Kurt Azarbarzin is a 39-year medtech industry veteran, having led the development of over 90 new products representing over $910 million of annual sales at companies including U.S. Surgical, Tyco Healthcare (now Medtronic), Spine Wave, Respimetrix, SurgiQuest, Verb Surgical, and J&J. He has experience in surgical, robotic, cardiovascular, interventional, orthopedic and urological markets. Kurt founded SurgiQuest in 2005 and sold it to CONMED, and the company's lead technology AirSeal became the standard of care for advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgery. He then became CEO of Verb Surgical (a joint venture between Google and J&J) consisting of over 550 employees, that was acquired by J&J in January 2020. After that, Kurt became and is currently the CEO of EndoQuest Robotics, which is developing the first flexible robotic surgical platform in the world, designed to enable endoluminal and single-incision surgery.
Christine Antalik has over 29 years of experience in accounting and finance including several high-profile, executive-level roles as chief financial officer. Over the course of her career, Christine has closed over $1 billion in deal transactions through initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, private and venture equity financings, debt financings, recapitalizations, and research grants. With four consecutive exits between 2005 and 2016, she has earned an impeccable track record of starting, building, growing, and improving the profitability, performance, and value of companies, while positioning them for the next level of growth or exit. Prior to joining EndoQuest, Christine was the founder of Founders Bridge Advisors, LLC, where she served as CFO for a diverse portfolio of life sciences clients including Bioasis Technologies, Inc. (TSX.V:BTI; OTCQB:BIOAF) and Aeromics, Inc. She previously served as chief financial officer of SurgiQuest, Inc. where she led the $265 million acquisition of the company by CONMED Corporation in 2016 after filing the company's public S-1 statement. Christine also led a $108 million initial public offering as the vice president of finance and controller at HigherOne, Inc. and as CFO of Hematech, LLC, she steered the company to an acquisition by Kirin Brewery Company.
Todd Wilson, MD, has been a part of EndoQuest Robotics since its inception and played critical roles in the concept, strategy development and early design of the platform. He is a minimally invasive surgeon and associate professor at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School. His surgical practice focuses on stomach and esophageal disease with an emphasis on developing, teaching, and validating procedures for robotic and endoluminal surgery. He has over seventy peer reviewed published articles, is continuously involved in trials related to robotics and endoluminal techniques, and as the medical director of the Surgical Innovation and Robotics Institute has helped to train thousands of surgeons from all over the world in robotic surgery. Prior to medical school, Todd was a Surface Warfare Officer during which he served three tours as an engineer, as an operations officer and finally as an admiral's aide. He is excited to help bring EndoQuests' technology to physicians and to see its impact on medical therapies.
Shane Sevier is a life sciences attorney with over a decade of experience supporting innovative life sciences and biotechnology companies through various stages of product development and commercialization. Most recently, he built and scaled the legal team at IsoPlexis Corporation to support the company through rapid global commercial expansion, two private financing rounds totaling more than $150 million, a successful public offering, and recent merger and integration with Berkeley Lights,Inc. (rebranded as PhenomeX). Prior to IsoPlexis, Shane held roles with Loxo Oncology (acquired by Eli Lilly), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Shane earned his Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac University School of Law where he served as the Notes and Comments Editor of the Quinnipiac Health Law Journal and completed a concentration in health law with honors.
Perry Genova, PhD, leads the Research and Development programs at EndoQuest Robotics. Prior to joining EndoQuest Perry was SVP of R&D at Titan Medical, a single incision surgical robotics platform, where he led the Company's efforts to assess applicable procedures and markets and to redesign the system for commercial success. A serial entrepreneur, Dr. Genova has established and exited operating companies in inhaled drug delivery, diabetes care, barbed suture products, oncology diagnostics, and neurosurgical robotics. He holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, and Master's and Doctoral degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has received over 55 patents in healthcare-related technologies.
Chris Klecher joined EndoQuest Robotics in June 2021 and is responsible for the Company's upstream marketing and clinical development. Mr. Klecher is an accomplished sales and marketing executive with more than 30 years of sales and marketing experience in both large cap companies as well as venture-backed start-up organizations. Throughout his career, Mr. Klecher has held executive level sales and marketing positions within U.S. Surgical as well as serving as a key member of seven medical device start-up companies: Microsurge (acquired by Richard Allan), Endonetics (acquired by Medtronic), Vascular Control Systems (acquired by J&J), Torax Medical (acquired by J&J), Solace Therapeutics, Venetec International (acquired by C.R. Bard) and SurgiQuest (acquired by CONMED). Over the course of his career, he has led hundreds of sales and marketing professionals and launched more than 75 products.
John Magnasco is a technical executive who has brought more than 50 products to market and holds 16 U.S. and multiple foreign patents. John currently serves as VP, Quality and Regulatory at EndoQuest Robotics having joined the team in September 2022. Prior to that he served as VP, Quality and Compliance for Johnson & Johnson's Robotics and Digital Solutions team having joined that team in 2016 as part of Verb Surgical, the joint venture between J&J and Google. Before joining Verb, John was VP of Operations and Quality at Broncus Medical, a computer-aided surgical navigation company for biopsy, access and treatment of lung cancer where he led all functions except R&D and raised $13 million in equity. In 2002, John took a position with Intuitive Surgical where he led Program Management and NPI for the da Vinci Surgical System through multiple product launches including the first 4- arm robotic surgical system, first 3DHD visualization system, and first robotic beating heart stabilizer while growing revenue to over $500 million five years later. Prior to that, John was VP of R&D and Quality at Hello Direct where he led product development that resulted in 13 consecutive quarters of record revenue/earnings growth and a $95MM acquisition.
Gary Tegan joined EndoQuest Robotics as the Vice President of Marketing in July 2023. Over the course of his 30 year career in the medical device industry, Gary has served as a marketing, strategy, and clinical affairs executive in both mid-cap corporations and venture-backed startup organizations. Beginning his career as a Certified Stapling Technician (sales representative) at U.S. Surgical, he developed expertise in minimally invasive General, Urologic, Gynecologic, Colorectal, and Cardiothoracic surgery that has served him well in forging strong relationships with global key opinion leaders within these specialties. For the last 12 years, Gary successfully disrupted the surgical insufflation market with the AirSeal System, now regarded as the standard of care for both robotic and advanced laparoscopic surgery. He looks forward to working with the EndoQuest team and physician thought leaders around the world to pioneer the next revolutionary course in surgery.
Mark is a medical device executive with 22 years of experience within multiple roles of operations, product development and design. His most recent endeavor is leading operations at EndoQuest Robotics. Prior to joining EndoQuest Robotics, Mark was VP of operations at Sequel Special Products, a family-owned business that was acquired by Nissha Medical Technologies. Mark grew the company to a $25MM medical device contract manufacturing business. Prior to working in the medical device field, Mark held many positions for a $1B automotive company. Mark has a BS in Mechanical engineering and holds 24 US patents. Mark has a true passion for mentoring the next generation of young engineers and feels it is his duty to share his experience.
Miki Silver has more than 10 years’ experience focused on product development at medical device start-ups. Miki is responsible for clinical engineering and procedure development at EndoQuest Robotics including usability and human factors efforts. He is passionate about applying innovative R&D techniques and partnering with physicians to expand the future capabilities of the EndoQuest product portfolio.
Prior to joining EndoQuest, Miki led the R&D, Quality, and Regulatory departments at Pathy Medical where he launched two products in his first three years and built an ISO 13485-certified quality system. Previously, he spent five years at SurgiQuest (acquired by ConMed), where he was the lead engineer for the AirSeal insufflation system and oversaw several disposable, capital and software projects.
Miki graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s in Bioengineering and earned master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Engineering & Technology Innovation Management from Carnegie Mellon University. He holds 26 US utility patents and numerous international patents.
Kurt Azarbarzin is a 39-year medtech industry veteran, having led the development of over 90 new products representing over $910 million of annual sales at companies including U.S. Surgical, Tyco Healthcare (now Medtronic), Spine Wave, Respimetrix, SurgiQuest, Verb Surgical, and J&J. He has experience in surgical, robotic, cardiovascular, interventional, orthopedic and urological markets. Kurt founded SurgiQuest in 2005 and sold it to CONMED, and the company's lead technology AirSeal became the standard of care for advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgery. He then became CEO of Verb Surgical (a joint venture between Google and J&J) consisting of over 550 employees, that was acquired by J&J in January 2020. After that, Kurt became and is currently the CEO of EndoQuest Robotics, which is developing the first flexible robotic surgical platform in the world, designed to enable endoluminal and single-incision surgery.
Neeraj Agrawal oversees Crescent Enterprises' operations and investments. He has supported the company's evolution and transformation throughout its years of expansion, by fostering new investments as well as nurturing its various established businesses within the fields of healthcare, ports and logistics, and power plant engineering and construction. In recent years he has been leading the venture capital investments in MENA and globally. In his capacity as a Board Member of the Crescent Group, Neeraj is responsible for finance & investment functions, building relationships with the investment & banking community and diverse stakeholders. His numerous achievements throughout his 35 years with the Group include management leadership and board oversight across various businesses globally. Neeraj was also instrumental in the successful formation and capitalization of Dana Gas PJSC (including a successful private placement and $80Billion IPO), the US$1.2Billion acquisition and financing of TSX listed Centurion Energy International Inc., and the Middle East's first forward-looking accelerated US$1Billion capital markets instrument. More recently, Neeraj has been instrumental in securing roughly $800Million international financing for development of gas resources through a regional bank facility, EPC contractor and US Development Finance Corporation under long term agreements.
Mr. Fonseca is an Investment Director in the Crescent Group Investments Team and the Chief Corporate Development Officer of Gulftainer USA. In addition to his role with Crescent Group, Mr. Fonseca is also a member of the Board of Directors for XCath Inc., and HomeWork Mx. Prior to joining Crescent Group, Mr. Fonseca was the first Panamanian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and to Saudi Arabia. Prior to this role, and as part of his diplomatic duties, Mr. Fonseca worked with private and sovereign Institutional Investors.
Mr. Fonseca holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BS from Santa Clara University. He is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Dr. Patel completed his medical school education at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and then his residency and fellowship training at the University of Miami in Florida. Subsequently, Dr. Patel served as Director of the Robotic Surgery Program at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, prior to joining Advent Health in Celebration, FL.
Dr. Patel is board certified by the American Urological Association and is the Medical Director of the Global Robotics Institute at Advent Health Celebration and Medical Director of the Advent Health Cancer Institute Urologic Oncology Program. He is a professor of Urology at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando, Florida, and a clinical associate professor of Urology at Nova Southeastern University, also in Orlando. He serves as an honorary professor at the University of Milan, Korea University and Ricardo Palma University in Lima, Peru, and was recently made an honorary professor of the Russian Academy of Science.
He is the founder of the International Prostate Cancer Foundation (IPCF) and a founding member of the Society of Robotic Surgery. He is the Executive Director of the Society of Robotic Surgery that hosted 10,000 surgeons in 2020. Past president of the Florida Urologic Society. He is the editor emeritus of The Journal of Robotic Surgery and editor of the first-ever robotic urology textbook.
He leads the world's most experienced robotic surgery team and travels globally to educate physicians and care for patients. Dr. Patel is world-renowned for his contribution to the field of robotic surgery and prostate cancer. Dr. Patel is the most experienced robotic surgeon in the world and has personally performed over 16,000 robotic prostatectomies for the treatment of prostate cancer. Dr. Patel has developed techniques in robotic surgery that have translated to improve patient care and outcomes. His innovations have helped to improve cancer treatment and return of early urinary continence and sexual function. His contributions have been recognized worldwide through publications, professorships and training courses. He has traveled the globe lecturing and teaching. He has educated thousands of surgeons in robotic surgical techniques and has started robotic surgery programs or performed surgery throughout the United States and in countries, including India, China, England, Sweden, Belgium, Turkey, Australia and South Korea.
Jacques Marescaux is Professor of Surgery, Founder and Member of the Board of the Institute of Image-Guided Surgery (IHU Strasbourg) and President and Founder of IRCAD (1994) a uniquely structured institute advancing the field of surgery into the information era. In addition, he founded the European Institute for Telesurgery (EITS) as a training facility to disseminate the groundbreaking work at IRCAD. Over the last 27 years this center has gained international acclaim by training more than 45,000 surgeons from 124 countries, with 5 additional mirror IRCAD institutes created around the world in Taiwan (2008) and Brazil (Sao Paulo 2011, Rio de Janeiro 2017), Beirut (Lebanon 2019), Kigali (Rwanda 2023). Two additional IRCAD Institutes will be created in 2024, one in Wuxi, near Shanghai, China and the second in the United States in Charlotte.
In 2001, Professor Marescaux performed the first transcontinental laparoscopic surgery on a patient in Strasbourg, France while being in New York; this is known as “Operation Lindbergh” (Nature 2001;413:379-380 – Annals of Surgery 2002;235:487-492). On April 2, 2007, he is believed to be the first in the world to operate a patient without leaving a scar (Archives of Surgery 2007;142:823-826).
Jacques Marescaux and his team published up to 4,800 national and international articles. He has received honorary degrees from a number of Universities and honorary fellowships at the Royal College of Surgeons in London and the Japanese society of endoscopic surgery, and is member of a range of Editorial Boards. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1999), Officier dans l'Ordre national du Mérite (2007), Officier de la Légion d'honneur (2012) and Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur (2019).
Jacques Marescaux was invited to deliver more than 450 speeches in many European, American, Japanese, and Chinese Universities or Schools of Medicine, amongst which the "Address to Diplomates" he gave at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, the Nobel Lecture he gave in Stockholm, and the Fogarty Lecture he gave at Stanford University.
Dr. Thompson is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Director of Endoscopy and Co-Director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), is Principal Investigator of the Developmental Endoscopy Lab and serves on the HMS admissions committee. He operates on the Governing Board of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), and is Editor-in-Chief for iGIE, the society's new open access journal.
Dr. Thompson's academic and clinical efforts have consistently focused on three main areas: (1) obesity and metabolic disease, (2) development of new endosurgical procedures and technologies, and (3) endoscopic training and assessment. He has invented numerous procedures, including Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG), Transoral Outlet Reduction (TORe), and Gastroplasty with Endoscopic Myotomy (GEM), and he has led several US pivotal trials. These projects have resulted in substantial Department of Defense and societal funding, numerous patents, the development and licensing of new technologies, over 250 peer-reviewed publications with an H-index of over 60, various innovation awards, and five successful start-up companies. He has served on advisory boards for industry partners, insurance companies, and investment banks, and has co-founded several societal ventures, including the Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research (NOSCAR) and the Association for Bariatric Endoscopy (ABE). He has also mentored a diverse group of trainees who have gone on to leadership roles in major US and international academic centers, with one becoming a White House Fellow and, another, Chief Medical Officer for a Fortune 500 medical device company. Dr. Thompson recently had the honor of receiving the ASGE's highest mentoring award, the Distinguished Endoscopic Research Mentoring Award. He also has been credited with being the founding father of the field of Bariatric Endoscopy, among other accolades.
Clinically, Dr. Thompson reorganized and expanded the interventional endoscopy service at BWH to become one of the only units in the US to offer all available endoscopic therapies, and the only US center with World Endoscopy Organization (WEO) Center of Excellence Status.
In summary, Dr. Thompson's body of work comprises of procedure and technology development, academic publications, start-up companies, training and mentoring, societal leadership roles, and clinical program development. These accomplishments have touched many lives across the US and internationally, and he has numerous active programs that hold promise for years to come.
Santiago Horgan, MD, is an internationally recognized expert in esophageal disease, weight-loss surgery, minimally invasive surgery and new technologies and approaches for surgery. He performs a variety of weight-loss procedures including gastric sleeve, gastric plication, gastric bypass, and revisional weight-loss surgeries.
Dr. Horgan has expertise in minimally invasive surgical techniques, providing patients with a faster recovery time and less scarring than open surgical methods. He is skilled in the use of surgical robotics, which enables surgeons to perform complex and delicate procedures through small incisions. He is also a pioneer in the field of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), in which surgical instruments are passed through a natural orifice such as the mouth to reach the desired organ.
As the director of the Center for the Future of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Horgan is working with colleagues to investigate, develop, test and teach procedures that are revolutionizing the field of surgery. Dr. Horgan trains surgeons during their fellowship as well as established surgeons from medical centers across the country on minimally invasive surgical techniques.
Before joining the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine in 2006, Dr. Horgan was director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery and Robotic Surgery Department and co-director of the Swallowing Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was also director of the Minimally Invasive Bariatric Center in Chicago. Dr. Horgan completed his fellowship at University of Washington School of Medicine and his residency at University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in Argentina, where he also received his medical degree.
Dr. Patel completed his medical school education at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and then his residency and fellowship training at the University of Miami in Florida. Subsequently, Dr. Patel served as Director of the Robotic Surgery Program at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, prior to joining Advent Health in Celebration, FL.
Dr. Patel is board certified by the American Urological Association and is the Medical Director of the Global Robotics Institute at Advent Health Celebration and Medical Director of the Advent Health Cancer Institute Urologic Oncology Program. He is a professor of Urology at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando, Florida, and a clinical associate professor of Urology at Nova Southeastern University, also in Orlando. He serves as an honorary professor at the University of Milan, Korea University and Ricardo Palma University in Lima, Peru, and was recently made an honorary professor of the Russian Academy of Science.
He is the founder of the International Prostate Cancer Foundation (IPCF) and a founding member of the Society of Robotic Surgery. He is the Executive Director of the Society of Robotic Surgery that hosted 10,000 surgeons in 2020. Past president of the Florida Urologic Society. He is the editor emeritus of The Journal of Robotic Surgery and editor of the first-ever robotic urology textbook.
He leads the world's most experienced robotic surgery team and travels globally to educate physicians and care for patients. Dr. Patel is world-renowned for his contribution to the field of robotic surgery and prostate cancer. Dr. Patel is the most experienced robotic surgeon in the world and has personally performed over 16,000 robotic prostatectomies for the treatment of prostate cancer. Dr. Patel has developed techniques in robotic surgery that have translated to improve patient care and outcomes. His innovations have helped to improve cancer treatment and return of early urinary continence and sexual function. His contributions have been recognized worldwide through publications, professorships and training courses. He has traveled the globe lecturing and teaching. He has educated thousands of surgeons in robotic surgical techniques and has started robotic surgery programs or performed surgery throughout the United States and in countries, including India, China, England, Sweden, Belgium, Turkey, Australia and South Korea.
Dr. Hiroyuki Aihara is currently the Director of Endoscopic Tissue Resection in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endoscopy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He received his M.D. degree from Jichi Medical School in Tochigi, Japan, in 1998 and received his Ph.D. degree in Gastroenterology from Jikei University School of Medicine in 2011. Dr. Aihara has over 100 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on the minimally invasive endoscopic treatment of gastrointestinal tumors. Dr. Aihara has clinical interests in endoscopic submucosal resection (ESD), Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR), Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM), Submucosal Tunneling Endoscopic Resection (STER), and Image-enhanced Endoscopy (IEE).
Eduardo Parra-Davila, MD, is a surgeon and pioneer in the field of robotic surgery. In his career, he has built a worldwide reputation for his excellent performance and expertise. Dr. Parra-Davila earned his medical degree from Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela) and is a Board Certified General and Colorectal Surgeon. He trained at the University of Miami (Miami, Florida) as a General Surgery Resident and completed his postgraduate studies in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of Texas (Houston, Texas), as well as a Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship at the Texas EndoSurgery Institute (San Antonio, Texas). Dr. Parra-Davila trained thousands of surgeons worldwide in laparoscopic and robotic techniques and started many robotic programs in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Dr. Parra-Davila is the founder and board member of two major robotic societies: Clinical Robotic Surgical Association and Society of Robotic Surgery. He was part of a group that supervised and created robotic programs in Brazil for United Health Care at their hospitals for three consecutive years in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Fortaleza, performing over 2,000 surgeries. He serves as a consultant and is on the advisory board for United Health Care in Brazil for Americas Medical City. He has given hundreds of lectures and performed surgery around the world (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, China, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Israel, Korea, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain and Venezuela). Dr. Parra-Davila has served as governor for the American Hernia Society for three years and an editorial reviewer for The Journal of Robotic Surgery. Dr. Parra-Davila’s practice attends patients with general, colorectal, obesity and hernia/abdominal wall diseases with all degrees of complexity.
Dr. S. Perretta is an upper gastro-intestinal surgeon, Professor of Surgery, Chief of Foregut and Advanced Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Division. She also serves as the Vice president of IRCAD France and Director of IHU education and Surgical Endoscopy fellowship program. Her fields of interest are upper gastro-intestinal surgery, gastro-intestinal physiology, bariatric surgery, interventional endoscopy, surgical education and innovation. Dr. Perretta has been a pioneer in Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) and has been actively developing endoscopic platforms, flexible robotics and endoscopic simulators. She has authored 146 peer-reviewed publications, has an h-index of 41, and holds 9 patents. She was named Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor on January 1, 2021 and recently elected Chair of the EAES Flexible Endoscopy committee, advisor for the American College of Surgeon Committee on Emerging Surgical Technologies and Education (CESTE) and of the AMEE (International Association for Medical Education) Surgery Track Steering Committee.
Dr. Estape is currently director of the HCA Florida Institute for Gynecologic Oncology. He has practiced in the South Florida area for over 20 years and was past director of the gynecologic oncology site group at the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center, founder and past director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the Miami Cancer Institute and has started and headed up multiple robotic programs at South Miami Hospital, Baptist Health South Florida, Larkin Hospital and now in the HCA system throughout South Florida. He has been a pioneer in robotic surgery since 2004 and has done more robotic gynecologic procedures than any other surgeon in the world. He is currently over 8000 cases as primary surgeon and many more as assistant or teaching surgeon. He has worked with multiple companies to develop robotic platforms including multi-port robotics, single-port robotics, single-site robotics, endoluminal robotics and now transvaginal robotics as well. With his background in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering, he has been an integral part of the development of multiple robotic platforms and continues to be a pioneer in robotics and in minimally invasive surgery.
Dr. Jihad Kaouk is an internationally recognized American board-certified urologist with focus on robotic surgery and innovations. He is the director of the Center of Robotic and Image-Guided Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological Institute and Vice chair of enterprise surgical operations. He is a Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, and chair holder for the Zegarac-Pollock Endowed Chair in laparoscopic and robotic surgery. He co-authored 620 peer-reviewed publications with a current H-Index of 101 and more that 40,800 citations.
In innovations, he has performed several First-In-Human surgical procedures, including the first robotic single-port (SP) surgery through the belly button (2008), first completely transvaginal kidney removal (2009) and first robotic perineal prostatectomy (2014). Dr. Kaouk was the pioneer in the implementation of the SP robot into the urologic field in 2018. He performed the first in human SP extraperitoneal, perineal, and transvesical robotic prostatectomy procedures, SP extraperitoneal kidney transplantation, and partial nephrectomy. Dr. Kaouk holds 6 USA patents for medical devices and is the co-founder and chief medical officer of Method Surgical AI. Dr Kaouk was chairman of the AUA New Technology and Imaging committee and is the past president of the Society of Urologic Robotic Surgery (SURS). He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Urology Video Journal.
Crescent Enterprises is a multinational company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. It operates under four platforms: CE-Operates, CE-Invests, CE-Ventures, and CE-Creates, which span diverse sectors including ports and logistics, power and engineering, food & beverage, business aviation, and across verticals such as private equity, venture capital, and business incubation. Crescent Enterprises employs over 1,800 people in 15 countries.
With a long-term investment and operating philosophy that embraces corporate governance, inclusive growth, and responsible business practices, Crescent Enterprises is a regional leader in growing diversified global businesses that are sustainable, scalable, and profitable.
Crescent Enterprises is a subsidiary of the Crescent Group, one of the most progressive family business groups that has been actively contributing to the economic landscape of the Middle East and North Africa region since 1971. Crescent Group's other subsidiary, Crescent Petroleum, is the first and the largest indigenous, privately owned upstream oil and gas company in the Middle East. www.crescent.ae
McNair Interests is a private investment and management company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm's focus on transformative real estate projects, breakthrough medical discoveries, and disciplined investments has enabled it to become a valuable and diversified company with over 35 years of experience in private equity, real estate, energy, and venture capital. The firm considers every opportunity for its ability to drive innovation while generating value and creating a lasting, positive impact on the community. www.mcnair.com
Puma Venture Capital is a venture capital firm focused on investments in all aspects of the digital surgery ecosystem that drives improved patient outcomes and lowers costs for all aspects of the healthcare system. The firm was founded by Amit Hazan and Dr. Vipul Patel, and includes more than 20 surgeon venture partners who bring a wealth of experience in the medical technology, finance, and healthcare industries. www.pumaventurecapital.com