Medical Device expert specializing in development of efficient Quality Systems for small and startup medical device companies. As President of Rook Quality Systems, Mr. Rose works as a contract Quality Manager for multiple medical device companies, overseeing overall quality strategy, and ensuring compliance through documentation and auditing services. Mr. Rose is a certified quality auditor (CQA) and has regulatory and submission experience for a variety of markets, including FDA, CE Mark, Health Canada, and CFDA. Mr. Rose encourages the simplification of Quality Systems to reduce the quality burden and improve compliance through training and efficient QS design.

I am an investor turned entrepreneur on a mission to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients as the CEO of Prana Thoracic. Our technology is the first minimally invasive medical device to enable early diagnosis and intervention in lung cancer.

At the start of my career, I received the gift of entrepreneurship, an unexpected pivot that changed my path from research to innovation. My roles as Research Engineer at Texas Heart Institute and Director of Product Development at Saranas taught me what it takes to bring innovative technologies from idea to reality. My work at Mercury Fund, followed by my role as New Ventures Manager at Johnson & Johnson MedTech Center for Device Innovation expanded my perspective on innovation to include the investor mindset and ultimately led me to step back into an entrepreneurial role with Prana Thoracic.

I am invested in growing and supporting Houston’s life science community. I’ve mentored countless founders, and continue to advocate for students and aspiring entrepreneurs, as co-founder of Enventure and as President of the Board for Rice University Engineering Alumni.

Larry Lawson is a Founder and Executive Chairman at Proxima. He has 45+ years of experience in the healthcare industry.

He has been the founder, board member, and executive at several medical device companies: eCardio Diagnostics, Decisio Health, HeartcoR Solutions, and Preventice. He is an Angel Investor with the Goose Society, TMC Venture Fund, and Angel MD.

He is a Distinguished American Award recipient from the Horatio Alger Association.

I am a serial medical device entrepreneur with 13+ years of C-level management of innovative medical device startups including Saranas, Alleviant Medical, and now Starling Medical. Beyond leading a diverse array of technical teams, I have direct experience in fundraising, business development, value analysis, operations, and regulatory strategy.

At Starling we are bringing the future of an AI centered proactive and predictive healthcare system to patients today. We are building the world's first continuous at home urinary diagnostic remote monitoring platform that seamlessly integrates into anyone's bathroom routine. By detecting changes in patient's urine over time with our novel toilet indwelling device and our digital health infrastructure, we are capable of identifying exacerbations of a patient's chronic condition early and preventing life threatening hospitalizations.

Etienne Nichols is a Medical Device Guru and Mechanical Engineer who loves learning and teaching how systems work together. He has both manufacturing and product development experience, even aiding in the development of combination drug-delivery devices, from startup to Fortune 500 companies and holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Having managed cross-functional teams to update designs of legacy products, Etienne understands the pain of following the Design Controls process in paper-based QMS environment. His expansive knowledge, experience, and passion with medical devices is evenly matched with how much he enjoys helping customers work efficiently through the design and development process to bring safe, high quality products to market.