MEET OUR
LEADERSHIP TEAM
THE PEOPLE WHO DRIVE OUR
MISSION TO change lives
Steve Rybka
CEO
Steve brings more than 30 years of medical technology experience with a track record of building medical device startup revenue from inception to market to acquisition. When he joined Vesalio in 2017, Steve began establishing the business from product to company. As the first full-time staff member, he has led Vesalio through European regulatory approvals, establishment of quality system, U.S. IDE study approvals, seed and Class A financing, team development, and preparation for U.S. launch.
For the last 20 years, Steve has been driving small or early phase organizations in roles of increasing responsibility, focusing on commercialization strategy, KOL development, infrastructure scaling, change management, and executing corporate governance. Of note, Steve was a founding member of SeaSpine, Inc., where he served as the Executive VP. At SeaSpine, he helped build the business to an acquisition by Integra LifeSciences. At Integra LifeSciences, he led U.S. commercial activities during the transition. Steve has also served in leadership roles at Xenco Medical, Alphatec Manufacturing, Interpore Cross International, and Codman Neurosurgery Business of Johnson & Johnson Professional, Inc. He is also an active advisor with other startups, including Neuralace Medical.
Steve received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in economics and public affairs/administration from the University of Oklahoma.
ARTHUR J. ULM, MD
CTO/FOUNDER/BOARD MEMBER
Driven by a need to offer doctors better stroke treatment options, Jay began working on the technology that became the basis for Vesalio in 2013. He has been a practicing endovascular neurosurgeon for over 15 years and has overseen the development of interventional stroke programs at three different hospitals. As a serial entrepreneur and inventor, Jay holds more than 40 patents for stroke treatment technology and has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed medical publications.
Jay graduated with honors from Auburn University and the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He completed a neurosurgery residency at the University of Florida and a vascular fellowship at Vanderbilt University.
Bob Bushok
VP of U.S. Sales
Bob brings Vesalio 20 years of sales leadership experience in the neurovascular space from major player Medtronic to several successful start-ups, including Concentric, EV3, and Viz.AI. His expertise includes the development and execution of commercial strategy, building and developing high-performing sales teams, KOL relationships, and new product launches.
In his most recent role as Senior Director at Viz.AI, Bob was responsible for growing integrated delivery networks (IDNs) and national accounts across the U.S., where he pioneered using A.I. for speeding treatment and access to acute ischemic stroke patients.
While on Medtronic’s Neurovascular Senior Leadership Team, Bob managed a disruptive $275M portfolio with 15% annualized returns. He received the company’s first-ever 10-for-10 Years Above Plan Award, was named a Medtronic Global Innovation Fellow, and helped facilitate several $0 to $100M U.S. neurovascular product launches.
Bob received his Bachelor of Science degree in science education from Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio.
WILLIAM VON BRENDEL, MIM, MBA
VP INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
William has 40 years of global sales, marketing, general management and business development experience in the medical technology space. His extensive experience spans start-up and multinational companies successfully launching and commercializing diverse, novel technologies across multiple medical device verticals.
At Teleflex – Pyng Medical, he served as SVP of Sales for Global Military Business & U.S., Europe and LAT-AM Markets. He doubled sales to $12M in two years, driving a profitable turnaround of the business, resulting in the acquisition of Pyng by Teleflex. As EVP for Global Marketing & International Sales for Nextremity Solutions, William helped build the company from zero to $4M in global revenue, leading to an exclusive global distribution agreement with Zimmer Biomet. At Sperian as VP/GM, he grew his 1,600-employee business unit to a record $150M in sales and $60M in profit, positioning the company for a $1.4B acquisition by Honeywell. As VP of International as Sulzer CarboMedics, his cardiovascular business unit achieved a record $75M in sales and $36M in profit, setting the stage for the company’s acquisition by Sorin.
William has also held senior executive positions with Allergan, Zeiss, Smith + Nephew and several med-device start-ups. He is fluent in French, Spanish and Portuguese, has resided in 12 countries and traveled to over 140 countries. He earned an undergraduate degree in Marketing from Indiana University, an MIM in International Marketing from Oxford University in England, and an MBA from Thunderbird, The Global School of International Management at Arizona State University.
DIANE DEMET TANGUN, MBA
VP MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Diane brings Vesalio more than 25 years of strategic business experience, with close to 20 years focusing on medical conditions of the central nervous system, initially in pharmaceuticals and later in the medical device space. She developed a passion for life-saving innovation and acquired substantial experience in her director-level roles at industry giants such as Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic.
Diane joined Vesalio in 2017 as one of the earliest core leadership team members. Fulfilling functions ranging from sales and marketing to clinical and training, she has been instrumental in establishing the Vesalio name in the interventional vascular space. Besides leading the company’s marketing and market development efforts, she oversees physician networking and drives alignment and execution via our international commercial network.
Before joining Vesalio, Diane operated in international marketing and professional education positions in the medical device space. She tackled ambitious projects such as renovating activities, defending the share of mature product lines, and introducing ground-breaking innovation. Diane also contributed to R&D for product development and due diligence in acquisitions or partnerships. Before joining Vesalio, she started her own consulting company.
Fluent in three languages, Diane holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Boğazici (Bosphorus) University in Istanbul, Turkey, and an MBA from HEC Paris Business School, France.
GUSTAVO PRADO, PH.D.
VP DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS
Gustavo brings 20 years of R & D in medical technologies. His expertise includes lean product development, batch record development, sterile packaging validations, process validation, quality assurance, and strategic preparation of FDA submissions and CE Marking for class II and class III devices. He is skilled in managing the entire product life cycle from concept, research, design, regulatory approval, launch and post-launch maintenance.
Gustavo has built and grown Quality Systems for multiple medical device companies with successful audits by the FDA and other competent authorities. He has held various roles at several companies, including Viacyte, where he was a staff engineer for cell/device combination devices. At Xenco Medical, he served as VP of R & D, where he led multiple medical device development projects for the spine and orthopedics.
To date, Gustavo has participated as an inventor in eight medical device patents. He earned a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.