PHENOMIX SCIENCES - Key Persons
Andres J. Acosta, M.D., Ph.D., is a consultant in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Acosta joined the staff of Mayo Clinic in 2016 and holds the academic rank of assistant professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.
Dr. Acosta earned his B.S. in health science and his M.D. at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador, graduating with magna cum laude honors for both degrees. He earned his Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology at the University of Florida, College of Medicine in Gainesville and completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at University of Florida Shands/UF Hospital. He continued his training at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, where he completed both a clinical fellowship and a postdoctoral research fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology.
Dr. Acosta main career goal is to understand and cure obesity. His research focuses on gastrointestinal physiology to understand the complexity of food intake regulation and obesity. His laboratory utilizes a combination of genetics, physiology, pharmacology, proteomics, metabolomics, and gastrointestinal and brain imaging to understand food intake regulation and to modulate them for the treatment of obesity. He is principal investigator and co-investigator on research funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. In collaboration with his mentor, Michael Camilleri, M.D., Dr. Acosta is using cutting-edge techniques to develop a unique and novel approach to "personalized obesity management" based on combination of physiology, genetics and metabolic markers. He has given numerous presentations on his research both nationally and internationally and is a prolific author of journal articles, abstracts and other written publications.
In the truth example of translational medicine and with support of the Center of Individualized Medicine, Dr. Acosta started a "personalized obesity management" clinic to help patients struggling with obesity and obesity-related comorbidities. In the clinic, he is using the cutting-edge techniques develoedp in his laboratory to find the "right intervention for the right patient". His novel approach resulted in greater weight loss (2x) with less complications to his patients.
Throughout his training and career, Dr. Acosta has received many awards and honors, including the J. Arnold Bargen Research Award, the Ruppe Career Development Award, and the Gerstner Career Development Award, all conferred at Mayo Clinic, as well as the ANMS Career Development Award, conferred by the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society.
In addition to his clinical and research activities, Dr. Acosta is active in education and provides mentorship to medical students and clinical fellows, among others. He is also an active member of professional organizations, such as the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association. American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and The Obesity Society.
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- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Associate Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center
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- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Current Fellow & past President of American Association of Nurse Practitioners ( AANP )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
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- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Co - Director & Co - Founder of Scottsdale Weight Loss Center
Job Titles:
- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Assistant Professor of Surgery, Duke University Health System
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- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Professor Emerita, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
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- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Director of Nutrition & Metabolic Research and Obesity Telemedicine, Scripps Clinic
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- Chief Operating Officer
- Head of Marketing & Sales
18+ years of sales, marketing, and business development experience in obesity device space.
Liv Williamsen brings nearly 20 years of experience in sales, clinical, and marketing leadership in the obesity device space. Of note was Apollo EndoSurgery which launched disruptive technology into the endoscopy space by putting surgical suturing at the end of a gastroscope and empowering gastroenterologists and surgeons to perform surgical procedures transorally. Over the course of 9 years she led clinical, sales and business development teams to launch 4 new products on 5 different continents, with the most notable procedures in the endobariatric space - endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty and gastric balloons, taking the company from pre-revenue to $88MM in revenue.
Most recently, she was responsible for leading the marketing and commercial development of virtual case support and procedure management software for ExplORer Surgical growing revenue by 9x and contributing to Series A financing. Prior to that she led the US Clinical Marketing team at TransEnterix where she developed the medical advisory board, clinical study initiatives, and led team to accelerate procedure growth by 340%.
Mark Bagnall currently serves as CEO of Phenomix Sciences, Inc. Mark is an entrepreneur and business manager in the healthcare industry. He has held roles as CEO, COO and CFO during his career and has served on the boards of several public and private biotechnology companies. In the past 6 years, Mark has co-founded three start-ups and has advised and invested in several others.
Before Phenomix, Mark worked with Health2047, the innovation subsidiary of the AMA, most recently as an Executive-in-Residence. In that role, he identified and evaluated new business opportunities, including Health2047's evaluation of Phenomix Sciences. Prior to joining Health2047, Mark co-founded and served as COO of Naia Rare Diseases, a company focused rare gastrointestinal disorders. Naia Rare Diseases was sold to 9 Meters Biopharma in May 2020. Prior to founding Naia, Mark served as CEO of GenturaDx until its successful sale to Luminex Corporation in 2012. GenturaDx's technology is the basis of Luminex's acclaimed "Aries" platform. Before GenturaDx, Mark held senior management positions in the biotechnology industry for almost 20 years. During his career, Mark has negotiated and managed six M&A transactions, raised more than $1/2 billion in equity and debt financings, and negotiated numerous licensing agreements. He is a CPA and started his career in the high technology and biotechnology practices of Ernst & Young.
Job Titles:
- Company Advisor to
- LLC Manager / Advisor
Ross Higgins is a company advisor to Phenomix Sciences. Ross brings over a decade of operations and management experience in laboratory and biotech startups. Most recently, he was responsible for establishing a running CAP/CLIA accredited laboratory for the Minneapolis based OneOme, a pharmacogenomics company also co-founded by Mayo Clinic where he served as Sr. Director of Laboratory Operations and Clinical Development for 3 years before joining Phenomix. In prior roles, Ross has overseen the development and launch of several successful new products and services in the human genetics and agrigenomics sectors. Ross has a B.S. in Clinical Laboratory Science and an M.B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University. He also maintains ASCP certification as a Medical Laboratory Scientist.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Associate Professor of Medicine & Director of Gastroenterology Metabolic and Bariatric Program, University of Colorado
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- Member of the Clinical & Medical Advisors Team
- Medical Director, AMITA Health