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Board of Directors — The Experienced Group Guiding the Course of NovaVision™, Inc.

The NovaVision, Inc. Board of Directors is comprised of experienced leaders in the neuroscience, business, and investment communities. Read more about the individuals who steer NovaVision's development and strategic direction by clicking on their names in the list below.

Timothy M. Buono

Principal, Tullis-Dickerson & Co., Inc.

Timothy M. Buono

Tim Buono joined Tullis-Dickerson as a partner in 1997. He is active in the firm’s investment review and analysis processes, and is involved in the development and execution of portfolio company strategy with a particular focus on identifying and facilitating strategic relationships within the portfolio.

Mr. Buono began his career at Tullis-Dickerson as an associate in 1990 and subsequently became director of mergers and acquisitions for a Tullis-Dickerson portfolio company. From 1994 to 1997, he served as a senior officer for an early-stage health care services company with primary responsibility for its strategic development, building the company’s revenue from zero to $200 million.

Mr. Buono holds a BA in Economics from Connecticut College.

Andrew Firlik, M.D.

Chairman of the Board, NovaVision, Inc.

Andrew Firlik, M.D

Andrew Firlik’s career spans neurosurgery, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. He joined Foundation Medical Partners in 2005 as General Partner to concentrate on medical device and biopharmaceutical investments. Prior to Foundation, he was a venture partner at Sprout Group and Managing Director of its healthcare technology spinout, New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he was a principal at Canaan Partners. Dr. Firlik has led investments and served on the board of directors of several companies, including BioNeuronics Corporation, Sopherion Therapeutics, Transoma Medical, Omnisonics Medical Technologies, Viacor Medical, and Spine Wave.

Dr. Firlik spent 12 years in the healthcare profession during his medical training and practice as a neurological surgeon. He is a co-founder and inventor of the core technology platform of Northstar Neuroscience, a medical device company that is currently in late stage clinical trials of a neuromodulation technology for stroke recovery.

Dr. Firlik currently serves on as the Chairman of the Board of NovaVision, Inc., as well as a member of NovaVision’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. He also services on the Medical Advisory Board of Northstar Neuroscience and the Board of Directors of BioNeuronics, a neurotechnology company. Dr. Firlik is a member of the Life Sciences Advisory Board of Cornell University and the Industrial Advisory Board of Cleveland Clinic Foundation Innovations.

Dr. Firlik has published more than 50 articles in the medical literature, written chapters for several medical textbooks, and is the co-editor of a book about cerebrovascular surgery. His scientific work has been presented at many international conferences and he has been an inventor on numerous filed patents.

He studied biology at Cornell University and Oxford University, received his MBA from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, and his MD from Cornell University Medical College. As a board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Firlik serves as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the New York University School of Medicine and operates at the Manhattan VA Harbor Healthcare System.

Russell R. French

General Partner, Noro-Moseley Partners

Russell R. French

Russell R. French practiced law with the Atlanta firm of King & Spalding for 15 years prior to joining NMP in 1985. While at King & Spalding, Mr. French specialized in corporate and securities law and was responsible for negotiating a number of acquisitions, mergers, and public offerings. In addition, Mr. French was a member of King & Spalding’s Management Committee for the three years prior to his departure to join NMP.

Mr. French received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Navroze S. Mehta

President and Chief Executive Officer, NovaVision

Navroze S. Mehta
Navroze Mehta brings 15 years of experience managing technology companies to his post at NovaVision. Mehta co-founded NovaVision in 2002 guiding the company through the FDA- clearance of its Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT), the accumulation of 50 Partner Centers and three rounds of financing.
 
Before joining NovaVision, Mr. Mehta co-founded Dermdex, a medical technology company that specialized in practice efficiency solutions for dermatologists and plastic surgeons. He successfully managed the sale of Dermdex to Salu Inc, a California-based, venture-backed company. Prior to co-founding Dermdex, Mr. Mehta was the president of Boca Global, a subsidiary of Boca Research where he was responsible for directing the day-to-day operations of a $70 million NASDAQ company involved in developing Internet appliances, thin client and data communications solutions. Before joining Boca Research in 1998, Mr. Mehta was president and CEO of Comark Communications, Inc. a high tech designer and manufacturer of television transmission systems and a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomson CSF, a $7 billion global electronics company.
 
Mr. Mehta received an MBA from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College at the University of Bombay, India. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of New York, a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and past chairman of America’s Gateway Chapter in Miami.

Arda Minocherhomjee, Ph.D.

Founding Partner, Chicago Growth Partners

Arda Minocherhomjee is a founding Partner of Chicago Growth Partners. Prior to founding CGP, Arda was a Managing Director at William Blair Capital Partners and, currently, is a Managing Director and member of the Board of Managers of WBCP VI and VII. Prior, Arda was a Senior Healthcare Analyst at William Blair & Company. As head of the firm’s Healthcare Research Group, Arda covered several sectors, including drugs/drug delivery, medical devices, and selected healthcare services. He was a Wall Street Journal "All-Star Analyst" in both medical device and pharmaceutical sectors.

Select current and past directorships include: Atherogenics, CryoCor, DJ Pharma, EndoGastric Solutions, Favrille, Genoptix, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, NuVasive, PharmaResearch Corporation, POINT Biomedical, Proteome, and TargeGen. Arda received a MS (Pharmacology) from the University of Toronto, a Ph.D. and a MBA from the University of British Columbia, and was a post-doctoral fellow in Pharmacology at the University of Washington Medical School.

John F. Sasen, Sr.

Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Physician Sales & Service (PSS)

John F. Sasen, Sr. has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Physician Sales & Service (PSS) since April 1998. PSS is part of the rapidly expanding PSS/World Medical, Inc. From July 1993 to April 1998, Mr. Sasen served as a Director of the company, and from August 1995 to April 1998, as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Mr. Sasen served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Company from December 1993 to March 1997, and served as Executive Vice President from August 1993 to August 1995.

Prior to joining the Company in 1993, Mr. Sasen was Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Distributor Relations for a division of Becton Dickinson & Company ("Becton Dickinson"), a manufacturer of health care products. In that position, Mr. Sasen directed product development and marketing efforts, technical services, product services, and customer service. Mr. Sasen was with Becton Dickinson for over 20 years. In addition, Mr. Sasen serves as a director of HESKA, a manufacturer of companion animal products serving the veterinarian in practice. He chairs the compensation committee for HESKA.

Mr. Sasen is currently Chairman of the Health Industry Distributors Association Educational Foundation and a member of the executive board of HIDA, a non-profit organization that addresses the needs of the healthcare industry.

Ravi M. Ugale

Managing Director, Crossbow Ventures

Ravi Ugale has been with Crossbow Ventures since early 2000. Over the past six-plus years, Ravi has led and managed investments in seven privately held technology companies and has been actively involved with a total of more than a dozen portfolio companies in various capacities (including but not limited to BOD & Advisory Board responsibilities) to help their overall growth. Ravi currently serves as a board director for Digital Envoy, Inceptor (sold to Verizon Communications Inc. in 2006), Terion, NovaVision, Epipeline, Insilica, and Xytrans. Ravi is active in the local entrepreneurial community serving on the board of the Florida Venture Forum and was also their 2005 Chairman. Additionally, Ravi is a founder and director of TiE Florida (The Indus Entrepreneurs) and serves on the board of the EDC (Enterprise Development Corporation) and is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization).

Prior to Crossbow Ventures, Ravi spent more than 15 years in the technology industry as an Operator, Manager, and Executive at IBM, Xerox, Siemens, and Oce where he gained extensive knowledge and expertise in software development, systems analysis, and design, new product marketing, national program management, Channel/OEM relationship management, and new business development.

Mr. Ugale earned an Executive MBA Degree with specialization in International Business and Finance from Florida Atlantic University, a MS degree in Computer Science from Marquette University and a BS degree in Engineering from Poona University. Mr. Ugale is also a graduate of the Venture Capital Institute and was a participant in the 2004 Stanford/YPO Presidents Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance. Ravi has participated on several panels at regional, national and international conferences on Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship and has also been interviewed and quoted numerous times in newspaper articles and industry publications such as the South Florida Business Journal, Florida Trend, Miami Herald, Asian Venture Capital Journal, and Wall Street Online.

Roger Guidi, Observer

Vice President, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation

Roger Guidi is Vice President with Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation. His charter is to make private equity investments in early stage in medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Guidi’s professional background spans a broad range of experiences ranging from Silicon Valley start-ups to Fortune 500 healthcare companies. He began his career at J&J in Sales and Marketing management and moved on to senior management positions at Alza, Coherent Medical, and Cooper LaserSonics. He subsequently launched several start-ups, including Advanced Interventional Systems, Inc. (founder and General Manager), VISX, Inc. (Vice President, Sales and Marketing, and Business Development), and Intella Interventional Systems, Inc. (President and CEO). Both Advanced Interventional Systems and VISX completed successful IPOs. Intella Interventional Systems was acquired by its Japanese distributor. Mr. Guidi also served as an outside board member for a number of early stage medical technology companies and as a consultant to venture capital firms. He rejoined J&J in 1999.

Mr. Guidi is a founding member and Fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery and holds three issued medical device patents.

Raul E. Perez, M.D., Observer

President and Manager of Oakwood Medical Investors

Raul E. Perez, M.D., is the President and one of the Managers of Oakwood Medical Investors. Dr. Perez received his undergraduate degree from St. Louis University in 1972 and his M.D. degree from University UAG – University of Maryland, Baltimore (at the Maryland General Hospital) in 1976. He then completed four years of post-graduate training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri in 1981. Dr. Perez is a board certified OB/GYN and a Diplomat of the Board of American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Perez practiced medicine for 19 years in private practice through July 2000. He was also a director of Miravant Medical Technologies (formerly known as PDT, Inc.), a publicly traded biomedical company from 1992 to 1999, and was formerly an advisory director of Computer Motion, Inc., a publicly-traded medical device company which merged with Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

In addition to his involvement with the previous Oakwood funds, Dr. Perez was the President and a director of RGRJ Investment, Inc., a general partner of RGRJ Venture Fund I, L.P., from its inception in 1991 to 1995, and was a manager of RGRJ Venture Fund II, L.L.C. from 1993 to 2005. In to addition, Dr. Perez co-founded Orion Medical Services, Inc., in May 1990 to develop, manufacture and market a compact portable home monitoring system for the detection of uterine contraction in high-risk pregnant women. Orion was sold in April 1991 to Baxter International, Inc.