Robert has successfully managed a number of life sciences and Medical Device companies and divisions of larger life science companies on three continents, as well as a successful life-science advisory company and Private Equity Group. Mr. Wetzel founded Alchemy Advisors in 2001, an advisor to managers and owners of private life science and Medical Device companies and private equity/venture capital groups, where Robert performed advisory services including temporary Senior Management, corporate development, corporate finance, regulatory, due diligence and strategic issues. 

Mr. Wetzel founded Augury Capital in 2007, an emerging technologies private equity fund with investments in mid-stage or later companies with an emphasis in the medical device and financial services information technologies sectors.  Mr. Wetzel was a Senior Executive at Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, a leading life science company, for over seven years where he was the Managing Director of Eastern Asia and the Operations Manager for Continental Europe.  Robert was the Founder and Executor of Solutia’s Pharmaceutical Services division where he created Solutia's world-class pharmaceutical services division via investments totaling over $115 million and directed their rapid international growth.  Robert was a LBO banker at the Bank of New York.  Robert is on the Board of Circle Medical, Texcel Medical, and US Spine, as well as a founder, board member, advisor or owner of numerous other emerging life science and medical device companies.

Mr. Wetzel is fluent in English and German, and he received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, a M.B.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University Tepper School of Business, and a Biotechnology for Business certification from Duke University.

Ms. Blake is a veteran in the spine and orthopedic industry, with over 25 years of sales, marketing, management and operations experience in the medical device field. For two decades, she has held leadership positions with publicly traded and privately held companies, establishing new vision, developing strategic direction, recruiting management, sales and marketing teams consistently resulting in 'over market growth' as well as rapid development and FDA approval of Class II and Class III medical devices.

Recent assignments include the implementation of a strategic plan for Encore Medical’s spine products group, culminating in triple digit growth, as well as providing strategic guidance to an early stage spine implant company acquired by Medtronic. Ms. Blake's vast experience in the spine / orthopedic markets, her track record for establishing surgeon focused organizations as well as strong established relationships within the medical community provide additional depth to the team that she has created to lead the company’s continued product development and commercialization efforts. Prior to her work in the medical device industry, Ms. Blake held a leadership position for a multicenter provider organization, developing a novel, computerized patient assessment database program in affiliation with the Harvard Center for Community Health. Ms. Blake completed the University of Tennessee’s program for Health Care Administration, graduating in 1973.

Dr. Sledge earned his BA degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He went on to earn his MD from the University of Rochester in New York. He completed his residency in orthopedics at Harvard University as well as becoming Chief Resident of Orthopedics at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. He earned the Maurice Muller Fellowship in Orthopedics (foreign study in Europe).

Dr. Sledge’s background is strongly rooted in an academic setting accepting positions as Director of Orthopedic Trauma Service at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at Boston University School of Medicine, and Clinical Associate in Orthopedics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Sledge has authored 15 articles and abstracts, 18 presentations, as well as conducting current clinical research related to spinal injuries. He currently has an active orthopedic clinical practice in Massachusetts.

Mr. Truetzel has over twenty years of experiencing leading and guiding entrepreneurial and early stage companies as both an investor and an operating executive.  After business school, Mr. Truetzel began his professional  career as an investment banker with A.G. Edwards, now Wells  Fargo Advisors, where he rose to the position of Managing Director.   After ten years of experience, he left the investment banking profession and gained  valuable operating experience as the Chief Financial Officer of First USA Paymentech, (“Paymentech”),   one of the largest credit card processors in the world. 

David was responsible for managing all of the financial functions of the company including assisting Paymentech in its successful  initial public offering and listing on the New York Stock Exchange.  During his tenure at Paymentech,  he successfully managed approximately twenty acquisitions and raised nearly $300 million in debt and equity financing.  After the sale of First USA and Paymentech to Bank One ,  Mr. Truetzel  joined Llama Holdings,  a merchant banking firm, where he executed numerous merger and advisory assignments and participated as a principal on several buyouts.  Since 2000, Mr. Truetzel  has been both an investor and an advisor holding the positions of Managing Director of Gryphon Investments II, a technology-focused venture capital firm and General Partner of Hela Capital Partners, a partnership focused on leveraged buyouts in the financial services industry. In 2007 he co-founded  Augury Capital Partners, LP, a private equity firm focused on late stage financial services and life sciences investments, where he serves as one of its General Partners. Mr. Truetzel holds a B.S. in Accounting  from St. Louis University, an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is a certified public accountant.  He sits on the Board of Directors of Enterprise Bank, Clearent ,LLC,  Paranet Solutions LLC, T3 and Verifi, Inc.

Paul Sendro brings 15 years of experience in the Orthopedic and Spine medical device industry. He has held leadership positions with publicly traded and privately held companies, establishing a new strategic sales plan, management of a national sales force as well as develop strategic corporate branding. He most recently served as President and CEO of Vertebron, Inc. helping increase sales threefold in less than a year. Prior to his work for Vertebron, Inc., he served at Blackstone Medical, Inc. for six years, where he most recently served as Vice President, Domestic Sales. While at Blackstone, he developed and implemented the company’s strategic sales plan for accelerated growth and profitability, lifting domestic sales from a run rate of $700k per month to over $9 million per month, through to acquisition. Paul received his Bachelor of Science degree at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and his Masters of Business Administration from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

Mr. Cawley has eleven years of marketing and business development experience in the medical device industry with privately held, publicly traded and early stage companies. He most recently served as Vice President of Marketing with Alphatec Manufacturing, where he successfully led the development, manufacture and launch of products, from concept stage through successful commercialization, creating significant gains in sales and market share for the company. Prior to that, Mr. Cawley was instrumental in establishing the spine product division at Encore Medical, Inc.

Mr. Cawley has created strong company branding through the use of effective marketing campaigns and corporate positioning. In addition, Mr. Cawley has successfully managed marketing, sales and product development groups. Mr. Cawley graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing.

Dan Bernarde has served as Vice President since July 2007. Dan comes to the company with 14 years of spine experience with the previous 7 in senior management positions. Prior to joining US Spine, Dan served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Alphatec Spine. Additionally, he has held sales management positions at Interpore Cross International, Surgical Dynamics, and Cross Medical Products. Dan earned a B.S. from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Clayton comes to the company with 14 years of medical device experience.  He has extensive experience with quality systems with emphasis on design and production controls.  Prior to joining US Spine, Clayton served as Director of Process Engineering for Boston Scientific’s Miami facility. Clayton earned a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and an MBA from Thunderbird.