Embody Inc., a privately held medical device company focused on soft tissue healing, announces new appointments to its board and leadership team following a growth funding round of $20.5 million to support continued commercial growth.  
 
The company adds Rene Salas to its Board of Directors. Salas is a 30-year life science veteran and previously served as a partner and lead of Ernst & Young's Mid-Atlantic life science practice, leading both its Innovation Practice and its Entrepreneur of the Year program. He has successfully completed multiple IPOs, private placements, acquisitions and collaborations across the healthcare and technology sectors. 
 
"We are honored to have Rene's experience of working closely with high growth life science companies that have gone public, generating more than $5 billion in transactions to our board," said Embody CEO Jeff Conroy.
 
Additionally, the company has expanded its leadership team with several new hires and appointments to enable the growth of its rapidly expanding commercial business: 

• Tim Meyers, chief financial officer: Transitioning from its board of directors to the CFO role, Meyers has led investments and served on the boards of more than fifty companies. He has been instrumental in assisting more than 150 companies through capital raises, mergers, and acquisitions.   
• Matt Havener, director of Product Development: Havener brings more than 15 years of orthobiologics and product development experience from concept through product launch. He is focused on implementing best-practices in device development to expand the company's platform of soft tissue healing products. Prior to Embody, he held innovation leadership roles at DSM Biomedical and Stryker Corp., where he oversaw successful execution of many cross-functional development programs. 
• Vicki Phillos, director of Commercial Operations: Phillos brings more than 17 years of commercial operations and customer care experience. Phillos previously served as the vice president of Customer Care at Stryker Corp. and K2M, a spinal surgery device-maker, leading the creation of sales and customer care processes as the company grew, went public, and was later acquired by Stryker for $1.4 billion.  
• Brianna Schehr, director of Regulatory & Clinical: Schehr brings more than 15 years of regulatory, clinical, and quality experience in medical devices and collagen-based biomaterials. Prior to Embody, she was responsible for multiple successful U.S. Food and Drug Administration filings and clearances at DSM Biomedical and adds significant regulatory expertise to the Embody team. 
• Jack Gardella, director of National Accounts: Gardella brings extensive, successful national accounts experience, having previously worked with Zimmer-Biomet and Smith & Nephew Endoscopy. Most recently, he developed and implemented a national account program with CooperSurgical Inc., a leader in women's health care products. Along with national accounts, Gardella has also held sales management positions with Ethicon, Aesculap and Zimmer-Biomet. 
• Christine Nelson, vice president of Manufacturing and Quality: Previously, Nelson held the position of director of Production & Logistics with the company for more than four years and led the process to bring Embody's first product, Tapestry, to market.  She is driving the manufacturing and quality processes necessary for the company to scale to meet future demands.   

"We see tremendous growth potential based on our recent success, requiring the need to build a team that is equipped to scale," said Conroy.  "With these new additions, we are in a position to further expand our capabilities and help our customers benefit from our technologies."
 
Embody, the soft tissue healing company, is pioneering the next-generation regenerative platform with novel collagen-based bio-fabrication techniques and products for the fast-growing sports medicine market. The global market for sports medicine products is expected to reach $11 billion by 2023. Embody's products focus on the most pressing patient needs: the repair of serious tendon and ligament injuries and are developed in close collaboration with some of the most advanced clinical thought leaders. Founded in 2014 and funded more than $20 million in DARPA and U.S. Department of Defense funding, the company is developing unique biomaterials with an initial focus on orthopedic applications including foot and ankle, rotator cuff, and knee ligament, including ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).