua Medical’s innovative future with a foundation based firmly on more than 25 years of medical device engineering and product development at early-stage clinical manufacturers. He has served as Vice President, Research and Development, for CardioProlific (acquired by Philips) and as Vice President, Product Development, for Serene Medical, Inc.
In addition to management expertise, his background is steeped in engineering and product development, including roles at Arkal Medical (Senior Director, Device and Product Engineering); Primaeva Medical, acquired by Syneron Candela (Senior Director, Product Development); Percusurge, Inc., acquired by Medtronic (Project Manager, Research and Development); and Reflow, Inc., acquired by Fox Hollow Technologies (R&D Engineer).
Greg Wilson, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Krithika Rupnarayan, MD, MPH
Director, Clinical/Medical Affairs
Raj Nihalani, MD, RAC
Chief Medical Officer
Greg Wilson, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Greg Wilson, MBA, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Greg Wilson brings to Aqua Medical a career focused on navigating companies through the life science and biotechnology landscape, including serving as a consulting Chief Financial Officer for more than 50 early-stage ventures. He has guided numerous companies to successful exits, including Cytomx’s (CTMX) initial public offering, BARRX’s $400 million acquisition by Covidien (Medtronic), Afferent’s $1.25 billion acquisition by Merck, and Xros’s $3.2 billion acquisition by Nortel. He also played a key role in assisting Ablexis Technologies in licensing its AlivaMab Mouse antibody drug discovery platform to a majority of the world’s top pharmaceutical manufacturers.
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Krithika Rupnarayan, MD, MPH
Director, Clinical/ Medical Affairs
Krithika Rupnarayan, MD, MPH
Director, Clinical/ Medical Affairs
Krithika Rupnarayan’s experience spans clinical trial management, strategic development, and the successful completion of study milestones. She has also executed clinical operations such as protocol development, regulatory submissions, study implementation, vendor management, and data management.
Her therapeutic areas of expertise include diabetes mellitus, oncology, radiology, pulmonology, and early disease detection.
Raj Nihalani, MD, RAC
Chief Medical Officer
Raj Nihalani, MD, RAC
Chief Medical Officer
Award-winning med-tech innovator. Holds 24+ patents in digital therapeutics, bio-electronics for T2D, spine surgery, and AI-enabled digital health / health tech.
- Dynamic and visionary founder with a proven track record of over 20 years in the medical and health technology sectors.
- Recognized clinician with special congressional acknowledgment for groundbreaking contributions to medical innovation.
- Expertise spans diverse therapeutic areas including Cardiovascular, Minimally Invasive Surgery, GI, Diabetes, Metabolic Disorders, Ophthalmology, Spine, and Fem-tech.
- A trailblazer in med-device, health tech, and biotech, driving success from concept to clinical trials, M&A, and IPO.
- Over $100M in fundraising.
Greg Geissinger, JD
VP of RA/QA
Greg Geissinger, JD
VP of RA/QA
Greg Geissinger, JD
VP of RA/QA
Medical device executive with 14+ years’ experience managing regulatory, clinical, and quality teams focused on U.S. and EU product approvals
- Member of the State Bar of California (since December 2008).
- Successfully guided FDA and global regulatory submissions for high-risk Class III medical devices.
- Played key roles in obtaining PMA approvals, achieving EU MDR certifications, and resolving FDA compliance issues.
- Extensive experience in building and leading multidisciplinary teams in regulatory, clinical, and quality functions.
Fund of the Late
Pete Nicholas
Founder and Ex-Chairman
of Boston Scientific
Fund of the Late
Pete Nicholas
Founder and Ex-Chairman
of Boston Scientific
Board of Directors
Greg Barrett
Chairman
William Dai
Director
Bill Starling
Director
Michael Blomeyer
Director
Greg Barrett
Chairman
Greg Barrett
Chairman
Greg Barrett provides valuable direction to Aqua Medical’s Board based on his 35 years of successfully guiding innovative companies toward lucrative acquisitions in gastroenterology, urology, cardiology, and surgery. His leadership is informed by roles as President and CEO of DFine (acquired by Merit Medical for ~$100 million); Chairman, President, and CEO of BARRX Medical (acquired by Covidien/Medtronic for $400 million); and President and CEO of ACMI Corp. (acquired by Gyrus/Olympus for $500 million).
He served as Group President and Executive Vice President for Boston Scientific and as Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, for Orthofix Corp. and Baxter Healthcare. He also served as Vice President of Marketing in the Cardiosurgery Division of C.R. Bard Corp. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of BTG plc (acquired by Boston Scientific for $4.2 billion), Cutera, and Barosense.
William Dai
Director
William Dai
Director
As Founding Managing Partner of ShangBay Capital, LLC, William Dai was pivotal in closing the final equity round in Aqua Medical’s $15.5 million Series A funding. His expertise in venture capital and private equity is based on a career spanning the globe. He has served as CFO of two industry giants in China: ShangPharma Corp., the second largest CRO in China, and China Nepstar Corp., the largest pharmaceutical retail operation in China.
With more than 20 years of experience in executive roles in the biotechnology industry, including serving as CFO and Vice Chair of the Executive Committee at Microport Scientific Corp., one of the largest medical device manufacturers in China, and guiding Boston Scientific’s significant expansion in the Chinese market as CFO, he is renowned for his authoritative direction and expertise.
Bill Starling
Director
Bill Starling
Director
Bill Starling is co-founder of Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, which was acquired by Lilly/Guidant/Abbott, and former President and CEO of Cardiac Pathways, which was acquired by Boston Scientific following successful completion of its IPO. He is also co-founder of Bioerodible Vascular Solutions (acquired by Guidant/Abbott) and served as Director of iRhythm Technologies (a Stanford BioDesign spinout) through its IPO.
He currently serves as CEO of Conveyor Cardiovascular and is Board Chairman of InnAVasc, a spinout from Duke University Medical Center. His depth of expertise includes raising over $280 million in private and public capital. The start-up companies he co-founded represent $4 billion in annual revenues today.
He is steeped in successful navigation of the challenges unique to start-ups. Under his guidance as CEO of Synecor business generator, he co-founded BaroSense, TransEnterix, Interventional Autonomics, and NeuroTronik. He has served as Managing Director of Synergy Life Science Partners, a $143 million venture capital partnership, since its founding. He currently shares his clinical management expertise on the Board of Advisors at Stanford Stroke Center and the Board of Advisors at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Michael Blomeyer
Director
Michael Blomeyer
Director
Michael Blomeyer is General Partner and co-founder of ForMED Ventures, directing early-stage health and medtech companies primarily in Israel, Taiwan, and the U.S. He also advances global development and strategy for these companies through his role as President of New Deantronics and E Surgical.
His depth of global experience includes leading operations and market expansion as General Manager for Hewlett-Packard Medical Asia-Pacific, as well as serving as CEO for Quinton Instruments and Beckman Instruments. His consultation and acumen have been integral to the successful evolution of numerous companies and charitable projects worldwide.