Leadership Team

Robert "Bob" Haggerty

President/Chief Executive Officer

Virender K. Sharma, MD

Founder/CMO/Director

Scott McGill

VP Research & Development

Robert "Bob" Haggerty

President/Chief Executive Officer

Robert “Bob” Haggerty

President/Chief Executive Officer

Robert “Bob” Haggerty brings more than 35 years of medical device leadership to Aqua Medical, including more than three decades of experience in gastroenterology. Throughout his career, he has held senior sales, marketing and business development roles with some of the industry’s most recognized companies, including Boston Scientific, Covidien (now Medtronic), BÂRRX Medical, Gyrus/ACMI, Pentax Medical and Procter & Gamble.

As Vice President of U.S. and Global Sales at BÂRRX Medical, Haggerty played a pivotal role in the commercialization of radiofrequency ablation for Barrett’s Esophagus, helping grow the business to $40 million in revenue and establish an innovative new therapy within the gastroenterology community. BÂRRX was acquired by Covidien in 2012.

Haggerty’s extensive experience introducing transformative GI technologies, building markets and developing strong relationships across the gastroenterology community uniquely positions him to lead Aqua Medical as the company advances its RF vapor ablation platform and clinical programs, including its investigational PIMA procedure for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.


Linkedin

 

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. Linkedin

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

Raj Nihalani, MD, RAC

Chief Medical Officer

Alina Stoica, CCRP

Manager, Clinical Research

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. Linkedin

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.

Alina Stoica, CCRP

Manager, Clinical Research

Alina Stoica, CCRP

Manager, Clinical Research

Alina is an experienced clinical research professional with extensive leadership in medical device clinical development and trial operations. She currently serves as Clinical Research Manager at Aqua Medical Inc., where she oversees clinical trial execution and supports the advancement of innovative technologies. In addition to her industry roles, she has worked as an independent consultant since 2011, providing expertise in clinical operations, project management, electronic data capture (EDC), and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) compliance.

Previously, Alina held senior clinical leadership positions at ClinDatrix and ReShape Lifesciences, and earlier served as Director of Clinical/RA/QA at Onciomed and Clinical Research Manager at AcuFocus. Her career spans regulatory, clinical, and operational roles, reflecting a strong track record of successfully managing clinical programs and supporting medical device innovation from development through clinical validation.

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

Robert "Bob" Haggerty

President/Chief Executive Officer

Virender K. Sharma, MD

Founder/CMO/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.

Robert "Bob" Haggerty

President/Chief Executive Officer

Robert “Bob” Haggerty

President/Chief Executive Officer

Robert “Bob” Haggerty brings more than 35 years of medical device leadership to Aqua Medical, including more than three decades of experience in gastroenterology. Throughout his career, he has held senior sales, marketing and business development roles with some of the industry’s most recognized companies, including Boston Scientific, Covidien (now Medtronic), BÂRRX Medical, Gyrus/ACMI, Pentax Medical and Procter & Gamble.

As Vice President of U.S. and Global Sales at BÂRRX Medical, Haggerty played a pivotal role in the commercialization of radiofrequency ablation for Barrett’s Esophagus, helping grow the business to $40 million in revenue and establish an innovative new therapy within the gastroenterology community. BÂRRX was acquired by Covidien in 2012.

Haggerty’s extensive experience introducing transformative GI technologies, building markets and developing strong relationships across the gastroenterology community uniquely positions him to lead Aqua Medical as the company advances its RF vapor ablation platform and clinical programs, including its investigational PIMA procedure for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.


Linkedin

 

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. Linkedin

William Dai

Director

Bill Starling

Director

Michael Blomeyer

Director

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.

Don Lazas, MD

Director

Don Lazas, MD

Director

Don Lazas, MD

Director

Don Lazas, MD, is a gastroenterologist, physician leader, and healthcare innovator with more than 20 years of experience advancing digestive health, clinical research, and medical-technology development. He is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of ObjectiveHealth, where he leads the integration of technology-enabled clinical research programs into community practices to improve outcomes in chronic, underserved diseases. Dr. Lazas is a long-standing partner at Associates in Gastroenterology and Associated Endoscopy in Nashville, where he has practiced since the late 1990s. He also brings extensive entrepreneurial and governance experience as the founder and managing partner of NueCura Partners—one of Nashville’s prominent angel investment groups focused on early-stage healthcare companies. His prior advisory and leadership roles span multiple clinical technology and diagnostics organizations. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board at TriStar Summit Medical Center and held board roles across several endoscopy and healthcare ventures. Earlier in his career, Dr. Lazas served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, achieving the rank of Major and completing his internal medicine and gastroenterology training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is a Fellow of both the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Physicians.