We are excited to welcome thirteen new members to BioMedSA in 2020.
Dr. Ajeya P. Joshi, MD earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, followed by orthopedic training at the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program and a comprehensive spinal fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. Dr. Joshi has provided spinal care to patients of all ages in San Antonio since 2004, earning recognition as one of the region’s top physicians. His commitment to continuously advancing his skills and knowledge led him to join the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in 2018 and become board certified in Lifestyle Medicine in 2019. Dr. Joshi’s passion for helping patients unlock their potential led him to co-found Hill Country Lifestyle Medicine (HCLMC) with Dr. Venkat Srinivasan. In his role at HCLMC, Dr. Joshi offers organizational consulting, helping employers improve the health and wellness of their employees, leading to improved productivity and reduced healthcare costs. Dr. Joshi’s lifestyle medicine training also helps him offer more comprehensive, holistic healthcare to patients in his ongoing spinal care practice at the South Texas Spinal Clinic. He can be reached at apjoshimd@yahoo.com.
Applied Research Associates is a large employee-owned contract R&D organization with headquarters in New Mexico. The healthcare group based in San Antonio focuses on AI / machine learning software for medical devices and procedure training. The BioMedSA membership representative is Greg Rule, grule@ara.com.
Bluegrass Vascular Technologies is in the business of innovating lifesaving devices and methods that address shortcomings in vascular access procedures. It has developed a unique lifesaving device that redefines the standard of care for central venous access procedures. The Surfacer® Inside-Out™ Access Catheter System is a novel approach to gaining central venous access by inserting a guide wire through the femoral vein and navigating it through the body and exiting at the jugular or subclavian vein. For patients with limited, diminishing or complicated upper body access, the Surfacer® System is designed to provide reliable, repeatable access with fewer complications than other, more invasive, alternatives; thus redefining a new standard of care for venous access. The BioMedSA membership representative is Gabriele Niederauer, PhD, gniederauer@bluegrassvascular.com.
Bridge PTS provides pre-clinical testing to industry and DoD with a focus on infectious disease and wound healing and have highly specialized knowledge of biofilm-related models. They also perform other testing, such as dental implant performance and ISO 10993-10. Their vivarium includes rodents, rabbits, goats, sheep, and pigs for pharmaceuticals and medical device development, as well as surgical research support. They are GLP compliant, AAALAC accredited, and offer rapid turn-around time for their customers’ requests. The BioMedSA membership representative is Paul Attar, PhD, Paul.attar@bridgepts.com.
Dynamic Entropy Technologies is a start-up contract R&D company that also performs internal research. They have lab space with equipment that is available for lease/use. Their internal research is funded by NIH to investigate a citrate-based polymer for diabetic skin infections as an anti-microbial/anti-fungal. The BioMedSA membership representative is Xingguo (Jack) Cheng, PhD, xchengswri@dynamicentropy.com.
Finsen Scientific is a start-up developing a high-speed, UV-based disinfection device, based off of IP licensed from UT Health San Antonio. The system is cost-effective and portable, initially targeting the disinfection of PPE. The reduction in exposure time is expected to minimize warping and degradation of PPE that can occur with a longer duration of UV exposure. The BioMedSA membership representative is John-Paul Bonansinga, jpbonansinga@gaijin-works.com.
Healthcare Think Tank provides education on healthcare related topics and networking opportunities. This may include learning about cutting-edge new devices and technologies, legislative issues, hospital matters, practice management concerns, big data, life sciences, exploring trends and issues impacting providers and patients, and many more topics that are relevant in this very important landscape. Since March 2020, they have held weekly, virtual meetings. They started in San Antonio and have expanded to Austin, Houston and North Texas. The BioMedSA membership representative is Linda Elliot, linda@healthcarethinktank.org.
International Tissue performs contract design, processing and distribution of human tissue grafts. They have available lab space for lease. The process and distribute allografts in accordance with 21 CFR Part 1271 and applicable state regulations. They also sell their own product, an amniotic membrane that is dual layer and chorion free, dehydrated t room temperature. The BioMedSA membership representative is Victoria Sosa, vsosa@internationaltissue.com.
Lisa Owens Strategic Marketing is focused on biotech, healthcare and BTB companies. She manages public relations, including press releases, marketing/advertisements, and brand management. For BioMedSA members with under $5M annual sales and less than 10 employees, she offers up to 10 hours of free services for the first project, and then a reduced rate for up to 2 years. She can be reached at lisammowens@gmail.com.
Olifant Medical is a start-up company focused on addressing gaps in modern airway management, not met with traditional or video laryngoscopy. With technology licensed from UT Health San Antonio, they are developing a tracheal cannulator to make intubation faster and easier across a wide range of users. Additionally, they are pursuing FDA approval for a portable enclosure designed to protect caregivers from airborne infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. Their BioMedSA membership representatives are: Justin Rice, jrice@olifantmedical.com and Christopher Carroll, ccarroll@olifantmedical.com.
Plus Therapeutics is a publicly traded company with its headquarters in Austin and manufacturing in San Antonio. They are focused on the development of chemotherapies and radiotherapeutics for rare cancers. Their first product candidates are intended to treat recurrent glioblastoma and relapsed small cell lung cancer. The BioMedSA membership representative is Betsy Kemper, bkemper@plustherapeutics.com.
Stephen Seidel is an individual member of BioMedSA. He has started a new medtech company in San Antonio. He is the former President of Therapeutic Support Systems at KCI. He can be reached at stephen.d.seidel@gmail.com.
Talentum Engineering Services (TES) is an innovative electronics design company based in San Antonio, Texas. They provide embedded systems and industrial automation solutions to help their customers develop, monitor and control equipment and processes. They specialize in system and sensor integration, automation and controls, data acquisition, circuit card and module design, and software development. While most of their work is contract R&D, they sell a HIPAA Compliant screening solution for companies who wish to track and screen their employees’ temperatures and responses to screening questions recommended by the CDC. They are donating their COVID-19 screening solutions to first responder organizations. The BioMedSA membership representative is Dave Borski, dborski@talentumservices.com.
If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about our membership and becoming a new member, what it has to offer and how to join, visit our membership page.
