Board of Directors

William Kozy is Chair of the Board of Directors of LivaNova.

He retired from Becton, Dickinson and Company, a global medical technology company, in 2016 where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 2011 to 2016. At Becton Dickinson, he also served as a member of the corporate Leadership Team and in various executive roles since 1988, including head of BD Medical (2009 to 2011), President of the BD Biosciences segment (2006 to 2009), President of BD Diagnostics (2002 to 2006) and Senior Vice President of Company Operations (1998 to 2002). Mr. Kozy holds a B.A. from Kenyon College.

Director Skills and Qualifications

Mr. Kozy has a career spanning more than 40 years with global medical device companies. Prior to serving as COO for Becton Dickinson, Mr. Kozy’s key business worldwide leadership roles included responsibility for the Biosciences, Diagnostic and Medical segments of Becton Dickinson. During his time at Becton Dickinson, he was responsible for all world-wide businesses of the company with leadership emphasis on profitable revenue growth and talent development. He also brings a depth of corporate leadership experience in the areas of innovation systems, operations, manufacturing and ERP implementation as well as his broad and relevant experience in global strategy, mergers and acquisitions, technology and product development.

 

Chris Barry currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Group President of the Medical Solutions Divisions at 3M Company, a position he assumed in March 2024. He previously served as CEO and a member of the board of NuVasive, Inc., a medical technology company focused on spine technology innovation, from 2018 to 2023, at which point, NuVasive Inc. was acquired by Globus Medical. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Barry served as senior vice president and president of surgical innovations at Medtronic after Medtronic acquired Covidien, and, prior to Covidien’s acquisition, Mr. Barry spent more than 15 years in increasing commercial and executive leadership roles at Covidien and rose to vice president of sales for energy-based devices. Mr. Barry has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Texas Tech University.

Director Skills and Qualifications

Mr. Barry is an audit committee financial expert and an analytical leader with robust general management experience. He has proven to be a highly capable executive both in a large strategic environment and as a first-time CEO of NuVasive in a complex and competitive medical technology category at NuVasive. At NuVasive, Mr. Barry is credited with setting evidence-based expectations and identifying the need for partnership to drive long-term growth for the company and aligning the organization accordingly.

Francesco Bianchi has served as the Chairman of Seven Capital Partners S.r.l., a financial consulting firm, since June 2018. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Seven Capital Partners and has been with the firm since 2013. Mr. Bianchi has 30 years of mergers and acquisitions and strategic advisory experience working for well-recognized international financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase (Paris), Morgan Grenfell (London), Citi (Milan) and Bankers Trust (Milan), where he served in various roles including general manager and head of the mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance division. He also headed the strategic planning division of Banca-Intesa S.p.A. in Italy and abroad. Mr. Bianchi earned a degree in economic sciences with honors from the University of Florence and is a chartered accountant.

Director Skills and Qualifications:

Mr. Bianchi is an audit committee financial expert and has an extensive professional background working in strategy and mergers and acquisitions.

Stacy Enxing Seng has served as an Operating Partner with Lightstone Ventures, a venture capital group focused on medical technology and biotechnology-related investments, since 2016. Prior to joining Lightstone Ventures, Ms. Enxing Seng was with Covidien, a global health care products company, as its President, Vascular Therapies (2011 to 2014) and President of Peripheral Vascular (2010 to 2011). Ms. Enxing Seng joined Covidien in 2010 through the $2.6B acquisition of ev3 Incorporated, where she was a founding member and executive officer responsible for leading its Peripheral Vascular division (2001 to 2010). Prior to ev3, Ms. Enxing Seng held positions of increasing responsibility with Boston Scientific, SCIMED, Baxter and American Hospital Supply. She holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Director Skills and Qualifications:

Ms. Enxing Seng has broad experience as a former senior executive responsible for a world-wide business unit of a major medical device company. In addition, she has significant experience as a co-founder of a successful medical device start-up. Her operational experience at both large and small medical device companies, combined with her first-hand experience gained from building ev3 from the ground up, provide the Board with valuable insights into strategy, marketing, sales, innovation, mergers and acquisitions and a variety of other medical device-related areas.

Vladimir Makatsaria is Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of LivaNova. He joined the company in March 2024.

Building great teams and driving innovation in the healthcare field has been Makatsaria’s focus throughout his entire career. Prior to LivaNova, he worked for 27 years at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in executive leadership roles, spanning various technologies and geographies. He most recently served as Company Group Chairman at J&J MedTech where he led Ethicon, a global leader in the surgical technologies market. Other executive positions throughout his J&J tenure include: leading J&J China, J&J MedTech APAC, Ethicon EMEA, among others. He also served on Ethicon, DePuy and total MedTech global leadership teams.

Makatsaria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Physiology, a Masters in Business Administration, and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota.

Sharon O’Kane, Ph.D., currently serves as a non-executive director of the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) Board in Ireland and has a Visiting Professorship at Ulster University where she advises the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences. She has served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at University College Dublin since 2015. She was also an expert advisor to the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst Facility at GlaxoSmithKline, a global healthcare company (2012 to 2019) and a Commercial Mentor to Queen’s University, Belfast (2016 to 2019). Previously, Dr. O’Kane served as Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Manchester Intellectual Property Company UMIP (2009 to 2014). Dr O’Kane co-founded and, from 1998 to 2010, was the Chief Scientific Officer, and a Director of Renovo Group Plc, a UK biotech company. Dr. O’Kane earned a B.Sc (Honours) First Class in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Ulster from which she also earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences. She also earned a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.

Director Skills and Qualifications:

Dr. O’Kane has extensive experience in healthcare, in the academic and government realms and in research and development (R&D). She has served on the board of directors of several biotech and healthcare companies and organizations and has held numerous positions advising healthcare and biotech companies, governmental bodies and universities. Dr. O’Kane was also a co-founder, Chief Science Officer and executive director of Renovo Group Plc and was responsible for growing the university spin-out to a public company, and a non-executive director of Iomet Pharma Ltd. Dr. O’Kane has had corporate director governance training at the Institute of Directors and Harvard Business School.

Susan M. Podlogar is a seasoned business executive with a wealth of experience in human capital, enterprise strategy, and corporate governance. Ms. Podlogar’s career spans over 30 years, during which she has held key global leadership positions at prominent institutions across multiple industries of consulting, scientific, and financial services companies. Most recently, she served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer at MetLife from July 2017 until her retirement in June 2024. Prior to MetLife, Ms. Podlogar spent 16 years at Johnson & Johnson in various leadership roles, including: Global Head, Human Resources Medical Devices; Global Head of Total Rewards and Head Human Resources for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Global Head, Human Resources and Communications Pharmaceutical R&D. Early career highlights include positions with Bayer Pharmaceutical, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and William M. Mercer. She holds an MBA from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Director Skills and Qualifications

Ms. Podlogar is a senior executive with extensive experience leading business, talent, and cultural transformations. She excels in preparing workforces for the future and bringing out the potential of employees. Throughout her career, Ms. Podlogar oversaw operations in more than 40 countries, which honed her keen understanding of the evolving global business landscape. She knows how to partner with CEOs, senior leadership teams, board members, and institutional investors to navigate various business lifecycles (i.e., growth, turnaround, etc.). 
 

Mr. Schermerhorn served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of C.R. Bard, Inc., a multinational developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical technologies, from 2003 until his retirement in 2012. Prior to that, he had been Vice President and Treasurer of C.R. Bard (1998-2003). From 1985 to 1998, Mr. Schermerhorn held various other management positions with C.R. Bard. Mr. Schermerhorn holds a BS from the University of Lowell and an MBA from Babson College.

Director Skills and Qualifications:

Mr. Schermerhorn served as the Chief Financial Officer of a publicly traded company and has significant experience and expertise in management, accounting and business operations. Mr. Schermerhorn is also an audit committee financial expert.

Brooke Story served as the Worldwide President, Surgery at Becton, Dickinson and Company, from July 2023 to March 2024, and Worldwide President, Integrated Diagnostics Solutions at Becton, Dickinson and Company, from April 2021 to July 2023. Prior to that, Ms. Story spent 15 years at Medtronic, where she held a variety of roles in finance, sales and business unit leadership, culminating in her tenure as President, Pelvic Health and Gastric Therapies. Ms. Story began her career in sales at Johnson & Johnson and as a consultant for Accenture. Ms. Story holds a BS in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Director Skills and Qualifications:

Ms. Story has more than 20 years of experience in the global medical technology industry. Throughout her career, she has excelled in helping large medical device corporations inspire teams, mentor and development talent, and deliver economic value.

Peter Wilver served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a leading provider of laboratory products and services, from November 2006 to July 2015 and as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer from August 2015 until his retirement in March 2017. He served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Thermo Electron from 2004 to 2006 and as Thermo Electron’s Vice President, Financial Operations from 2000 to 2004. Before joining Thermo Electron, Mr. Wilver held financial leadership roles at Honeywell International, Grimes Aerospace Company and General Electric Company. Mr. Wilver holds a BS in Business Administration in Accounting from The Ohio State University and is a certified public accountant. 

Director Skills and Qualifications:

Mr. Wilver served as the Chief Financial Officer of a publicly traded company and has significant experience and expertise in strategic planning and business development, as well as in leading the financial, accounting and investor functions of large, multinational manufacturing companies. Mr. Wilver is also an audit committee financial expert.