The Team

Mark Novotny has 28 years of experience with “Bench to Bedside” medical device innovation. During these three decades, Mark held roles across all functions of R&D, Operations, Sales and Marketing, Clinical Sciences, Regulatory and Quality. Mark has worked on numerous projects in critical care, cardiovascular and spinal surgery throughout the US, Asia and Europe. Medical device technologies he has worked on are used every day in at least 40 countries and collectively they have generated billions of dollars in sales.

Brian Dowling is the Finance Director of SST Spine and General Manager of SST Spine Limited, SST Spine’s device manufacturer. Brian is a Chartered Accountant having trained with PWC in Ireland. Brian has over 25 years of experience in Europe, the USA and China across Financial Planning & Analysis and Financial Control roles. Brian has worked in various industries including biotech, retail, software, electronics and financial services. He has held roles such as Director of FP&A for a biotech in Seattle (Corixa) and Group Controller for CIT Vendor Finance Asia Pacific in Shanghai. Brian has also set up the international finance functions of companies such as Beats by Dr. Dre, Gilt Group and Easylink in Ireland.

Loren Francis is the Vice President of R&D and Operations for SST, Ltd. He has been working in the field of biomechanics, spine injury mechanics and medical device development for over 15 years. He started his career at NASA as an aeronautical engineer, performing design and development on a variety of International Space Station projects before perusing a career in biomechanics. He is an expert in developing systems to assess the biomechanics of the spine and device verification and validation testing. Loren is the author or co-author of multiple journal publications, book chapters and conference papers on biomechanics.

Molly Bond leads the Quality and Compliance within SST’s Quality Management System. She also secures and maintains clinical trial approvals in target geographies to assure compliance with applicable national and local regulations as well as corporate requirements. Molly has over 10 years of experience in the medical device field. Prior to starting at SST, Molly worked for various small to mid-sized medical device companies and has successfully launched multiple products in the US and International markets. She is highly experienced with ISO standards, auditing, design assurance, risk management and CAPA.

Dr. Michael Hess has over 20 years experience in endoscopic procedures, where he has broad experience in several techniques and approaches. Dr Hess was co-surgeon of the worldwide first successful full-endoscopic nucleus replacement surgery in 2009 and he is the principal investigator of SST's clinical international multicentre studies for the PerQdisc Nucleus Replacement system product. Dr Hess has a PhD in Orthopaedics, is the Past President of the German Interventional Spine Society (GIW e.V.), and served as Master Instructor for Spine Intervention Society (now: IPSIS, USA) from 2003 to 2021. Dr. Hess is an internationally renowned expert in the field of minimal-invasive spine surgery and interventional pain therapy.

David C. LoPresti, MD, is a board-certified Interventional Radiologist with more than two decades of clinical experience and 13 years of service in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, where he attained the rank of Commander. He is current with continuous maintenance of certification (MOC) and brings expertise across the full spectrum of vascular and interventional radiology, interventional pain management and spine interventions. Dr. LoPresti has played an active role in medical innovation and device development. As Medical Director and ongoing consultant to Spinal Stabilization Technologies, LLC, he has contributed to the research, design, and clinical trial strategy for a novel lumbar motion-preserving implant now in international human trials.