About Us - Aqua Medical

Leadership Team

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.

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.

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, 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.

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 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.

Board of Directors

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.

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.