Background
Hillstead, Richard Averill was born on April 7, 1953 in Miami, Florida, United States. Son of Robert Averill and Mattie Lee Hillstead.
Hillstead, Richard Averill was born on April 7, 1953 in Miami, Florida, United States. Son of Robert Averill and Mattie Lee Hillstead.
Associate of Arts, Miami-Dade Junior College, 1976.
Bachelor of Science in Professional Management, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1990.
Master of Business Administration, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1992.
Doctor of Philosophy, Southwest University, Kenner, Louisiana, 2003.
Engineering Prototype Laboratory Manager Panelfold Inc., Miami, 1985-1987.
Product Development Engineer Cordis Corporation, 1987-1988,
Senior Research Engineer, Endovascular Stents Cordis Corporation1989-1991,
Cardiology Product Development Mgr, Cordis Corporation 1991-1993.
Director new technologies Novoste Corporation, Norcross, Georgia, 1993-1998.
Chief Science Officer, The Innovation Factory, Duluth, GA. 1999 - 2008
Accuitive Medical Ventures I & II, Partner since 2003
President, Chief Executive Officer. partnerswanted.com, since 1999.
President, CEO, Richard A. Hillstead, Inc. since 2006
Expert witness in field of interventional cardiology devices.(Stents, TAVR, TMVR, Angioplasty Balloons, Medical Robotics) since 1995
Among the early inventors of the Endovascular Stent. Dr. Hillstead's stent patents rank among the top ten most often referenced endovascular stent patents worldwide.
Rick Hillstead has been actively involved in the design and development of medical devices for more than thirty years. He held several progressive, Product Research and Development positions with Cordis Corporation (Johnson & Johnson) from 1987 to 1993 where he was responsible for the design and development of numerous catheter based devices and accessories including catheter sheath introducers, diagnostic catheters, angioplasty balloon catheters, and stents. He pioneered device development in the Cordis Coronary Stent program as a Senior Corporate Research Engineer. During his tenure at Cordis, he also held the position of Senior Engineer, Custom Products, where was responsible for designing a wide variety of customized catheters and devices for individual physicians. He then directed new technology development for Novoste Corporation from 1993 until 1999 primarily focusing on intravascular brachytherapy catheters and catheter based delivery systems for the treatment of coronary restenosis following angioplasty and stenting. In 1999 he became a founding member of The Innovation Factory, a private medical device incubator in Duluth, GA. At The Innovation Factory he served as Chief Science Officer and was primarily responsible for early clinical investigations, and overall R&D in a wide variety of Life Science ventures. He was also a principal partner and founding member in Accuitive Medical Ventures I and II (2004 – 2008). Accuitive Medical Ventures is a $225M venture capital fund focusing on medical devices. In 2008 he joined Georgia Venture Partners (GVP), Atlanta GA. and remains a partner today. He has managed numerous, diverse, multi-disciplinary development teams from product concept through sales release. He often speaks on the importance of Innovation and Intellectual Property to the entrepreneurial process in the medical device industry at conferences and scientific sessions.
Dr. Hillstead is most recently CEO of Richard A. Hillstead Inc., a medical device development and entrepreneurship consulting firm located in Atlanta, GA. He is also the Chairman and former CEO of Biofisica Inc., He is a past Chairman and co-founder of Cerebral Vascular Applications, Inc. (CVA), a Georgia company dedicated to reducing the incidence of stroke through closure of the atrial appendage of the heart via minimally invasive techniques. Dr. Hillstead currently sits on the Emory University New Technology Advisory Board where he actively participates in reviewing promising new Medical Device Technologies and recommends development strategies.
He is an accomplished inventor named on approximately eighty issued U.S. patents and pending applications as well as dozens of international patents. He has given expert witness testimony in the field of medical devices in US courts and arbitrations and served as an expert witness to the High Court of Justice in the UK and multiple cases in Germany and The Netherlands. He has submitted expert declarations and testified at deposition in USPTO PTAB proceedings and has appeared in person before the panel in connection with patent oppositions at the European Patent Office. He served as an Entrepreneur in Residence to the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2012 and 2013 and continues to work on innovative projects with the FDA/CDRH Dr. Hillstead is a Fellow in the American Heart Association on the Council of Clinical Cardiology; Fellow on the The Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; and is a current member of the Stroke Council and Council on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
Vol. Gwinnett County chapter American Heart Association, since 1994. Fellow American Heart Association (council on clinical cardiology since 1987, radiology council since 1987). Member American Stroke Association.
Married Christine Anne O'Brien, June 24, 1989. Children: Shanti Dawn Hall, Katherine Averill.
