Jim Fitzsimmons, President and Chief Executive Officer

Jim joined TRS in March, 2010, and has over 30 years of experience in the medical device industry. He has been involved with start-up medical device companies for the last 21 years backed by prestigious venture capital firms such as MPM Capital, InterWest Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Prior to TRS, Jim was Chairman and Chief executive Officer of Archus Orthopedics, Inc., which was acquired in 2009. Archus was one of three companies created by Scout Medical Technologies LLC, a medical device incubation firm that Jim founded in 2000 and led as Managing Director. In association with his work at Scout, in addition to Archus Orthopedics, Jim co-founded and continues as a Board member of Cardiac Dimensions, Inc., and co-founded EndoGastric Solutions, Inc., both successful start-up medical device companies. Prior to Scout, Jim served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Guidant Corporation's Cardiac and Vascular Surgery Group. He joined Guidant in 1997 as a result of its acquisition of EndoVascular Technologies ("EVT"). Jim was President and Chief Executive Officer of EVT for six years prior to the Guidant acquisition, taking the company public in 1996. Before that, Jim spent eleven years with the Medical Device and Diagnostic Division of Eli Lilly and Company. During his tenure at Lilly, Jim held a variety of positions in sales, marketing, mergers and acquisitions, and general management. Jim currently serves on the Board of Directors of RF Surgical Systems, Inc., a privately held medical device company. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of VNUS Medical Technologies, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company sold to Covidien in 2009, and as a member of the Board of Directors of AsthmatX, Inc., a privately held medical device company sold to Boston Scientific in 2010. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Albers School of Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Seattle University. Jim holds a B.S. in Biology-Premedical and a MBA from Seattle University.

Sharon Schulzki, Senior Vice President of Business Development

Sharon joined TRS in December 2014, and has a 30-year track record of successfully building businesses in the orthopedic trauma, spine, craniomaxillofacial and biomaterials spaces.  Most recently, she served as Vice President of Surgical Affairs for Depuy Synthes Spine, a division of Johnson & Johnson Corporation. Prior to Synthes, Sharon was Chief Operating Officer of NSpine, where she achieved critical milestones in market research, clinical studies, clinical relationships, data collection, field training, and reimbursement with the company’s posterior dynamic stabilization technology, building value to support the acquisition of NSpine by Synthes in 2007. She also served as Chief Operating Officer of MacroPore Biosurgery and achieved global leadership in the design, development and production of bioresorbable polymer implants for use in spine surgery. Sharon began her orthopedic career at Howmedica, a Division of Pfizer, where she rose through the ranks over a 17-year period to become Vice President of Marketing. Sharon served on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Craniofacial Association, a national charity founded by Cher, and was named one of the 43 most influential people in medical technology by European Medical Device Technology. She holds a BS degree in Medical Technology from Loyola University in Maryland, and completed a Medical Technology internship in the Department of Pathology at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore.

Jim Adox, Chairman of the Board

Jim, a TRS co-founder, is a Managing Director at Venture Investors, LLC ("VI"), a Midwest venture capital firm specializing in seed and early stage healthcare and technology investments. He joined VI in 2007 and heads up their Ann Arbor, Michigan office. Jim's prior venture capital experience includes a combined nine years as a partner at RidgeLine Ventures and EDF Ventures, where he led the spin-out, sourcing, financing, syndication and exit of numerous investments. During this time, he served as President, CFO, and COO of select companies until a management team was recruited. Jim previously served on the Boards of Directors of Avail Networks (acquired by ERI) and HandyLab (acquired by BD), and as an observer for Alfalight, Ardesta, TherOx and Xtera Communications. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of HistoSonics, Incept BioSystems, and the Michigan Venture Capital Association. Prior to his venture capital positions, Jim had nine years of corporate operating experience in marketing, engineering, business development and operations. Outside of his VI responsibilities, Jim is on the Board of Advisors to the Frankel Commercialization Fund, The Medical Innovations Center, Tech Arb, and Huron River Ventures. Jim earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a MBA with High Distinction, all from the University of Michigan.

Hank Brown, Board Member

Hank, a TRS investor, has over 25 years of experience in medical device sales, marketing, distribution and general management.  As an entrepreneur and investor, Hank has provided fiscal, strategic and operations leadership to multiple companies in the medical device industry.  Together with his brother Richard, Hank developed and implemented a plan to restructure and recapitalize Rogue Inc., a medical logistics company, successfully turning the company around and more than tripling sales in the first five years.  Hank has founded two successful medical device distributorships.  The recent sale of one of these operations to Johnson & Johnson has given Hank more time to devote to new business development opportunities.  Hank is a member of the Board of Directors, and was a founding investor and interim CEO of Tangent Medical Technologies, a University of Michigan technology spin-out.  In addition to his Board roles with Tangent and TRS, Hank serves on the Board of Micro-Machine, an orthopaedic manufacturing company backed by a private equity group also based in Ann Arbor.  Hank has also been involved as a Board member of FOCOS, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children in the developing world who need musculoskeletal care.

Tom Porter, Board Member

Tom has a broad range of experience founding, managing and advising successful technology growth companies. Tom co-founded EDF Ventures®, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based venture capital firm investing in early stage companies in health care and information technology. At EDF he managed the health care practice, served as interim CEO for several health care companies in the portfolio, was a founder of five companies and lead investor in others. Tom’s investments have resulted in three public offerings and numerous mergers that have generated nearly $1.4 billion dollars in liquidity events for their investors. As Executive in Residence at the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Tom was an adjunct professor, served on the School’s Corporate Advisory Board, and was awarded the Bert Wertman Service Award for his contributions to the School. Over the course of his career Tom has held Board positions for numerous health care and software companies. Tom holds an MBA degree from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University where he has also served as a member of the Board of Visitors and Chair of the Advisory board for the Management Fellows Program.

Frank La Marca, M.D., Founder and Board Member

Frank, a TRS co-founder, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedics, and Director of the Surgical Spine Program in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. He is also Co-Director of the Spine Lab, a joint endeavor between the Departments of Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering at Michigan. Frank received his M.D. at Catholic University Medical School in Rome, Italy in 1993, and completed his Residency in Neurosurgery in 1996. He completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery at Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois in 1997. He then completed a Residency in Neurosurgery and a Fellowship in Complex and Reconstructive Spinal Surgery at Northwestern University in 2003. In 2004 Frank moved to the University of Michigan. Frank has published 24 manuscripts and received numerous honors. He has also received funding for a variety of research projects from DePuy Spine and Stryker Corporation.

William L. Murphy, Ph.D., Founder and Board Member

Bill is Harvey D. Spangler Professor of Biomedical Engineering as well as Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin, and he is Co-Director of the Wisconsin Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2002, and was a postdoctoral fellow in Chemistry at the University of Chicago from 2002 through 2004. Bill's research interests focus on designing "bio-inspired" materials that mimic and exploit biological systems. Applications include activated implants for bone regeneration and autologous tissue engineering. He has published over 120 manuscripts, 10 book chapters, and 25 patents. He has also received several honors and holds numerous advisory positions, including the editorial boards of Acta Biomaterialia, Tissue Engineering, and Advanced Functional Materials. Bill is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Stephen E. Feinberg, D.D.S, MS, Ph.D., Founder

Steve is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon and Professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. Additionally, he is a Professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Michigan. Steve serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and is Chairman of the Section on Research and Emerging Technologies. He is currently Chairman of the Research Committee for the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and past Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Research Planning and Technology Assessment for the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. In addition, Steve served on the Biotechnology Advisory Boards of the AO Foundation and Davos Switzerland, and on the Scientific Advisory Board of the REGEA Institute of Regenerative Medicine in Tampere, Finland. Steve was the recipient of the 1976 Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Research Fellowship and the 2004 recipient of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation Research Recognition Award. He is the author of numerous publications and internationally recognized for his contributions to temporomandibular joint surgery and reconstruction.