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Remembering Robert Grubbs, Co-Founder of Applaud Medical

We are deeply sad to announce the passing of one of Applaud Medical’s Founders, Dr. Robert Grubbs. Dr. Grubbs was a prominent chemist who helped identify a “green chemistry” breakthrough for manufacturing of compounds that are used to make everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals with less hazardous waste. Dr. Grubbs won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005 along with Richard R. Schrock of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yves Chauvin of the French Petroleum Institute. The three chemists shared the award equally for their work developing olefin metathesis, a key reaction for redistributing carbon-carbon bonds by breaking and then remaking carbon-carbon double bonds. This work paved the way for metathesis to become a cornerstone of chemical manufacturing. The catalysts they developed, which are named for them, are in wide use today in making chemicals for a variety of manufacturing processes.

Dr. Grubbs earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Florida, then his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He spent a year at Stanford University as a NIH fellow before joining the faculty of Michigan State University in 1968. A decade later, he was hired by Caltech, where he became the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry in 1990. Over his career, Grubbs advised and mentored more than 100 doctoral candidates and almost 200 postdoctoral associates while also co-founding several companies, Including Applaud Medical. Besides the Nobel Prize, Dr. Grubbs was the recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal from the Franklin Institute, the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Chemists. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. He received honorary degrees from, among others, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Crete in Greece, the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen University in Germany. He authored more than 400 papers and held 80 patents.

Applaud Medical recognizes Dr. Grubb’s legacy and will forever be grateful for his efforts as a co-founder of the company.

Rohit Girotra has over 17 years of medical device product development experience taking Class I, II and III (510(k) and PMA) devices from concept to commercialization. He was most recently the co-founder and Director of R&D at Tusker Medical (acquired by Smith & Nephew) where he led product development of the Tula system – a set of devices to place ear tubes in kids with chronic ear infections in an office setting under local anesthesia. Rohit began his engineering career at Guidant Corporation working on devices for cardiac surgery and has held engineering management positions at Acclarent (acquired by J&J) and Spirox (acquired by Stryker). Rohit holds a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune in India.

Quinten Stevens is a General Partner with CS Venture Opportunities Fund. The fund is focused on early-stage venture capital investing. Their strategy is to invest in compelling and potentially disruptive technologies sourced from brilliant scientists, at top US research universities. Mr. Stevens has been Managing Partner of Stevens Asset Management, Head of the Equity Division at Wachovia Securities, Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets at JP Morgan, and at Citigroup Salomon Smith Barney where he held various senior roles in the equity capital markets and investment banking divisions.

Mr. Stevens is a graduate of the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Susie Lahey has been the Director of Corporate Administration and Human Resources with Applaud Medical since 2016. Ms. Lahey began her career at one of the first Home IV pharmaceutical companies to bring intravenous treatments to the homes of patients instead of requiring long hospital stays. After a layover at Sequoia Capital where she was introduced to the ‘start-up’, she moved into biotech and medical device companies. Specializing in the many hats needed to support seed to mid-level companies, Ms. Lahey’s diverse background allows for a unique perspective regarding strategy, company culture, and success.

Douglas Ford is the Director of Quality Assurance with Applaud Medical. Committed to assuring quality systems throughout the organization, Mr. Ford brings over 20 years of experience to the Company. He has a proven track record of bridging departments and specialties in order to establish a quality mindset across an entire organization. Utilizing improvement opportunities when presented and leading the QA/QC team, Mr. Ford ensures Applauds QMS compliance, ISO readiness, and the highest-quality end results.

Ben Zadik is the Chief Financial Officer of Applaud Medical. Ben brings over 25 years of experience managing the financial operations of public, private, and VC-funded companies. Prior to joining Applaud Medical, Ben was the Chief Financial Officer of Aeovian Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Aeovian, Ben was the Chief Financial Officer of PuraCath Medical. Prior to PuraCath, Ben was the Chief Financial Officer of US Equity Holdings, a life sciences investment firm. Prior to Ben’s tenure as a CFO, he was the International Controller of AMB (acquired by Prologis), a Financial Controller of Sangstat Medical (acquired by Genzyme), and a senior member of the Financial Planning and Analysis group at Netopia (acquired by Motorola). Ben began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Assurance and International Tax practices. He is both a CPA and a Chartered Accountant (Canada).

Alex Andrianopoulos is Chief Research and Development Officer at Kairos Ventures. Alex leads the team of investment analysts at Kairos Ventures that conducts research and due diligence on all investments. Alex joined Kairos with 20+ years of operational and leadership experience, ranging in size from startups with a handful of employees to behemoths with tens of thousands of employees, and actively participated in the efforts to close multiple rounds of financing by venture capital firms as well as the public markets. Alex has a degree in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Computer Engineering from NTU Athens and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from University of Georgia.

Tessa Yamut is a Strategic Regulatory and Clinical Advisor to Applaud Medical. Tessa has 27 years of experience as architect and leader of clinical and regulatory strategies for medical device companies. Her work has yielded clinical and commercial approvals and quality assurance of many Class I, II, and III devices. Examples of these devices include implants for knee osteoarthritis, cardiac implants, spinal implants, devices for vertebral compression fractures, devices for ablation of basivertebral nerves in the management of low back pain, hemoperfusion devices for cytokine removal, RF and laser devices for aesthetic applications, and drug delivery catheters.

Barry Templin is currently the Senior Vice President of Clinical/Medical Affairs and Reimbursement at PROCEPT BioRobotics with a demonstrated history of working in the medical device industry. He brings skills in clinical research, reimbursement, medical devices, product development, market development, regulatory, fund raising, and strategic planning. A strong healthcare services professional with an MBA from Duke University – The Fuqua School of Business.

Prior to his time at PROCEPT BioRobitics, he was at Cardiokinetix, Abbot Vascular and Guidant, in a variety of roles that provide critical perspective and experience for Applaud.

Dongxue Wang is a seasoned business leader with 15+ years of successful experiences in broad functional roles across corporate development, investor relations, marketing, venture capital, and entrepreneurship with a specialty in biopharma and healthcare industry. She is passionate about working with teams for disruptive innovations in the healthcare sector as a strategic investor.

Ms. Wang has served as partner or associate with GUDU Medical Ventures, Berkeley Haas Impact Fund, and Homevalley Capital. She holds MBA degree from Haas School of Business, MS from UPenn School of Social Policy and Practice and BA from Southwest University in Cheng Du.

Paul Molloy is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Company. Paul is an experienced CEO & General Manager with extensive global venture capital and private equity relationships. Paul has participated in two IPO’s, and exited three of his last four firms as CEO. Paul has participated in exits at the Board level in several other MedTech firms in the last decade. He is presently on the Board at ClearFlow, Inc. and Augustine Medical. He managed Teleflex’s largest division (Arrow Vascular) from 2011-2013 with a $700M P&L, six US and international manufacturing plants employing over 3,000 staff and a US sales organization of 100 reps. Paul was a CRNA in clinical practice, earned a diploma in Hospital Management from the Instituut Der Bedrijfswetenschappen in The Netherlands and holds an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Dr. Thomas Kenny is Chief Science and Technology Advisor and Board Chairman of Applaud Medical. He also holds positions as Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Engineering at Stanford University. He was the Founder and CTO of Cooligy (now a division of Emerson), a microfluidics chip cooling component manufacturer, and Founder and a Board Member of SiTime Corporation (now on the Nasdaq : SITM), a market leader in timing references for consumer electronics using MEMS resonators.

Mr. ChangAn Li is Founder and CEO of Gudu Medical. Mr. Li brings 20+ years of industry experience in developing and distributing medical devices. Mr. Li earned an EMBA in Finance from Zhijiang Business School, and a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from Zhejiang University. Mr Li is a member of the China Association for Medical Devices Industry. He serves on the Investment Committee of the Gudu Medical Venture Fund.

Gudu Medical is headquartered in Shanghai, providing medical supplies in more than 10,000 product categories, and medical infrastructure services across 500+ hospitals in China. The company specializes in developing and distributing medical devices mainly in the urology, neurosurgery, and cardiology sector.

Theresa Yu is the Managing Director of Global Bridge Capital, a deep-tech venture fund co-sponsored by CICC and CM Capital. Theresa also serves as the Board Member and observer of a few other technology companies. Before Global Bridge Capital, Theresa headed the Business Development, Finance, Legal and Government Relationship practice of Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) and Bertelsmann China Corporate Center, and served on the Board of a handful Bertelsmann entities. Before Bertelsmann she also headed DuPont’s M&A practice in China, and worked with Merrill Lynch and Cisco Systems in U.S. Theresa graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and Central University of Finance & Economics.

John Garcia is SVP, US Business at Krystal Therapeutics, where he leads US commercialization efforts. Previously John was the VP of Global and US operations at Alnylam and in this role, John successfully commercialized the first three RNAi therapeutic products ever and built business operations in over thirty countries. John has built and/or led many US and major market field sales teams and field team expansions. In prior roles at Alexion and Biogen, he built and led worldwide business operations. Prior to all this, John was an Infantry Major in the USMC, deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom, coordinating combat and intelligence operations with CIA, FBI, DIA, NSA, SEALS, & others. John is an alumnus of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Dan Laser was the Founding CEO of Applaud Medical. Laser is currently the CEO of Myka Labs, a company pioneering interventions for wide-ranging conditions involving the gastrointestinal tract, including pediatric congenital malformations, inflammatory bowel disease, and diseases of metabolism. Dan was CEO at Wave 80 from 2005 to 2015. Wave 80’s work in the HIV field meaningfully contributed to the pivot to pre-exposure prophylaxis and other novel approaches to curbing the HIV epidemic in the face of persistent challenges around HIV vaccine development. Dan continues to serve on Wave 80’s Board of Directors. As founding CEO of Applaud, Dan oversaw the company’s successful development of a new class of therapeutic interventions based on the combination of lipid microspheres with acoustic energy administered to a patient’s body.

Dr. William M. Behnke-Parks is Director of Advanced Technology at Applaud Medical. Following a B.S. in Biology and Secondary Major in Physics from Stanford University, he received a PhD in Biological Sciences from Columbia University with a focus on Biophysics. Will brings nine years of medical device and life sciences experience, with numerous issued and pending patents. In his role at Applaud, he oversees IP strategy, bench-top publications, non-dilutive funding strategies, and implements novel technological strategies in alignment with regulatory and clinical requirements.

Dr. Robert Grubbs received a PhD from Columbia University of New York and started his career at Michigan State University (1969) and moved to the California Institute of Technology in 1978. His group developed a family of new catalysts that are widely used in academia and industry for the synthesis of complex molecules and polymers. He was a cofounder of Materia, Inc. that commercialized the technology and he shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work. In addition to Applaud, he has cofounded companies in the medical area based on collaboration with clinicians from UCSF.

Dr. Marshall Stoller heads UCSF’s urinary stone division, which includes endourology and laparoscopy. Stoller graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1976 and went to medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Following medical school, he returned to the SF Bay Area, where he was a general surgical intern and resident at UCSF from 1981-1983 and a urology resident from 1983-1985. Stoller presently operates at Moffitt-Long Hospital, San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. His practice emphasizes surgical management of urinary stone disease and minimally invasive endourology.

Dr. Alice Luong is the Director of Technical Operations and Head of Chemistry of Applaud Medical. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC San Diego for her work on conjugation of small molecule therapeutics to macromolecular carriers for use in drug delivery systems. Alice has over 10 years of experience producing and characterizing perfluorocarbon filled microparticles, which are the basis of Applaud’s Acoustic Enhancer, used in all of Applaud’s products. She leads the team at Applaud Medical involved in formulations, R&D, analytical development, and manufacturing, and is also significantly involved in clinical trial operations and quality affairs processes at Applaud.

Claire Mills is Ultrasound and Clinical Affairs Specialist of Applaud Medical supporting various clinical roles. She continues to work as a UCSF vascular research sonographer doing basic science studies along with clinical trials in areas of vascular effects of end stage renal disease, HIV, environmental impacts, vaccines, and other areas. Earlier, Mills worked at GlaxoSmithKline in pharmaceuticals then biologics and has worked as a medical text editor and in healthcare fundraising and lobbying. As a chronic kidney stone cystinuric patient, Mills was a driver in making Applaud a reality and is deeply committed to seeing this product come to market to improve the lives of other kidney stone patients.

Dr. Matt Mellema is the Vice-President for Product Development at Applaud Medical. Matt received his DVM degree from UC Davis, worked as a consultant in cardiothoracic medicine for Cardiopet from 1995-1997, and completed a residency in emergency and critical care medicine at UC Davis in 2000 . He served as Chief Resident from 1998-2000. Following his residency, Dr. Mellema returned to Boston to complete his PhD and post-doc in Physiology at Harvard University. He joined the faculty at UC Davis in 2007 where he directs a multi-investigator laboratory focused on the roles of nanoscale biomineral particulates in health and disease with a particular emphasis on urolithiasis and obstructive sleep apnea. He has won national and international awards for research and teaching including the 2013 AAVMC Distinguished Teacher Award. Dr. Mellema joined Applaud Medical in 2016 to help ensure that the extraordinary vision of his colleague and collaborator Dr. Marshall Stoller could be realized.

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Dr. Biao He is an Applaud Board Member representing Lifespan Investments. He has a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of Virginia, and has a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Biochemistry from Tsinghua University. Dr. He has held previous roles as Co-founder & CTO of ACCB Biotech and Oncology Professor at UCSF. With a devotion to interdisciplinary research in translational medicine, cancer diagnosis and therapeutics, his studies have resulted in over 100 publications in academic journals, such as The Lancet, PNAS, Cancer Cell, and Clinical Cancer Research.

Andrew Liu is a member of the Applaud Board of Directors, representing CICC. Liu is Executive Director at CICC Capital, the master platform of private equity business of CICC. Liu has lead-executed the formation and fund-raising for Global Bridge Capital USD Fund I, a venture capital fund investing in US high-tech startups. Raised US$250M in total. He has sourced and led total investment of $25M in the Series B and C in Tuya, a leading IoT PaaS and OS company. Tuya experienced exponential volume growth and valuation increase since initial investment. Liu has provided value-added services to portfolio companies of Global Bridge Capital, including making introductions to customers, suppliers, partners and investors in China. Altogether, Liu has lead-executed investments totaling RMB1B in 6 China-based emerging venture capital funds at CICC Genesis, a RMB40B fund of funds managed by CICC Capital, as well as in portfolio funds included emerging Gaorong Capital, Xiang He Capital, and Yi Capital.

Gordon Saul is executive director of Stanford BioDesign and a consulting professor of Bioengineering. Gordon brings extensive operational experience from a series of large and small medical technology companies, including Sensyne Health, Powderject Pharmaceuticals, and Alza Corporation. Gordon currently manages the Coulter Translational Research Program in Bioengineering and the Spectrum Medtech Accelerator Awards, which provide seed grants for the development of devices, drugs and diagnostics to improve health care and lead to commercially available products. Gordon has more than 20 years of startup and business development experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical areas. He is an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

John Garcia is VP, Global & US Business Operations at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where he leads commercial operations globally in addition to responsibility for US Operations. In this role, John successfully commercialized first, second, and soon, the third RNAi therapeutic products ever introduced to the US market and many international markets. John has built and/or led many US and major market field sales teams and field team expansions. In prior roles at Alexion and Biogen, he built and led worldwide business operations. Prior to all this, John was an Infantry Major in the USMC, deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom, coordinating combat and intelligence operations with CIA, FBI, DIA, NSA, SEALS, & others. John is an alumnus of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

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About Applaud Medical

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Quality Policy

Our Management Team

Paul Molloy

Ben Zadik

Rohit Girotra

Susie Lahey

Alice Luong, PhD

Douglas Ford

Our Founders

Marshall Stoller, MD

Robert Grubbs, PhD (deceased)

Claire Mills, RDMS, RVT

Dan Laser, PhD

Thomas Kenny, PhD

Our Board of Directors

Paul Molloy

Thomas Kenny, PhD

Alex Andrianopoulos

Theresa Yu

Biao He, PhD

Barry Templin

Dongxue Wang

Quinten Stevens

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Remembering Robert Grubbs, Co-Founder of Applaud Medical

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