Executives and Directors

Maria Merchant, PhD, MBA, CEO and Director

Dr. Merchant worked as a clinical researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her research was focused on utilizing the principles of quantum physics to elucidate molecular structure of cellular receptors. She made her transition from the academic research by becoming a research analyst with a boutique consulting firm in Boston, where she worked on a buyout plan for a medical device company. Most recently, she served as a healthcare industry consultant with Frost & Sullivan, where she advised major medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies on market strategies. Her clients included Philips Medical and Merck. She holds PhD degree in Biophysics from the Russian State Medical University and an MBA degree in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Alexander Parfenov, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Parfenov worked for over 15 years at the Research Institute of Physico-Chemical Medicine (Moscow, Russia), where he held the positions of increasing responsibility from a staff scientist to the Head of the Laboratory of Non-invasive Diagnostics. A cardiologist by training and an accomplished inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Parfenov spent most of his professional life developing and commercializing novel diagnostic methods and devices in the area of cardiovascular health. As a clinical researcher of rheologic and mechanical properties of blood vessels, he invented and commercialized a novel diagnostic device for the measurement of blood viscosity. Later, he co-invented and patented a non-invasive diagnostic skin cholesterol test which was developed into an FDA-approved point-of-care diagnostic test by a Canadian company. As a Fulbright Senior Scholar, he spent three years at University of Maryland. Dr. Parfenov is an author of over 100 scientific articles and five patents. He holds MD and PhD degrees from the Russian State Medical University.

Mark Schlossberg, Director

Mr. Schlossberg is Vice-President responsible for M&A/Ventures/ Licensing law at Amgen Inc., a leading biotech company. He previously served as General Manager of Medtronic Peripheral Vascular business unit and Vice President, Law, of Medtronic Vascular business. Prior to Medtronic, Mr. Schlossberg held other senior positions at Diageo Ltd. and RJR Nabisco. He is a graduate of Emory University Law School and University of Southern California, Undergraduate (Finance).