Leadership

Julian Nikolchev

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Nikolchev has more than 25 years of experience in developing and commercializing innovative medical device technologies. His experience in growing start up organizations ranges from invention of game changing devices to commercial development, strategic partnerships and introduction to the global healthcare marketplace. Mr. Nikolchev joined Dextera Surgical as president and CEO in October 2015. Previously he served as founder, CEO and chief technology officer of Pivot Medical (now part of Stryker…

Tom Palermo

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Palermo joined Dextera Surgical in November 2015 with close to 30 years of medical device development and management expertise. Most recently, he served as acting CEO of UlceRx Medical, a start-up chronic wound care company. Prior to UlceRx, Mr. Palermo was president and CEO of ReVascular Therapeutics (acquired by Boston Scientific in 2011), where he revamped the technology platform to meet market demand for the TruePath CTO Device system. Prior to ReVascular Therapeutics, Mr. Palermo…

Robert Y. Newell

Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Newell joined Dextera Surgical in March 2003 with more than 25 years of experience in financial management of healthcare and technology companies in Silicon Valley. Previously he served as vice president, finance and CFO for Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL), a healthcare automation, analytics and information technology company. He also served as vice president and CFO for Cardiometrics, a public interventional cardiology medical device company that is now part of Royal Philips. Additionally….

Liam Burns

Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing

Mr. Burns joined Dextera Surgical in January 2014, bringing more than 25 years of experience launching breakthrough medical technologies, driving adoption in surgical procedures and building medical device brands to the company’s leadership team. Prior to Dextera, he served as president of a strategic marketing and sales practice that he founded to help healthcare companies accelerate growth and market penetration by commercializing new products, developing integrated sales and marketing strategies and exectutive…

Peggy McLaughlin

Consulting VP, Clinical Affairs
Ms. McLaughlin is a veteran medical device professional with more 30 years of experience in both start-up and large commercial organizations. Prior to joining Dextera Surgical, Ms. McLaughlin led the early launch of Abbott Vascular Device’s U.S. drug eluting stent clinical trial and managed the clinical studies leading to CE Marks for a RF catheter for the treatment of a structural heart defect at Cierra and a novel tool for hip arthroscopy at Pivot Medical. Her early career included for more than 10 years with Target…

Brian A. Schar

General Counsel, Director of Intellectual Property and Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Schar rejoined Dextera Surgical in May 2016. Most recently, Mr. Schar served as of counsel for Morrison & Foerster, and handled a portfolio of software and user interface patents for a major consumer electronics company. Prior to that, Mr. Schar was in-house counsel at Intematix, a phosphor manufacturer in the LED lighting industry, and was responsible for the company’s patent portfolio of almost 500 issued and pending global patents and applications. Mr. Schar was responsible for all commercial contracts involving the…

Pamela Segale

Consulting VP, Regulatory Affairs
Pamela Segale, JD, RN, began working for Dextera Surgical in November 2015 as a regulatory consultant, bringing more than 25 years of expertise in the medical device industry to the company. Previously, she was vice president of regulatory and clinical affairs and quality assurance at Simpirica Spine, focusing on the company’s product development, regulatory and clinical study efforts which included regulatory approvals for clinical studies. Before joining Simpirica, she was senior director of regulatory and quality at…

Dr. Mark Soberman

Medical Director
Dr. Soberman is a practicing thoracic surgeon who also serves as medical director of the Oncology Service Line and chief physician executive, Monocacy Health Partners at Frederick Regional Health System in Frederick, Md. He is a reviewer for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and a member of a variety of surgical, oncology and physician executive societies including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, General Thoracic Surgical Club, American College of Healthcare Executives and the American Society for Clinical Oncology. Additionally, Dr. Soberman serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Soberman…

Greg Watson

Vice President, Operations
Mr. Watson joined Dextera Surgical in May 2015 with more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry, specializing in manufacturing and product development in both startup and corporate settings. Most recently, Mr. Watson has been utilizing his experience and leadership skills to consult for start-up/mid-stage medical device firms in various stages of commercialization to establish and scale up their manufacturing operations. Prior to consulting, he held the positions of vice president of…