Healthcare Veteran Joins MRI Interventions’ Board of Directors

MRI Interventions Inc. has appointed B. Kristine Johnson to its Board of Directors, effective Sept. 1. Johnson, president of Affinity Capital Management, a venture firm that invests primarily in healthcare companies, brings more than 35 years of healthcare management leadership.
 
In addition to serving as president of Affinity Capital Management, Johnson serves on the board of Piper Jaffray Companies, an investment bank and asset management firm, and AtriCure Inc., a medical device company providing technologies for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and related conditions. She also served on the board of The Spectranetics Corporation prior to its acquisition by Royal Philips in 2017.
 
“We are thrilled to have Kris join our Board, and we can’t wait to have the benefit of her expertise as we continue to build our company into the next substantive and diversified player in the neuro medical device space,” commented Joe Burnett, president and CEO of MRI Interventions. “Kris’ exposure to many facets of a world class organization like Medtronic makes her an ideal addition for our small but dynamic company, as her experience will allow us to see around corners as we grow and evolve. We are proud to have Kris as a part of MRI Interventions.”

Prior to serving as a consultant and subsequently as president of Affinity Capital Management since 2000, Johnson was employed for 17 years at Medtronic Inc., a manufacturer of cardiac pacemakers, neurological and spinal devices, and other medical products, serving most recently as senior vice president and chief administrative officer. Her experience at Medtronic also includes service as president of the vascular business and president of the tachyarrhythmia management business, among other roles.

Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from St. Olaf College. She is also a recipient of the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
 
“I look forward to working with the team at MRI Interventions to advance the company’s mission of enabling the effective and efficient use of minimally invasive interventions to improve care for patients suffering from a variety of neurological and other conditions,” said Johnson.  “With a strong emphasis on building out commercial applications of its core technology, I believe the company is poised for growth.”

MRI Interventions is a platform company for MRI-guided neurosurgery procedures, including deep-brain stimulation, ablation, aspiration, biopsy, and gene therapy delivery. The ClearPoint Neuro Navigation System is cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CE marked, and is installed in more than 55 surgical centers in the United States. To date, nearly 3,000 procedures have been performed leveraging the sub-millimetric accuracy of the ClearPoint platform.