Management Team
Aris Constantinides, Executive Chair
Aris is the founder and Investment Director of NBGI Ventures, the London based fund that invests exclusively in medical devices, and is responsible for its overall strategy and management. Aris established NBGI Ventures in 2001, following five years in venture capital with Deutsche Bank's venture capital team and CSFB's Cabot Square Capital fund. He started his career at Bankers Trust as a derivatives specialist. Aris holds a B.Eng from Imperial College and a SM from MIT in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from INSEAD.
Eric Kanowsky, Chief Operating Officer
Eric has been involved in numerous entrepreneurial activities over the last twenty years, most recently serving as advisor, director, and/or investor for numerous early stage technology and medical device ventures, including Smartreceipt, Truevision Systems, and SupplySolution (now Tradebeam). Previously he was a co-founder and Vice-President of Operations at Software.com, Inc. (now Openwave Systems), where he was directly responsible for managing multiple technical organizations, facilities and infrastructure departments, and a $10 million capital and expense budget. Eric has also served on the Board of Directors of the UC Santa Barbara Center for Entrepreneurship and Engineering Management. He holds an MBA from Indiana University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Miriam Taimisto, Vice President, Research & Development
Miriam has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry having worked in both start-up and large organizations. Miriam holds over 30 US patents, has four publications, and brings a world of experience related to diagnostic and therapeutic devices. Prior to joining ACT, Miriam served as Senior Vice President of R&D and Operations at Aragon Surgical, Inc. In previous roles, Miriam served as Vice President of R&D at BÂRRX Medical and Vice President at Cierra, Inc. Miriam also spent 7 years as Director of R&D at Boston Scientific, Electrophysiology where she successfully introduced six new products to US and OUS markets. Her industry experience also includes various engineering roles at Baxter, Guidant, and CardioGenesis. Miriam has a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Wisconsin.
Darren Spencer, Director, Sales and Clinical Affairs
Prior to joining ACT, Darren's most recent role was as the UK and Ireland sales manager for Atritech, which was acquired recently by Boston Scientific. From 2007 to 2009, Darren was the UK manager for Ablation Frontiers Inc., which was acquired by Medtronic. Darren also served as territory manager for Cameron Health, Inc., and Endocardial Solutions, Inc., which was acquired by St. Jude in 2005. He has held roles with Medtronic and Prucka Inc. and began his career as a cardiac specialist with Glenfield General Hospital in Leicester.
Tim Lenihan, Founder, Technology Advisor and Director, Medical Advisory Board
Tim has over 22 years of experience in the medical device field with a strong understanding of the technical and regulatory requirements of launching new and innovative technologies into the market. He began his career as the head of the Ablation Program and Electrophysiology Products at Arrow International and later became the European Manager of R&D. In 2000, Tim founded Contract Medical International GmbH (CMI), in Dresden, Germany and grew the business to a consistently profitable enterprise with over $11 million in annual sales. During his time at CMI, Tim worked with Dr. Carr and other entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Europe, taking their ideas from concept through clinical evaluation and ultimately to commercialization. Tim holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.