Wally Danielson, CEO/Founder    pwdanielson@impresmed.com

Wally has over 15 years experience in the medical industry as an entrepreneur, owner, founder, and executive.  He became CEO of Impres Medical in May of 2000.  Prior to joining Impres, Wally was the initial angel investor, and later VP of Sales and Marketing, at Promethean Medical, a medical start up focused in Gynecology and Urology.  His introduction to the women’s healthcare market came at Ferring Pharmaceuticals where he helped introduce a new infertility injectable into the United States Ob/Gyn and fertility market from 1997-1999. He was President and CEO of Spectrum Medical Inc. from 1990-1997, a medical implant distributorship specializing in orthopedic implants.   In 1996 he was one of six founders for Northstar Medical, Inc..  From 1988-1990 he worked as a sales representative for a start-up orthopedic implant manufacturer, Orthomet.  From 1986-1988 he was the local sales representative for Pfizer Pharmaceutical.  Mr. Danielson received his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry and Business from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

Michael J. Girard, PE,  Vice President, Research and Development  mike@impresmed.com

Mike joined us in October 2003 with over 23 years of engineering experience, including 13 years of R&D within the medical device industry.  Prior to joining our company, Mr. Girard was Director of Product Development at Acorn Cardiovascular, Inc. (a venture capital funded company developing devices to treat heart failure) from May 1998 until October 2003.  From 1990 to 1998, Mr. Girard held various R&D positions within the heart valve division of St. Jude Medical, Inc.  He currently holds 20 issued US patents and 15 published WIPO/PCT patents, with others pending.  He is also a registered professional engineer in the states of California and Minnesota. 

Karen was most recently Vice President of Regulatory, Clinical and Quality Affairs for Carbon Medical Technologies, Inc. (formerly Advanced UroScience, Inc.) where she worked since May, 1998.  She was responsible for world-wide clinical, regulatory and quality aspects of the company.  From 1996 to 1998 Karen was the Director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for XRT Corporation (formerly Interventional Innovations Corp.), a company involved in coronary intravascular brachytherapy.  From 1989 to 1996 Karen held a variety of positions in clinical and regulatory affairs at Cardiac Pacemakers Incorporated, a division of Guidant Corporation.  Karen has over 14 years experience in the medical device industry.  She holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and a M.S. in Biometry and Health Information Systems from the University of Minnesota.

Jack has over 30 years experience in the medical industry.  Most recently, Mr. Meyer was President and CEO of Urologix, Inc., a publicly owned urological devices company.  He has raised over $90 million in 2 private and 2 public financings.  He has experience in both domestic and international markets.  He is experienced in FDA PMA, CE Mark, ISO 9001, and Japanese Ministry of Health approval processes.  He has developed worldwide reimbursement strategies resulting in an AMA approved CPT procedural code for physician fees, and Medicare reimbursement in 49 states.  He has build strong intellectual property portfolios including over 15 issued and 9 licensed patents.  Mr. Meyer has been CEO of 3 medical device companies. He has earned MBA and BS degrees from Drake University.

James Presthus, MD; Medical Director  jbpresthus@aol.com

Jim is the inventor and a founder of the Company.  Dr. Presthus is currently practicing gynecology at Minnesota Gynecology and Surgery in Edina, Minnesota.  Prior to MGS Dr. Presthus was a partner at Obstetrics and Genecology West P.A. from 1982 to 2001.   From 1990-1993 he served as Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.  Dr. Presthus has over 15 years experience performing advanced laparoscopic and hysteroscopic procedures.  He has completed over 700 laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomies, over 500 laparoscopic Burch’s, served as guest faculty and/or preceptor at over 200 advanced laparoscopy and laser courses in North America, Europe, and Asia, and acted as a consultant and clinical researcher for several medical companies.  Dr. Presthus has several publications and is a thought leader in the field of gynecology.  Dr. Presthus received his M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine where he graduated with honors.