Andrew Cleeland

Andrew is a seasoned executive with over 30 years’ experience in the medical device industry. During this time, he has held key leadership positions in organizations ranging from early stage start-ups to large multinationals. In joining Fogarty Innovation he further broadens this range of experience to include managing a non-profit. The versatility required to be effective across such diverse groups is rare and is a testament to Andrew’s strong leadership skills.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Andrew began his MedTech career working for the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. This provided an invaluable introduction to the industry along with an appreciation for the challenges regulators face when balancing innovation with protecting public health. Several years into this role, serendipity presented him with a unique opportunity to work for a company based in the United States. Although he had never lived outside Australia, he saw it as a great opportunity and moved sight unseen to Denver, Colorado to work for Telectronics. He probably didn’t realize it at the time, but this move exemplifies a classic element of Andrew’s personal and professional mindset: think big, set audacious goals, and act boldly. At the time, Andrew expected this to be a two-year position. Thirty years later, he’s still in the US, setting and achieving big goals.

Andrew’s rapid career advancement during this timeframe has been impressive. After Telectronics, he accepted a role as Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Bay Area start-up company Radiant Medical. Following this, he was CEO of Ardian, which pioneered the use of renal denervation to treat hypertension. Ardian was acquired by Medtronic in 2011 in a transaction valued at over $1.3B which, at the time, was the largest medical device acquisition ever for a pre-revenue medical device company.

Propelled by these successes, Andrew has become a key figure in the medical device community. His leadership, experience and insights have led many organizations to seek his involvement. He currently serves on the board of three venture-funded companies — Saluda Medical, Zenflow, Inc. (chairman) and MMI S.p.A. (chairman). He also holds advisory positions at several top-tier venture capital firms: Longitude Capital, Arboretum Ventures and Qiming Ventures. At a global industry level, he has been invited to serve on multiple initiatives including the UCSF-Stanford Pediatric Device Consortium; the Medical Device Innovation Consortium; and the Singapore government’s Biomedical Research Council (BMRC).

Andrew has received numerous awards and honors and is a frequent invited lecturer at major industry conferences and leading academic institutions. Andrew holds a BS in biophysics from the Swinburne Institute of Technology.