Saluda Medical Announces Executive Leadership Changes
Founder, CEO John Parker Taking on New Role as Chief Scientific Officer, Remaining on Board
Artarmon, Australia – February 12, 2021 – Saluda Medical Pty Limited (“Saluda Medical”), the market leader in the development of novel closed-loop spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of chronic pain, today announced the appointment of Jim Schuermann as President & Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Schuermann joined Saluda Medical as President in June 2020. The company also announced that founder and CEO John Parker, PhD, will take on the new role of Chief Scientific Officer, while remaining on the company’s Board of Directors.
This realignment in leadership comes as Saluda Medical advances its pipeline of spinal cord stimulation innovation and continues toward global commercialization and pursuing FDA approval. Dr. Parker’s vision for Saluda started 11 years ago when closed-loop SCS and evoked compound action potential (ECAP) measurements began as a concept. Today, that very novel approach is on track to be the next revolution of technology for impacting the lives of millions of patients living with chronic and debilitating pain.
“Under John’s leadership, we were the first to develop transformational science leading to the first spinal cord stimulation therapy designed to measure and automatically optimize therapy in real time to provide life-changing results for patients with chronic pain,” said Chris Beare, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Saluda Medical. “The board looks forward to building on John’s vision and growing our global company to deliver this therapy to patients around the world.”
“I am excited to step into the role of CEO with John focused on cutting-edge research and continuing Saluda’s mission to continue to develop the unmatched technology in the field of pain management during this key chapter of the company evolution,” said Jim Schuermann, President and CEO.
“I am very proud of the research and inventions we have created and the magnificent team we have built to help realize the mission of Saluda Medical,” said Dr. John Parker, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. “As we move forward during this pivotal time on the path to global commercialization, I’ve never been more energized and optimistic about the work we are doing to advance the field of SCS. I look forward to working to further the science and evidence supporting what we believe will be the new gold standard of chronic pain management.”
Mr. Schuermann has more than 25 years of healthcare and medical device leadership experience. Prior to serving as President of Saluda, Mr. Schuermann held the role of Chief Business Officer at Avedro, which executed its initial public offering and then was acquired by Glaukos in 2019. Prior to his time at Avedro, he was Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic’s Mechanical Circulatory Support, a newly formed business unit in the Cardiac & Vascular Group. Before Medtronic he was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at HeartWare and held a number of roles at Boston Scientific. Jim started his medical device career at Sherwood-Davis & Geck, a division of American Home Products. Mr. Schuermann holds an MBA degree from Golden Gate University and a BS from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
About Saluda Medical
Saluda Medical is a global neuromodulation company leading the development and commercialization of data-driven, personalized therapies for patients with chronic pain. The company’s first product, Evoke®, is a closed-loop spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system designed to treat chronic pain, a condition that affects more than 540 million people globally. SCS treats the condition by stimulating the spinal cord and altering the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Saluda’s proprietary Evoke System is the only closed-loop SCS system designed to provide real-time customization of waveforms to each unique ECAP which can be updated more than 100 times a second, to deliver consistent therapy within a patient’s individual therapeutic window. To learn more, visit www.saludamedical.com and connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/saluda-medical/.