AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acessa Health Inc., the women’s health innovator that advances minimally invasive solutions for women with symptomatic fibroids, is proud to announce the addition of three new executive team members: Shonu Gandhi, Vice President of Market Access and Clinical Strategy, Alfred Macdaniel, Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel, and Carolyn Amato, Senior Vice President of Commercial.
Three executives, each with a commitment to change the standard of care in fibroid management and a passion to deliver solutions for women’s health, will scale the company’s next phase of growth and geographic expansion.
“Shonu, Alfred and Carolyn bring more than 40 years of combined experience working in the medical device and healthcare industry. Their knowledge and skills make an immediate, positive impact for our company,” said Kim Rodriguez, President and CEO, Acessa Health.
With these new appointments, teammates of color hold 30% of leadership positions at or above Vice President and women make up 50% of Acessa Health’s executive team, a metric few medical device companies have achieved. “I’m extremely proud of the men and women on our team. We are fortunate to welcome these broad sets of experience into the Acessa family to advance innovation and growth while elevating our service to patients, physicians and teammates,” continued Rodriguez.
About Executive Hires
Shonu Gandhi, Vice President of Market Access and Clinical Strategy, is focused on improving patient access to the Acessa procedure through expanding payer coverage and clinical evidence. In her few months at Acessa, she has already increased payer coverage by 25 million covered lives. Shonu brings to Acessa over a decade of experience partnering with health plans, employers and healthcare providers to develop and implement strategies to improve patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Most recently, Shonu served as the leader of the inaugural business development team at the new Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, Austin. There, she was responsible for building multiple critical aspects of the emerging UT clinical practice, including forging the organization’s relationships with health plans, large employers and clinical partners to advance UT’s commitment to value-based care. Before Dell Medical, Shonu was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, advising major health plans and employers on product design and pricing, payer/provider collaboration and consumer/ provider friendly cost containment strategies.
Alfred Macdaniel, Chief Strategy Officer and General Cousel, a veteran in the medtech startup world, will drive strategic initiatives that enable Acessa to scale predictably and explore opportunities for Acessa to expand innovative treatment options that benefit women. As former Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel of TVA Medical, Alfred joins Acessa with 18 years of financial, legal, OUS market expansion and M&A expertise. TVA Medical, a VC-backed company developing minimally invasive therapies for end-stage renal disease, was acquired by Becton Dickinson & Company. After the acquisition, he facilitated the integration of TVA Medical into Becton Dickinson. Before TVA Medical, Alfred served as Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Santé Ventures, a specialized healthcare, life sciences investment firm, focused on early stage and commercial growth startups, with over a quarter of billion dollars in capital under management during his tenure.
Carolyn Amato, Senior Vice President of Commercial, will lead Acessa Health’s sales and marketing organizations to accelerate patient access to the Acessa procedure. During 18 years with Boston Scientific, Carolyn’s market development experience spanned multiple new product and therapeutic categories. Most recently she helped build the commercial team to launch Deep Brain Stimulation therapy in the United States and served as Vice President, US Corporate Accounts and Healthcare Solutions where her team negotiated product and service contracts generating $1B annual revenue. Early career experience included roles of increasing responsibility in healthcare sales and marketing at Guidant Corporation and Merck & Company, Inc.
“The Acessa ProVu system allows physicians to treat symptomatic fibroids with no surgical cutting or suturing. As health systems bring this uterine-sparing technology into more communities, we’re eager to partner with fibroid centers of excellence on local education,” says Amato. “I’m humbled to work on behalf women seeking advanced treatment options.”
About Acessa Health Inc.
Acessa Health is a women’s health innovator dedicated to advancing minimally invasive, uterine-sparing solutions for women with symptomatic fibroids. The company introduced the use of radiofrequency ablation under laparoscopic ultrasound guidance for the treatment of uterine fibroids. Acessa is continuing to develop technologies that give women more options. Acessa Health’s headquarters are in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit AcessaProcedure.com.
Sources:
- Shepherd, Maria, “The Clogged Pipeline: Women Executives in Medical Device” – based on data from MedTech 2018 – A Survey of Medical Device Executive Women
