Business Wire08.31.21
Hyperfine Inc., creators of the world’s first portable magnetic resonance imaging device, has named Scott Huennekens executive board chairman.
Huennekens is a successful CEO, chairman, board member, and entrepreneur, having been involved in more than 20 medtech startup, growth, and public companies with market valuations totaling over $20 billion and benefitting more than 20 million patients with the therapies and diagnostics they deliver. As executive chairman, he will partner with recently announced president and CEO Dave Scott to build Hyperfine into a leading ecosystem in the brain and beyond. This will begin with the continuation of the rapidly expanding commercialization of the world’s first compact portable MRI system (cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2020) and preparing Hyperfine for future growth and readiness for a public market offering. His prior company and board experience includes recent IPOs at Actus Medical and Envista, Verb Surgical/Google, Volcano, NuVasive, ViewRay, EndoChoice, Digirad and Edwards Lifesciences.
“As Hyperfine enters its next phase of expanding commercialization and business vision, Scott brings a valuable new perspective to the board given his successful experiences in launching and building new product categories, expanding clinical applications and digitizing product platforms. These experiences will accelerate our trajectory,” commented company founder Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, who will continue to serve on Hyperfine’s board. “His business track record speaks for itself, and his clear dedication to improving healthcare for patients with digital platforms that include image diagnosis and guidance, interventional therapies, robotics and AI perfectly aligns with our mission.”
Huennekens’ public boards include chairman of Acutus Medical (IPO August 2020); chairman of Envista (IPO September 2019); and board member of Nuvasive Inc. He also serves as a board member and past chairman of the Medical Device Manufacturer’s Association (MDMA).
Until its acquisition in 2019 by Johnson & Johnson, Huennekens served as president and CEO of Verb Surgical, a joint venture between Google and Johnson & Johnson, to build a next-generation digital surgery platform that included robotics, advanced visualization, therapeutic instruments, connectivity, and AI. Huennekens also led Volcano Corp., a leader in minimally-invasive therapy guidance in interventional cardiology, from startup to its IPO in 2006 and subsequent acquisition by Philips in 2015. Volcano grew its open precision guided therapy platform to more than 8,000 installs in cath labs around the world. Before this, he served as president and CEO at Digirad Corp., a diagnostic imaging solutions provider that went public in 2004. Digirad introduced the world’s first portable solid state gamma for nuclear cardiology imaging.
Scott, who previously worked with Huennekens at Verb Surgical/Google added, “Scott has made a broad impact across the healthcare industry and is a practiced and experienced executive chairman. His experience leading healthcare organizations and ability to successfully navigate evolving digital, commercial, clinical and regulatory changes over time will provide me and the board with valuable perspective and insights—we are glad to have him join us to help guide Hyperfine to expand the clinical applications and utility of portable MR imaging.”
Ernst & Young recognized Huennekens as Entrepreneur of the Year. Goldman Sachs recognized him multiple times as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at its annual Builders & Innovators conference. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
“I am thrilled to join the board of directors at Hyperfine to help advance its first-of-a-kind, game-changing portable MRI. I have been deeply motivated and inspired by the company’s mission,” stated Huennekens. “I look forward to working alongside my fellow board members and company management to advance this technology, and I am proud to support the Hyperfine team as they redefine the use of MRI in the brain to begin with, expand the clinical applications to many other use cases, as well as extend the utility and access of MRI around the world.”
Huennekens is a successful CEO, chairman, board member, and entrepreneur, having been involved in more than 20 medtech startup, growth, and public companies with market valuations totaling over $20 billion and benefitting more than 20 million patients with the therapies and diagnostics they deliver. As executive chairman, he will partner with recently announced president and CEO Dave Scott to build Hyperfine into a leading ecosystem in the brain and beyond. This will begin with the continuation of the rapidly expanding commercialization of the world’s first compact portable MRI system (cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2020) and preparing Hyperfine for future growth and readiness for a public market offering. His prior company and board experience includes recent IPOs at Actus Medical and Envista, Verb Surgical/Google, Volcano, NuVasive, ViewRay, EndoChoice, Digirad and Edwards Lifesciences.
“As Hyperfine enters its next phase of expanding commercialization and business vision, Scott brings a valuable new perspective to the board given his successful experiences in launching and building new product categories, expanding clinical applications and digitizing product platforms. These experiences will accelerate our trajectory,” commented company founder Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, who will continue to serve on Hyperfine’s board. “His business track record speaks for itself, and his clear dedication to improving healthcare for patients with digital platforms that include image diagnosis and guidance, interventional therapies, robotics and AI perfectly aligns with our mission.”
Huennekens’ public boards include chairman of Acutus Medical (IPO August 2020); chairman of Envista (IPO September 2019); and board member of Nuvasive Inc. He also serves as a board member and past chairman of the Medical Device Manufacturer’s Association (MDMA).
Until its acquisition in 2019 by Johnson & Johnson, Huennekens served as president and CEO of Verb Surgical, a joint venture between Google and Johnson & Johnson, to build a next-generation digital surgery platform that included robotics, advanced visualization, therapeutic instruments, connectivity, and AI. Huennekens also led Volcano Corp., a leader in minimally-invasive therapy guidance in interventional cardiology, from startup to its IPO in 2006 and subsequent acquisition by Philips in 2015. Volcano grew its open precision guided therapy platform to more than 8,000 installs in cath labs around the world. Before this, he served as president and CEO at Digirad Corp., a diagnostic imaging solutions provider that went public in 2004. Digirad introduced the world’s first portable solid state gamma for nuclear cardiology imaging.
Scott, who previously worked with Huennekens at Verb Surgical/Google added, “Scott has made a broad impact across the healthcare industry and is a practiced and experienced executive chairman. His experience leading healthcare organizations and ability to successfully navigate evolving digital, commercial, clinical and regulatory changes over time will provide me and the board with valuable perspective and insights—we are glad to have him join us to help guide Hyperfine to expand the clinical applications and utility of portable MR imaging.”
Ernst & Young recognized Huennekens as Entrepreneur of the Year. Goldman Sachs recognized him multiple times as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at its annual Builders & Innovators conference. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
“I am thrilled to join the board of directors at Hyperfine to help advance its first-of-a-kind, game-changing portable MRI. I have been deeply motivated and inspired by the company’s mission,” stated Huennekens. “I look forward to working alongside my fellow board members and company management to advance this technology, and I am proud to support the Hyperfine team as they redefine the use of MRI in the brain to begin with, expand the clinical applications to many other use cases, as well as extend the utility and access of MRI around the world.”
