Board of Directors

Mr. Piron is an industry recognized innovator and expert in the field of breast Magnetic Resonance. He was awarded the 2008 Premier’s Catalyst Award for the Best Young Innovator of the Year' in Ontario, Canada. As a Masters student at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, he developed Sentinelle’s core technology. This research spanned breast MRI techniques, interventional procedure software development and multi-modality technology. Radio Frequency coil development centered around a dedicated breast MR imaging and intervention table which is now the Vanguard® product. This research spawned four academic papers (two of which won international awards), 15 invited talks (two winning awards), 22 abstracts and the core IP to Sentinelle Medical®. To date, Mr. Piron has developed or co-developed two patents (granted), as well as 19 that are filed and 10 provisional patents.

Prior to founding Sentinelle, Mr. Piron concurrently worked as VP Research and Development for two small medical device companies, Samarit Medical and Pinel Medical, where he was involved in product development, manufacturing process definition, sales, service and marketing functions.

Mr. Piron completed the Systems Design Engineering program at University of Waterloo specializing in medical imaging and carried research through the Medical Biophysics program at University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Campus.

Mr. Luginbuhl has entrepreneurial expertise and is a recognized innovator. As a founder of Sentinelle Medical, Mr. Luginbuhl has lead the mechanical design of the Vanguard System, leading to a number of key patents. He has managed the development of the Vanguard system from prototype to commercial production.

Prior to SMI, Mr. Luginbuhl founded and managed Centerline Designs. This initiative provided Mr. Luginbuhl with valuable small business startup experience designing, developing and manufacturing custom equipment for a variety of communities including environmental sciences, manufacturing, medical devices, and medical imaging research.

Mr. Luginbuhl also has many engineering firsts to his credit including the world’s first MRI-compatible microstepping motor. While working for the University of Toronto’s Department of Medical Biophysics, Mr. Luginbuhl helped develop a number of early stage technologies in medical imaging research, including minimally-invasive thermal therapy probes which use ultrasound to destroy diseased tissue without the need for surgical intervention. Mr. Luginbuhl has publications and patents on diverse subjects such as ultrasound frequency control, Magnetic Resonance Elastography, and MR-guided intervention.

Mr. Hobbs is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Delcath Systems Inc., a New York, NY based publicly traded company focused on medical technologies for the treatment of cancer. Mr. Hobbs is the former President and CEO of AngioDynamics Inc., serving in that capacity since 1996 and now serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board. Mr. Hobbs co-founded AngioDynamics Inc., a Queensbury NY-based public company with nearly 600 employees and facilities in California, Georgia and the UK. Mr. Hobbs is a member of the Board of Directors for the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation. In 2005 he was granted an Honorary Fellowship by the Society of Interventional Radiology and is the only member of the medical device industry to serve on the SIR strategic planning committee. Mr. Hobbs joined the Medical Device Manufacturers Association Board in 2005 and currently serves as its Vice Chairman. Mr. Hobbs has more than 25 years experience in interventional radiology, interventional cardiology and the gastroenterology medical device industry. He is a bio-medical engineer, with a Bachelor of Sciences in Plastics Engineering with a Biomaterials emphasis from University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Mr. Janzen is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Cardiome Pharma Corp. which is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded drug development company. Mr. Janzen manages all of Cardiome’s business activities, including capital markets, commercial development, partnering, licensing and other strategic transactions. Mr. Janzen joined Cardiome in 2003 as Chief Financial Officer. He has been instrumental to the advancement of Cardiome’s corporate development and the strengthening of its financial position. Prior to joining Cardiome, Mr. Janzen served as Managing Director, Health Sciences and Partner at Sprott Securities, Inc., a Toronto-based investment bank.

Dr. Machan is a radiologist at the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Vancouver, BC. In 1992, along with 2 other scientists he cofounded Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which is now a publicly traded company on the Toronto and NASDAQ stock exchanges. Dr. Machan is co-holder of multiple issued patents on devices used in or being investigated for medical treatment. In 2006 he and Dr. Bill Hunter were awarded the Manning Innovation Principle Award. At present he sits on the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Boards for multiple Canadian and US medical companies as well as being actively involved in clinical practice, research and teaching at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Machan is a founding member of the Canadian Interventional Radiology Association and is past president of the Western Angiographic and Interventional Society.

Dr. Kim received his PhD in Medical Biophysics (MRI physics) in 1995 and his MD in 1997 from the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. He completed a fellowship in Cardiovascular Tomography (CT, MR) at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 2003. He has been board-certified since 2002. He joined Radiology Ltd. in 2004 and specializes in Body and Cardiovascular Imaging. He is the author of numerous publications relating to cardiac imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, and also holds several US patents in MRI.

Mr. Halpern is the President of Halpern Enterprises and has been in the fine wine and spirits business for over 30 years. He is the Chair of the Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, which benefits research at University Health Network, and has been a member of the University Health Network Board of Directors since 2005. He is also a Board Champion of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre's Krembil Discovery Tower and Krembil Neuro Program at the Toronto General & Western Hospital.

Mr. Piron is President of Pinel Medical Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of niche medical products. From 2001 to 2007, Mr. Piron was CEO of Samarit Medical, a Canadian-based manufacturing and marketing company. He was a founder of Innofocus, a partnership that provides strategic consulting. A former marketing manager at Babcock & Wilcox International responsible for joint ventures, licensing and overseeing an international distributor network, Mr. Piron also served as a faculty member in the School of Business at Wilfrid Laurier University and was a regional manager in charge of recruiting for the Canadian Forces following active service in the Canadian air force.