Foldax®, a company reinventing every aspect of the heart valve from material to design to manufacturing, today announced key additions to its Scientific and Medical Advisory Boards who will contribute to the continued development of the Tria™ LifePolymer™ heart valve technology. New Scientific Advisory Board members include Ajit Yoganathan, PhD, and Chris Jenny, PhD, while new Medical Advisory Board members include Frank Shannon, MD, and Geoffrey Answini, MD.
“We are pleased to add such distinguished individuals to our advisory boards guiding our progress on the clinical study of our Tria surgical aortic and mitral heart valves and further development of our transcatheter aortic heart valve replacement device,” said Foldax CEO Frank Maguire. “We expect their contributions to be invaluable and couldn’t be more pleased with their addition to the boards.”
The expanded Scientific Advisory Board includes:
- David Grainger, PhD – University Distinguished Professor and Department Chair, Biomedical Engineering, and Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Utah
- Robert Grubbs, PhD – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Thilak Gunatillake, PhD – Fellow, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia; world-renowned biomaterial expert in polyurethane development
- Chris Jenney, PhD – applied materials and biomaterials expert in material characterization with focus on biocompatibility, mechanisms of implantable device failure, and material degradation
- Simon McCarthy, PhD – Chief Scientific Officer, Tricol Biomedical; inventor of underlying technology behind HemCon wound care solutions
- James Runt, PhD – Professor Emeritus, Polymer Science, Material Science Department, Penn State University; Fellow of the American Physician Society and American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers
- Ajit Yoganathan, PhD – Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering, Regents’ Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University; member of U.S. National Academy of Engineering
The expanded Medical Advisory Board includes:
- Frank Shannon, MD – Medical Advisory Board Chair – Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, Research and Quality Programs, Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, Michigan; co-principal investigator for three transcatheter valve clinical trials
- Geoffrey A. Answini, MD – Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Co-Director of Cardiovascular Service Line, Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio; experience with 40-plus clinical trials
- Ray Matthews, MD – Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Keck Medical Center, Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of Southern California (USC); principal investigator for 50-plus clinical trials
- Steven Yakubov, MD, MSCAI, FACC – John H. McConnell Chair of Advanced Structural Heart Disease, System Medical Chief, Advanced Structural Heart Disease, Ohio Health; Medical Director of Cardiovascular Studies, OhioHealth Research Institute, Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
The Tria valve reimagines the heart valve by incorporating a new, proprietary biopolymer – LifePolymer – with an innovative valve design intended to resist calcification, withstand stresses and strains without failure, and restore patient quality of life without lifelong use of anticoagulants. Tria is also the first and only heart valve to be robotically manufactured, reducing variability, enabling high precision, repeatability, and quality, while substantially improving the economics of heart valve manufacturing.
