Thomas A. Afzal

Biography

Thomas Azfal has been a director since February 2016. Mr. Afzal has served as the president and CEO of Spinal Kinetics, Inc., a global medical device company, since co-founding the company in 2003. Mr. Afzal also currently serves as chairman of Heart Repair Technologies, Inc., a company he co-founded in September 2008 that develops surgical and percutaneous mitral valve repair systems. He also served as the chairman of PneumRx, Inc., a company dedicated to developing innovative technologies in treating emphysema, from July 2011 until it was sold to BTG plc (LON:BTG) in January 2015. From 1997 to 2003, Mr. Afzal served as the president and CEO of CardioVention, Inc., a medical device company he founded that was focused on minimal invasive products for cardiovascular surgery. Prior to that, Mr. Afzal served as the general manager of the Cardiac Valve Group and vice president of sales and marketing of CardioThoracic Systems, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ:CTSI), a developer of products for beating-heart surgery. Mr. Afzal’s professional experience also includes positions with Krauth Medical GmbH, a privately-held leading European medical device distributor and manufacturer, SulzerMedica, a multi-national medical device company, CarboMedics, a leading developer and manufacturer of mechanical heart valves, and Baxter International Inc. Mr. Afzal also currently serves as a board member of Ivy Sports Medicine and Crosstrees Medical and also served on the board of the College of Business of San Diego State University. Mr. Afzal earned a B.S. in Business Administration from San Diego State University. Mr. Afzal has extensive chief executive management experience with growth companies, including establishing a significant European business presence, and mergers and acquisitions in the medical device industry.

Research Interest

cardiac surgery