Peter C. Chen, Ph.D. Presentation Title: Innovations in Catheter-Based Treatment for Atrial Fibrillation Peter C. Chen, Ph.D. , is the Founder of Irvine Biomedical , Inc. ( IBI), a ST. Jude Medical Company. He has been with the company since its inception in January 1995, and is responsible for fund-raising, new product developments, goal setting and establishing the infrastructure of the Company. Since the formation of Irvine Biomedical, Inc., he has successfully led the Company to develop, launch, and market electrophysiology products around the world. He was able to grow IBI into a million dollar company before being acquired by St. Jude Medical, a multi-billion global medical device company, in October of 2004. After the acquisition, Dr. Chen continued his position as the President of IBI, responsible for all the day-to-day operation. Dr. Chen's unique background in engineering and product development has enabled him to launch new and innovative products which have helped the IBI business to grow 33% annually to generate a sales revenue over $100 millions in 2008. He has more than 25 years experience in the medical device industry, specifically in the design and development of medical instrumentation. Dr. Chen is well known in the field of Electrophysiology and Cardiac Rhythm Management through his innovative invention of new devices for treating cardiac arrhythmias. He is the author and co-author of more than 15 patents and 20 publications. Recently, Dr. Chen has been named as the President of a newly created division of St. Jude Medical; Center for Innovation and Strategic Collaboration. Dr. Chen is a graduate of University of Kansas with a Master degree in Electrical Engineering, and the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers, with a Ph.D. Degree in Biomedical Engineering. Prior to founding IBI, Dr. Chen held several key R & D positions in some of the major medical device companies including Baxter Health Care, Guidant Corp, and Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Chen was named in the 2006-2007 Strathmore's WHO's Who. He was named as Honorary Chairman, Business Advisory Council of The National Republic Congressional Committee in 2003 and 2007.
		Stavros G. Demos, Ph.D., Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Presentation Title: Assessment of RF Cardiac Tissue Ablation Parameters With Optical Spectroscopy Stavros G. Demos, Ph.D., Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Urology at the University of California at Davis (UCD) and Scientific Staff at the NSF Center of Biophotonics Science and Technology at UC Davis. He received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Ioannina, Greece and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1993 from the City University of New York. His research interest are concentrated in the field of Biomedical optics toward developing instrumentation for in vivo detection of disease and monitoring of therapeutic intervention and in the field of defect characterization in optical materials for tunable solid state and high power laser systems. Dr. Demos has published over 80 articles in refereed journals and holds 14 patents.
		Shephal Doshi MD, Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, Saint Johns Health Center; Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology Research, Pacific Heart Institute Presentation Title: Interventional Approaches for Embolic Stroke Reduction in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Dr. Doshi is an Interventional Electrophysiologist specializing in the management of atrial fibrillation and epicardial approaches to arrhythmias. He is also a Principal Investigator in the PROTECT AF Study with the largest experience with implantation of the WATCHMAN Left Atrial Appendage Occluder Device. He is the Director of Electrophysiology and Research at the Saint Johns Health Center and Pacific Heart Institute in Santa Monica, CA.
		Dr. Subramaniam Krishnan Presentation Title: Mechanisms of Ventricular Tachycardia and Ventricular Fibrillation Dr. Krishnan is currently the Director of the Arrhythmia Services at the University of California at Irvine Medical Center, in Orange CA. Prior to this, he was Director of the Electrophysiology and Pacing Laboratory in the Cardiology Division at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. He received his cardiology training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston MA. In addition, he also served as a senior electrophysiology fellow under Dr. Mark Josephson at the Beth Israel Hospital, Boston. Dr. Krishnan's career in Electrophysiology began with the legendary Dr. Gordon Moe at the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory in Utica NY while he was still a medical student. Working with Dr. Charles Antzelevitch, he described a novel mechanism of reentry called "phase 2 reentry" that is thought to underlie the development of arrhythmias in patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, specifically the Brugada syndrome. Phase 2 reentry also defines the mechanism by which certain antiarrhythmic drugs cause arrhythmias. His research efforts also provide an explanation for the ST segment abnormalities in patients with the Brugada syndrome. His current clinical interests relate to catheter ablation of arrhythmias and over the past few years have also included biomedical innovations on various cardiology procedures.
		Raj Makkar, MD Raj Makkar, MD is the Director, Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Catherterization Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Makkar is the principal investigator of several research protocols in the Cardiovascular Intervention Center. He has established a program for treating patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation. Dr. Makkar is currently studying the application of stem cells in treating myocardial infarction in an experimental setting. > A skilled interventional cardiologist, Dr. Makkar has extensive experience with the development and the clinical application of devices like coronary stents and intravascular brachytherapy. He has received two American Heart Association grants (a postdoctorate fellowship and a Grant-in-Aid) and has been a co-investigator on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. Dr. Makkar has published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Journal of the American Medical Association and Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. Dr. Makkar completed his interventional cardiology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the UCLA School of Medicine.
		Dr. Santosh Prabhu Presentation Title: Design of the Next Generation of Drug-Eluting Stents Dr. Santosh Prabhu is the manager of the Advanced Stent Development Group at Abbott Vascular. Currently, his group is focused on developing the next generation of drug-eluting stents and the associated technologies that will make this feasible. He joined the Vascular Intervention division of Guidant Corporation (now a part of Abbott Vascular) in 2000 as a R&D engineer working on developing computational modeling techniques for evaluating stent designs. His research interests include cardiovascular solid and fluid mechanics, medical device design, drug delivery systems and experimental and computational techniques in cardiovascular device design. He is also an active participant in the ASTM and ISO committees for development of standards for cardiovascular implants. Dr. Prabhu has reviewed and authored numerous publications in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings in the areas of medical devices, tissue-device interaction, drug delivery, computational modeling and fracture mechanics. Prior to assuming his current role at Abbott Vascular, Dr. Prabhu lead groups responsible for developing next generation stent concepts for coronary applications. Before starting at Abbott Vascular, he obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 2000. His doctoral research involved the use of laser interferometric techniques and finite element methods in characterizing fracture of anisotropic materials.
		Doug Savage Presentation Title: Design Considerations in Bioabsorbable Drug Coating Development Doug Savage has over 25 years experience in the medical device industry. He has worked for Biosensors International for the past eleven years as Director of Engineering, and has been an integral participant in their drug eluting stent program. Doug was born in the Chicago area and attended the University of Illinois where he received a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering. He is listed as an inventor in over twenty U.S. patents and has others pending. He lives with his family in Del Mar, Ca.
		Dr. Richard A. Schatz Presentation Title: A Revolution in Cardiac Care: 22 years after the Palmaz-Schatz Stent Dr. Richard A. Schatz trained at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the Thoraxcenter in Rotterdam, Holland, and at Oxford University in England under the tutelage of several esteemed professors. Dr. Schatz served his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco and did his cardiology fellowship at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He held the position of Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Schatz was elected Fellow of the American College of Cardiology in 1985. In 1985, Dr. Schatz began a collaboration with Dr. Julio Palmaz from UTHSC in San Antonio to help develop a novel approach to angioplasty. Together they pioneered the field of vascular stents. He holds several patents as the inventor of a variety of coronary stents. In February 1988, they received FDA approval to proceed with the first protocol in the United States to study stents in the coronary circulation. In 1994, the FDA gave approval for the first ever stent to reduce restenosis, the Palmaz-Schatz stent which heralded a new era in the treatment of coronary disease. In July of 1990, Dr. Schatz accepted a position with The Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, where he is the Research Director of Cardiovascular Interventions at the Heart, Lung, and Vascular Center and Co-Chairman of the Division of Cardiology. Due to the successful development of the coronary stent and multiple patents, Dr. Schatz is recognized as an international expert in the area. He has published and lectured extensively on this topic and others in the field of cardiology. Dr. Schatz' seminal work in coronary stents has led to a remarkable revolution in the treatment of coronary disease, the scope of which is unparalleled. With over a million stents placed annually worldwide, coronary stents have taken center stage as a pivotal platform upon which new concepts such as coatings can be launched. The impact stents have had on relieving mortality and morbidity, improving patients' lives and on reducing health care costs has been immeasurable. His collaboration with the late Dr. Jeffrey Isner in the new field of angiogenesis, gene transfer, and stem cell therapy has launched a new and exciting approach to relieving angina in patients with atherosclerosis. Recognizing his career accomplishments, he was recently honored as the Distinguished Alumnus for 2003 and as Lifetime Scholar Award of the Barton Hayes Society, October 2005 by Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Schatz continues to work full time at Scripps Clinic as an interventional cardiologist, conducting clinical trials, teaching and lecturing worldwide.
		Samuel Shaolian Presentation Title: Micardia Dynaplasty System for Treatment of Mitral Valve Disease Mr. Shaolian is an experienced executive with over 25 years of experience leading various medical device companies. He was a founder and President of Vertelink Corporation, a company that developed a pioneering minimally invasive spinal surgery that was acquired by Medtronic, Inc. in November 2003. After the acquisition of Vertelink by Medtronic, Mr. Shaolian co-founded MiCardia, developing novel approaches in the field of dynamic cardiovascular implants. Mr. Shaolian is a co-founder and board member of Onset Medical Corp. as well as a board member of Veridiam, Inc. Mr. Shaolian is also co-founder and board member of Ellipse Technologies, Inc. The company is developing a breakthrough approach for the treatment of GERD and obesity. Earlier in his career, he held executive positions as Vice President of R & D at Endologix, Inc. and Cardiodyne, Inc. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tel Aviv University, Israel. Mr. Shaolian is inventor or co-inventor of over 80 issued or pending U.S. patents.
		Dr. Sanjay Shrivastava Presentation Title: Materials and Design Considerations in Endovascular Treatments of Ischemic Stroke and Cerebral Aneurysms Dr. Sanjay Shrivastava is a director of research & development at the Neurovascular division of ev3, Inc. In his current role, he is responsible for developing products for ischemic stroke, aneurysm bridging, and neurovascular flow diversion. Much of Dr. Shrivastava’s career has been focused at developing cardiovascular medical devices including coronary and peripheral drug eluting stents, bare metal self expanding and balloon expandable stents, vena cava filter, heart valve, and AAA stent-graft. He is a named inventor on more than 20 issued or filed US patents. He has been invited speakers at many clinical and engineering conferences and is the editor of a book titled “Medical Device Materials”. Shrivastava played a key role in starting “Materials and Processes of Medical Devices” under the auspices of ASM International for which he was the conference chair in 2003. Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry listed him among 100 Notable People in the Medical Device Industry in 2004. Prior to joining ev3, Inc., Shrivastava worked at Abbott Vascular and Edwards Lifesciences, Inc. in the area of product development. Shrivastava holds a doctorate degree in materials science & engineering from the University of Florida.
		Grayson H. Wheatley III, M.D Presentation Title: Endovascular Repair of the Aortic Arch: A Perfect Synergy Between Medical Practice and Medical Device Engineering Grayson H. Wheatley III, M.D. is currently a Cardiovascular Surgeon at the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Endovascular Taskforce and Co-Program Director of the STS Thoracic Endografting Symposium. After graduating from Florida State University with a B.S. in Mathematics in 1990, he received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in 1994. He completed his General Surgery residency at The Ohio State University, where he was awarded the Department of Surgery Teaching Award in 2001. Additionally, he was one of only four selected residents, from all of the resident house staff, to be awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by the graduating medical school class of 2001 of The Ohio State University. Dr. Wheatley also completed a two-year NIH-sponsored research fellowship with the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center. He completed a three-year residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical Center. He is a Past-President of the Thoracic Surgery Residents Association, Past-Chair of the Organization of Resident Representatives of the American Association of Medical Colleges and serves on several national committees relating to endovascular surgery and resident education. His professional interests are in endovascular technologies, minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery, valve repair and resident and student education.