Management
Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
David Hooper, Ph.D. was a technology executive with Spinal Concepts and Abbott Spine from 1999-2006 where he held responsibility for clinical and regulatory affairs, product development and business development. He was part of the executive management team through Abbott Labs’ acquisition of Spinal Concepts and Abbott Spine’s subsequent acquisition of SpineNext. He founded Minimus Spine in 2006 after performing his own due diligence through the literature and visits with surgeons outside the US. He is responsible for securing funding for Minimus Spine and has led the company’s efforts to create its intellectual property portfolio, secure regulatory certifications in Europe and the design and execution of the company’s clinical study. Dr. Hooper completed his doctorate in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa in 1996, under the direction of Dr. Vijay Goel and Dr. Jim Weinstein. He then spent three years at the University of East London evaluating rehabilitation following surgical reconstruction of knee ligaments. Dr. Hooper has published over a dozen peer reviewed papers.
Director of Mechanical Engineering.
Robert “Jay” Jones has 27 years of product development experience in the spine and orthopedic industries, resulting in over 36 issued US patents. Mr. Jones has developed pedicle screw systems, interbody cages, hips and knees and supported those products from concept through to commercialization. Mr. Jones held engineering leadership positions at Spinal Concepts/Abbott Spine, SpineSmith, and Pioneer Surgical. Mr. Jones has a proven track record of creating new products that result in significant sales and revenue growth. In addition to his development knowledge, he brings important skills in the areas of manufacturing, operations, quality and logistics.
Director of Electrical Engineering.
Bob Reichenbach has 24 years of medical device engineering experience, in addition to 10 years of space and military and 3 years in the communications industry. Mr. Reichenbach helped launch Essex Semiconductor, Arco Medical and Innovative Fluidics. While at Arco Medical, he made technical presentations during the commercial launch of the first programmable pacemakers which included training doctors on how to non-invasively adjust pacemaker settings. He also ensured pacemaker reliability by designing and implementing a 1000 hour pacemaker ‘burn-in’ process with automated data acquisition. Innovative Fluidics developed novel cooling technology for semiconductors. Innovative Fluidics later became Nuventix and was acquired by Aavid Thermalloy in 2014. Mr. Reichenbach was Product Design and Development Group Leader at Intermedics working on programmers for Pacemakers and Defibrillators.
Board of Directors
Jeff Binder Mr. Binder was the CEO of Biomet from 2007 until it was acquired for approximately $14 billion by Zimmer Holdings in 2015. Mr. Binder is currently the President and CEO of Immucor. Prior to his time at Biomet, Mr. Binder was president of Abbott Diagnostics from 2006 to 2007 and the CEO of Spinal Concepts from 2000 until it was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in 2003 and became Abbott Spine. Prior to Spinal Concepts, Mr. Binder was President of DePuy Orthopedics and he has spent most of his career in orthopedics and spine.
Wes Johnson is a 30-year veteran of the medical device industry and has held several CFO, CEO and Board positions over that time. He was the CFO for Urologix and later Spinal Concepts, raising private and public equity, as well as playing a key role in selling Spinal Concepts to Abbott. He spent three years in Europe as GM of Abbott Spine, S.A. prior to joining CardioKinetix as its CEO. While at CardioKinetix, Mr. Johnson raised $66 million in private equity, completed two clinical studies and achieved the CE Mark for its novel heart failure device. Mr. Johnson is currently CEO and Director of Admittance Technologies, a start-up company pursuing a novel means of providing real-time heart blood volumes and is a Director of AngioDynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO).
Medical Advisors
Josip Buric M.D. is a neurosurgeon, board certified in Italy and Croatia. He is the chief of the Functional Unit for Spinal Surgery at the CDC Villanova Hospital in Florence, Italy and consults at two other hospitals in Florence and Bologna. Dr. Buric is one of the pioneers of intradiscal ozone injection and he has published several papers on his experience with this treatment. He has conducted research on disc nucleoplasty and interspinous spacer devices. He is is a member of the the North American Spine Society and the International Federation for Ozone Therapy. He is a member of the Spine Arthroplasty Society and a peer review editor for the SAS Journal. He did his neurosurgical training at the University of Florence and completed fellowships in brain surgery, peripheral nerve surgery and spine.
Bruce Frankel M.D. Is a board certified nuerosurgeon practicing at Medical University of South Carolina. In addition to his brain and spine practice he is an active researcher and inventor in the areas of vertebral compression fractures and oncology. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis and director of the Molecular Neuro-oncology Research Laboratory. A cum laude graduate of Boston University, Frankel received his medical degree from SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse College of Medicine in N.Y. He served an internship in general surgery, residency in neurosurgery and fellowship in spine surgery at SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse College of Medicine.
Stephen Hochschuler M.D. is chairman and co-founder of Texas Back Institute, the largest freestanding spine specialty clinic in the United States. He is a clinical instructor in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, and the author of spinal health books and numerous research papers published in international spine journals. He is a founding member of the American Board of Spinal Surgery and the Spine Arthroplasty Society, where he is also a member of the Board of Directors. He is a past president of the North Amercian Spine Society. Dr. Hochschuler received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and performed his general surgery residency at Harvard Surgical Service, Boston City Hospital, and his orthopedic surgical residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
Anthony Yeung M.D. is a board certified orthopaedic and spine surgeon who has extensive experience in minimally invasive spinal diagnostic and surgical techniques. He subspecializes in percutaneous endoscopic surgery of the lumbar spine and has developed an endoscope system that bears his name. Dr. Yeung is recognized internationally and nationally for his contributions to minimally invasive/endoscopic spine surgery and has written numerous books and scientific publications on minimally invasive surgery. He is a reviewer for Spine and Pain Physician and on the editorial review board of Pain Physician and the Journal of Minimally Invasive Spinal Technique. He has served as President of the American Academy for Minimally Invasive Spinal Medicine and Surgery and the International Intradiscal Therapy Society.
Hansen Yuan M.D.is a Professor of Orthopaedic and Neurological Surgery at the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University. He has authored over 100 articles and book chapters related to spinal research. Dr. Yuan holds membership in many professional societies a few of which include: the American Medical Association, Orthopaedic Research Society, American Academy of Orthopaedic Research Society, American College of Surgeons, International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, North American Spine Society, and the Scoliosis Research Society. Many of these societies have honored Dr. Yuan’s research and writing with grants and research awards. Dr. Yuan is a past president of the North Amercian Spine Society and is the Editor-in-Chief of the SAS Journal. Dr. Yuan is on the board of directors for BioAssets Development Corp and Bonovo Orthopedics, a distributor and manufacturer focused on the Chinese market.