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.

Duraid Jwayyed is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at CoNextions Medical Inc. He is responsible for the company’s finance activities, which include: Investor Relations, Corporate Finance/Accounting, Reporting, Tax, Treasury, Internal Audit, and Information Technology. Before joining CoNextions, Duraid worked as a financial leader at global manufacturing firms such as Stryker, Eaton, and Caterpillar. He has also done work as an executive in the startup/mid-market space. He is CPA, CMA certified and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Accounting from East Carolina University.    

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.