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January 9, 2023 – BackStop Neural, Inc. is excited to announce that Kial Gramley has joined its team as Chief Product Officer. Gramley is a seasoned entrepreneur who in his career has successfully commercialized materials-centric technologies developed by academics from the UT System, ultimately leading to two different successful exits to public companies (Parker Hannifin and Desktop Metal) over the past decade. Gramley brings to the team a wealth of knowledge in pacing and timing the technical readiness of novel materials, processes, and resulting technically sophisticated products, which will help provide a key business framework to build robust product management processes around differentiated materials.
Gramley holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and MBA in Management from The University of Texas – Pan American and is a proud veteran having honorably served our country overseas. He has a proven track record for developing new technologies including nanofibers and additive manufacturing as well as launching new products in markets ranging from automotive to consumer goods to healthcare. Gramley’s business acumen complements the BackStop Neural team’s core competencies in materials science and neuromodulation, and Gramley has extensive experience with shape memory polymers and modulus sensitive materials, such as those that power core innovations from BackStop Neural.
BackStop Neural technology enables a new generation of softening spinal cord stimulators that are thinner, less invasive, and tougher than existing spinal cord stimulators leads on the market today. The technology was developed over a decade through generous funding in both founder Dr. Walter Voit’s lab at UT Dallas and founder Dr. Jason Carmel’s labs at Cornell and Columbia—funding from the National Institutes of Health (two R01s, a R21 and an SBIR), the Travis Roy Foundation, DARPA, and engaged corporate partners.
“Kial is a great asset to the BackStop Neural team,” CEO Connie Manz states. “His experience helping shape company culture to achieve product-market fit is key to ensuring that we successfully translate our technology to a product that fulfills current unmet needs in the spinal cord stimulation market.”
Other BackStop Neural leaders are also excited about Gramley’s addition to the team. “Kial won’t stop until we have a proven product on the market,” says Chief Medical Officer Jason Carmel. “His wealth of experience in sales, marketing, business development, and product management combined with his initiative and drive are exactly what BackStop Neural needs to rapidly move toward patient-ready devices.”
“Kial has a gift for connecting with partners and customers and translating complex materials phenomena into market-ready value propositions that help clarify exactly how technologies can benefit different stakeholders in the commercial ecosystem,” Dr. Voit adds. “Often startups see hyped-up product marketing diverge from scientific accuracy, but Kial’s experience will ensure that compelling products make it to market without sacrificing the key technology advantages that we have proven out over the past decade of fundamental technical work.”
Gramley, for his part, will make his first public appearance for BackStop Neural at the North American Neuromodulation Society 26th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas later this week.
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