Trish Howell Named Chief Operating Officer at Element Science

Element Science has appointed Trish Howell as chief operating officer. She is charged with leading business operations, including engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and quality, and reports directly to Founder, President, and CEO Uday N. Kumar, M.D.
 
“Ms. Howell is a transformational leader who has excelled in her positions prior to joining Element Science. As an innovative and seasoned executive, she expands the capabilities of our leadership team at an inflection point of our growth. Her experience in building successful commercial operations at medical device companies gives her a critically valuable perspective that will be an indispensable asset as we look forward to commercializing our technology and expanding our pipeline of products,” Kumar said.
 
Howell is a life sciences veteran with nearly 30 years of experience leading operations, including extensive experience building scalable commercial operations for startup medical devices. Over the course of her career, she has been responsible for engineering, supply chain, production, logistics and distribution, as well as quality assurance and regulatory affairs activities. Prior to joining Element Science, Howell was vice president of Operations at Avail Medsystems, a company pioneering technology in surgical telemedicine with the goal of more connected healthcare. Previously, she was vice president of Operations at Stryker Corp. through the acquisition of ZipLine Medical, where she focused on commercializing non-invasive wound closure solutions. Before this, Howell was vice president of Operations at Pulmonx Corporation, where she led global activities in support of international sales, clinical trials, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration pre-market approval (PMA) module development for the company’s diagnostic and therapeutic products for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Earlier, she served as vice president of Materials Management at ArthroCare, scaling the logistics infrastructure worldwide and helping to launch a greenfield factory in Costa Rica. She also currently serves as a Director of Knightscope Inc. and CVR Medical Corporation. 
 
“After meeting the team at Element Science and learning of the recent life-saving events that occurred during the company’s ongoing Jewel IDE study of its patch wearable cardioverter defibrillator, the commitment of the team and the impact the technology offers for both patients and physicians, it was immediately obvious that Element Science is an organization of whose journey I wanted to be a part,” Howell said.“I am excited to join the Element Science team as COO and look forward to leveraging my experience to help lead the company’s transformation from a clinical-stage health technology startup to a scalable, commercial entity. My goal is to drive growth through operational excellence across the organization while also efficiently integrating the continued innovation that will be spinning out from our pipeline.” 
 
“Ms. Howell has demonstrated her ability to grow and manage a medical technology company, develop talented leaders, and consistently deliver strong financial results. Our entire board is looking forward to working with her and the other leaders at Element Science to accelerate the execution of our growth,” Element Science Board Member and former Boston Scientific CEO Hank Kucheman said.
 
Element Science Inc. is a medical device and digital health company that develops solutions at the intersection of clinical-grade wearables, machine learning algorithms, and lifesaving therapies in order to address leading causes of death and hospitalization in patients with heart disease, primarily as they transition from the hospital to home. By putting the needs of patients and physicians first, its personalized digital devices, which are designed for function, comfort and ease-of-use, aim to redefine the paradigm of care for these patients. The firm’s first product, a wearable patch defibrillator, is initially targeted at treating the more than 500,000 U.S. patients with an elevated temporary risk of potentially experiencing a lethal heart rhythm. Based in San Francisco, Element Science’s funders include Third Rock Ventures, Google Ventures, Deerfield Management, Qiming Venture Partners USA, Cormorant Asset Management, and Invus Opportunities.