CEO, Simbex | President, MedTech Collaborative

Greg Lange, president of the MedTech Collaborative and CEO of Lebanon-NH-based Simbex, will kick-off day two of the Northern New England MedTech Conference with introductions and a call to action. In addition to his leadership with Simbex and the MedTech Collaborative, his experience extends to board roles at Alice Peck Day Hospital and TruVue Analytics, and founding the Medtech Collaborative. Greg, a Masters holder from the University of Massachusetts, has a rich background in biomechanics research. He resides in Lyme, New Hampshire, enjoying reading, podcasts, and outdoor activities. His commitment to seamlessly steering companies from conception to commercialization and building robust teams and enterprises is unwavering.

State Treasure, Vermont

Mike Pieciak was inaugurated as Vermont’s 31st State Treasurer in January 2023. During his term, Mike has focused on economic and financial equity. 

Mike successfully championed the passage of “Vermont Saves” - a publicly administered retirement program for the +80,000 Vermonters who currently lack access to a retirement plan through their employer. 

Mike also expanded the “10% in Vermont” program and made the development of new housing a top priority. In September 2023, his office announced $55.5 million in low interest housing loans that is expected to leverage an estimated $340 million in additional capital to support the construction of over 1,100 housing units in Vermont.   

Mike previously served six years as the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) where he was first appointed by Governor Peter Shumlin in 2016 and reappointed by Governor Phil Scott in 2017. During the pandemic, Mike served on the COVID-19 pandemic response team providing regular data and modeling updates at the Governor’s weekly press conferences. 

Mike also served as deputy commissioner of DFR’s Securities Division where he led the division’s investigation into the Jay Peak EB-5 projects.

Prior to his public service, Mike practiced law in New York City and at Downs Rachlin Martin in Burlington in the Business Law Group.

Mike grew up in Brattleboro and graduated cum laude from Union College with a degree in political science. He received his law degree summa cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law where he served as editor-in-chief of the “Miami Law Review.” Mike currently resides in Winooski with his partner Will and English Setter Jetty.

President, Trellis Health

Tamara StClaire is a healthcare executive with 30 years of diverse commercial, innovation and operations experience leading startups, business units and new programs. A pioneer in leading organizations through expansion in an ever-transforming world, Tamara is known for creating sustainable growth and award-winning solutions—validating market fit and building revenue quickly and with limited resources. She was recently named one of the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT by Health Data Management for her thought leadership displayed in social media and conference main stages. She counts many firsts to her name including: first health plan to provide a robust open API for the market; first end-to-end ACO solution (winning two marketing awards); first equity investment into a startup by Xerox Healthcare; and first business hire at thinktank, Palo Alto Research Center (creating a financial independent subsidiary).
Today, Tamara is leveraging her expertise to shape the future of primary care as president of Trellis Health. This relationship-powered care model opens access, closes treatment gaps, rewards primary care providers for the value they deliver, and delivers an optimal care experience.

Founder and CEO, Mother of Fact

Emily Sylvester is the Founder and CEO of Mother of Fact. For over 14 years, Emily has dedicated her expertise to serving birthing people, NICU babies, and infants as a Registered Dietitian and lactation consultant. As the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition president for 4 years, the 2018 Young Dietitian of the Year, and a 2023 Techstars Alum, Emily, emphasizes technology in connecting communities to equitable nutrition information. Beyond her career, she's a proud mother of three children under 9. Emily's extensive experience managing care in large pediatric and women's health clinics has given her a deep understanding of the healthcare startup ecosystem. In her spare time, Emily enjoys thinking outside the box and collaborating with leadership teams to advance femtech and promote women's roles in startups.

President and CEO, Medi-Vantage

Maria Shepherd launched Medi-Vantage in 2007 with the goal to help her medical device clients grow profitably by applying her strategic expertise in the marketing, commercialization, and product development of medical devices. Since then, Medi-Vantage has worked with over 250 medical device companies performing strategy research to support (or decline) acquisitions, determine pricing strategy, commercialize disruptive new medical device technologies, or assist product development teams in the design or re-engineering of medical devices. Maria is also an investor in medtech and digital health companies.

Prior to launching Medi-Vantage, Maria developed her experience in the medical device industry as a business leader in a variety of large and start-up organizations. In her last industry role, Maria was vice president of marketing for Oridion, a start-up company acquired by Medtronic. Maria also served as director of marketing for Philips, serving the critical care patient monitoring division in new technology development and acquisitions and at Boston Scientific in senior management roles. Maria has direct industry experience as a subject matter expert in 12 medical specialties.

In addition to leading her team at Medi-Vantage, she serves on the Board of MedExecWomen, with responsibility for its P&L. Maria is a co-founder of MedExecWomen, an organization focused on empowering female medtech executives to accelerate the positive impact of medical devices, diagnostics, drug delivery, and digital healthcare around the world.

Maria also serves on the Board of MY01 as an Independent Board Member. Privately held MY01, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, has developed and commercialized a proprietary device that can provide real-time and accurate diagnosis of compartment syndrome (CS) in the orthopedic and vascular domains. Optimal management of CS relies on early diagnosis. Reliable, continuous pressure measurements improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary procedures and long-term costs. Engaged a fundraising coach for the CEO (coach is a serial entrepreneur with seven startups and has raised $0.5B), drove the new hire of a Chief Commercial Officer to lead marketing and sales, championed a reimbursement program, and led development of economic tools for the sales force.

Maria holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Babson College, magna cum laude, and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Founding Partner, Elevate LLC

Stacey Stevens is a founding partner of Ellevate LLC. In this role, Stacey combines her extensive domain experience in women’s health, decades of experience leading change and driving business transformation, and her passion for using technology to positively impact lives. Stacey has spent the last two decades of her career working to bring innovation to market that improves outcomes for breast cancer patients. She held several key executive leadership positions in public companies, including most recently having served as President and CEO of iCAD, a company providing leading-edge breast cancer detection and therapy solutions. At iCAD, she successfully led the global market launch of the world’s first artificial intelligence software for 3D mammography (Tomosynthesis) and the first short-term image-based breast cancer risk assessment solution, which is poised to change the screening paradigm in breast cancer to a more personalized approach. Additionally, she executed several transformative strategic partnerships with leading healthcare organizations including Google Health and Radiology Partners, the largest radiology group practice in the country. She is an expert in the use of artificial intelligence for breast cancer applications along with novel treatments such as intraoperative radiation therapy. Stacey was the winner of CEO Today Magazine 2021 “Businesswoman of the Year” Award.
Stacey also currently serves as a strategic advisor for “Learn, Look, Locate,” one of the fastest-growing breast cancer patient advocacy organizations that provides education to breast cancer patients on the latest topics in breast cancer risk assessment, early detection, and treatment options.
Earlier in her career, Stacey held a number of sales, business development, and marketing leadership positions with Philips Medical Systems, Agilent Technologies, Inc., and Hewlett Packard’s Healthcare Solutions Group, including leading the global marketing planning function for Philips’ Healthcare business. Stacey was also Vice President of Marketing for the Cardiac and Monitoring Systems Business Unit of Philips, where she was responsible for all marketing and certain direct sales activities of Philips America’s Field Operations. Prior to that, Ms. Stevens held several key marketing management positions in the Ultrasound Business Unit of Hewlett-Packard/Agilent and Philips Medical Systems.
Stacey earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with honors from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA with honors from Boston University’s Graduate School of Management. She was also a former elite-level competitive figure skater. Stacey and her family reside in the Boston area

Director of Commercialization Services, Simbex

Ilsa leads the Commercialization Services team at Simbex, providing the commercial strategy and market intelligence support for MedTech innovators bringing new products to market. She brings an extensive marketing and product development experience to Simbex, working over 25 years at sector leading and international products companies. Taking both a broad perspective on the industry and a focused look at specific technology areas, she helps companies to uncover user needs and develop a clear product value proposition on the path to commercialization.
Her previous work crosses a wide range of therapeutic areas and product types from spinal implants to wearable technology and robotics to artificial intelligence. Ilsa is skilled at collecting customer inputs to refine product design and commercial plans for focused growth, corporate strategic planning and due diligence. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business.
She serves as mentor and advisor for several product development programs and accelerators and is a course director and invited lecturer on medical device development.

Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center

Kimberley Sampson, MD, MSc, FACOG, DipABOM, DipACLM, is a Board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Lifestyle, and Obesity Medicine Physician at Dartmouth Health. She currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vermont.

She holds prominent leadership roles, including ACOG Vermont Section Chair and ACOG District 1 Wellness Committee Chair and sits on the Vermont Medical Society Board. In addition to her clinical and leadership roles, Dr. Sampson is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Beyond her extensive professional activities, Dr. Sampson is board-certified in both Lifestyle Medicine and Obesity Medicine. She is deeply committed to promoting wellness, with a particular focus on addressing weight management and combating bias and stigma in healthcare.

Director of the Metabolic Bone Program and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, The University of Vermont Health Network

Dr. Jennifer Kelly is the Director of the Metabolic Bone Program and the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes for The University of Vermont Health Network. She is also a Professor of Medicine at the Larner College of Medicine in Burlington, Vermont. Dr. Kelly has been actively involved throughout her career in the care of patients with metabolic bone disorders and the education of clinicians in this field. She was a member of the writing committee for the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Guidelines on Postmenopausal Osteoporosis published in 2020. She is involved in multiple committees in the field of metabolic bone disorders on a regional, national, and international level.

Dr. Kelly is the program chair of the 2025 International Society of Clinical Densitometry annual meeting. She is also the first ambassador from the state of Vermont for the Bone Health Osteoporosis Foundation.

Senior Manager, Human Resources, Novo Nordisk

Stacey is a Senior HR Professional with a passion for fostering and sustaining an engaging, inclusive, and well-balanced workplace culture by equipping leaders to cultivate talent and drive organizational advancement. Currently serving as the Senior Manager, Human Resources for Novo Nordisk's life-science manufacturing facility in West Lebanon, NH, Stacey spearheads the development and implementation of HR and Communication strategies aimed at fostering sustainable leadership practices, enhancing employee engagement, and driving continuous development.

In this role, she also leads internal and external communication strategy and deployment, positioning Novo Nordisk as a community partner and sustainable business. Stacey is most known for her data-driven analysis and strategy development, with a focus on personal reflection and professional capability development built into people strategies.

With a career spanning several notable organizations, including Simon Pearce, The SCA, and The Leddy Group, Stacey has honed her expertise in HR strategy, engagement, and team development. Her commitment to cultivating diverse hiring practices underscores her dedication to building thriving and inclusive work environments.

Director of Life Sciences, Health, and Engineering Programs, Northeastern's Roux Institute

Aileen Huang-Saad is the Director of Life Sciences, Health, and Engineering Programs at Northeastern’s Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, and an Associate Professor of Bioengineering. Leveraging her experience in design, entrepreneurship, education research, and industry, she seeks to close the gap between higher education and professional practice. Specifically, she is designing interdisciplinary experiential education programs in life sciences, health, and engineering to attract, retain, and advance talent in the state of Maine. These programs are aimed at re-imagining how higher education and communities can collaborate to impact economic and talent development.

Dr. Huang-Saad currently serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Springer’s *Biomedical Engineering Education* and is a member of the Maine State Workforce Board. She is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Huang-Saad worked in various industries, gaining experience in new venture biotech, the defense industry, and medical device testing. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

President & CEO, NH Life Sciences

Andrea Hechavarria is the President & CEO of NH Life Sciences (NHLS), the statewide life sciences association built by the industry, for the industry. Alongside co-founders Cindy Conde and John Whelan, Andrea established NHLS in 2023, successfully building membership from the ground-up with the backing of founding member companies and attracting broad interest from life sciences companies across the state. NHLS’ arrival in New Hampshire represents an exciting new chapter in the state’s economic history, as the life sciences industry is a priority growth sector for the Granite State with significant opportunity for further expansion. NHLS’ mission is to foster growth and awareness of the life sciences industry in New Hampshire and to attract and retain world-class talent and innovation.

Under Andrea’s leadership, NHLS connects, convenes, and facilitates the advancement of the life sciences industry in New Hampshire through member programs and events, policy advocacy, industry intelligence, and education. Andrea is a proud New Hampshire native with an extensive career in government, policy, and industry. Most recently, she built and led the Global Government Affairs function for Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, a global leader in blood component, therapeutic apheresis, and cellular technologies. Prior to Terumo BCT, Andrea served as Chief of Staff to the CEO and as VP of Government Affairs at Butterfly Network, a highly innovative and disruptive handheld ultrasound technology start-up.

Andrea began her work in the medical device industry at 3M Company, where she worked closely with the White House COVID-19 Task Force and 3M business leaders to respond to the pandemic and the unprecedented global demand for N95 respirators. She also collaborated with the global medtech association, AdvaMed, to successfully repeal the medical device tax.

Andrea is passionate about advocating for the life sciences community and the impact that research and development, science, and innovative technology have on patients and our healthcare system at large. She has built a strong reputation within the highest ranks of government and among the nation’s leading business trade associations.

Earlier in her career, Andrea spent nearly a decade in the United States Senate, working for multiple U.S. Senators and focusing on cross-industry regulatory reform, energy, and environmental issues. While in Washington, she also served as one of the first Ambassadors for the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, where she helped lead the advocacy strategy for a memorial to be built on the National Mall in Washington, DC to honor the service and sacrifice of all who served in the Global War on Terrorism.

Andrea holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a BA in political science from Loyola University Maryland. She resides in Amherst, NH with her husband and two young children.

Director of Entrepreneurship & Tech Commercialization, Vermont Department of Economic Development

Nick currently serves as Vermont’s Director of Entrepreneurship and Tech Commercialization in the Department of Economic Development. Nick is the founder of LaunchVT, Vermont’s largest startup accelerator program. Since 2012 LaunchVT has accelerated over 80 startups, with workshops, peer sessions, coaching, and a demo day event. LaunchVT startups have gone on to raise millions of dollars in venture funding and provide Vermonters with exciting job opportunities.

During his time at the department, Nick created ElevateVT, a program that provides technical assistance and grant funding to first-time SBIR grant applicants. He also spearheaded Vermont’s State Small Business Credit Initiative application, developing the strategic plan for deploying $58 million in venture capital investments and loans for small businesses.

Before joining the Department of Economic Development, Grimley worked in business development across several industries.

He is a dedicated advocate for economic development and Vermont’s startup ecosystem.

Dean of Professional Studies, University of New Hampshire

Mike Decelle is the Dean of the UNH College of Professional Studies, a multidisciplinary, residential and online research college of the University of New Hampshire. He assumed leadership of the Manchester campus in 2016 following a 35-year career in the technology sector as an engineer, corporate executive, and startup company CEO. In 2021, Mike took on the additional responsibility of leading Granite State College (GSC) as its dean with principal responsibilities that included the merger of GSC into UNH Manchester to form an integrated college of professional studies. Decelle has deep experience in the commercialization of early-stage, advanced technologies, in both large company environments as well as in small startups.

From 2017 to 2022, Mike served as the Chief Workforce Officer for the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) in Manchester. In this role, he was responsible for the identification and implementation of strategies that will develop the educated and trained workforce required for the long-term, sustainable growth of the biofabrication industry. Mike worked with a nationwide network of industry and educational partners to bring a diverse perspective to the workforce needs of this emerging technology space.

Decelle graduated from UNH with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and was recruited on campus by Bell Laboratories and accepted into their graduate fellowship program, earning a master’s in electrical engineering from Cornell. He later completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University. Decelle worked at Bell and, after its spinoff from AT&T, at Lucent Technologies for 18 years, including leading several large, global organizations with revenues exceeding $1B. Since leaving Lucent, he led as CEO five venture-funded technology companies, three of which were university spinoffs. Several of the startup companies he has led began as small ventures without well-formed product and market plans. These companies spanned a range of technical areas including optical and data networking, semiconductor design and manufacturing, image processing, and renewable energy systems.

CEO and Co-Founder, Reia

Kaitlin Maier is the CEO and Co-Founder of Reia, a healthcare company on a mission to redefine the treatment experience for people with pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Reia has designed a non-surgical prolapse treatment option that enables independent management, increases access to care, and reduces complications. Kaitlin has successfully written and managed Reia’s three NIH SBIR grants and led Reia’s FDA submission.

Outside of Reia, she serves on the leadership board of the MedTech Collaborative. Previously, Kaitlin worked for Sherpa Technology Group in Boston, an intellectual property advisory and brokerage firm, where she developed patent claim strategies and performed valuations to facilitate the sale of patent portfolios. Kaitlin holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth College.

Regulatory and Quality Consultant

Bill is a Regulatory and Quality Consultant with over 42 years of experience (23 in industry) in global Life Science regulatory compliance. At Deloitte & Touche, he served as Managing Director of the Advisory Regulatory and Quality Transformation practice, where he assisted clients in areas including quality assurance (21CFR820, 21CFR11, ISO 13485, etc.), Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), Digital Health Technology (DHT) quality control processes, compliance, regulatory strategy & submissions (510(k), Technical File, etc.), IT, clinical laboratory/CLIA, R&D, manufacturing, core lab, reimbursement, and corporate/operations.

Bill helps clients develop strategies for compliance with evolving regulatory requirements, particularly in relation to new product development and launch in multiple local markets. His expertise includes quality system and organizational builds, optimizations, and remediations, labeling controls, post-market surveillance (e.g., PV, MDR, AE reporting from alternative sources such as social media), auditing, and training in highly regulated environments.

He has authored articles on new regulations, covering topics such as the impact of COVID on global medical product regulations, EU MDR, MDSAP, ISO 13485, and ISO 14971.

Founder, Shoemaker Regulatory Consulting, LLC

Dr. Shoemaker spent 21 years as an active duty Army microbiologist, helping develop medical products for the warfighter. Early in his career, he was assigned full-time to the FDA for a year to learn what it takes to get the FDA “seal of approval” for medical devices. He gained significant experience developing in vitro diagnostic tests for biothreat agents at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), and was instrumental in getting the first anthrax diagnostic test (Gamma Phage Assay) cleared by the FDA for human use within the CDC Laboratory Response Network.

During subsequent assignments, Dr. Shoemaker advised and assisted the Department of Defense (DoD) on hundreds of different FDA-regulated products, including advising GEN James Mattis on the pitfalls of deploying the unapproved Theranos diagnostic device to Afghanistan. Since retiring from active duty, he established Shoemaker Regulatory Consulting, LLC, where he enjoys assisting medical device startup companies in developing and executing regulatory strategies that lead to potentially life-changing and life-saving products.

General Manager, PTL Solutions Inc.

Thomas Moore, PhD, has worked in the medical device industry for over 20 years. He has extensive experience leading medical device and combination product projects that are compliant with HC, FDA, and EU regulations and standards. As the General Manager of PTL Solutions Inc., Thomas leads a consulting company that utilizes highly experienced professionals to provide regulatory affairs, quality management, product development, and go-to-market support to medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies of all sizes.

From PTL’s inception, it was important to Thomas that only very experienced experts consult for PTL customers, ensuring high-quality advice and guidance. Throughout his career, Thomas has demonstrated a strength in assessing company strategies across regulatory, quality, product development, and go-to-market areas, helping to reduce time and cost to market while ensuring project success.

Thomas has significant experience in assessing and implementing Quality Management Systems (QMS) processes and creating accompanying documentation. He has advised several medical device manufacturers on regulatory strategies, communications, submissions, and leading product development projects. Thomas has also overseen the development of both upstream and downstream go-to-market strategies and their implementation.

Thomas isn’t afraid to say “I don’t know” and has surrounded himself with a wide range of experts to ensure all of PTL’s customers' needs are met.