Valencell Announces Medical Advisory Board Founding Members

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From left to right. Dr. Matthew Banet, Senior Director of R&D at Baxter. Dr. William E. Kraus, board certified cardiologist

Posted By: Johnathon Burton September 17, 2021

Medical visionaries Dr. William Kraus and Matthew Banet bring decades of clinical and medical device insights and expertise to advise the company on clinical research, regulatory and market strategy

Valencell, the leading innovator in biometric monitoring for wearables, announced the appointment of the founding members of its medical advisory board. As Valencell continues innovating at the heart of the consumer and medical device convergence, the board will provide strategic, scientific, and experience-based direction.

The newly formed medical advisory board includes two exceptional leaders in the field of medical wearables and translational research: 

  • Dr. William E. Kraus, board certified cardiologist, practicing preventive cardiology and sports cardiology at Duke University. He is well known for his expertise in the relation of physical activity and human health.
  • Dr. Matthew Banet, Senior Director of R&D at Baxter and serial entrepreneur and founder of numerous med-tech start-ups including Sotera Wireless which created the first cuffless blood pressure monitor cleared by the FDA.  

“The success of Valencell’s medical wearables roadmap demands expanding our clinical partnerships and proficiently navigating the regulatory environment.  We are delighted to have these experts help Valencell drive its medical wearables strategy and maximize the impact our technology can have in health and medical devices, particularly in the areas of blood pressure monitoring and cardiovascular care,” said Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, president & co-founder at Valencell. “Their guidance in clinical, regulatory, and product strategy will be instrumental as Valencell’s cuffless, calibration-free blood pressure monitoring technology is taking off in the market.”

Dr. William E. Kraus is a physician scientist and Professor in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. He is Director of Translational Research at the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. He has been Medical Director of the Duke Cardiac Rehabilitation Program since 1994 and served as President of the American College of Sports Medicine. His undergraduate degree was in Astronomy and Astrophysics (1977) from Harvard College. He received his medical degree (1983) and training (Internal Medicine Residency and Cardiology Fellowship) all from Duke University School of Medicine. He has been principal investigator for the STRRIDE studies, a series of 3 NIH-sponsored human studies focusing on the dose-response effects of exercise training on cardiometabolic health. He served on the 2008 and 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee that compiled the science supporting the US Physical activity Guidelines. He is the author of over 480 peer reviewed primary publications and reviews.  Recently, Dr. Kraus has directed his research toward using biometric monitoring to understand the relation of circadian rhythms to human health, and his clinical interest to using biometric monitoring for clinical monitoring programs in the home-based cardiac rehabilitation and other cardiac prevention settings.

Matthew Banet Ph.D. is currently a Senior Director of Research and Development at Baxter. Prior to this role, Matt founded toSense Inc.—a medtech company that Baxter purchased in April 2020—and served as the company’s President and Chief Scientific Officer. In this capacity, Dr. Banet helped develop the company’s novel wearable medical device—CoVaTM—and its measurements of stroke volume, cardiac output, heart rate, and respiration rate, all of which are made from the chest. Dr. Banet’s particular areas of expertise include: 1) development of innovative physiological measurements; 2) product design for medical devices; 3) optics; 4) drafting/prosecuting intellectual property; and 5) drafting/prosecuting regulatory filings. Prior to toSense, Matt founded three successful companies before the age of 40, and all in different industries. Dr. Banet received his Ph.D. from MIT and his undergraduate degree from University of California, San Diego. He is the named inventor on over 250 pending and issued patents.