Management Team

The Avenu Medical management team combines more than 100 years of experience in the medical device industry, with primary expertise in the less-invasive surgery markets and backgrounds in both corporate and venture funded start-up operations.

Avenu has assembled a world-class medical advisory group including world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon and inventor, Dr. Thomas J. Fogarty, who has worked with the core management team for over 30 years.

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Mark A. Ritchart

President and CEO

Prior to his roles at Avenu Medical, Mr. Ritchart served as Co-founder, President and Chief Technical Officer of Opus Medical and was instrumental in the company’s successful acquisition by Arthrocare Corporation. Prior to Opus, Mr. Ritchart held the position of Director of Research and Development for Biopsys Medical, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson after a successful IPO. Mr. Ritchart co-founded Cayenne Medical, which was acquired by Zimmer Biomet, and also held various senior engineering positions at Vesica Medical, Applied Medical Resources, Target Therapeutics, and Edwards Lifesciences. Additionally, Mr. Ritchart has authored or co-authored more than 40 patents related to medical devices. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

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Ed L. Chang

Chief Marketing Officer

Mr. Chang has more than 30 years of experience marketing medical devices. Prior to co-founding Avenu Medical, Mr. Chang served as Co-founder and Vice President of Marketing at Opus Medical from its inception to its acquisition by Arthrocare Corporation. Prior to Opus, he held the position of Director of Marketing at Biopsys Medical through its commercialization, IPO and subsequent acquisition by Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Chang also co-founded Cayenne Medical, which was acquired by Zimmer Biomet, and held various senior global marketing positions at Applied Medical Resources, Imagyn Medical and Edwards Lifesciences. In his career, Mr. Chang has served as a member of the Board of Directors and has been a marketing consultant for multiple medical device companies. Mr. Chang is a Dean’s Leadership Council member and Mentor, and a former Foundation Board Trustee at the University of California, Irvine, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences.

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Gene B. Reu

Executive Vice President and General Manager

Prior to joining Avenu Medical in 2011, Mr. Reu served as Senior Vice President of Operations of the Orthobiologics division of Integra Lifesciences. Before his work at Integra, Mr. Reu held the position of Vice President of Operations for Opus Medical, and prior to that held the position of Vice President of R&D and Operations at Cryogen, and was Director of Research and Development at Biopsys. Mr. Reu also held various senior technical positions at Edwards Lifesciences, Possis Medical and American Medical Systems. Mr. Reu has authored or co-authored 3 patents and publications in medical literature. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, where he also completed Masters level studies.

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Dan Beney

Vice President of Sales

Mr. Beney has more than 30 years of experience in senior sales leadership positions within the medical device industry. Prior to joining Avenu Medical, Mr. Beney served as Vice President of Sales at Focal Therapeutics (acquired by Hologic), Vice President of International Sales and Business Development at Cianna Medical (acquired by Merit Medical), Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Intact Medical Corporation (acquired by Medtronic), and as the National Sales Manager for the Breast Care division of Johnson & Johnson (formerly Biopsys Medical). In addition Mr. Beney has also held executive management positions with Conceptus, Neurometrix and Scimed Life Systems. Mr. Beney earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising from Michigan State University.

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Brian Driscoll

Vice President of Marketing

Mr. Driscoll has over 20 years of experience in the development, sales and marketing of medical devices. Prior to Avenu Medical, he led the commercialization efforts for the BioZorb® implant as Vice President of Marketing for Focal Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Driscoll’s previous experience includes serving as Vice President of Marketing for Cianna Medical, a leading manufacturer of devices for the treatment of breast cancer. Prior to that, he held various senior sales and marketing positions at other medical device manufacturers, including Interpore Cross International, Silipos, Inc. and Innovation Sports, Inc.

Mr. Driscoll earned his B.S. in Health Education from the University of Cincinnati.

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Brad Kellerman

Vice President of Research and Development

Prior to joining Avenu Medical in 2011, Mr. Kellerman was the Director of Research & Development at ROX Medical where he led the development of the ROX AC1 and AC2 percutaneous arteriovenous fistula creation systems. He has a proven track record of developing new, novel therapies and procedures and extensive experience training physicians and proctoring clinical cases. Prior to joining ROX, Mr. Kellerman worked at Guidant developing guidewires, drug eluting stents, and heart failure delivery systems. Mr. Kellerman has filed for over 20 patents and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from San Diego State University.

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J. David Campbell

Vice President of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs

Before joining Avenu Medical in November 2013, Mr. Campbell served as Director of Operations for Cianna Medical. Prior to Cianna, Mr. Campbell held the position of Director of Quality Assurance for Opus Medical. Upon the acquisition of Opus Medical by Arthrocare Corporation, Mr. Campbell assumed responsibility for the Arthrocare global quality system. Mr. Campbell was also Director of Operations and Quality at Applied Medical Resources and held various manufacturing and quality management positions at Interpore International and C.R. Bard. Mr. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of La Verne.

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Frank A. Hettmann

Chief Financial Officer

Before joining Avenu Medical in 2018, Mr. Hettmann served as an advisor to Avenu since 2010 helping the company establish administrative and financial infrastructure and governance. Mr. Hettmann has more than 25 years of experience in senior and executive positions in finance, operations and administrative roles with technology companies. Prior to joining Avenu, Mr. Hettmann served as CFO for Neology, Inc. Prior to Neology, Mr. Hettmann has held executive positions at publicly-traded companies such as Microsemi and Conexant, and at venture-backed companies such Symwave and Siimpel. Mr. Hettmann was also a Co-founder of u-Nav, a GPS technology company acquired by Qualcomm. Mr. Hettmann holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Santa Clara University.

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