Ascential Medical & Life Sciences Announces Leadership Changes

The executive team at Ascential Medical & Life Sciences is looking a little different these days.

The company recently announced three key executive leadership changes designed to position the company for its next phase of growth. Ellen Scipta has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO), Todd Martensen has transitioned from chief commercial officer (CCO) to chief strategy officer (CSO), and Christopher Cowen has become the new CCO.

As CFO, Scipta will oversee the company’s financial strategy, drive operational efficiencies, and support its continued growth within the medical and life sciences sector. She has more than two decades of experience leading financial operations, transforming organizations, and navigating complex business challenges. Scipta has a proven track record of uniting teams to achieve organizational goals and an unwavering commitment to integrity, value, and operational excellence. Her experience spans public, private, and consulting sectors including significant tenure in global life sciences and consumer products companies such as Bio-Technie and Best Buy. Before joining Ascential Medical & Life Sciences, she was managing director at Riveron Consulting, a national business advisory firm, where she focused on financial planning and analysis (FP&A), financial reporting, financial technology, and client solutions. 

“Ellen’s deep financial expertise and energetic leadership style will be invaluable as we continue to scale our operations and identify streamlined ways to support our customers,” Ascential Medical & Life Sciences CEO Anupam Girdhar said. “Her strategic vision and get-things-done approach align with our mission of continuing to unlock performance for mission-critical companies.”

Martensen has transitioned from his role as CCO to CSO to lead the company’s strategic direction and long-term growth initiatives. In this instrumental position, he will play a pivotal role in advancing the company’s position as a leader in the medical and life sciences industry by fostering innovation, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and strategic investments while unlocking new market segments and growth areas. For the last two years, Martensen has been a vital part of Ascential Medical & Life Sciences’ success. He has more than three decades of experience in commercial leadership, strategic planning, and operations, and a strong vision for expansion and innovation. 

“Todd’s passion and commitment to operational excellence has been instrumental in our recent momentum, and we are confident he will thrive in his new role as CSO,” Anupam stated. “His expertise in setting strategic direction and identifying organic and inorganic growth opportunities will help further scale Ascential Medical & Life Sciences and open doors for the company to make an even bigger impact in the healthcare industry.”

Martensen is transitioning to his new role concurrently with Cowen. As the new CCO, he will bring a strong focus on driving commercial success across all business units and play a key role in strengthening customer relationships as well as ensuring the sales team supports the firm’s partners navigate the challenges of today’s dynamic global market. Cowen has more than 30 years of experience in the medical and life sciences sector. Most recently, he was CCO at Alveo Technologies. Prior to that, he spent two decades at Thermo Fisher, where he led the commercial organization for the genetic sciences division, driving growth and building sustainable sales models. A seasoned global sales and marketing leader, Cowen is known for inspiring teams and delivering outstanding results in complex and competitive markets.

“Chris is a transformative leader with a deep understanding of the medical and life sciences landscape,” Anupam said. “His expertise will be crucial in shaping our commercial strategy and driving significant growth as we expand our global presence. We are excited to welcome him to the team and look forward to the impact he will make.”

Ascential Medical & Life Sciences designs, develops, and automates complex products from ideation to scaled manufacturing, tackling customers’ most demanding, mission-critical challenges where the cost of failure is high. It brings together more than 70 years of expertise through the strategic acquisitions of leading specialized businesses that now operate as a single integrated entity. Deep expertise and experience of various trusted companies such as Korvis, D&K Engineering, Kinematic and NACS, have been brought together to serve a broad range of customers including blue chips, mid-market and startups across medical devices, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare. The company helps customers accelerate critical solution innovation, mitigate risk, drive competitive differentiation, and shorten time to market, at scale. Ascential customers include Fortune 100 leaders such as 3M, Abbott, Boston Scientific Corp., Medtronic, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.