Events Calendar

Alfred E.Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering - Seminar series

Speaker: Carla Woods, President of Mann Healthcare Partners and Board member of USC Viterbi

Talk Title: Medical Device Companies: From Idea to a Business, and Everything in Between

Abstract: When an idea is born for a product, few face the opportunities and challenges of Medical Devices.  Due diligence and planning are paramount to success.  Most of the success of a new idea is not the idea itself, but all that goes into driving a successful venture and understanding how to fit the product in a dynamic existing and highly regulated environment.  The opportunity that ideas generate in the medical space is to help people with health issues and improve or even save lives.  These opportunities also generate jobs and economic success for collaborators, investors and businesses.  Getting there involves mitigating risks, overcoming obstacles, and crossing “the valley death.” This requires investment, knowhow and talent of all types coming together.  This talk will walk through examples and considerations to set up the development of an idea for success!

Biography: A USC graduate in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, Carla has been developing and marketing medical devices for over twenty years. At Advanced Bionics Corporation, she was a key executive building the company up to and through its acquisition by Boston Scientific. She began her career at Pacesetter Systems where she planned new technology applications and product needs for pacemakers. During her tenure at Advanced Bionics/Boston Scientific, she led the business development, product development, industrial design, education, clinical research and marketing for the company and its products including the Precision Spinal Cord Stimulator, the BION® microstimulator, implantable infusion pumps, and the cochlear implant. For these products she holds over 60 U.S. patents. Carla was the recipient of the Boston Scientific Patent Milestone Award and the Advanced Bionics Business Leadership Award. She was a senior executive on the company's intellectual property review board and was the shareholder representative in the Boston Scientific acquisition of Advanced Bionics. In 2007, she became the Vice President of Program Development and Strategic Planning for the Alfred Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering. Carla is on the Board of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and has served on the board of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, AMI Institutes at USC and Purdue University, the Center for Global Innovation at the USC Marshall School of Business, the National Pain Foundation and the Fulfilment Fund.

Host: Peter Yingxiao Wang- Chair of Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 109

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Carla Stanard