Leighton Read, MD
CHAIR OF THE BOARD
Dr Read is the Executive Chairman at Global Kinetics and Venture Partner at Brandon Capital. He is an American serial entrepreneur and venture investor with a track record of building successful companies across the range of life-science technologies. He was previously a managing director of Alloy Ventures and before that had co-founded Affymax NV (acquired by GSK, was the founding investor, Chairman and CEO of Aviron the company that developed FluMist acquired by MedImmune) and Avidia (acquired by Amgen). Leighton has a Bachelor of Science from Rice University and an MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center. He completed internal medicine training at Duke and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he held appointments at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health publishing in the fields of decision and cost-effectiveness analysis. Leighton is currently a director of EBR Systems, Foundry Therapeutics 1, Okogen and Glyscend. He is also a director of BioVentures for Global Health.
Zach Henderson
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Zach is the Chief Executive Officer at Global Kinetics. Zach has over 25 years of healthcare software and big data experience and leads Global Kinetics’ growth and global expansion. Zach recently served as the Chief Commercial Officer of Glooko, where he led the rapid growth of the business with life science partners and healthcare providers. Prior to Glooko, he held senior management roles with various public and private equity backed global healthcare companies quickly growing their businesses while meeting his personal mission of bettering healthcare systems around the world. Zach holds an MBA from Villanova University.
Thomas Ulmer
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Thomas is the Chief Financial Officer at Global Kinetics. Thomas brings nearly two decades of experience serving as CFO of both private and public pharmaceutical companies. He was previously the CFO of Immatics, a NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company, where he was instrumental in leading the company through its successful IPO. Prior to this, Thomas held the position of CFO to Allergopharma, a medium-sized European allergy company. Furthermore, he held various leadership positions within the Merck Group such as Global Head of Business Planning & Analysis, Chief Financial Officer for Australia/ New Zealand and Financial Controller for Merck’s generics business. Thomas is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) and holds an MBA.
Karen Krygier
CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER AND GENERAL MANAGER
Karen brings nearly 20 years medical device experience in disciplines of both marketing and clinical research. With a background in nearly 10 years of financial services from US Bancorp, Karen adapted core marketing and product launch skills into the peripheral vascular medical device arena with the product introduction of a novel carotid stent/embolic protection system. Transitioning to clinical research, Karen has led global research teams conducting pre and post market trials for peripheral stents, atherectomy, renal denervation technology, peripheral drug-coated balloon combination therapy, and neurology products for Parkinson’s disease. Comprehensive clinical trial work has included protocol design, clinical trial operations, and data/safety analysis resulting in several FDA PMA and 510(k) approvals, CE mark, and peer reviewed journal publications for companies including ev3, Covidien, Spectranetics and Philips, and Global Kinetics. Karen also has earned an MBA from University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Business.
Neil Stevens
VICE PRESIDENT SALES AND MARKETING EUROPE
Neil has more than 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and health care industry and has held leadership roles in sales, marketing and market development, working for Eli Lilly Ltd and Medtronic Ltd. Neil has also lead change management programs and consultancy assignments with Bain and Boston Consulting. Neil has extensive experience working within the NHS in the UK and several years’ experience driving European markets. Neil has successfully launched remote management technologies for the management of implantable cardiac devices, whilst navigating reimbursement and driving execution to achieve sales performance in deep brain stimulation, for Parkinson’s disease.
Muhammad Umer
VP OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Umer is the Vice President of Product Development leading all software and hardware new product development and sustaining engineering. Over the past 15 years, Muhammad has held product leadership roles in digital health, diagnostics, and medical device industries. Muhammad holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Melbourne and combines his research and industry experience to lead engineering teams in building novel medical technology. Prior to joining Global Kinetics, Muhammad has held the roles of Head of Digital and eHealth at Australian Clinical Labs and Head of Software Development and Chief Software Architect at dorsaVi, an ASX listed biotechnology company focused on developing innovative motion analysis sensor technology.