Butterfly's new executives; Hyperfine hires informatics expert and more radiology leadership news
Fresh off completing its merger with Longview Acquisition Corp. and going public on the New York Stock Exchange, Butterfly Network Inc. on Thursday announced new additions to its executive staff.
The point-of-care ultrasound leader tapped Stacey Pugh for its newly created chief commercial officer role. Effective March 15, Pugh will oversee the development and implementation of Butterfly’s commercial strategy. Over her more than 18-year career, Pugh has worked at multiple medical device manufacturers, including her most recent position as senior vice president and president of Medtronic’s neurovascular business.
"I am excited to partner with Todd [Fruchterman] and the team at Butterfly to drive market penetration of this breakthrough technology across clinical applications, care settings and geographies," Pugh said Thursday.
The Guilford, Connecticut, firm also expanded to eight directors Thursday with the appointment of Elazer Edelman, MD, PhD. A practicing physician, Edelman heads the Harvard-MIT Biomedical Engineering Center and brings nearly three decades of experience to the board.
"This is a truly unique opportunity to have a meaningful impact in democratizing medical imaging,” Edelman said.
Acclaimed Penn neuroradiologist passes
Celebrated Philadelphia neuroradiologist Robert A. Zimmerman, MD, died Tuesday, Feb. 23, of kidney cancer at the age of 82, according to an obituary published by the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday.
After moving into radiology during medical school, Zimmerman graduated to a 46-year career at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1989, he began his career at CHOP where he quickly ascended to the chief of pediatric neuroradiology and MRI. He is widely credited with advancing the use of brain MR imaging.
Upon his retirement in 2018, CHOP created the Robert A. Zimmerman endowed chair in pediatric neuroradiology to honor his legacy.
Zimmerman is survived by his wife, two daughters, two grandchildren, one sister, and other relatives, according to the news outlet.
“He had a joyful sense of humor,” his daughter Sara Zimmerman said to the Inquirer. “You could hear his laughter wherever he was.”
Hyperfine brings in informatics leader
Portable imaging startup Hyperfine Research recently hired Khalil Salman, MD, as the company’s director of clinical informatics.
Salman has gained international recognition for his experience in imaging informatics and healthcare IT. Most recently, he worked as assistant professor of Medical Imaging and director of Medical Imaging Informatics at the University of Arizona and Banner Health.
In his new role, Salman will be responsible for enhancing users’ experience with the Guilford, Connecticut-based firm’s Swoop Portable MRI machine.
“Dr. Salman is an expert in data flow and analytics across the medical continuum, including EMR, PACS and many other clinical enterprise systems,” Hyperfine’s Chief Medical Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, Khan Siddiqui, MD, said in a Feb. 24 statement. “His insights will immediately complement our deep bench of talent to yield simplicity across our entire user experience and workflow.”
Below is additional news in the radiology community.
- Harry K. Genant, MD, professor emeritus at the University of California San Francisco Department of Radiology and influential musculoskeletal expert, died on Jan. 14 at the age of 79, according to an obituary shared in European Radiology last week.
- Private-equity backed Center for Diagnostic Imaging appointed Kim Tzoumakas as its chief executive after Rick Long stepped down from the position after serving for six years, the company announced March 9.
- Radiation oncology company Varian said March 2 that its CEO Dow Wilson will be retiring after 16 years once the firm’s upcoming acquisition by Siemens Healthineers is complete. Current President and COO Chris Toth will take over the role.
- The American Society of Radiologic Technologists named its 2021 fellows on Thursday. Read more about the six new members here.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.