Corporate Officers

Robert E. Fischell
Founder and Chairman

Robert E. Fischell received his BSME degree from Duke University and MS and ScD degrees from the University of Maryland. Dr. Fischell was employed at the Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory full-time for 25 years and part-time for an additional 13 years. At John’s Hopkins Dr. Fischell was the Chief Engineer of the Space Department where he worked on more than 50 spacecraft. His interests at Johns Hopkins then turned to the invention of new medical devices such as pacemakers and implantable heart defibrillators.

Starting in 1969, Dr. Fischell began the formation of 14 private companies that licensed his patents on medical devices. These companies included Pacesetter Systems, Inc. (now called St. Jude Medical, the second largest manufacturer of heart pacemakers), IsoStent, Inc. (new stent concepts now licensed to the Johnson & Johnson Company), NeuroPace, Inc. (a responsive electrical stimulator of brain tissue to eliminate epileptic seizures), NeuraLieve, Inc (a company that uses high intensity magnetic pulses to alleviate migraine headaches), and Angel Medical Systems, Inc. (an implantable device designed to alarm a patient of a heart attack before any symptom is felt).

Dr. Fischell is a prolific inventor with over 200 issued US and foreign patents many of which have started new medical device companies. He is a Trustee of the University of Maryland, College Park Foundation and a member of the Board of Visitors for the College of Engineering and the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Dr. Fischell’s honors include Inventor of the Year for the USA, election to the National Academy of Engineering, the Distinguished Physics Alumnus Award of the U. of Md., and several medals for distinguished accomplishments in science, engineering and innovation. In 2004 Discover magazine gave Dr. Fischell their annual award for Technology for Humanity. In 2005 he received the TED award (with a $100,000 prize) for contributions to medical technology. In 2007 he received the Master Inventor award from the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University and the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Prize for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson Society for Scholars.

David R. Fischell Ph.D.
CEO, Angel Medical Systems

David Fischell is a serial entrepreneur who has founded nine biomedical device companies in the last 15 years, including Angel Medical Systems, a company which has developed an implantable heart attack detection and patient alerting system. Other companies include Neuralieve, Inc (2002) to develop Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation systems for Migraine Headaches; and NeuroPace, Inc. (1997) to develop implantable brain pacemakers to treat epilepsy. After earning his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University, David joined Bell Laboratories in 1979 where, for 11 years, he performed and directed a wide range of research and development projects. He left Bell Labs in 1991 to work full time on medical devices. He currently holds 85 issued U.S. patents, and has published numerous papers in the fields of telecommunications, cardiology, radiobiology, and radiation dosimetry. David is a Director of 8 biomedical technology companies including 5 of those he founded. He was also the primary designer of the BX Velocity™ and Cypher™ coronary stents for Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson Company. He is chairman of the Cornell University Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Jonathan Harwood
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Harwood is an entrepreneur with more than 25 years experience in product and service development, engineering, and operations. As Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Research and Development of Angel Medical Systems, Mr. Harwood is responsible for leading the development and commercialization of an implantable cardiac monitoring system that detects and alerts patients to serious cardiac conditions such as heart attacks. Prior to Angel Medical, Mr. Harwood was a co-founder of Corente, Inc. (formally OpenReach), a leader in managed VPN and data networking services with over 100 customers and services in 40 countries. At Corrente, Mr. Harwood helped raise $54M in venture funding and was responsible for the engineering, operations, and customer care functions of the business. Before joining Corente, Mr. Harwood worked directly with the founders of Neuropace, Inc., to develop patented algorithms for detecting and stopping epileptic seizures. Prior to that, Mr. Harwood was chief architect for AT&T's advanced voice services network and consulted for companies such as IBM, UPS, and Lucent Technologies. Early in his career, he designed advanced weapon and radar systems for tactical fighter aircraft. Mr. Harwood has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical/Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers College of Engineering. He has been granted eight patents in the fields of Internet security, telecommunications, epilepsy event detection and algorithms, and cardiac event detection and algorithms.

Andrew Taylor
Chief Financial Officer

Andrew Taylor is an experienced financial officer and operations executive with a proven record in entrepreneurial start-up, emerging growth and Fortune 500 businesses both in the US and abroad. As Chief Financial Officer of Angel Medical Systems, Mr. Taylor is responsible for leading the accounting, finance and administration activities for the company. Prior to joining Angel Medical, Mr. Taylor served as a Practice Leader for AC Lordi Consulting, a national firm, providing finance, accounting and strategy services. Before joining AC Lordi, Mr. Taylor was the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Director of Operations for Safe3w, Inc., a security software company, which was acquired by iPass (NASDAQ: IPAS) in 2004. Mr. Taylor also spent several years working within a number of industries, including technology, banking, airlines, education and life science. Andrew earned a high-honors MBA with a concentration in Accounting and Finance from Northeastern University and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from McGill University. He also has his NASD Securities Licenses Series 7, 63, 55 and is a CFA Level II candidate.

Jill Schweiger
Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs

Ms. Schweiger, who joined Angel Medical Systems in March 2003, has over 20 years of experience in regulatory and clinical affairs positions in the medical device industry, with the last 15 years spent in senior management roles within high-growth medical device start-up companies. Prior to joining AngelMed, she was a corporate officer and Vice President of Regulatory and Clinical Affairs for Teramed, Inc., a developer of endovascular stent grafts, that was acquired by J&J in 2001. Her other experience in the medical device industry includes IsoStent, Inc., a developer of coronary stents which was also acquired by J&J; Gynecare, Inc., a women’s healthcare company which was acquired by J&J following a successful IPO; Origin Medsystems (an Eli Lilly Company), a developer of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical instruments; and Baxter Healthcare, Inc. a manufacturer of parenteral drug solutions. Ms. Schweiger holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Mario Azevedo
Vice President, Latin American Operations

Mr. Azevedo has been in the pharmaceutical industry for the past 25 years with experience in product introduction and market development in the US as well as international markets such as Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. As Vice President of Latin American Operations, Mr. Azevedo helped secure the first-in-man clinical study in Brazil and leads the effort to commercialize products into the Brazilian market. He has also led the effort to acquire and legalize a Brazilian company that now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Angel Medical Systems. Prior to Angel Medical, Mr. Azevedo served in different management capacities for several multi-national corporations such as Bristol-Myers, Schering-Plough and The Medicines Company. At The Medicines Company, Mr. Azevedo was the Northeast Regional Sales Manager, where he led the promotion and sales efforts for the blockbuster drug Angiomax. At Schering-Plough, Mr. Azevedo was recognized as the number one representative of the year, where he helped with the introduction and sales of other blockbuster drugs such as Integrilin, Claritin and Nasonex. Mr. Azevedo has received extensive cardiovascular training at major leading medical centers in the US and overseas. He earned his BS from the University of Tennessee and speaks five languages fluently.