Our Team

Stan Rowe

(CEO)

Stan Rowe is a prominent medical device innovator; he was co-founder, President and CEO of PVT, which developed the first transcatheter aortic valves (TAVI/TAVR). He sold his transcatheter aortic valve startup company, PVT, to Edwards Lifesciences where it became the Sapien valve platform and is now a $7B dollar market. At Edwards, he became the Corporate Vice President of Advanced Technologies and the Chief Scientific Officer for 15 years. Prior to PVT Stan was the VP of Advanced Tech and Business Development at , J&J/Cordis and Datascope. Stan holds over 200 patents and applications.

Glen Rabito

(COO)

Glen is an accomplished medical device leader with a Mechanical Engineering background from Kettering University and an Engineering Management Masters from Duke University. He began his career in structural heart therapies at Edwards Lifesciences. Glen then joined CardiAQ Valve Technologies where he ran the delivery system team through the successful acquisition by EW. Glen went on to help create the Edwards Biodesign team. He is one of the founding members of NXT Biomedical and Nidus Biomedical, two early stage medical device incubators. Glen is a Board member of Engineering World Health and holds over 100 patents and applications.

Renee Kerr

(Director of Finance)

Renee Kerr has extensive experience in Finance and Management in a broad range of business environments from startup ventures to global enterprises. She was part of the leadership team for two successful startup companies, CoreValve and CardiAQ Valve Technologies, that were acquired by Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences, respectively. Renee transitioned with acquisitions and was part of the transition/integration teams. Renee received a Bachelor of Science’s degree from the University of Washington in Chemical Engineering. She then broadened her education by completing an MBA from the University of Washington.

Rob Taft

(VP, Engineering)

Rob is an experienced medical device innovator and designer with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at USC. He began his career in Edwards Lifesciences’ Technical Development Program, gaining exposure to various engineering and business disciplines. Rob played a significant role in the FORTIS Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement program and co-founded a project where he invented and designed the ROOT Atrial Shunt for heart failure therapy. Later, he joined NXT Biomedica as a founding member, contributing to novel device concepts and experiencing the dynamics of start-up life in diverse roles like inventor, R&D, clinical, manufacturing, strategy, fundraising, and marketing.

Steve Geist

(VP, Engineering)

Steve is an experienced medical device development leader with a passion to develop novel therapies to help patients. He has led cross-functional development teams focused on both mitral and tricuspid therapies for both repair and replacement technologies, including the FORTIS transcatheter mitral valve replacement system, the FORMA Tricuspid repair system, the Cardioband mitral and tricuspid repair systems, and the LymphX acute decompensated heart failure therapy. Across these interventional programs, Steve has experience developing the implants, their catheter-based delivery systems, as well as their implantation procedures, often supporting initial cases out in the field.

Alex Siegel

(Sr. Distinguished Engineer)

Alex Siegel has 13 years of experience in the medical device industry. He spent over nine years working in early-stage R&D at Edwards Lifesciences. For 4 years he worked in metals processing and prototyping, and then moved on to become one of the key delivery system design engineers on the PASCAL program (percutaneous mitral valve repair) for 5 years. He has spent the last 5 years at NXT Biomedical working on feasibility of novel medical device concepts. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a M.S. in mechanical engineering from University of Southern California. Alex holds over 200 patents and applications.

Robert Gaul

(Principal Engineer)

Robert is an accomplished biomedical engineer with a Ph.D. in cardiovascular mechanics from Trinity College Dublin. Robert’s passion for medical device innovation led him to FIRE1, an innovative start-up founded in the renowned incubator, The Foundry. Here, he gained invaluable R&D and clinical experience while contributing to the development of a novel implantable heart failure monitor. Relocating to California, he joined Johnson & Johnson’s Worldwide Advanced R&D department, where he focused on developing next-generation PFA technologies for treating cardiac arrhythmias. As part of Nidus Biomedical, Robert is continuing to pursue his passion for medical device innovation in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

Cooper Rickerson

(Senior Engineer)

Cooper Rickerson has 5 years of medical device experience, with a degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Florida. Cooper started his career in the Edwards Lifesciences Technical Development Program, where he gained experience in several engineering and business roles. He played a significant role in the design of the delivery system for both the next generation mitral valve replacement and the next generation EVOQUE tricuspid valve replacement. Now, he joins the Nidus team looking to pursue his passion for developing novel technologies to help patients.

Ryan Bondy

(Engineer I)

Ryan Bondy is recent graduate from Cal Poly Pomona, where he received his Mechanical Engineering Degree. He has a strong aptitude for R&D Engineering. He previously worked at Edwards Lifesciences on the Cardioband Tricuspid Valve Reconstruction System as an R&D Co-Op and in the Advanced Manufacturing Group as an intern. He is very excited to join the Nidus team and pursue his passion for disruptive innovation.