Experienced, Proven and Accomplished

Justin Zenanko,CPA, MACS
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Zenanko is a Certified Public Accountant with extensive experience in corporate finance and startup development. He serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and before that served as the first CFO of Recombinetics, Inc., where he led fundraising efforts resulting in $34 million in angel funding and an additional $34 million in Series A funding in August 2018 from a strategic investor.

Mr. Zenanko holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Accounting, Economics with Emphasis in Finance, and Marketing from Simpson College. He also holds a Master of Arts in Christian Studies from Crown College.

Dennis McFadden
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. McFadden has extensive corporate finance and corporate development experience in both multinational and startup companies where he has served as a C-level or senior financial executive or board member. McFadden has broad experience in the medical device industry, where he has raised public and private debt and equity funding, engaged in numerous buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions, as well as a variety of corporate development/licensing arrangements. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Protégé Biomedical.

Mr. McFadden holds a degree in Finance and an MBA, both from the University of St. Thomas.

Susan Alpert, PhD, MD
Chief Medical Officer and Chief Regulatory Officer
Dr. Alpert, the Principal of SFA Regulatory, LLC, is a health care industry executive with a unique background of regulatory, clinical, business and technology experience, including a history of working at the interface of government and industry within early-stage, small startups and large-scale mature initiatives. She currently serves as an advisor to a variety of organizations involved with technology, regulatory compliance and business innovation aimed at improving health care quality, cost-effectiveness and safety.

Prior to her current role, she served as Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs at Medtronic Inc., and prior to joining the medical device industry, she served as Director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health. She has served on the boards of numerous professional organizations including the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Regulatory Affairs Professional Society, Women Business Leaders, Medical Technology Leadership Forum and the Food and Drug Law Institute.

Chris Frank, JD
Vice President of Intellectual Property
Mr. Frank brings to SynerFuse nearly two decades of experience helping companies protect and grow their business through innovation and intellectual property. Previous roles include patent portfolio manager for Medtronic-Neuromodulation, intellectual asset manager for Cargill, and various strategic IP consulting roles helping startups and Fortune 500 corporations navigate the intellectual property landscape. As a thought leader at the intersection of intellectual property law and innovation, he is also founder of the Master of Science in Patent Law program at the University of Minnesota. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.

Matt Stoll
Director of Marketing
Mr. Stoll has successfully launched and managed multiple products in both the medical device and telecommunications industries in small- and mid-sized business environments. In his 20-year career in product management and marketing, he has acquired extensive experience successfully leading cross-functional marketing and development teams in new product development. During his career in the medical device space, Mr. Stoll has actively raised and managed more than $20M in non-dilutive funding through the NIH SBIR program. He is an Adjunct Instructor for the MILI Valuation Laboratory.

Mr. Stoll has a BS in electrical engineering from Penn St. University and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. While at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Stoll was a MILI Innovation Fellow, working with post-doctoral fellows in medical device innovation with business plan creation, commercialization planning, and valuation.

Brooke Gillen
Administrative Manager
An Administrative Manager with SynerFuse, Inc. and Executive Assistant, Brooke has an extensive background in management and supporting executive leadership. Her reliable, sociable, dedicated, motivated, and anticipatory nature provides exceptional value to her colleagues. A highly approachable individual who has the willingness to make a positive mark. A liaison between departments where communication and smooth flow is ensured.

Brooke has established the administrative infrastructure of SynerFuse, Inc. which works in tandem with operations to successfully perform. She has B.S in psychology with a minor in Addiction Studies from Crown College. She has substantial experience working in the chemical dependency field and the healthcare management department of residential treatment centers.

Jeannine Rivet, MPH, BSN, RN, FAAN
Former CEO, UnitedHealthcare/Ingenix/Optum
Jeannine Rivet is an active board member and advisor, mentor, and coach. As Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group, Ms. Rivet worked with and on behalf of all business segments in areas focused on strategic business relationships, clinician advancement, culture, and social responsibility. Her previous roles at UnitedHealth Group include CEO of UnitedHealthcare, CEO of Ingenix, and CEO of Optum. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare Corporation, Ms. Rivet held various other managed care and nursing positions. She is on numerous business boards and advisory councils and is a mentor to men and women in business. She has been recognized by AAHP, Boston University School of Public Health, Fortune magazine, Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, Minnesota’s City Business, Minnesota Women’s Health Leadership TRUST, Twin Cities Business magazine, Linkage, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Heart Association – Twin Cities. She also is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Jeannine received a Masters in Public Health from Boston University. She also holds a B.S. in Nursing from Boston College and practiced as a registered nurse for several years prior to entering the managed care industry.

Tom Schrier
Chair of Allina Health, Director PiperSandler, Health System/Finance
Tom Schreier oversees the Inspired Leadership Initiative at the University of Notre Dame where since 2016 he works with the leadership, faculty and staff to develop a distinctive program for accomplished leaders who have completed their traditional careers and are looking to pivot to become an even greater force for good.

Tom's career began at Northwest Airlines in 1988 as director of finance. He rose to the position of vice president of finance, where he was responsible for corporate finance, pension oversight, cash management, and other related areas. From Northwest, Tom went to Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in New York, where he became a top-ranked senior equity analyst covering the global airline industry.

Following his time at CSFB, Tom had the opportunity to oversee all of equity research and become a member of the management committee at Piper Jaffray, where he was a key member of the team that brought the firm’s equity business to national prominence. Tom was then asked and agreed to lead the turnaround of Piper’s asset management as its CEO and president. When Piper was sold by U.S. Bank, the asset management business remained at US Bank and was rebranded under his leadership to FAF Advisors/First American Funds. During this period, the firm grew to over $100 billion in assets under management.

With full support of U.S. Bank management, Tom engineered the sale of FAF Advisors to Nuveen Investments, where he served as chairman of Nuveen Asset Management, the firm’s largest investment adviser, and vice chairman of the parent company that grew to in excess of $225 billion in assets under management. Nuveen was acquired by a strategic buyer, TIAA, in October of 2014, and Tom passed the reins to new leadership in June of 2016.

Currently, Tom serves as chairman of the Allina Health Board, a Director of Piper, Sandler Companies and also serves as a trustee of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He is a member of the Applied Investment Management Advisory Board for the University of Notre Dame and a founding investor in Granite Global Ventures. While in the investment industry, Tom was a long-standing member of the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and served on its Chairman’s Council. Additionally, Tom is a former Director of Pinnacle Airlines and served as chairman of the Saint Thomas Academy Board of Trustees and continues to serve on its Finance and Investment Committees.

Tom’s education includes a B.A. in economics and German from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A from Harvard University.

Jeff Fritz
CEO, Revel Health
A proven growth-oriented leader, Jeff Fritz has led successful organizations in the health and wealth sectors for the past 25 years. His specialty is helping companies succeed in healthcare Business to Business (B2B) unlocked through innovative technology.

Fritz most recently served as CEO of Revel (now Icario), a health action company, where he launched the company on a multi-year, double-digit growth trajectory. He worked to define the next strategic leap of the company as it entered the M&A phase of its evolution. Fritz was the CEO of Evolution1 (now Wex Health™), the fast growth industry-leading technology for consumer-driven healthcare. This company became the platform for multiple strategic acquisitions. Prior to Evolution1, Fritz led the growth and sale of companies in the healthcare industry.

Fritz has served on several high-growth healthcare company boards and is a mentor for early-stage entrepreneurs in the Minnesota healthcare/technology ecosystem. Organizations led by Fritz have been the recipients of numerous awards in recognition of innovation, growth, and a great workplace culture.

He holds a dual degree in Finance and Management from Drake University.

Mike Finch, PhD
PhD. Research Projects and Analytics Manager, Children’s MN
Michael Finch, Ph.D., received his degree in Sociology from the University of Minnesota. From 1984 through 1998 he was a member of the faculty of the Division of Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. From 1998 through 2004 he was Director of Research Programs at UnitedHealth Group. In addition, Dr. Finch served 16 years as the Chair of the Board of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and also a member and Board Chair of the Healthier Minnesota Community Clinic Fund. He currently is an Executive in Residence with the Medical Industry Leadership Institute at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Finch is widely known for his work on the quality, finance and delivery of health care.

A.R Weiler
Strategic Advisor
Mr. Weiler is currently CEO of SonarMD, a technology-enabled care coordination platform for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Prior to Sonar, Mr. Weiler was CEO of Livio Health Group, an innovative care delivery organization owned by the parent of Blue Cross of Minnesota, a $13 billion health plan. In this role, he led various clinical businesses including a mobile/onsite primary care practice for vulnerable populations, as well as a de novo palliative care service, utilizing a risk-bearing, value-based population health care model.

Mr. Weiler was President and CEO of Healthsense, Inc. (2012 – 2016) where under his focused leadership, the company developed a technology-enabled passive remote monitoring system that improved care for the frail elderly and chronically ill while delivering cost savings to healthcare insurers. Healthsense earned prestigious industry awards for its innovation and excellence in healthcare, and the company was subsequently acquired by GreatCall, Inc. in December 2016.

Prior to Healthsense, Mr. Weiler held several executive leadership positions in the healthcare industry, including: Senior Vice President of Payer Services for Change Healthcare (acquired by The Blackstone Group in 2012); Senior Vice President for Virgin Pulse, a member of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group; Senior Vice President of Provider Sales and Account Management at OptumInsight, a division of UnitedHealth Group; and Vice President of Oracle's North America Healthcare division.

Mr. Weiler also has significant international business development experience. He served as Senior Vice President of Liberate Japan (an Oracle spin-off that went public in 2000 and was acquired in 2003) and Oracle Corporation’s Japan subsidiary where he helped establish foundational strategic channel relationships that generated more than $1 billion in annual revenue within the first decade. Mr. Weiler is particularly adept working with people from different cultural backgrounds and has cultivated and maintained enduring business relationships all around the world.

Mr. Weiler earned a degree in Computer Science from Harvard University, and currently resides with his physician wife and family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dr. Mehul Desai
MD, Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, International Spine Pain and Performance Center
Dr. Mehul Desai is the Medical Director of the International Spine Pain and Performance Center in Arlington VA. He is board certified in Pain Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Dr. Desai completed his residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Georgetown University Hospital. During residency, he spent 6 months completing a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, conducting groundbreaking research into mechanisms of muscle pain. Upon completion of residency, he went on to a fellowship in Pain Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Department of Anesthesiology. His clinical interests include neuromodulation–specifically, spinal cord stimulation and targeted drug delivery, dipsogenic pain, and intradiscal therapies, including biologics, complex spinal conditions, pelvic pain, outcomes-based research, and healthcare economics.

Justin Zenanko,CPA, MACS
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Zenanko is a Certified Public Accountant with extensive experience in corporate finance and startup development. He serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and before that served as the first CFO of Recombinetics, Inc., where he led fundraising efforts resulting in $34 million in angel funding and an additional $34 million in Series A funding in August 2018 from a strategic investor.

Mr. Zenanko holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Accounting, Economics with Emphasis in Finance, and Marketing from Simpson College. He also holds a Master of Arts in Christian Studies from Crown College.

Michael Park, MD, PhD. – Principal-Investigator is a neurosurgeon, an Assistant Professor, MnDRIVE Neuromodulation Scholar and Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology at the University of Minnesota. He has extensive experience with neuromodulation — deep brain stimulation. This surgical therapy for brain conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia modulates brain activity to treat symptoms. He also uses neuromodulation to stimulate the spinal cord and deliver intrathecal drug therapy to treat cancer and chronic pain. In his work with epilepsy specialists, Dr. Park performs procedures such as depth and grid electrode placement to identify abnormal brain areas that may cause epileptic seizures. He helps treat epilepsy patients using treatments that include surgical resection, response neural stimulator (NeuroPace) placement, and vagal nerve stimulation. If patients are unable to have surgery, Dr. Park can treat some of their conditions using Gamma Knife Radiosurgery as well. Dr. Park received dual Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Economics and Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from University of Kansas. He holds an MD and PhD from the School of Medicine and Graduate Studies, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, at the University of Kansas. He was awarded the prestigious William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and completed his fellowship with Dr. Jean Régis at the Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille II, Assistance Publique L’Hôpital d’Adulte de la Timone in Marseille, France, in 2010. He was an Assistant Professor and the Director of Functional Neurosurgery and Pain in the Department of Neurosurgery at University of Louisville until 2014.

Matthew Hunt, MD. – Co-Investigator is an Associate Professor and the Resident Program Director in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota. He is the residency program director, training the next generation of neurosurgical leaders. He specializes in neurosurgical spine surgery, brain and spinal tumor surgeries, and general neurosurgery. Dr. Hunt received his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. He also completed a Blood Brain Barrier and Neurosurgical Oncology Fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University, as well as a Neurosurgery Fellowship at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.

Mehul Desai, MD, MPH. – Medical Advisory Board Member is the Medical Director of the International Spine Pain and Performance Center in Arlington VA. He is board certified in Pain Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Dr. Desai completed his residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Georgetown University Hospital. During residency, he spent 6 months completing a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, conducting groundbreaking research into mechanisms of muscle pain. Upon completion of residency, he went on to a fellowship in Pain Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Department of Anesthesiology. His clinical interests include neuromodulation–specifically, spinal cord stimulation and targeted drug delivery, dipsogenic pain, and intradiscal therapies, including biologics, complex spinal conditions, pelvic pain, outcomes-based research, and healthcare economics.

Joseph O’Brien, MD – Medical Advisory Board Member is an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at OrthoBethesda. He was previously an Associate Professor for Orthopedic Surgery & Neurological Surgery and Medical Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at the George Washington University.

Board Certified in Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. O’Brien specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery and revision of failed spine surgery. A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the George Washington School of Medicine, Dr. O’Brien completed his training at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center with a fellowship in spinal reconstructive surgery. Dr. O’Brien has previously served as an associate professor for Orthopaedic Surgery & Neurological Surgery and as the Medical Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at the George Washington University.

Warren Yu, MD – Medical Advisory Board Member is the Chief of Spine Section of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at The George Washington University (GWU) Medical Faculty Associates, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Neurosurgery at The GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the Director of Spine Surgery at George Washington University Hospital.

Dr. Yu specializes in numerous spine procedures, including treatments for cervical disc herniation, cervical stenosis, lumbar degenerative disc disease and stenosis, spinal fusions, kyphoplasty, scoliosis and complex primary and revision spinal reconstructive surgery. In addition, Dr. Yu has interests in nonfusion procedures (disc replacement, X-Stop) for the treatment of cervical and lumbar spinal disorders, complex spine trauma, and minimally invasive spine surgery.

Dr. Yu earned his medical degree at Northwestern University Medical School and is a graduate of the Honors Program in Medical Education. He completed his residency in Orthopedic surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Additionally, he completed a fellowship in spine surgery at Case Western Reserve University Department of Orthopedics Surgery under Dr. Henry Bohlman.

A.R. Weiler
Mr. Weiler is currently CEO of SonarMD, a technology-enabled care coordination platform for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Prior to Sonar, Mr. Weiler was CEO of Livio Health Group, an innovative care delivery organization owned by the parent of Blue Cross of Minnesota, a $13 billion health plan. In this role, he led various clinical businesses including a mobile/onsite primary care practice for vulnerable populations, as well as a de novo palliative care service, utilizing a risk-bearing, value-based population health care model.

Mr. Weiler was President and CEO of Healthsense, Inc. (2012 – 2016) where under his focused leadership, the company developed a technology-enabled passive remote monitoring system that improved care for the frail elderly and chronically ill while delivering cost savings to healthcare insurers. Healthsense earned prestigious industry awards for its innovation and excellence in healthcare, and the company was subsequently acquired by GreatCall, Inc. in December 2016.

Prior to Healthsense, Mr. Weiler held several executive leadership positions in the healthcare industry, including: Senior Vice President of Payer Services for Change Healthcare (acquired by The Blackstone Group in 2012); Senior Vice President for Virgin Pulse, a member of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group; Senior Vice President of Provider Sales and Account Management at OptumInsight, a division of UnitedHealth Group; and Vice President of Oracle's North America Healthcare division.

Mr. Weiler also has significant international business development experience. He served as Senior Vice President of Liberate Japan (an Oracle spin-off that went public in 2000 and was acquired in 2003) and Oracle Corporation’s Japan subsidiary where he helped establish foundational strategic channel relationships that generated more than $1 billion in annual revenue within the first decade. Mr. Weiler is particularly adept working with people from different cultural backgrounds and has cultivated and maintained enduring business relationships all around the world.

Mr. Weiler earned a degree in Computer Science from Harvard University, and currently resides with his physician wife and family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Oren Gottfried, MD. – Medical Advisory Board Member is a Professor of Neurosurgery at Duke University. He specializes in the surgical management of all complex cervical, thoracic, lumbar, or sacral spinal diseases by using minimally invasive as well as standard approaches for arthritis or degenerative disease, deformity, tumors, and trauma. He has a special interest in the treatment of thoracolumbar deformities and occipital-cervical problems and in helping patients with complex spinal issues from previously unsuccessful surgery or recurrent disease. He aims to improve surgical outcomes for his patients and care of all spine patients with active research evaluating clinical and radiological results after spine surgery with multiple prospective databases. He is particularly interested in prevention of spinal deformity, infections, complications, and recurrent spinal disease. He also studies whether patient-specific variables, including pelvic/sacral anatomy and sagittal spinal balance, predict complications from spine surgery.

Dr. Gottfried received his M.D. at the University of Arizona in 2001. He completed his residency and fellowship at the University of Utah and was an instructor of Spine Surgery and Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University.