Management Team

MANNY VILLAFAÑA

Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Manuel (Manny) A. Villafaña founded Kips Bay Medical, Inc. in 2007. With more than 50 years experience in the medical device industry, his contributions to the cardiovascular field are numerous. They include the first lithium pacemaker, the first all-pyrolytic carbon heart valve, as well as, further important refinements to central-flow design of prosthetic valves, and with Kips Bay, the first commercially available support system for saphenous veins used in CABG surgery.

He started his career with Medtronic, Inc., as its first international sales administrator. He is the Founder of Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. (Guidant Corp) and served as its President and Chairman from 1972 to 1976. He is the Founder of St. Jude Medical, Inc. and served as its Chairman and President from 1976 to 1982. He is a Co-Founder of GV Medical, Inc., a company formed to develop, manufacture and market the LASTAC System. He served as the Chairman of the Board of CABG Medical, Inc. and GV Medical, Inc. He also served as Chairman of the Board and Founder of ATS Medical, Inc., now a part of Medtronic, Inc.

Mr. Villafaña has received numerous awards and honors for his accomplishments, including the “Living Legend of Medicine” award from the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons; the Ellis Island Medal of Honor; Grand Prize Recipient from the Mediterranean Institute of Cardiology; the Ernst & Young LLP; National Master Entrepreneur of the Year; the Top 100 Hispanics in USA; member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America Hall of Fame; inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame. Dr. Villafaña attended Cardinal Hayes High School, Bronx, New York. He has been awarded an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Iowa.

SCOTT KELLEN

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Scott joined Kips Bay in February 2010 as we began the registration process for our initial public offering. In March 2012, Scott also became our Chief Operating Officer. From 2007 to 2009, Scott served as Director of Finance for Transoma Medical, Inc., during which time Transoma prepared for its proposed initial public offering, which was withdrawn in February 2008 due to deteriorated market conditions. From 2005 to 2007, Scott served as the Corporate Controller for ev3 Inc. during that company’s initial public offering and during additional follow-on offerings. From 2003 to 2005, Scott served as Senior Audit Manager of Deloitte & Touche, LLP (now Deloitte LLP), providing auditing and consulting services to mid-size public companies adjusting to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Altogether, Scott has spent more than 15 years in the medical device industry, serving early stage and growth companies that produced Class II and III devices. Scott has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).

RANDY LABOUNTY

Vice President of Regulatory and Clinical Affairs

Randy has over 20 years of experience in medical device research with 16 years of experience in cardiovascular medical devices. Prior to joining Kips Bay Medical, Randy served as Vice President of Clinical Research at Osprey Medical, Inc. and Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Lumen Biomedical, Inc. He has also held Director level positions at Atritech, Inc., ev3 Inc. and IntraTherapeutics, Inc.

Randy has extensive experience with Class II and Class III medical products. He has been involved in all phases of the medical device approval process including the development of clinical and regulatory strategies, clinical trial execution, obtaining FDA Investigational Device Exemptions (IDE) and Post Market Approval (PMA) and 510(k) submissions. Internationally, he has successfully brought medical devices from initial clinical trials through to CE Mark approval. Randy has a Master of Science degree in Biostatistics and Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota.

CHRISTOPHER BORG

Director of International Sales

Chris has over 22 years of sales, marketing, and management experience. During the last 13 years he has focused his attention in the medical device industry encompassing minimally invasive cardiac surgery technologies. He served as the Director of Sales for Cardica Inc.(CRDC), and focused on anastomotic stapling devices used in coronary artery bypass surgery. Prior to that, he was the Midwest Regional Director for Johnson and Johnson Cardiac Surgery division where his focus was in the area of sales and market development with CardioVations/Ethicon products. Chris’s proven track record in the device industry includes among other accomplishments, Sales Representative of the Year awards and Manager of the Year awards. He was instrumental in the integration of the Heartport technology into Ethicon, Inc. Most recently, Chris was honored to be invited as a founding industry member of the newly formed R2S (Robotic Revascularization Society).

RAY HOLLOWAY

Director of Sales and Marketing

Ray has been involved in a range of business activities that include startup, intermediate, and mature stage business environments. Over 20 years of experience in the surgical device industry, with an emphasis on cardiac devices, including heart valves, automated anastomosis systems, and pacemakers, along with a biology/chemistry background, has provided a unique capacity and perspective for cutting-edge surgical solutions. He embraces an entrepreneurial approach towards innovation that, coupled with exceptional drive, perspective, and passion, enables an ideal capacity for the successful advancement of technology. He is a founder of CryoLife, Inc, a ground-breaking enterprise in the field of tissue engineering in the surgical field, where he served as Vice President of Technical Services. He is the founder and served as President of Cornerstone Communications, Inc., a commercial printing firm. In addition, Ray has accumulated years of experience working as an independent distributor representative in the medical device field and as a marketing consultant for diverse small businesses.

ERIC SOLIEN

Director of Research and Development

Eric has over 20 years of experience in pre-clinical cardiovascular research. Eric began his career with the University of Minnesota’s Cardiovascular Research Laboratory (known today as Experimental Surgical Services) and held several positions there before leaving as the Associate Program Director. He served as Study Director and Senior Research Surgeon at Surpass Incorporated (previously River Valley Farms and Charles River Labs, Interventional and Surgical Services) and was a member of the research teams developing novel devices for coronary artery bypass at HeartStent Corporation and CABG Medical. Eric is a certified Surgical Research Specialist and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.