Inspire was formed in 2007 when the technology and intellectual property portfolio were spun out of Medtronic. The employees of Inspire have come from the world’s leading medical device companies, working together to provide sleep apnea patients with a groundbreaking obstructive sleep apnea therapy option.
Tim Herbert, Inspire’s founder, has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors since 2007. Prior to joining Inspire, Mr. Herbert spent 11 years at Medtronic plc, a medical equipment development company, where he held management positions in product development, clinical research, sales, marketing, and healthcare reimbursement. Mr. Herbert holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from North Dakota State University and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas.
Rick Buchholz has served as Chief Financial Officer since May 2014. Prior to joining Inspire, Mr. Buchholz served as the Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, and Treasurer at superDimension, Ltd., a medical device manufacturer (which was acquired by Covidien plc in 2012), from 2006 to 2013. Mr. Buchholz holds a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
Randy Ban has served as Chief Commercial Officer since July 2019. Prior to that, he served as Inspire’s Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing from 2009 to December 2018 and, in December 2018, his title was changed to Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing. Before joining us, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Vertebral Technologies Inc., a medical device company, from 2008 to 2009. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Ban worked in a variety of sales and marketing leadership positions while at Guidant Corporation (Guidant was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2006). He began his career at Eli Lilly and Company in 1990. Mr. Ban holds a B.S. in marketing and an M.B.A., both from Indiana University.
Phil Ebeling has served as Chief Operating Officer since June 2020. Prior to joining Inspire, he worked for Abbott Laboratories as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer in the Cardiovascular and Neuromodulation Division from January 2017 to March 2018. From January 2016 to January 2017, Mr. Ebeling was Chief Technology Officer of St. Jude Medical, Inc., a medical device company that was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in January 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Ebeling served in various other roles at St. Jude Medical, Inc., including Senior Vice President, Research and Development in the Cardiovascular and Electrophysiology Division from 2012 to January 2016 and Vice President of Research and Development for the Cardiovascular Division from 2008 to 2011. Before joining St. Jude Medical in 2008, Mr. Ebeling spent 12 years at Boston Scientific Corporation where he held numerous positions including Director of Program Management—Risk Management. Mr. Ebeling has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. He is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers.
Bryan Phillips has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary since January 2021. From December 2019 to January 2021, Mr. Phillips served as Chief Legal Officer of Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From 2005 to November 2019, Mr. Phillips held several positions of increasing responsibility at Surmodics, Inc., a medical technology company, most recently as its Senior Vice President, Legal and Human Resources, General Counsel, and Secretary. Previously, Mr. Phillips served as Patent Counsel at Guidant Corporation’s Cardiac Rhythm Management Group (now part of Boston Scientific) from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Phillips began his legal career at a Minneapolis-based intellectual property law firm. Mr. Phillips earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Kansas and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
John Rondoni has over 20 years of experience in the development of implantable medical devices and care systems. Prior to joining Inspire, he worked on peripheral and central neuromodulation therapies at Medtronic, holding technical, project, and therapy leadership positions. At Medtronic, he led systems engineering for the development and commercial launch of the InterStim II platform. Since joining Inspire in 2008 he has served in product, clinical, and business development roles in the U.S. and while stationed internationally. Mr. Rondoni is an inventor of over 60 U.S. patents; he holds a B.S. and M.Eng. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Charisse Sparks, M.D. has served as Chief Medical Officer since July 2023. In addition, Dr. Sparks served on Inspire’s Board from July 2022 to July 2023, including as a member of Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Previously, Dr. Sparks served as Chief Medical Officer of AppliedVR, Inc., a privately-held company focused on virtual reality-based treatments that addresses the complexity of pain and other conditions, since February 2022. Prior to this and since 2016, she held various roles at DePuy Synthes, Inc., an orthopaedics company, and a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, including as Vice President / Integrated Leader of Trauma, CMF, and Biomaterials from September 2018 to February 2022. Dr. Sparks holds a B.S. from Wichita State University and a M.D. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She completed her residency in orthopaedics at the University of Arkansas Medical School and followship in orthopaedic trauma at Harvard Medical School.
Carlton Weatherby has served as Chief Strategy Officer since July 2023. Prior to this, he served as Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic’s Spine & Biologics Business since 2021. Prior to this, Mr. Weatherby served as Vice President of Strategic Sales and held various roles in corporate development since joining Medtronic in 2011. Mr. Weatherby received his B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Steve Jandrich has served as Vice President, Human Resources since September 2017, and served as Chief Compliance Officer from September 2017 to January 2021. Mr. Jandrich served as Vice President, Human Resources for Link Snacks, Inc., a multinational retail snack producer from 2015 to September 2017. From 2001 through April 2015, Mr. Jandrich held several leadership positions at St. Jude Medical which included Vice President Human Resources, leading the International Division’s human resources and commercial operations functions through rapid development. Mr. Jandrich holds a B.B.A. and M.B.A., from the University of St. Thomas.
Andreas Henke has more than 25 years of experience in medical device markets. Prior to his current role, he served as Sr. Director Sales and Marketing Europe and General Manager Germany of BTG Interventional Pulmonology. From 2003 to 2014, Mr. Henke held a variety of management positions in Cardiology, Cardiac Rhythm Management and Peripheral Interventions at Boston Scientific. In his current role, he is responsible for developing and commercializing Inspire therapy in Europe. Mr. Henke has a M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.
Ivan Lubogo joined Inspire in 2011 as a Therapy Development Director, served as the Area Vice President of Sales from 2014 to 2019 and became the Senior Vice President of U.S. Sales in 2019. Prior to joining Inspire, Mr. Lubogo spent 11 years in the Cardiac Rhythm Management division of Boston Scientific undertaking direct sales and sales management roles. Mr. Lubogo has a B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Kathy Sherwood has over 25 years of experience in the medical device industry including 17 years with Boston Scientific/Guidant. She also worked for Medtronic and KCI Medical. Kathy has a multidisciplinary background and has led Market Access/Reimbursement teams in Cardiac Rhythm Management, Heart Failure Management, Negative Pressure Wound Therapy and other Wound Care, Urology & Pelvic Health and Neurology therapy areas. Kathy spent over three years living and working in the Netherlands, leading a Pan-European reimbursement team for KCI Medical. She has successfully negotiated positive guidance from NICE in the UK, as well as multiple positive coverage policies with payers across the world. Kathy holds a B.S. in Mechanical/Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.
Martin Abrams has over 21 years of marketing experience. He is a graduate of Morehouse College where he received a B.A. in Finance. He also holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business with a concentration in Marketing and Finance. Prior to Inspire, Mr. Abrams held various leadership roles in the food industry at General Mills and Land O’ Lakes where he managed brands like Nature Valley, Fiber One, Betty Crocker, Land O’ Lakes Cheese and Wheaties. Mr. Abrams has a passion for helping organizations grow by developing strategies that are focused on the consumer. Mr. Abrams believes in developing deep consumer empathy to identify insights and strategies that produce breakthrough business results.
