Newswise — CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (February 15, 2011) – The Board of Directors of the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation has announced the election of Frederic H. Moll, M.D., a serial entrepreneur whose start-up ventures have included Intuitive Surgical, Inc., manufacturer of one of today’s most successful and innovative medical devices, the daVinci Surgical System.
“I’m delighted to join the board of an organization that is devoted to advancing an exciting technology like MR-guided focused ultrasound,” Dr. Moll said. “It could change the paradigm for treating many serious disorders and improve millions of lives worldwide.”
Applauding the Foundation’s mission, he said, “My work has focused on evolving surgical techniques through new technologies. The Foundation is championing a technology that could have dramatic impact on minimally-invasive surgery, radiation therapy and drug delivery.”
Dr. Moll’s career is a study in successful medical device entrepreneurship. While training as a surgeon, he invented the safety trocar – a minimally-invasive instrument that helped create the field of laproscopic surgery. In 1984, he founded Endotherapeutics Corporation to commercialize the device and served as the company’s Vice President of Research until 1987. Endotherapeutics was later acquired by U.S. Surgical.
In 1988, Dr. Moll started Origin Medsystems, Inc., a laproscopic instruments and devices company, which later became an operating unit of Guidant Corporation. He was Medical Director of Guidant’s surgical device division from 1992 to 1995.
Dr. Moll’s next venture was Intuitive Surgical, Inc., a leading surgical robotics company, which he co-founded in November 1995. He became the company’s first Chief Executive Officer and later its Vice President and Medical Director.
In 2003, Dr. Moll founded Hansen Medical, serving as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of its Board of Directors. He became the company’s Chairman of the Board in 2010.
Dr. Moll received his M.D. from the University of Washington and trained in surgery at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. He also earned a B.A. degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a M.S. degree in management from Stanford University. A resident of San Francisco, he is a distinguished speaker and lecturer, and has authored numerous scientific articles.
In announcing Doctor Moll's election, Neal F. Kassell M.D., founder and Chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation, said, “We are honored to have Dr. Moll join our board. He is a preeminent leader in the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutic medical devices. His perspective and experience will be of tremendous help in our efforts to make MR-guided focused ultrasound a standard of care for patients who are suffering from many of today's most deadly, debilitating and difficult to treat diseases."
Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation Board of DirectorsIn addition to Dr. Moll, the FUS Foundation’s Board of Directors includes:
• DOROTHY BATTEN, former Director of Landmark Communications, Inc.; Director, Amazon Conservation Association• S. MORRY BLUMENFELD, Ph.D., Chief Investment Officer, Ziegler Meditech Equity Partners, LP • EUGENE V. FIFE, Founding Principal, Vawter Capital, LLC; non-executive Chairman of Eclipsys Corporation; former General Partner of Goldman Sachs & Co.; Board Member, Caterpillar, Inc.; Chairman of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center Governing Council• JOHN GRISHAM, an internationally acclaimed author• DAVID HELLER, Chairman of Advisory Research Inc.; past Governor of the Midwest Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange• DANIEL P. JORDAN, Ph.D., former President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson• NEAL F. KASSELL, M.D., a Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia; Founder and Chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation• STEVE RUSCKOWSKI, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Philips Healthcare; Member, Board of Management, Royal Philips Electronics • LODEWIJK J.R. de VINK, Founding Partner, Blackstone Health Care Partners; former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Warner-Lambert Company; former Chairman of the Business Roundtable; Board Member, Roche• ANDREW von ESCHENBACH, M.D., the only person who has led both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health; currently serves as Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives at the Center for Health Transformation and as Adjunct Professor, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center• KOBI VORTMAN, Ph.D., Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, InSightec Ltd.
About the Focused Ultrasound Surgery FoundationDriven by the desire to save lives, alleviate suffering and prevent disability, the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation is devoted to advancing one of modern medicine’s most promising and game-changing technologies, noninvasive magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (FUS).
Founded in 2006 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Foundation is a high-performance, not-for-profit organization with global reach and an entrepreneurial spirit. To accelerate the availability and reimbursement of FUS treatments, it funds research and fellowships, supports the establishment of FUS Centers of Excellence, serves as the nexus of a collaborative research network of sites and investigators around the world, hosts symposia and workshops, and promotes patient awareness and education.
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