Dr. Richard S. Stack is President of Synecor, LLC (Synecor) a business generator and financial incubator of new medical device companies based in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Santa Rosa, California, and Silicon Valley, California. He is also General Partner of Synergy Life Science Partners, LP (www.synergylsp.com) a life science venture fund. In the past six years, Richard has co-founded and invested in five major medical device companies, including Synecor itself, with a combined current valuation of over $675M. Richard chairs the scientific advisory board, leads the pre-clinical testing services provided at Synecor and is the interim President of each of the Synecor spinout companies. Richard has long been recognized as an international thought leader in the medical technology field. He has authored over 360 manuscripts, book chapters and scientific abstracts. He has been a principal and co-principal investigator of three NIH grants and received numerous research awards during his career including the International Award for Best Interventional Cardiology Experimental Research (1995, Netherlands). Richard has invented and/or invested in numerous technologies that have become adopted by physicians the world over. He has over 70 worldwide patents issued or pending on a wide variety of medical devices. Richard is Professor Emeritus of Medicine in Cardiology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where he spent his entire academic medical career, since 1981, as Founder and Director of Duke Interventional Cardiology. Richard retired early from his academic career to join the investment community with the formation of Synecor, LLC in the year 2000 and Synergy LSP in 2006.