Experienced, Proven and Accomplished

Justin Zenanko, CPA, MDiv
President & CEO, Co-Founder
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.

David Miel, MS
Product Development
Mr. Miel comes to SynerFuse with 30 years of experience in team management, organizational management, technical leadership, program management and project management utilizing classic and agile methodologies, international and non-collocated team collaboration and execution, startup/early stage execution strategy, scoping and planning, project and product strategy and road-mapping to meet commercial results, and FDA and/or EU medical device regulations and compliance. His clients have included Boston Scientific, Medtronic, CHF Solutions, Transoma Medical, Seagate, EnteroMedics, AGA Medical, SuperDimension, Arkray, AEIOMed, Vasamed, Hypertension Diagnostics, and MN Blue Green Alliance. He earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in the management of technology at the University of Minnesota.

Nameer R. Haider MD, FAAPM&R, DABPM
Physiatrist, Interventional Pain Management, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Dr. Nameer Haider is an internationally renowned surgeon with over 20 years of dedicated experience.

His highly specialized practice focuses on providing patients suffering from spinal and skeletal pain with state-of-the-art treatments using the most advanced diagnostic tools and minimally invasive surgical and nonsurgical techniques. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and holds two additional board certifications in the subspecialty of pain medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Board of Pain Medicine.

After graduating with honors from King Edward Medical University, Dr. Haider completed a surgical internship at the East Carolina University School of Medicine in North Carolina. He completed his residency in physical medicine & rehabilitation at the Northshore University/Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York and served as the chief resident at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He then completed a fellowship in interventional pain management at the Spinal & Skeletal Pain Institute in New York.

Dr. Haider is affiliated with several prestigious hospitals across the United States. He serves as the chairman of physical medicine & rehabilitation at Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare in New York, and he formerly served as president of the New York State Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. He is currently the fellowship training director for interventional pain management at the Minimally Invasive Pain Institute.

Steven M. Falowski MD, FAANS
Director Functional Neurosurgery Argires-Marotti Neurosurgical Associates of Lancaster
Dr. Falowski is director of functional neurosurgery at Argires-Marotti Neurosurgical Associates of Lancaster in Pennsylvania. He earned his M.D. degree and did his neurosurgical residency training at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia with a focus on spinal cord stimulation and pain management, complex spinal procedures, and treatment for movement disorders such as deep brain stimulation. He did a graduate functional neurosurgical fellowship at Rush University in Chicago. He is a member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He is on the International Neuromodulation Society Board of Directors; he is a senior advisor, ex-officio board of directors for the North American Neuromodulation Society; secretary/treasurer of the AANS/CNS Executive Pain Committee; and senior advisor, board of directors, Pacific Spine and Pain Society.

Deepak Reddy, MD
Attending Spine Surgeon, South Bend Orthopaedics
Dr. Reddy is a fellowship-trained orthopaedic spine surgeon specializing in adult complex spinal surgery/revision spinal surgery, minimally invasive surgery, robotic spinal surgery, and cervical spinal surgery, including disc replacement. Dr. Reddy graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed residency with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where his interest in spine surgery began in 2009. After residency, he completed the prestigious Norton-Leatherman Spine Surgery Fellowship in Louisville, Kentucky.

Tom Schreier
Director Emeritus, Allina Health Board; Director, Piper Sandler
Mr. 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.

Mr. Schreir'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, he 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, Mr. Schreier 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. He 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, Mr. Schreier 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 2016.

Currently, Mr. Schreier is a director emeritus of the Allina Health Board and a director of Piper Sandler Companies, and he 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.

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

Dennis McFadden, MBA
CFO emeritus, Synerfuse™
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.

Brian Oliver
Former CEO, Global Tel Link
Bio Coming Soon

Jeff Erb

Mr. Erb has spent over 20 years in the medical device industry in everything from early-stage start-up companies to the largest medical device company in the world. His focus is on incubating early-stage companies from idea to proof-of-concept. He previously worked at Medtronic, serving in multiple senior-level roles, including corporate development, business development, alliance management, IP portfolio management, strategy, and marketing for Medtronic’s corporate, cardiovascular, and neuromodulation sectors. In his last ten years at Medtronic, he led strategy and business development for Medtronic’s neuromodulation sector, which included brain stimulation, pain stimulation, and pelvic health. After leaving Medtronic, he has served in executive roles at multiple companies, including CEO, board of directors, and strategic advisory boards. Mr. Erb holds undergraduate degrees in economics and business administration from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Justin Zenanko, CPA, MDiv
President & CEO, Co-Founder
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.

Rohan Lall, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Director
Dr. Lall is a former Investigator of the SynerFuse Proof of Concept trial and pioneered the e-TLIF procedure.

Dr. Lall is a neurosurgeon with M Health Fairview Neurosurgery based in the Twin Cities. He specializes in robotic and minimally invasive spine surgery, complex spinal surgery, surgery for brain and spinal tumors, and skull base surgery/pituitary tumor surgery. He has been a leader in robotic spinal surgery and actively involved in development of new technologies in spine surgery.

Dr. Lall received a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Johns Hopkins University. He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago - Pritzker School of medicine. He completed Neurosurgical Residency at Northwestern University in Chicago. He also completed a fellowship with the New York Head and Neck Institute at Northwell Health in New York City.

Richard Morris
Member of the Board of Directors
Mr. Morris is a licensed attorney admitted to practice in October 1974 and has extensive experience in startup developments and real estate matters. Mr. Morris received a Juris Doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in June 1974. He is admitted to the practice of law in the State of Minnesota as well as the U.S. Federal District Court for Minnesota and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Morris is a co-founder, part owner, and general counsel, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Kamco Holdings, LLC. This Delaware company produces various non-dairy milk products for resale to Costco; and is projecting 2024 sales of $230,000,000. Kamco Holdings provides non-dairy milk products to all Costco stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, China, and other parts of Asia. Mr. Morris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a major in Political Science and a minor in Business Administration. He was the co-founder, part owner, and director of Pawn America, Equity Lending (a pioneer in the sub-prime mortgage lending business), Excel Title, Inc., (a title agency that became one of the largest agents for Stewart Title Indemnity Corporation in the United States with approximately 2,000 closings per month) and has developed numerous real estate projects in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Gregory F. Molnar, PhD. – Vice President & CSO, Vice Chair, Co-Founder has over 20 years of experience as a medical device innovator. He is a former associate professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Molnar was one of the inaugural Industry Fellows for the Institute of Engineering in Medicine, was one of the first fellows of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium, and was recently inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows.

Dr. Molnar began his career at Medtronic. He served as the director of neuromodulation research and led his team of scientists to advance our understanding of several therapies including DBS, Spinal Cord Stimulation, Sacral Nerve Stimulation, Gastric Stimulation and Intrathecal Drug Infusion. Dr. Molnar has authored numerous patents and publications in the neuromodulation space, and his research and inventions benefit patients today.

Dr. Molnar received his PhD in Neuromodulation and Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Toronto, Canada.

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 J Desai, MD, MPH – Pain Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, International Spine, Pain & Performance Center 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.

Steven M. Falowski MD, FAANS – Director Functional Neurosurgery Argires-Marotti Neurosurgical Associates of Lancaster earned his M.D. degree and did his neurosurgical residency training at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia with a focus on spinal cord stimulation and pain management, complex spinal procedures, and treatment for movement disorders such as deep brain stimulation. He did a graduate functional neurosurgical fellowship at Rush University in Chicago. He is a member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He is on the International Neuromodulation Society Board of Directors; he is a senior advisor, ex-officio board of directors for the North American Neuromodulation Society; secretary/treasurer of the AANS/CNS Executive Pain Committee; and senior advisor, board of directors, Pacific Spine and Pain Society.

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.

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.

Michael Park, MD, PhD. – Medical Advisory Board Member 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.

Deepak Reddy, MD – Medical Advisory Board Member is the attending spine surgeon at South Bend Orthopaedics. Dr. Reddy is a fellowship-trained orthopaedic spine surgeon specializing in adult complex spinal surgery/revision spinal surgery, minimally invasive surgery, robotic spinal surgery, and cervical spinal surgery, including disc replacement. Dr. Reddy graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed residency with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where his interest in spine surgery began in 2009. After residency, he completed the prestigious Norton-Leatherman Spine Surgery Fellowship in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jonathan Sembrano, MD – Co-Investigator is an associate professor in orthopedic surgery at the University of Minnesota, specializing in spine surgery. His training includes medical school at the University of the Philippines, orthopedic residency at the Philippine General Hospital, clinical fellowship in spine surgery at the Twin Cities Spine Center, clinical fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland, and spine research fellowship at the University of Minnesota with Dr. David Polly. His practice involves surgical treatment of all regions of the spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, including sacroiliac joints). His clinical research interests include complex spinal deformity surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery and computer-navigated spine surgery. He is an active member of several professional societies, including the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS), Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), AO Spine, Society for Minimally-Invasive Spine Surgery, Philippine-Minnesotan Medical Association (PMMA), and Philippine Spine Society (PSS).

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.