Katherine Crothall
Katherine D. Crothall is an American laser scientist and businesswoman. She is the chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Aspire Bariatrics, LLC since November 2010. She is a director of University City Science Center, Pharmitas, Adhezion BioMedical, Xanitos, Inc, and Kimmel Center of Performing Arts. She is an overseer at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She has over 25 patents, has authored scientific papers and has given papers at scientific and medical symposiums. Career. Aspire Bariatrics, LLC (2010 - Current). She is the CEO and president of Aspire Bariatrics which develops  a reversible and minimally invasive weight loss solution for people with obesity. Liberty Venture Partners (2006 - 2010). Crothall served as a principal of Liberty Venture Partners, Inc. from 2006 to 2010. Animas Corporation (1996 - 2006). She founded Animas Corporation (NASDAQ: PUMP) in 1996 and served as its president, CEO and chairman from its inception to its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson Corporation (NYSE: JNJ) in February, 2006 for $518 million. Animas is leading manufacturer of insulin infusion pumps located in West Chester, PA. Luxar Corporation (1988 - 1996). From 1988 to 1996, Crothall was president and CEO of the Luxar Corporation  (Seattle, WA), which she founded with former Xanar Laser engineers Paul Diaz and Michael Levy in 1988. Luxar manufactured CO lasers for cosmetic, oral, dental, and dermatological surgical applications. Luxar was later sold to ESC Medical (NASDAQ: ESCMF) in 1997. Many of Crothall's laser patents are still being used today in LightScalpel's LS-1005 and LS-2010 surgical and dental laser systems. Laakmann Electro-Optics (1978 - 1986). Crothall founded Laakmann Electro-Optics in 1978 and was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 1981. She continued running the company for five years post-acquisition. Laakmann Electro-Optics manufactured CO lasers for the  medical, aerospace and industrial markets. Patents. She holds over 25 patents in the laser, fiber-optic, thermal (infrared) imaging, and glucose sensing fields. Patents include: All-metal RF-excited CO lasers (US Pat 4,169,251) and flexible waveguides for CO lasers (US Pat 4,652,083). Academics. Crothall received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971 and a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1976.