MEET THE TEAM
ACCELUS
LEADERSHIP
Leading our path to the global adoption of Adaptive Geometry™ in spinal fusion.
Kevin McGann
President & CEO
Kevin McGann has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Accelus since 2023. With a wealth of experience in the industry, Kevin has been an integral part of Accelus and Integrity Implants, previously serving as President from 2020 to 2023 and Chief Commercial Officer from 2019 to 2020. Prior to joining Accelus, Mr. McGann served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Kallista Partners, LLC. He also served as Vice President of Sales for Stryker Spine, President of Lumenis, Inc., Vice President of U.S. Sales for Medtronic Spine & Biologics, Area Director of Sales for Kyphon, and Regional Sales Director for U.S. Surgical. Mr McGann holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Villanova University.
Greg Tibbitts
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Greg Tibbitts was named interim Chief Financial Officer of Accelus in 2024. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer for multiple public and private companies, including Accriva Diagnostics, Accumetrics Inc., CryoCor Inc., and Elitra Pharmaceuticals. In addition to his CFO roles, Tibbitts has extensive experience in auditing and financial management. He previously served as a Senior Auditor and Senior Audit Manager for Ernst & Young and as a Division Controller for ITT Financial. He currently serves as a board member for Mainz Biomed, a diagnostics company, and previously held board positions with CoImmune and IDMI Pharma, Inc., both biotechnologies companies. Tibbitts holds a B.B.A. from the University of San Diego and an M.B.A. from San Diego State University.
Blake Stone
Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel
Blake Stone has served as the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Accelus since 2018. Previously, Mr. Stone served as the General Counsel of Spinal Elements (formerly Amendia, Inc.), a California-based manufacturer and distributor of spinal implants and related accessories, from 2017 to 2018 and as the Assistant General Counsel of Amendia, Inc. from 2013 to 2017. Mr. Stone holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law.
Jose M. Calleja, Jr.
Executive Vice President of International
Jose M. Calleja, Jr. serves as the Executive Vice President of International at Accelus, joining the company in 2018. In his role, he is responsible for developing and executing market strategies and action plans to drive business development in international markets. Through his leadership, Accelus has successfully completed cases in more than 24 countries worldwide. Prior to his tenure at Accelus, Jose held leadership positions at NuVasive, Osiris Therapeutics, and Pfizer, was Co-Founder of GoBid.com, the first penny auction site in the U.S., and began his career in production and script development for Scott Rudin Productions at Paramount Pictures, CCR Entertainment, and Twentieth Century Fox. Jose holds a BA/BS from Boston College and an MBA in International Business from University of Miami.
David Wingate
Vice President, U.S. Commercial Development
David Wingate is the Vice President of U.S. Commercial Development, joining Accelus in 2023. In his role, David is responsible for overseeing all aspects of U.S. Sales and driving revenue growth and sales excellence across the organization. David has over 30 years of experience in the spine industry, including a long-running career with Medtronic/Kyphon. He has built a robust network of relationships with physicians, key opinion leaders, and other industry professionals, covering a vast worldwide geography. David holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of North Carolina.
ACCELUS
Board of Directors
Alex Lukianov
Alexis V. Lukianov has served as the Chairman of the Accelus Board of Directors since 2021. Mr. Lukianov is the Chairman of DuraStat, LLC, a privately held surgical device company, since 2019 and is the co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tissue Differentiation intelligence , LLC, a privately held ultrasound Artificial Intelligence spine company, since 2017. Additionally, Mr. Lukianov is the founder of NuVasive, Inc. and was the Chief Executive Officer from 1999 and both the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2004 to 2015. Mr. Lukianov was a founder, and served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, of BackCare Group, Inc. from 1996 to 1997 which was sold to Bass Brothers. Prior to this, Mr. Lukianov held a variety of senior executive positions, including President of Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. and director of a business unit at Smith+Nephew that brought limb-lengthening technology to the United States and internationally outside Russia, and managed the artificial ligament program in a joint venture between Stryker Corporation and Meadox Medicals. Mr. Lukianov has served on the boards of directors of Volcano (acquired by Phillips), Orthofix Medical Inc., Systems Oncology and On Point Technology. Mr. Lukianov has also served as the Principal of Lukpartners, LLC since 2015 and is a prolific philanthropist in the arts and eastern orthodox seminary education, as well as an avid race car driver. He has earned multiple awards as an entrepreneur and business leader, and also earned a Tony as a Broadway producer for Best Musical and multi Grammy nominated artist and producer of choral music. Mr. Lukianov attended Rutgers University and served in the US Navy Hospital corps.
Heather Ace
Heather Ace has served as a director of Accelus since 2022. Ms. Ace also presently serves as the Chair of Accelus’s Compensation Committee. Additionally, Ms. Ace has served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Qualcomm since 2020 and served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Dexcom, Inc. from 2016 to 2020. Ms. Ace also serves on the Executive Committee for Connect, a California-based nonprofit organization, and is a board member of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, a San Diego-based nonprofit economic development organization. Ms. Ace holds a B.A. in Law & Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.
Bernie Haffey
Bernie Haffey, the founder of Haffey & Co., brings to the board a proven track record in executive management and leadership. He has more than 20 years of experience utilizing the High-Performance Management System (HPMS) framework to achieve world-class customer, employee and financial results, which has led to the successful transformation of more than 50 organizations. Haffey’s career includes serving as President and CEO of two venture-backed start-ups, Nexis Vision, Inc., and NDO Surgical, Inc., both of which achieved structured exits under his leadership. Additionally, he held pivotal positions as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at both Summit Technology, Inc., and IntraLase Corp. These start-ups flourished under his guidance, achieving revenues exceeding $100 million and exits of $1 billion and $800 million, respectively. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of On Target Laboratories, Inc. and Medevise Consulting and previously served on the boards of WaveTec Vision, Inc., acquired by Alcon Labs, and Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. Haffey holds a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Cornell University.
Ned Lipes
Ned Lipes has served as a director of Accelus since 2016. Mr. Lipes also presently serves as the Chair of Accelus’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Lipes served as the Group President of Stryker Corporation, a Michigan-based medical technologies corporation, from 1988 to 2003. Additionally, Mr. Lipes was previously chairman of the New Jersey Arthritis Foundation from 2000 to 2002 and served on the boards of directors of Old Palm Golf Club from 2008 to 2019, the Northern New Jersey Council of the Boy Scouts from 2003 to 2019 and the Leeds Foundation from 2014 to 2020. Mr. Lipes has served as the President of One Singer Island Condo Association since 2007. Mr. Lipes holds a B.A. in Administration Science from Colby College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Joseph Swedish
Joseph R. Swedish has served as a director of Accelus since 2022. Mr. Swedish is a Co-Founder and Partner at Concord and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee. Mr. Swedish has more than 45 years of healthcare leadership experience. Most recently, Mr. Swedish was Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Anthem, Inc., a Fortune 29 company and the nation’s leading health benefits provider. He also served for more than 25 years as CEO for several major health systems, most recently Trinity Health, a 22-state integrated health care delivery system. Previously, he was President & CEO of Centura Health, Colorado’s largest health system, and formerly served as Division President for Hospital Corporation of America. Mr. Swedish has been extensively recognized for his leadership in the healthcare field. For 12 years in a row, Modern Healthcare named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare, ranking in the top 20 of the health sector’s most senior-level executives, high-level government administrators, elected officials, academics, and thought-leaders for five consecutive years. In 2016, Mr. Swedish was one of five health care leaders named to Crain Communications’ Top 100 Innovators list. He serves on the board of directors for IBM Corporation, CDW, Mesoblast Limited (chairman), and Centrexion Therapeutics. Also, he has served as chairman and is currently a member of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Board of Visitors. Previously, Mr. Swedish served as board chairman of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), and chairman of the board, Catholic Health Association, a 600-hospital member organization. Mr. Swedish received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his master’s (MHA) degree in health administration from Duke University.
