Management

Michel Alvarez, Chief Executive Officer
Michel Alvarez is a veteran of the medical device industry overseeing successful product development, manufacturing, commercial launch, and business development activities. Mr. Alvarez has helped lead Healionics since its inception in 2007. He was promoted to CEO in 2009 following two years as COO and VP of Business Development. Mr. Alvarez has 18 years of experience as an entrepreneurial business executive in the information technology, consumer products, and medical device industries. He served 11 years in various roles including Vice President of Operations for Seattle-based Medisystems Corporation, a $105 million manufacturer of medical devices for use in kidney dialysis and related blood treatments. Mr. Alvarez received a B.S. in International Management from SFSU and an MBA from the University of Washington.

Max Maginness, Ph.D. - Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Maginness has extensive experience in moving from concepts to robust, reliable and cost effective products in both FDA–regulated and other industries. As co-founder and CTO of Healionics, Dr. Maginness has led the company’s R&D efforts since inception. He has 30 years of experience in managing multiple new product development and technology transfer projects for Siemens Medical, ATL (now Philips Ultrasound) and subsidiaries of CIBA-Geigy. These included complex multi-company and multinational projects in Europe, Japan, Korea and India. Earlier, Dr. Maginness held research positions at Stanford University and worked on technology development and business planning for startups.

Andrew Marshall, Ph.D. - Principal Scientist
As the co-inventor of STAR biomaterial, Dr. Marshall has 10 years of experience working directly with this technology.  After completing his doctoral work on STAR biomaterial under Professor Buddy Ratner, Dr. Marshall authored a successful $300,000 grant proposal to develop STAR biomaterial for use in long-term implantable glucose sensors. He dedicated his postdoctoral fellowship at University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials to moving STAR biomaterial closer to commercialization. Dr. Marshall has worked as a medical device validation engineer for Kemper-Masterson, Inc. and as a design engineer for Boeing Defense and Space Group. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington and a BSE in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University.