Rush Simonson, Chairman
Mr. Simonson has been involved in finance and healthcare for over 20 years. Mr. Simonson became well known in the spinal industry following the founding of a medical distributorship for Medtronic, Inc. that was acquired by Medtronic. He is an inventor and holds 3 pioneer patents for posterior lumbar spinal artificial disks and has experience developing biomedical intellectual property. He was the founding CEO and Director of Cytonics Corporation (“Cytonics”), a proteomics discovery start-up. During his tenure at Cytonics, he led a national team of scientists from Stanford University and the University of Pittsburgh, to discover the novel protein complex believed to be responsible for back and joint pain. Mr. Simonson initiated partnership discussions that recently resulted in a 20% acquisition by Synthes/J&J. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a BBA (Entrepreneurial Studies and Finance). Has also completed an advanced management development program at Harvard’s Kennedy School and is well versed in the fields of protein discovery, stem cell and regenerative medicine, medical expert, and IT systems.
Peter M. Simonson, Director
With 20 years of executive experience in sales, marketing, management, product development, engineering, business development, market research, and consulting, Mr. Simonson holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech.
He has been awarded five patents for surgical products, with an additional seven patents pending. He is the inventor of Medtronic’s patented unique spinal implant system, TSRH-3D®, which has sold in excess of $1 billion in more the 30 countries. Mr. Simonson and the team developing his technology received Medtronic’s global Technical-Contributor-of-The-Year award. Mr. Simonson has become highly sought after worldwide for his talents as a sales trainer and motivational speaker. After proving his skills invaluable in more than 60 markets, Medtronic now features his pioneering sales techniques in sales training videos and curriculum worldwide.