If you’ve heard the phrase "from bench to bedside," then you know where my ambition and passion lie. I am a fervent supporter of enabling scientific discovery in the laboratory to move through commercialization in support of novel and potentially groundbreaking diagnostics and therapeutic treatments of disease. This field, called translational medicine, allows me to marry my extensive knowledge and training as a surgeon with biotechnology entrepreneurship facilitating the ultimate goal of enhancing human health and well-being. For the majority of my professional career, and currently, I am a practicing Otolaryngologist (ENT) Head and Neck Surgeon with additional board certification in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery as well as Sleep Medicine. For several years I lead medical staff as a Section Chief at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and am an attending surgeon at University Hospitals CMC. My academic appointments are at Case Western Reserve University Schools of Medicine & Engineering. I am a dreamer but not in a way that compromises my ability to be pragmatic and utilitarian in my approach to problem solving and I have enduring confidence in my capacity for transformative vision and creativity. My research has included designing and fabricating bone substitute materials developed for skeletal reconstruction and more recently has focused on the development of peripheral neuro-modulatory therapeutics. In multi-center trials I conducted FDA phase II and III surgical trials for the Inspire sleep technology at the Cleveland VA and UHCMC, respectively. These trials eventually led to FDA approval of this ground-breaking surgical treatment. I am currently working on developing an applied neurostimulatory approach in the treatment of drug resistant hypertension. Due to my surgical training and knowledge of market needs, FDA regulatory structure, and biomedical product development, I have become actively involved in building a culture of biotechnology entrepreneurship here in Northeast Ohio. I serve on the board of the Case Coulter Translational Research Partnership in the CWRU School of Engineering and I am also the Associate Director for translation for the Cleveland Advanced Platform Technology Center (APTC) funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Our focus is on building novel devices and methodologies to alleviate suffering, improve functioning and prolong life in the veteran community.