Activ Surgical is pioneering digital surgery imaging

Manisha Shah-Bugaj

Manisha Shah-Bugaj has a long-standing track record as a successful global medtech executive, key influencer and transformational leader, both globally and domestically, with a core strength in developing and protecting team culture founded in transparency, recognition, and acknowledgment of areas of improvement, with identified countermeasures. She joined Activ Surgical in January 2022 as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for overseeing all business operations for the company, including oversight of the commercialization of its ActivSight™ enhanced visualization imaging module and the implementation of its surgical visualization technology at established pilot hospital sites in 2022. Prior to Activ Surgical, Shah-Bugaj architected the gynecology unit at Olympus from the ground up in the U.S., ultimately serving as General Manager and Global Vice President for the company and played an integral role in expanding the gynecology business internationally. She has more than two decades of experience, including building and implementing corporate business plans, directing regional and global businesses aligned to financial and operational targets, hiring and establishing new teams, and managing product portfolios.

Paul Meister

Mr. Meister brings over three decades of experience to Activ Surgical’s board, serving in senior executive and board roles for high-growth and publicly traded companies. Most recently, Mr. Meister served as President of MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, a private company that owns or controls a diverse set of companies, including Revlon, Scientific Games, Harlan Clarke Corp., and SIGA Technologies. Prior to that role, he was Chairman and CEO of inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health) and Chairman of the Board at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Mr. Meister co-founded Liberty Lane Partners, LLC, a private investment company and Perspecta Trust, a trust company that provides trust and investment services. He is currently Director of the boards at Arbor Biotechnologies, Inc., Core & Main LP, Magnolia Medical Technologies, Inc., PharmaLegacy Laboratories (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Quanterix Corporation, Revlon, Inc., Scientific Games Corporation and Wheelabrator Technologies Holdings Inc., as well as Vice Chairman at The General Chemical Group.

Mr. Meister holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a M.B.A from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Emily Casey

Ms. Casey is a member of DNS Capital, the investment office for the business enterprise of Gigi Pritzker, Michael Pucker and their immediate family. Previously, she was an investment banking analyst in the Global Industrials Group at Goldman Sachs in Chicago, supporting financing and advisory transactions for sponsor and corporate clients. Ms. Casey serves on the Board of Directors of Breakwater Studios, and serves as a Board Observer of Truvian Sciences and Farmer’s Fridge. She received her B.B.A. in Finance with Highest Distinction from the University of Iowa.

Ashok Krishnamurthi

Mr. Krishnamurthi is a serial entrepreneur and investor focused on enterprise IT, and the intersection of computer science and life sciences. Most recently, he founded two medical related companies: CAPP Medical, a liquid biopsy company for cancer diagnosis that he sold to Roche Diagnostics, and CiberMed which focuses on biomarker discovery. Previously he founded Xsigo, a provider of advanced data center connectivity, which he sold to Oracle. Prior to Xsigo, he was one of the early leaders of Juniper Networks where he helped develop many of the products that power today’s internet, and which was one of the largest venture investment returns of all time. Mr. Krishnamurthi has also been an investor in a number of innovative companies like GoEuro, Reflektion, OttoQ, Veradocs, Falcon Systems, Robin Systems, and Scoredata amongst others. He is also currently on the board of Scoredata. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University.

Ameena El-Bibany

Ameena is a Principal at Artis Ventures. Prior to joining, she spent 5 years in early stage venture capital as a Partner at Rising Tide VC, where she built and led the firm’s health and bio investment practice. Focusing on the intersection of science and technology, she has invested in and worked with companies spanning personalized medicine, synthetic biology, computational biology and more. She is passionate about bridging academia and industry to create lasting impact.

Ameena began her career in R&D, working at Novozymes, a world leader in bio innovation, to develop procedures for maximizing yield through industrial scale up. She is a recipient of multiple competitive grants funded by the National Science Foundation for research done at the California Academy of Sciences and the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, as well as an awardee of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

She has conducted research across DNA damage and repair in longevity, microbiome diversity, and stem cell induction and stabilization. Ameena holds a BS in Genetics from the University of California Davis.

Dr. Peter Kim

Dr. Kim, a world-renowned surgeon and medical technologist, is a founder of Activ Surgical and the inventor of its technology, which he developed over seven years with more than $13 million in non-dilutive grant funding while leading the Shaikh Institute at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Previously, he served as Associate Surgeon-in-Chief of the Joseph E. Robert, Jr., Center for Surgical Care at Children’s National. He was also the lead for the FDA funded National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI). Dr. Kim joined Children’s National from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, a national and international leading institution in pediatric research and care. Dr. Kim received his medical training, including the distinction of Master of Surgery, at McGill University. He completed his surgical residency training at the University of Toronto as well as his fellowship in pediatric surgery at the University’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Will Cowen

Will Cowen is an investor and operator with decades of experience building successful digital health and medtech companies. He co-founded LRVHealth in 2000 and has led the firm’s investments in prominent companies including Convergent Dental, GetWellNetwork, LifeImage, MedVentive (now part of NASDQ: CHNG), Phreesia (NASDAQ: PHR) and SilverCloud. Prior to LRVHealth, Will co-founded and was CEO of NaviNet (sold to Highmark and other BCBS plans), CEO of Pegasus Medical (sold to McKesson), and VP of Thermocell (sold to the Hunter Douglas Company). Will earned a B.A. from the University of Colorado and M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Bobby Yazdani

Bobby Yazdani is a partner and the founder of Cota Capital, an investment firm that specializes in technology companies, which has invested in over 150 private companies. Earlier in his career, Bobby founded Saba, the pioneer of Learning Management and Talent Management Solutions, serving over 30 million people from 2,200 customers across 195 countries and in 37 languages worldwide. In 2014, Bobby was ranked #1 out of 2,000 angel investors for successful follow-on funding by CB Insights. Born in Tehran, Iran, Bobby completed high school in England and received a B.A. in Applied Mathematics at University of California, Berkeley.