Team & Medical Board

Dan Gruppo is a successful sales and marketing executive with over 15 year’s experience in Orthopaedics. Prior to joining CoNextions, Dan was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Upper Trauma and Extremities at Stryker Orthopaedics. During his time at Stryker, Dan held numerous leadership positions including Vice President of Sales for Stryker Trauma and Vice President of Marketing for Stryker Trauma and Extremities. Mr. Gruppo holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Xavier University.

Jeffrey Barnes became Chief Executive Officer of CoNextions Medical in 2017, having served as a board member for CoNextions since 2013. Jeff is also a Managing Director at BioVentures Investors having joined the firm in 2010. Prior to joining BioVentures, Jeff was Managing Partner at Oxford Bioscience Partners, a venture fund. There, he was responsible for building and leading the firm’s investment strategy in medical devices and diagnostic instrumentation, as well as originating and overseeing investments in 18 portfolio companies. Jeff was instrumental in the successful acquisition of seven medical device companies by strategic acquirers, including Edwards Lifesicences, Medtronic, ThermoFisher, Boston Scientific and Olympus Corp. Prior to venture capital, Jeff spent eight years in investment banking within the healthcare groups of Needham & Co. and Robertson, Stephens & Co. Previously, Jeff had over 12 years of operating experience in the medical products field, including eight years in management positions in research and development, manufacturing, and marketing within the Medical Products Group of Hewlett-Packard Corp. He has served on the Board of Directors of more than 20 public and private healthcare technology companies, and holds patents in diagnostic imaging technology and physiological signal processing. In addition, Jeff has been a co-founder of numerous medical device start-ups, including Mitralign, Circulite, Accelerated Technologies, Percutaneous Valve Technologies, Applied Spine Technologies and Claros Diagnostics. Jeff is a member of the Clinical Cardiology Council of the American Heart Association, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. He is also on the Board of Advisors at the Duke University Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Jeff is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Deep Vein Medical and Rachiotek. Jeff holds a B.S. degree in Physiology and Biophysics and an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, and an M.B.A. degree in Management from Stanford University.

Mr. Woolf has been CFO for CoNextions from its inception on a part-time basis, he joined the company on a full-time basis November 2014. Prior to joining CoNextions full-time, Mr. Woolf held the position of CFO for E.B. Berger Inc., a commercial construction company in the Salt Lake City, Utah where he held the position since 2005. Prior to working for E.B. Berger, Mr. Woolf held the position of CFO for Rubicon Medical Inc., a publicly traded company that was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2005. Mr. Woolf was responsible for all SEC filings and accounting functions at Rubicon Medical. Prior to Rubicon Mr. Woolf was the Controller at E.B. Berger, Inc. from 1991 to 2000. Mr. Woolf holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Webster University and holds a B.S. Degree in Finance from The University of Utah.

Dr. Attila Poka is one of the most experienced and internationally known surgeons in Orthopaedic Trauma. Dr. Poka was previously Chief of Orthopaedic Trauma at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, and Director of Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship Program for 20 years. Held an academic appointment as Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma at Ohio University. Prior to moving to Columbus, Ohio in 1992, Dr. Poka held numerous appointments while on faculty at Shock Trauma Center/MIEMSS, in Baltimore, at the University of Maryland. Dr. Poka has given hundreds of educational presentations at medical conferences worldwide, authored numerous book chapters and peer reviewed journal articles, and is widely regarded and respected in the orthopaedic community around the country. Dr. Poka received his medical degree from Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest, Hungary, completed his Orthopaedic residency at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and continued his post-graduate training with a two-year fellowship in orthopaedic trauma and spine surgery at the University of Maryland, Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland. He retired from clinical practice and joined CoNextions Medical Inc. in 2016.

Dr. Kubiak is presently an Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery with Tenure at the University of Utah and has extensive experience as an academic Orthopedic Trauma and Adult Reconstruction surgeon. He has acted as a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on numerous clinical and research studies. He has extensive experience with various surgical methods, having completed clinical research projects on and published peer-reviewed articles in the area of orthopedic injury and rehabilitation. Dr. Kubiak was a member of a research team that was recently recognized by the Department of Defense with a Peer Reviewed Orthopedic Technology Development Award for a new fracture healing monitoring system. Dr. Kubiak has published more than fifty peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is currently the Special Articles Editor for the Editorial Board of the Journal of Orthopedic Trauma. He attended the University of Washington School of Medicine.