About Seigla Medical
About
Seigla Medical
The Company
Seigla® Medical, an emerging technology company based in Minnesota, was founded by a team of expert designers, developers and manufacturers of medical devices who joined forces in December 2017. Their mission, rooted in listening closely to the needs of interventional physicians, is focused on technologies that meet the challenges of treating vascular disease today and in the future. Superior engineering solutions are combined with expert manufacturing capabilities to deliver products that support positive patient outcomes in peripheral, cardio and neurovascular disease.
Management Team
Chad Kugler – President and CEO
Chad Kugler brings almost thirty years of medical industry experience to his leadership role at Seigla®. He is a serial entrepreneur with significant experience inventing technologies, developing new markets, and managing companies.
He cofounded BridgePoint Medical which developed a pioneering crossing system to treat total arterial occlusions. Chad invented the technology, managed the company, and was a key architect for market development that included a global physician education program in the emerging field of complex interventional procedures. The company was acquired by Boston Scientific and Medtronic in 2012.
Most recently, Chad served as Vice-President of Research & Development at Vascular Solutions through its acquisition by Teleflex in 2016. He also served as Vice-President of R&D at Teramed, acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2001, and was a founding team member of Torax Medical, acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2017. Chad started his career as an engineer with SciMed/Boston Scientific.
He has sixty-eight granted patents and numerous pending U.S. patents. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University.
Craig Schlawin – VP of Quality Assurance
Craig Schlawin has over thirty-five years of experience in quality and medical device manufacturing. He joined Seigla® Medical in 2019 as Vice President of Quality Assurance with responsibility for development of the Quality Management System (QMS) and documentation systems. He developed broad experience in product design, development, sterilization and regulatory requirements over the course of his career.
He has held leadership positions in quality assurance and engineering at several leading medical technology companies, including Aequitron, Nellcor Puritan Bennett, eMed, IntraTherapeutics, Acorn Cardiovascular, Pulmonetic Systems, Viasys, Bridgepoint Medical, Boston Scientific, and Teleflex (Vascular Solutions).
He is listed as an inventor on two U.S. patents, with additional patents pending. Craig holds a degree in Mechanical Design from Northwest Technical Institute of Minnesota.
Leota Pearson – Acting CFO
Leota Pearson, CPA, is a Contract Chief Financial Officer at Leota Pearson Consulting, LLC, focusing on Life Sciences. She has previously served as CFO in both public and private medical device companies, including Orthomet, Endocardial Solutions and Celleration. Leota is a member of the Minnesota CPA Society and Financial Executive International where she served on the national board and as the president of its Twin Cities chapter. She was named Consulting CFO of the year in 2017 by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Leota holds an undergraduate degree from The University of North Dakota and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.
Matt Olson – Acting VP of Research and Development
Matt Olson has over twenty-three years of experience in the medical device industry, with seventeen of those years in leadership roles at successful emerging technology companies. He has held roles in R&D, Operations, Manufacturing, and Clinical Training across the span of his career. Most recently, Matt was the Vice-President of Engineering & Operations at NexGen Medical Systems. He also served as Vice-President of Research & Development at Bridgepoint Medical when acquired by Boston Scientific and Medtronic in 2012, and was Director of Operations at Teramed, acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2001. Additionally, he has held several management positions at American Medical Systems (AMS) and Boston Scientific. Matt is listed as an inventor on twenty-two medical device patents. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University.
John Schultz – Acting VP of Clinical Affairs
John Schultz has over thirty years of clinical trial experience with products ranging from implantable insulin pumps and blood gas monitors, to a variety of interventional products used in peripheral vascular, cardiovascular, and electrophysiology procedures.
He has held roles in clinical executive management and clinical project management across several emerging technology companies, many of which were successfully acquired. These include MiniMed Technologies (Medtronic), EndiCOR Medical (ev3/Medtronic), Endocardial Solutions (St. Jude Medical/Abbott), and BridgePoint Medical (Medtronic & Boston Scientific).
John brings the Seigla® team extensive experience in electrophysiology, including mapping and ablation of various arrhythmias such as supraventricular tachycardias, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia as well as percutaneous interventional procedures, including thrombectomy and chronic total occlusion treatment in the cardiovascular, neurovascular and peripheral vascular settings.
John is listed as an inventor on two U.S. patents, and is cited as an author or co-author on nine publications. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California.