Thoratec Names New CFO

The board of directors at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Thoratec Corporation has named Taylor C. Harris as vice president and chief financial officer (CFO).

Harris joined Thoratec in 2010 as senior director of investor relations and business development. Prior to Thoratec, he worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. for more than a decade in several capacities, including as a vice president in the firm’s healthcare investment banking and equity research departments. In these roles, Harris covered the medical device sector as an investment research analyst and advised healthcare companies on various strategic and capital markets transactions. Harris holds a B.A. in physics and economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Over the past few years, Taylor has effectively driven a broad range of initiatives at Thoratec, demonstrating strong leadership, business knowledge and strategic vision,” said Gary Burbach, president and CEO. “We are confident that Taylor will make increasingly valuable contributions to Thoratec in the CFO role, as we continue to grow our markets and expand our global business.”

Burbach also expressed gratitude to Roxanne Oulman, the company’s vice president of finance, who has been serving as interim CFO since former CFO David Smith resigned in June 2011.

“We appreciate Roxanne shepherding the company’s financial functions through this transition period,” he said. “Thanks to her leadership, we have been able to maintain absolute confidence in our financial and accounting operations while we engaged in a robust process to recruit a CFO.”

Thoratec’s product portfolio focuses on mechanical circulatory support for patients with advanced heart failure.