EnteroMedics Appoints Chief Medical Officer, VP of Reimbursement

EnteroMedics Inc. has added to its management team, promoting Scott A. Shikora, M.D., F.A.C.S., to executive vice president of Medical Affairs and chief medical officer. In this role, he will lead the company’s medical affairs, clinical and regulatory functions. 

The company also hired Tonya Dowd as vice president of Reimbursement.

“Dr. Shikora brings extensive experience in bariatric and metabolic surgery, as well as  neuromodulation and clinical development expertise that will be invaluable to our clinical, research and commercial development of vBloc Therapy,” said Mark B. Knudson, Ph.D., president/CEO of EnteroMedics. “We are delighted to welcome someone with Scott’s skill, reputation and acumen to the executive leadership team as we continue to execute our ongoing clinical and commercial strategies.”

Shikora has more than 20 years of experience in the field of obesity. He previously served as EnteroMedics’ consulting chief medical officer and currently is an associate professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass. Prior to his tenure at Brighan and Women’s Hospital, Shikora worked at Tufts Medical Center in Boston for more than 16 years, where he was the director of the Weight and Wellness Center, and chief of the divisions of Bariatric and General Surgery.

Shikora is a member of several medical societies and was active in leadership in the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, where he is a past president and former board member.  He is past president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and a former executive council member. In addition, Shikora is editor-in-chief of Obesity Surgery and an associate editor of the surgical journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. He has authored numerous book chapters and journal publications and has made hundreds of presentations internationally on bariatric surgery, new technologies and nutrition support topics. Shikora received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York, N.Y., and completed his surgical residency and nutrition support fellowship at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston.

“vBloc Therapy is an obesity treatment that offers physicians a way to deliver meaningful and durable weight loss using the safest surgical device option available,” Shikora said. “I am pleased to be formally joining EnteroMedics as we embark on realizing the full potential of this first of its kind therapy for both patients and payers.”

As Director of Reimbursement Policy and Market Access at Quorum Consulting in San Francisco, Calif., Dowd managed the reimbursement policy business unit and developed reimbursement and commercial strategies across Quorum’s portfolio of clients in the molecular diagnostics, medical device and biopharma arenas. Prior to joining Quorum Consulting, Dowd spent nine years at Johnson & Johnson where her reimbursement programs and health plan interactions contributed to the successful commercialization of new technologies for the general surgery, oncology, bariatric surgery, urology, gastroenterology, anesthesia, gynecology and otolaryngology franchises, according to a news release from EnteroMedics. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Dowd co-founded a reimbursement consulting company and worked for numerous medical device and pharmaceutical companies including Covance Healthcare Economics and Outcomes Research, and National Data Corporation (NDC). Dowd holds an undergraduate degree in health policy from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in public health from the University of California-Los Angeles.

“We are also pleased to welcome Tonya to EnteroMedics.  She has been recognized as an accomplished leader in the health care reimbursement arena for over 20 years and we expect her contributions to the Company to be an integral part of building private and public reimbursement support for vBloc Therapy,” Knudson added:

Based in St. Paul, Minn., EnteroMedics develops and commercializes neuroscience-based technology to treat obesity and metabolic diseases. vBloc Therapy, delivered by a pacemaker-like device called the Maestro Rechargeable System, is designed to intermittently block the vagus nerves using high-frequency, low-energy, electrical impulses. EnteroMedics’ Maestro Rechargeable System has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, CE Mark and is listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.