Board of Directors

Board of Directors

David L. Fischel
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

Mr. Fischel, has served as Chairman and CEO of Stereotaxis since 2017, leading the Company’s efforts to return to financial health, drive commercial growth, and advance a comprehensive innovation strategy. He has served for over ten years as Principal and portfolio manager for medical device investments at DAFNA Capital Management, LLC. Prior to joining DAFNA Capital, he was a research analyst at SCP Vitalife, a healthcare venture capital fund. Mr. Fischel completed his B.S. magna cum laude in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Accounting at the University of California at Los Angeles and received his MBA from Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. Mr. Fischel’s extensive understanding of our business, operations and strategy, as well as financial and medical device industry experience, enable him to make valuable contributions to the Board of Directors.

David W. Benfer
Lead Independent Director
Mr. Benfer has served as the chairman of The Benfer Group LLC, which provides advisory services to healthcare providers and suppliers, since 2010. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Benfer served as president and chief executive officer of Saint Raphael Healthcare System and the Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven, Connecticut. Prior to that, he was the president and chief executive officer of the Provena-Saint Joseph/Morris Health Network in Joliet, Illinois from 1992 to 1999. Mr. Benfer served as senior vice president for Hospital and Urban Affairs for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Hospital from 1985 to 1992. He served as the chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) from 1998 to 1999 and on its board of governors from 1992 to 2000. Mr. Benfer was named a Fellow of ACHE in 1981 and served on the board of the Catholic Health Association from 2003 until 2008. He earned his M.B.A. from Xavier University and his B.S.B.A. from Wittenburg University. Mr. Benfer’s extensive experience in the healthcare industry and in hospital management provides the Company with useful industry information related to technology acquisition, governance, and risk and liability issues. Mr. Benfer serves on the Board of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation, Inc., the state museum of Florida.
Member of the Audit Committee Charter
Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter
Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter
Myriam Curet, M.D.
Director
Dr. Curet, currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Intuitive Surgical, the global leader and pioneer of robotic surgery. Dr. Curet joined Intuitive Surgical in 2005 and has since led the development of clinical evidence, physician education, and reimbursement activities that have been instrumental to Intuitive Surgical’s growth across multiple clinical specialties. For more than 20 years, Dr. Curet has also served as a Clinical Professor of Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, with a part-time clinical appointment at the Palo Alto Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. Dr. Curet received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and completed her general surgery residency at the University of Chicago. Dr. Curet’s extensive medical credentials and her executive experience in a medical device company provide the Board with significant insights on the commercial adoption of our products, as well as product innovation and operational matters.
Nathan Fischel, M.D.
Director
Dr. Fischel, is the Founder and CEO of DAFNA Capital Management, LLC. DAFNA Capital is an SEC registered investment advisor with a highly successful investment track record of over 25 years focused on innovations in biotechnology and medical devices. Dr. Fischel was Professor of Pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine and attending physician in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed scientific and medical manuscripts and book chapters, has been the principal investigator of multiple National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) funded research grants, has served repeatedly on internal and external review panels at the NIH, and was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve for four years on the Advisory Council of one of the NIH’s institutes. Dr. Fischel received his M.D. from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and served his internship year at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He completed his residency and fellowship in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School in Boston, and his postgraduate research training in Molecular Genetics at Oxford University in England. Dr. Fischel’s experience as a physician enables him to provide critical perspectives regarding our technologies and commercial adoption of our products, and his extensive knowledge of medical device companies allows him to provide insight to the Board on strategic decisions.
Ross B. Levin
Director
Mr. Levin is the Director of Research for Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC and a principal in the firm. Mr. Levin is a former board member of Capital Senior Living Corporation, Mood Media Corporation, American Community Properties Trust and Presidential Life Corporation. Mr. Levin is also chairman of the board of directors of Constructive Partnerships Unlimited, a non-profit organization providing services and programs for people with developmental disabilities, and former vice chairman of the board of the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State. Mr. Levin is a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts and a CFA charter holder. Mr. Levin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management with a concentration in Finance from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and has completed the Investment Decisions and Behavioral Finance program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Arun S. Menawat, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Menawat, is Chairman and CEO of Profound Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: PROF), a medical device company that is driving commercialization of real-time MRI-guided ablation for prostate diseases including cancer. Dr. Menawat has an accomplished history of executive leadership success in the healthcare industry. He was previously the Chairman, President, and CEO of Novadaq Technologies Inc. Under his 13-year tenure at Novadaq, he transformed the company from a small private pre-commercial company into the leader in intraoperative imaging and was instrumental in signing strategic partnerships with companies including Intuitive Surgical, LifeCell, and KCI. He obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical (Bio) Engineering from the University of Maryland, while concurrently completing a fellowship in biomedical engineering at the U.S. National Institute of Health and holds an Executive MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. In 2014, Dr. Menawat was named the EY Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year in the health sciences category. Dr. Menawat’s strong executive experience with medical device companies provides the Board with valuable guidance for product innovation, customer initiatives and operational matters.
Member of the Compensation Committee Charter
Robert J. Messey
Director
Mr. Messey served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Arch Coal, Inc. from December 2000 until his retirement in April 2008. Prior to joining Arch Coal, he served as the Vice President of Financial Services of Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. from 1999 to 2000 following that company’s acquisition of Sverdrup Corporation, where he had served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1992 to 1999. Mr. Messey was an audit partner at Ernst & Young LLP from 1981 to 1992. He previously served as a director and chairman of the audit committee of Baldor Electric Company, a publicly traded manufacturer of industrial electrical motors. He also serves as a director and member of the audit committees of several private companies. Mr. Messey earned his B.S.B.A. from Washington University.
Chair of the Audit Committee Charter
Member of the Audit Committee Charter
Member of the Compensation Committee Charter

Management

David Fischel
Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board

David Fischel has served as a Director of Stereotaxis since orchestrating the equity investment and positive strategic initiatives announced in September 2016, and as CEO and Chairman of the Board since February 2017. Previously, he has served for over eight years as Principal and portfolio manager for medical device investments at DAFNA Capital Management, LLC. In addition to his research responsibilities, Mr. Fischel has been deeply involved in all aspects of the firm’s operations including legal, accounting, IT, compliance, human resources and marketing. Prior to joining DAFNA Capital, he was a research analyst at SCP Vitalife, a healthcare venture capital fund. Mr. Fischel completed his B.S. magna cum laude in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Accounting at the University of California at Los Angeles and received his MBA from Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Kimberly Peery
Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Peery joined Stereotaxis in 2003 and was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer in September 2019. Prior to joining Stereotaxis, she served as a controller at various private companies. Ms. Peery is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Accounting and Computer Science from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

Michael Tropea
Vice President, North American Sales
Mr. Tropea joined Stereotaxis in 2010 and was promoted to Vice President of North American Sales in 2014. He has over 20 years of experience in commercial operations in the medical device field, 10 years of which have been focused on increasing adoption of robotics in endovascular and surgical procedures. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Tropea held commercial leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson, Intuitive Surgical and Visionsense. Mr. Tropea received a master’s degree in Public Administration from Troy State University and received his B.A. from Furman University.
Casey Payne
Vice President, APAC Sales & Global Training
Mr. Payne joined Stereotaxis in 2010 and was promoted to Vice President, APAC Sales & Global Training in 2017. He has over seven years of experience in commercial operations in the medical device field, specifically focused on the adoption of robotics platforms and development of associated educational programs. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Payne held commercial positions at Genentech. Mr. Payne completed his B.S. in Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and received his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Frank Van Hyfte
Vice President, EMEA Sales

Mr. Van Hyfte joined Stereotaxis in 2022. He joined the Stereotaxis team with over 20 years of medical technology sales leadership. Mr. Van Hyfte spent over 15 years at Intuitive Surgical, the global leader in robotic surgery, between 2000 and 2016. While at Intuitive Surgical he rose in responsibility from the role of a Clinical Specialist to the Director of Direct and Indirect Markets in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. He subsequently served in senior commercial leadership roles at Exact Imaging, EDAP TMS, and eCential Robotics. Mr. Van Hyfte received a Masters of Physiotherapy and Physical Education from Ghent University.

Keith Galloway
Vice President, Operations

Mr. Galloway joined the Stereotaxis team in 2010 and was promoted to Vice President of Operations in September of 2019. He has over 15 years of experience, focused on strategy and financial analytics. Prior to joining the Stereotaxis team, he participated in an Executive Development Program and was a Senior Financial Analyst at Anheuser Busch/InBev. Mr. Galloway is a CFA Charterholder. He received his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and his MBA in Finance and Marketing from Washington University St. Louis.

Laura Spencer Garth
General Counsel

Ms. Spencer Garth joined the Stereotaxis team in 2021. She has over 10 years of commercial litigation and labor and employment experience, with specific expertise in medical device counseling and leadership. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Spencer Garth led the legal and human resources departments as General Counsel for Veran Medical Technologies (acquired by Olympus Corporation in 2020) and was a litigator and trial attorney at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP and Dolley Law LLC. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Saint Louis University and received her J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law.

Governance

Committee charters
Governance documents

Innovation Day