Management and Advisors

Daniel Lee, Chief Executive Officer
Daniel has over 20 years experience in the medical device industry. Prior to joining Aperion in 2008, Daniel was responsible for the TRUREPAIR business unit at Smith & Nephew Endoscopy (SNE). Prior to Smith & Nephew, Daniel was responsible for global marketing activities at OsteoBiologics, Inc. (OBI) which provided the only off-the-shelf bioabsorbable implant for articular cartilage repair in Europe. OBI was acquired by Smith & Nephew in 2006. Prior to joining OBI, Daniel was the Director of Marketing for Regeneration Technologies, Inc (RTI), a leading allograft tissue processor for orthopaedic, spinal, craniofacial, and urologic surgical applications which went public in 2000. While at RTI, Daniel played a key role in creating and establishing RTI’s Sports Medicine business unit. Prior to joining RTI, he was the Director of the Sports Medicine Research and Development group at Surgical Dynamics, a subsidiary of U.S. Surgical Corporation. Much of his experience at U.S. Surgical focused on using resorbable materials for orthopaedic products. He is a member of the Society for Biomaterials and the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) where he holds a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist (CTBS) certification. He currently holds eleven patents on implants and instruments used in orthopaedic and general surgery. Daniel received his Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and his Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.

David Cocke, Chief Financial Officer
For the last eleven years, David has been General Manager of NuPak Medical, Ltd., an ISO 13485-certified contract manufacturing medical device company. He was responsible for all aspects of management, including sales, finance and operations. Prior to NuPak, David was Chief Financial Officer for NuTech. NuTech was a new technology incubator subsidiary for KCI, a leader in tissue-based products for surgical procedures and wound healing. David managed a staff of over 30 employees and was responsible for all accounting, manufacturing and quality assurance activities. Prior to NuTech, David managed the Corporate Development department at KCI. Prior to KCI, David was employed by GE Capital in its Corporate Finance Group and Salomon Brothers, Inc. in its Investment Banking Group. David has an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and a BBA with High Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.

Russell T. Kronengold, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Kronengold was named Aperion’s Chief Scientific Officer in February 2010. He has over 15 years of regenerative biomaterials industry experience. Prior to joining Aperion, he was Vice President of Biomaterials Research and an executive officer of Kensey Nash Corporation. At Kensey Nash, Dr. Kronengold managed an R&D team of over 30 employees and commercialized numerous biomaterials-based regenerative medicine products in the fields of orthopaedics, general surgery and cardiology. Under Dr. Kronengold’s supervision, the R&D groups of Kensey Nash developed products for articular cartilage regeneration, synthetic bone grafting and soft tissue repair utilizing extracellular matrices. Dr. Kronengold’s business unit accounted for approximately 40% of Kensey Nash’s total revenues. His team published or presented over 45 papers and was awarded numerous patents. Prior to Kensey Nash, Dr. Kronengold was a consultant to Integra LifeSciences where he was a project manager for a second-generation artificial skin product and led development efforts for two topical wound dressings and a urinary incontinence device. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School / Rutgers University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Richard Robinson, Vice President, Operations
Richard joined Aperion in 2008 after serving as the Vice President of Manufacturing for Tutogen Medical, a company that produced and sold allografts and xenografts globally. Richard directed a staff of over 50 employees. He was responsible for the launch of eight allograft and xenograft products. Richard was responsible for the construction of a $3.6 million, 6,000 square foot state-of-the-art allograft processing facility, including the transition of manufacturing to the new facility. Richard also took the lead role for global integration of the manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining Tutogen, Richard served as Chief Operating Officer of LifeTek, LLC, a leading allograft company. Richard directed a multi-facility operation with 25 employees who recovered, processed, packaged and distributed allografts for the international markets. He oversaw the outfitting of a facility with a capacity to recover and process 4,000 donors per year and directed validation activities concurrent with establishing quality and regulatory programs. Prior to LifeTek, Richard served as Manufacturing Manager for Medical Device Technologies and also served as Director of Manufacturing Operations for Regeneration Technologies (RTI). At RTI, Richard managed 90 employees with an operating budget of $7.2 million and led the design team for the build-out of a $26 million, 22,000 square foot state-of-the-art tissue processing complex. Richard received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a Masters of Science in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from St. Leo University.

Lance Johnson, Vice President, Quality Systems
Lance has over 20 years experience in FDA Requirements and Quality Systems. Prior to joining Aperion Biologics in November 2010, Lance was the Quality Manager at Zimmer Spine. Prior to Zimmer Spine, Lance was the Quality Engineering Manager for Abbott Spine working specifically with new product development teams. In addition to his industry experience, he spent 16 years as an investigator with the FDA. Lance specialized in medical device compliance and worked in both the San Francisco and Dallas districts. He spent 12 years as the resident in charge of the Austin field office and as contributor to the FDA international cadre. During his FDA career he audited medical device firms in the US, Europe and Canada. Lance received his Medical Device Level II certification in 1998 and received his Level II Auditor certification in 2003. Lance trained and certified FDA, Texas, and BSI auditors during his career with the FDA. Lance received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology from Oklahoma State University.

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