Founding Partners Management Team

Company management is comprised of individuals with significant experience developing and building medical technology companies, specifically in the hearing health care, cochlear implant and diagnostic ultrasound industries. They have demonstrated success in building businesses that have achieved significant revenue growth, have attracted funding from leading venture groups, and have attained considerable stockholder value. Members of the management team have also developed some of the leading technology in cochlear implants and in diagnostic medicine.

Mr. Harrison has over 10 years experience leading cochlear implant development at Advanced Bionics Corporation. His team was considered by many to be the most technologically advanced team in the industry and the HR-90K device is regarded as the most sophisticated neurostimulation device ever developed and commercially distributed. Prior to his tenure at Advanced Bionics, Mr. Harrison co-founded and managed Acoustic Imaging Corporation, a highly regarded diagnostic ultrasound imaging company.

Dr. Rubinstein is a well-known and highly regarded clinical practitioner and medical researcher with significant experience in the treatment of hearing disorders utilizing electrical neurostimulation. Dr. Rubinstein pioneered and developed the use of complex computer neural simulation software to predict the results of various stimulation paradigms on surviving nerve elements in cases of hearing loss. These simulation capabilities will be incorporated into many of the concepts and ideas used in Silere’s products to treat tinnitus. Dr. Rubinstein has both advanced engineering and medical degrees, is an otolaryngologist and neurotologist, and is currently a professor at the University of Washington and director of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center. He is uniquely qualified to lead the medical development efforts at Silere.

Mr. Langhout recently served as founder and President of AUDIENT LLC, an international hearing health care services company and supplier of digital hearing instruments marketed to audiologists and otolaryngologists and underserved populations around the world. Prior to AUDIENT, he built and managed several profitable manufacturing companies with full P & L responsibilities. Mr. Langhout is experienced with hiring, building, and managing teams in large fortune 500 and private mid cap companies. His interest in auditory disorders originated with his oldest daughter, who became profoundly deaf at an early age. For the past 25 years, he has traveled extensively, both domestically and internationally, developing many beneficial business relationships with Silere’s targeted customer group. Mr. Langhout received his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Washington School of Business and his BA from the University of Puget Sound.

Mrs. Kessler is a highly regarded and well-known contributor to the development and growth of the cochlear implant industry. She developed the first audiological test battery for the evaluation of the profoundly deaf and cochlear implant candidates and recipients. Mrs. Kessler defined and managed the original clinical trials that resulted in FDA approval of the first cochlear implant system developed in the US. This success resulted in the development of the second largest cochlear implant company in the world. Additionally, Mrs. Kessler defined and developed the Advanced Clinical Research Group at Advanced Bionics. This group made major contributions to the HR-90K implant, including the definition and development of the most efficient device fitting software on the market today. The Advanced Clinical group will serve as a model for a similar function in the Silere organization.

This individual has held a number of management and technical positions in leading biomedical companies. He worked for Mr. Harrison in the past as the director of digital development at Acoustic Imaging. In this position, this individual developed some of the most advanced digital imaging processing methods in commercial distribution at that time. These were used for image and signal processing in the highly regarded AI-5200 diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging system. Recently, he has held positions in R&D, operations, regulatory and general management in several medical product companies.