Our Company
Our Company
Reprise Biomedical, Inc. is focused on the development and commercialization of biologic medical devices utilizing a proprietary perfusion decellularization process that delivers superior clinical outcomes in a wide variety of surgical procedures. Reprise commenced operations in 2019 as a spin-out from Miromatrix Medical under proprietary technology licensed from the University of Minnesota.
Our Approach
Reprise is led by an experienced medical device management team with a record of success in commercializing biologic medical devices, guided by a Board of Directors with a proven track record of business success.
Leadership
Reprise is built on a culture of individual empowerment and individual responsibility that emphasizes the clinical outcomes to our physician customers and their patients with the products we develop and commercialize.
Carrie Powers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Steve Jagodzinski
Controller and Treasurer
Greg Smock
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Jake Isenburg, Ph.D.
Vice President of Research and Development
Jerrod Krueger
Vice President of Manufacturing
Heather Kotila
Vice President of Human Resources
LEADERSHIP-Template
Steve Jagodzinski
Controller and Treasurer
Mr. Jagodzinski serves as Controller and Treasurer. He started his career in Accounting / Finance with Vascular Solutions in 2013 as a Cost Accountant and held roles with increasing responsibility prior to and after its acquisition by Teleflex, Inc., most recently serving as the Sr. Finance Director for its Interventional business unit. During his 10 years with VSI and Teleflex, Mr. Jagodzinski supported several M&A transactions and their subsequent integrations, held responsibilities for both manufacturing and commercial operations, and was the Finance lead for several enterprise-level new product development initiatives. Mr. Jagodzinski has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of St. Thomas (MN) and holds an active CPA certificate.
LEADERSHIP
Carrie Powers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Powers has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Reprise since co-founding the company in May 2019. From 2006 through February 2018, Ms. Powers held a succession of positions of increasing responsibility at Vascular Solutions, Inc., starting as Associate Product Manager in 2006 and rising to Senior Vice President of Marketing at the time of the company’s acquisition by Teleflex Incorporated in 2017. Following that acquisition, Ms. Powers continued in management at Teleflex in the role of Senior Director of Clinical & Medical Affairs. From March 2018 to February 2019, Ms. Powers served on the management team of the medical device company CHF Solutions, Inc., first as its Vice President of Marketing and most recently as its Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations. Prior to joining Vascular Solutions, Ms. Powers was employed by St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin from 2002 to 2006, most recently as a Registered Nurse in the Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Lab.
LEADERSHIP
Jake Isenburg, Ph.D.
Vice President of Research and Development
Dr. Isenburg has served as Vice President of Research & Development for Reprise since June 2019. From 2010 through May 2019, Dr. Isenburg was employed at Vascular Solutions, Inc. first as a Senior Biological Development Scientist and, following the company’s acquisition by Teleflex Incorporated, as Director of Scientific Affairs. Previous to Vascular Solutions, from 2007 to 2010, Dr. Isenburg served as a Senior Research Scientist at Vatrix Medical, a start-up medical device company based on his own patented research, with a focus on the diagnosis and treatment of aneurysms. Dr. Isenburg holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Clemson University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
LEADERSHIP
Heather Kotila
Vice President of Human Resources
Ms. Kotila has served as Vice President of Human Resources at Reprise since May 2019. Ms. Kotila began her career in Human Resources at Vascular Solutions, Inc. 2000, holding positions of increasing responsibility starting as Human Resources Associate and rising to Director of Human Resources at the time of the company’s acquisition by Teleflex Incorporated in 2017. From March 2017 to May 2019, Ms. Kotila joined Sleep Number Corporation as their Sr. Benefits Analyst. Ms. Kotila holds a PHR certification from the HR Certification Institute.
LEADERSHIP
Jerrod Krueger
Vice President of Manufacturing
Mr. Krueger has served as the Vice President of Manufacturing at Reprise Biomedical since October 2022. Mr. Krueger brings 20 years of medical device manufacturing and operations experience, with additional experience in telecommunications. Prior to joining Reprise, Mr. Krueger served as the Director of Manufacturing Engineering at Vascular Solutions, Inc., and following the company’s acquisition by Teleflex Incorporated, expanded his areas of management to include custom equipment design, packaging engineering, and manufacturing technology functions with responsibilities for new product development activities, due diligence for technology acquisitions, and manufacturing site transfer activities. Prior to Vascular Solutions, from 2003 – 2009, Mr. Krueger was employed by Boston Scientific in various process development engineering roles. Mr. Krueger holds a degree from the University of Minnesota in Manufacturing and Operations Management.
LEADERSHIP
Steve Jagodzinski
Controller and Treasurer
Mr. Jagodzinski serves as Controller and Treasurer. He started his career in Accounting / Finance with Vascular Solutions in 2013 as a Cost Accountant and held roles with increasing responsibility prior to and after its acquisition by Teleflex, Inc., most recently serving as the Sr. Finance Director for its Interventional business unit. During his 10 years with VSI and Teleflex, Mr. Jagodzinski supported several M&A transactions and their subsequent integrations, held responsibilities for both manufacturing and commercial operations, and was the Finance lead for several enterprise-level new product development initiatives. Mr. Jagodzinski has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of St. Thomas (MN) and holds an active CPA certificate.
LEADERSHIP
Greg Smock
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Smock serves as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Reprise. He has responsibility for all legal, compliance, and intellectual property matters. Before joining Reprise, from 2013 to 2023, Mr. Smock served as Intellectual Property Counsel at Vascular Solutions, Inc., and later Teleflex Incorporated, where he advised on intellectual property and transactional matters, including patent portfolio strategy, development and enforcement, due diligence and counseling in connection with acquisitions and divestitures, and licensing and other technology transactions. Mr. Smock began his legal career at a Minneapolis-based intellectual property law firm, where, from 2005 to 2013, he represented medical device, industrial, and other growth companies and investors in the protection of emerging technologies. Mr. Smock earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota School of Law and his B.S. from North Dakota State University. He is a registered U.S. patent attorney.
Reprise Biomedical
Board of Directors
Guiding our mission to business success with integrity.
Board of Directors
Howard Root
Chairman
Mr. Root co-founded Vascular Solutions, Inc. in 1997 and served as its Chief Executive Officer from inception of the company through its sale to Teleflex Incorporated in February 2017 for $1 billion. Under Mr. Root’s leadership, Vascular Solutions developed and commercialized over 100 new medical devices that are used to diagnose and treat a variety of vascular diseases ranging from acute myocardial infarction to varicose veins. From 1990 to 1995, Mr. Root was employed by ATS Medical, Inc., a mechanical heart valve medical device company, as Vice President and General Counsel. Previous thereto, Mr. Root practiced corporate law at the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP for over five years, specializing in representing emerging growth companies.
Ronald Eibensteiner
Mr. Eibensteiner has been President of Wyncrest Capital, Inc., an investment company for early-stage technology companies in the area of telecommunications, medical devices and software since 1993. He has served on the Board of Directors for Miromatrix since 2010. Mr. Eibensteiner’s past investment activities include: co-founder of Diametrics Medical, Inc., a manufacturer of blood gas diagnostic systems; a principal investor and Board member of OnHealth Network Company, a web-based publisher of health and wellness information which was later merged with WebMD; principal investor and Board member of BigCharts, Inc., a provider of financial internet content, until its sale to Dow Jones/MarketWatch in June 1999; Chairman of the Board of Prodea Software Corporation, a data-warehousing software company, until its sale to Platinum Technology, Inc.; and principal investor and Board of Director member of Travanti Pharma Inc, a specialty drug delivery firm, until its sale to Teikoku Pharmaceutical in May of 2009. Mr. Eibensteiner also served as a member of the Board of Stellant Software (Nasdaq: STEL) from 1996 until 2001. In 1983, he co-founded Arden Medical Systems and served as its Chief Financial Officer until its sale to Johnson & Johnson in 1987.
Erwin Kelen
Mr. Kelen has been a full-time venture capitalist and angel investor for the past twenty years. He is the founder of Kelen Ventures, a business development and private investment firm. He is currently a board member of several technology-based companies including: Ready Credit Corporation, Rebiotix Inc, Kwikbit Inc and Healthe. Previously, he was the President and CEO of DataMyte Corporation, a factory automation hardware and software manufacturer. He was also Chairman and CEO of Electro-Craft Corporation, a manufacturer of DC servomotors and controls. Over the past 45 years, Mr. Kelen has served as director of several public and private companies, ranging from early stage development companies to firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He is also active in community affairs and serves on the Boards of the University of Minnesota Foundation and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Phil Nalbone
Mr. Nalbone is Vice President of Corporate Development at Imperative Care, Inc., a commercial-stage medical device company focused on technologies that address the continuum of stroke care. Prior to joining Imperative Care, Phil spent seven years at Vascular Solutions, Inc. as VP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, and after Vascular Solutions was acquired by Teleflex, Inc., Phil continued in management at Teleflex in the company’s Corporate Development and Strategy group. Before moving to the corporate side, Phil spent 20 years on Wall Street as an analyst following the medical device industry at such firms as Hambrecht & Quist, Volpe Brown Whelan, Salomon Smith Barney, and RBC Capital Markets.
Alan Woldt
Alan Woldt is an accomplished med-tech and IT professional currently serving as the Managing Partner at Innovest Holding, LLC, based in Scottsdale, AZ. Alan has three decades of experience as a commercial and business development leader for various med-tech and technology companies, including Inspire Medical, Medtronic, Guidant/Boston Scientific, and Equus Compute Solutions.
Alan has led investments in 26 companies while managing Innovest and currently sits on the board of directors for CryOSA, Cultiv8, AMX Technologies, Reprise Biomedical, Dosentrx LTD., and Mapsted.
Carrie Powers
Ms. Powers has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Reprise since co-founding the company in May 2019. From 2006 through February 2018, Ms. Powers held a succession of positions of increasing responsibility at Vascular Solutions, Inc., starting as Associate Product Manager in 2006 and rising to Senior Vice President of Marketing at the time of the company’s acquisition by Teleflex Incorporated in 2017. Following that acquisition, Ms. Powers continued in management at Teleflex in the role of Senior Director of Clinical & Medical Affairs. From March 2018 to February 2019, Ms. Powers served on the management team of the medical device company CHF Solutions, Inc., first as its Vice President of Marketing and most recently as its Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations. Prior to joining Vascular Solutions, Ms. Powers was employed by St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin from 2002 to 2006, most recently as a Registered Nurse in the Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Lab.