Introduction to MedDev 2026

Welcome to the 10th MedDev eMarketing Summit. We'll kick off the conference with a brief introduction, an overview of the agenda, and what to expect over the next two days of learning and networking.

Icebreaker Bingo!

Break the ice and connect with fellow attendees through a fun networking activity designed to encourage new conversations and help you meet industry peers from across the medical device sector.

Chairperson's Opening Remarks

Our chairperson will officially open the summit, introduce the day's program and provide an overview of the key topics, themes and discussions that will shape the conference.

Launching and Scaling an OTC Medical Device

Justin Gardner
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, BLDG Active
Session Overview
Learn how to launch and scale an OTC medical device.
Key Takeaways

• Launching and scaling an OTC medical device
• Understanding customer demographics and psychographics
• Media buying and attribution

Justin Gardner

The Smartest Company Wins

Garima Mehta
VP Marketing & AI, SleepRes
Session Overview
AI is changing the rules of competition. The companies that succeed won't simply adopt AI—they'll use it to build smarter organizations that learn, adapt and move faster.
Key Takeaways

• Why AI alone is not a competitive advantage—and what is.
• How leading companies are building organizational intelligence, not just deploying AI tools.
• Why AI adoption often fails, even after successful enterprise rollouts.
• The role of specialized AI assistants across regulatory, sales, marketing, finance and clinical teams.
• How marketing leaders can help shape the future of intelligent organizations.

Garima Mehta

Category Creation: When Marketing Becomes Market Making (Case Studies from Women’s Health MedTech)

Ikram Guerd
Chief Marketing Officer, Aspivix
Session Synopsis
In women’s health, some of the most transformative MedTech innovations aren’t entering established categories, they’re creating new ones.
Through real-world case studies, join this session to explore how strategic marketing can uncover overlooked needs, challenge current standards of care, create demand, and turn innovation into adoption.
Key Takeaways

• Market the problem before the product: Make an overlooked or normalized unmet need visible and relevant.
• Build the category, not just the brand: Use evidence, education, KOLs, patient voices, and storytelling to establish a new value proposition.
• Turn awareness into adoption: Understand how marketing can influence clinicians, patients, health systems, and other stakeholders to change established behaviors.
• Learn from women’s health innovators: Explore practical examples of companies that are challenging established practices and building new MedTech categories.

Ikram Guerd

Networking Break

Refresh, recharge and network with fellow attendees, speakers and sponsors over coffee and refreshments in the exhibit area

Panel Discussion: Modernizing Commercialization: Influencers, Evidence, and AI-Powered Growth

Panelists
Debbie Donovan, Materna Medical
Wendy Suljak, Neuronetics, Inc
Ana Crespo, Marketing Maven
Moderator
Reena Mishra
Session Overview
In today's fast-moving healthcare landscape, MedTech marketers face a dual imperative: building authentic digital connections with clinicians and patients while meeting rigorous regulatory, clinical, and economic standards. Winning in 2026 requires a multi-dimensional strategy, from cultivating trusted HCP and patient advocates to leveraging AI for business transformation and turning clinical evidence into commercial success.
This panel will share practical frameworks for modernizing MedTech commercialization, including how to build trusted influencer partnerships, harness AI to accelerate commercial growth and professional development, and transform clinical evidence into compelling value propositions for physicians, hospital committees, and payers.
Key Takeaways

• Building authentic partnerships with HCP and patient influencers to increase trust, reach, and procedure adoption while remaining compliant.
• Using AI to transform commercial operations, accelerate business growth, and future-proof careers.
• Turning clinical and health economic evidence into targeted messaging for CMS, hospital value analysis committees (VACs), and clinicians.
• Aligning marketing, sales, regulatory, and quality teams to execute agile, compliant commercialization strategies.

Reena Mishra

Wendy Suljak

Debbie Donovan

Ana Crespo

Assessing Creator Campaign Management Platforms

Malcolm Bohm
Chief Executive Officer, Septagen Pharmaceuticals
Key Takeaways

• How to identify and leverage the most effective discovery tools.
• Techniques for predicting campaign performance and optimizing outcomes.
• Strategies for maximizing POAS (Profit on Ad Spend) to drive sustainable business growth.

Malcolm Bohm

Lunch

Enjoy a catered lunch and take the opportunity to continue discussions and build new professional connections.

How GenAI Framed the Landscape—So We Could Shape the Strategy

Louise Curcio
Chief Marketing Officer, Lumos Diagnostics
Session Overview
In regulated industries such as medical devices, competitive threats are often visible long before they reach the market—but developing a strategic response requires time and cross-functional collaboration. This session explores how GenAI can accelerate the early stages of competitive analysis by gathering publicly available information, identifying key market dynamics, and helping shape strategic thinking around anticipated new market entrants.
Discover how GenAI can serve as a powerful starting point, enabling teams to move quickly from insight gathering to strategy development.
Key Takeaways

• How GenAI can accelerate competitive analysis using publicly available information.
• Practical techniques for using AI prompts to frame strategic thinking around emerging competitors.
• How to move more quickly from research and insight gathering to strategic planning.

Louise Curcio

Fusing Influencer & Community Marketing for Explosive Campaigns

Bobak Salehi
Vice President of Marketing, BIOTRONIK
Session Overview
Innovation doesn't come from following the crowd. This session explores how independent thinking, creative problem-solving, and making the best use of available tools and talent can help MedTech marketers overcome challenges, break unproductive cycles, and deliver better commercial outcomes.
Key Takeaways

• How to think independently instead of relying on a copy-and-paste approach.
• Techniques for redefining problems to make them easier to solve.
• How to leverage the right tools and talent to break out of unproductive cycles and drive better results.

Bobak Salehi

Your Patients Are Screaming. Your Marketing Is Whispering

Sarah Uran
CEO, Trusscare
Session Overview
Patients describe their crisis in plain, raw language. Marketing translates that language into something polished enough to pitch, and something gets lost every single time. This session puts real, anonymized user language next to the industry marketing written to represent it. The distance between the two is the whole talk. If your product is built on empathy, this is the audit nobody runs.

Sarah Uran

Networking Break

Refresh, recharge and network with fellow attendees, speakers and sponsors over coffee and refreshments in the exhibit area

Implementing New Technology and Maximizing Impact – An Executive Perspective

Michael Krachon
Vice President of Marketing, Theragenics
Session Overview
Successfully adopting new technologies requires more than selecting the right tools. This session explores practical strategies for evaluating emerging technologies, including AI, driving organizational adoption, and measuring their impact to deliver meaningful business value.
Key Takeaways

• Best practices for assessing and evaluating new technologies, including AI, within an established organization.
• Strategies for maximizing technology adoption while improving internal processes and operational efficiency.
• How to measure technology impact, demonstrate business value, and exceed organizational expectations.

Michael Krachon

Evidence Merchandising: The 3-Part Playbook for Securing Reimbursement and Accelerating MedTech Adoption

Debbie Donovan
Head of Commercial Operations, Materna Medical
Session Overview
Discover how to transform clinical and health economic data into a powerful commercial engine by designing, acquiring, and packaging the evidence needed to gain regulatory approval, secure reimbursement, and drive physician adoption. Learn practical strategies for creating evidence that resonates with the FDA, CMS, private payers, hospital committees, and clinicians.
Key Takeaways

• Start with the End in Mind: Map payer reimbursement and clinical utility requirements into early trial designs—or leverage agile protocol revisions—to avoid costly commercial delays.
• Agile Data Acquisition: Discover cost-effective strategies for rapidly capturing missing health economic and real-world evidence without exceeding your clinical trial budget.
• Smarter Literature & Citation Strategy: Learn AI-assisted approaches for curating a robust academic bibliography that strengthens scientific publications and reinforces clinical credibility.
• Full-Spectrum Evidence Merchandising: Master the art of transforming a single core dataset into tailored, high-impact narratives for Hospital Value Analysis Committees (VACs), Medicare, private payers, and key opinion leaders.

Debbie Donovan

The 5 Iron Rules for Successful AI Commercial Integration

Neil Keene
Director, Omnichannel Integrated Experience and Engagement, Ionis Pharmaceuticals
Session Overview
In today's complex commercial and regulatory environment, there are five key rules that can help you navigate the confusing world of AI integration. This session will provide practical guidelines for beginning to incorporate generative and analytic AI and machine learning into your commercial operations and customer engagement strategy.
Key Takeaways

• The basics of healthcare AI.
• Why you should get educated in machine learning for your brands.
• Five easy-to-follow rules for beginning your journey using AI.

Neil Keene

Day One Closing Remarks

We'll wrap up Day One by reflecting on the key themes and insights from today's sessions, highlighting what's ahead on Day Two, and inviting everyone to continue the conversation at the Cocktail Reception.

Networking Drinks Reception

Join us for an evening of networking over drinks and light refreshments. Connect with fellow attendees, speakers, sponsors, and industry leaders, continue the conversations sparked throughout the day, exchange ideas, and build valuable new relationships in a relaxed and informal setting.