Our Team (Page)

Board Of Directors

Ross Watkins

President of the Board

Ross is the President of Watkins-Conti where he brings extensive expertise in strategy and negotiations. Ross began his career out of college at a Fortune 500 metals and recycling in new steel sales. Ross was later promoted to purchasing and eventually landed with the National Accounts Division. From there, he transitioned into the oil and gas and commercial real estate industry. Ross’ passion led him back to the metals industry where he founded RAARE Metal Concepts in 2010 which now extends its operation through 33 states and multiple countries. Watkins’ next venture began in 2015 with Big Box Waste, a waste disposal company. In 2017, Watkins acquired a software development company. Ross graduated from Texas Tech University in 2001 with a bachelor degree in marketing.

Mike Pintek

President of Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions at Cardinal Health

Mike is the President of Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions at Cardinal Health. Before assuming the role of President in August 2021, Mike was the Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations and Business Development for the Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions business where he led all aspects of the commercial and business development operating functions. Before joining Cardinal Health, he served as the Chief Operating Officer at Luminex Corporation until 2014, where his responsibilities encompassed all aspects of the company’s operating functions. He also held several senior leadership positions at Roche, including head of Roche’s Global Transfusion Medicine business. Mike serves on the board of directors for the Cardinal Health Foundation, the Council on Radionuclides & Radiopharmaceuticals, and Genetesis as a board observer. He also serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Value Initiative Industry Alliance. Additionally, Mike serves as the Executive Sponsor for the Disability Advocates Network (DAN) ERG. Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University and completed executive education programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Dr. Anula Jayasuriya, MD, PhD, MBA

Founder and Managing Director EXXclaim Capital, Co-Founder EILSF

Anula is the founder of EXXclaim Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on catalyzing innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment in Women’s Health. She also co-founded EILSF, the first Indian fund focusing on health care. A successful venture capitalist, her background combines deep business, scientific and medical knowledge with broad clinical, industry, entrepreneurial, and investment experience. She sits on several private biotech boards and the board of the public company, LCTX. Previously, Anula was an investor at Skyline Ventures and TVM, VP Business Development at Genomics Collaborative Inc., and Vice President, Global Drug Development at Hoffman-La Roche. Anula received her BA from Harvard summa cum laude, and an MD and PhD from Harvard Medical School. She interned in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.

John H. Marmaduke

Director

John is the President of Hastings Entertainment, a multimedia entertainment retailer, where he possesses extensive knowledge of retail and distribution of consumer goods. Marmaduke joined Western Merchandisers upon graduation from college and rose to President of Hastings Entertainment, a WM subsidiary in 1976 and President & CEO of WM in 1982. WM was acquired by Walmart in 1990 with John assuming twin CEO roles. In 1994 Walmart sold Western Merchandisers. Hasting grew to 129 stores with 4,500 associates. It was acquired by Draw Another Circle in 2014. Among numerous accolades, he was inducted into the Variety Home Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2011. He has served on many Boards throughout his career and is currently an active board member for the Harrington Cancer and Health Foundation, Amarillo Museum of Art, Ascension Academy, Catholic Foundation of Texas Panhandle, and now Watkins-Conti Products, Inc. where he is also a private investor. John H. Marmaduke graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's Degree in Finance.

Jennie R. Martel

Chief of Global Brand Protection, Colgate-Palmolive

Jennie Martel is the Chief of Global Brand Protection at Colgate-Palmolive where she is committed to ensuring that people around the world have uninterrupted access to safe personal care products. Before joining Colgate-Palmolive, she led the trademark, copyright, and anticounterfeiting functions for Stanley Black & Decker. Martel is frequently recognized for her work with honors, including the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center’s public appreciation for her proactive efforts to safeguard consumers during a worldwide pandemic, including two Colgate Chairman awards. Martel serves on the Board of Directors for Watkins-Conti Products, Inc., the Executive Board of Directors of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), and the IP Advisory Board - a board jointly created by Homeland Security Investigations and IACC - as Personal Care Industry Leader and Co-Chair of the International Engagement and Operations Committee. She received a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies from the University of Hartford as well as a Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School Online and a Certificate in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge.

Executive Team

Allison L. Watkins

Founder/CEO

Allison founded Watkins-Conti Products, Inc. in 2016 to pioneer solutions for women’s pelvic health. Following the birth of her children, she experienced stress urinary incontinence (SUI), the involuntary leakage of urine when exerting pressure on the bladder during physical activity. Frustrated by the limited options, she engineered, patented, and manufactured Yōni.Fit, a comfortable and convenient device for the management of SUI. Yōni.Fit is pending FDA approval following completion of a national clinical trial by Urogynecologists at Stanford, NYU, and Jefferson Health.

Allison has raised funds from private investors to create quality management systems, a robust intellectual property portfolio, secure contract manufacturing, conduct clinical trials, and expand her executive team and expert advisers.

An engaging speaker, Allison challenges social taboos around women’s health and well-being. She is passionate about developing treatments that benefit women, and funding for women-led healthcare companies. Allison was recognized in Business Times’ Top 20 under 40, Disrupt magazine’s Top Ten Influential Women, and the Journal Record’s Achievers Under 40.

Sean Givens

Finance

Sean advises Watkins-Conti on their financial modeling and forecasting. Sean brings more than 25 years of government accounting and CFO experience, as well as extensive operations experience in consumer electronics, medical devices, and drug development. Sean is the CFO of Aarvik Therapeutics, where he was critical in setting up the company and helping raise the seed funding. He is also the interim head of finance and Government business for Profusa, currently helping take the company through an initial public offering. At Profusa, he helped lead the strategy for building the government business and launched the company’s RUO business. Before that, he was co-founder and CFO of MIODx, a company focused on immune repertoire profiling to predict patient response to immunotherapy regimens. He was also the VP of Government Operations and Controller for Cellerant Therapeutics. During his tenure at Cellerant, Sean was responsible for running the accounting and finance operations, including the successful implementation and deployment of a compliant government accounting and EVMS program. This helped win a $180MM program from BARDA for the development of a medical countermeasure.

Nada Hanafi

Director of Photography/Cinematographer

Nada advises the company on regulatory strategy and assists the CEO as she prepares for FDA submissions. She also serves as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Strategy at Veranex where she oversees the regulatory team by supporting clients with setting strategic direction, evidence pipeline, and all aspects of design, development, commercial distribution of devices, and postmarket compliance to ensure products remain safe and effective while on the market. A results-oriented executive with over 20 years of experience advising CEOs and Founders in the MedTech and life-sciences industry. Hanafi spent over 12.5 years at FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) working on a range of products from breast implants to neurological devices, and co-founded the CDRH Health of Women Program. Nada holds an MSc. in Biomaterials and a BEng in Biomedical Materials Science & Engineering from Queen Mary College, University of London. She earned an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Nada is a Certified Quality Improvement Associate and a Certified Quality Auditor from the American Society for Quality.

Brooke Wigley

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Brooke oversees the day-to-day financial and operational functions of the business. She works closely with the CEO to implement policies and procedures in support of company growth plans. Brooke originally joined the company in 2016, and brings over 20 years of related experience. She began her career as an accountant for a restaurant franchise, where she managed payroll and accounting. Prior to that, she worked as an independent bookkeeper for local businesses. Brooke holds a degree in accountancy from Western Governors University and is a notary public.

Kate C Arnold

Kate C Arnold, MD, MBA

Kate C Arnold, MD, MBA is an OBGYN physician who has worked in academics, at a federally qualified health center, and now works as a laborist. She is passionate about improving healthcare, particularly for the underserved, and obtained her MBA to be able to do so. Having grown up in Silicon Valley during the dot com boom, she knows technology can both help and hinder progress and equality. She is committed to be sure it does the former. Dr Arnold is involved in ACOG leadership, was a previous MMRC leader, and currently serves on the Maternal Care Professionals Advisory Committee under the Washington DC Board of Medicine. She lives in Washington DC. In her spare time, she hangs out with her wife, their kids, and their 2 dogs.