Executive Management

Ms. Burzik currently serves as Director and Chair of the Board and as Interim Chief Executive Officer. She was re-appointed as Chair of the Board in June 2023. Previously Ms. Burzik served as the Company’s Chair of the Board from 2021-2022 before assuming the position of Lead Independent Director of the new combined board that was formed from the merger of SeaSpine and Orthofix. Prior to this she was President and Chief Executive Officer of Kinetic Concepts, Inc., a global medical device company, from 2006 until the company’s sale in 2011. Prior to this, Ms. Burzik served as President of Applied Biosystems Group and held senior executive positions at Eastman Kodak and Johnson & Johnson, including Chief Executive Officer and President of Kodak Health Imaging Systems and President of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. In 2019, Ms. Burzik received the AdvaMed Lifetime Achievement Award that honors accomplishments of pioneers in the medical technology industry whose contributions have had a significant impact on patients’ lives and the industry as an essential part of America’s economy. Currently Ms. Burzik is a member of the Board of Directors of Becton, Dickinson and Company, where she Chairs of the Quality and Regulatory Compliance Committee and serves on the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Additionally, she serves as Chairman Emeritus of StemBioSys, Inc. and Chairman Emeritus of the American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair. Ms. Burzik previously served on the Board of Directors for the San Antonio Branch of the Dallas Federal Reserve Board, Allscripts, Inc., Bausch & Lomb, Cordis Corporation, Hameonetics Corporation and AdvaMed.

Suzanne Armstrong currently serves as Chief Human Resources Officer. Ms. Armstrong joined Orthofix in 2007, became Vice President of Human Resources in 2017, and was then promoted to Senior Vice President of Human Resources. She is responsible for all aspects of the Company’s overall talent management strategy, including talent acquisition, compensation, benefits, and organizational learning and development. Prior to joining Orthofix, Ms. Armstrong spent more than 15 years in a variety of human resources roles within the life sciences and technologies industries. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs from Indiana University.

Before becoming Senior Vice President, Global Operations, Roberto Donadello joined Orthofix in 2007 as Operations Director and was promoted to Vice President of International Operations in 2009. In 2010, Mr. Donadello assumed additional responsibilities for the International Quality and Regulatory Affairs teams. In conjunction with this, he also served as the General Manager of the Orthofix Orthosonics business. In 2020, Mr. Donadello was promoted to the position of Senior Vice President, Global Operations leading worldwide operations for the Orthofix Spine and Orthopedics businesses. Prior to joining Orthofix, he served as Operations Director for SIAC SpA, an Italian manufacturing group. Mr. Donadello holds an Aeronautical Engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Kimberley Elting currently serves as the President of Global Orthopedics. Ms. Elting joined the Orthofix Leadership team as Chief Legal Officer in 2016, was named Chief Legal and Administrative Officer in 2017, and Chief Legal and Development Officer in 2020. She was appointed President of Global Orthopedics in April 2022. A seasoned executive, Ms. Elting has a strong background in the medical device industry. Before coming to Orthofix, she served as General Counsel and Vice President of Corporate Affairs at TriVascular Technologies, Inc. In this role, she led the legal, compliance, human resources (HR), and government affairs functions for the company. Prior to this, Ms. Elting served in various roles of increasing responsibility with St. Jude Medical including General Counsel and Vice President of HR and Health Policy for the Neuromodulation Division. Ms. Elting previously was a partner at the Jones Day law firm. A graduate of Ithaca College, Ms. Elting earned her Law Degree from the University of Denver and an LL.M. in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago.

Ehab Esmail joined Orthofix in 2019 and serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Quality, Regulatory and Clinical Affairs. A seasoned executive with more than 26 years of diverse experience in the orthopedic medical device and biologic industries, Mr. Esmail most recently served as the Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs and Regulatory Compliance for DJO where he supported all business units covering orthopedic surgical implants, bracing and supports, foot care, consumer products and recovery science. Prior to DJO, he held leadership positions of increasing responsibility with Zimmer Biomet, Biolase, Wright Medical and Smith & Nephew. Mr. Esmail earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Memphis. He is active in many professional organizations including serving as the past President and Board Member of the Orthopedic Surgical Manufacturers Association (OSMA).

Geoffrey Gillespie currently serves as the Vice President-Corporate Controller and Interim Chief Financial Officer. He joined Orthofix in 2014 and previously served as Senior Director of U.S. Accounting and Consolidations. Prior to joining Orthofix, Mr. Gillespie held various financial reporting management roles at Flowserve, and prior to that, he worked at Deloitte for more than seven years in various roles, including as an Audit Manager. Mr. Gillespie holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Accounting and Finance from the University of Utah and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Baylor University.

Mr. Kenny became President of Global Spine in December 2019. Mr. Kenny previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for Cardiovascular Systems Incorporated where he drove business strategies focused on developing and commercializing new products worldwide. Prior to Cardiovascular Systems Incorporated, Mr. Kenny served as Vice President of U.S. Sales for Medtronic Spine and Biologics where he oversaw all sales functions for approximately 1,500 direct and non-direct sales personnel. During his nine-year tenure with Medtronic, Mr. Kenny held a variety of sales roles, each with increasing areas of responsibility. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kenny served as Vice President of Sales for Bausch and Lomb and also held various sales leadership roles with B. Braun/McGaw, a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of medical devices. Mr. Kenny serves on the Board of Directors for the Medical Device Manufacturers Association. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration from California State University in Sacramento, CA.

Puja Leekha currently serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and Interim Chief Legal Officer. Prior to joining Orthofix, Ms. Leekha spent more than 18 years in a variety of legal and compliance roles within the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, including with Stryker and Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, and as a litigator with the law firm now known as Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP defending medical device and pharmaceutical companies in product liability actions. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering with a Biotechnology specialization from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. Ms. Leekha was the Managing Editor of the Washington University Global Studies Law Review and served as a law clerk for a federal court judge.

Tyler Lipschultz was appointed President, Global Biologics following the merger. Mr. Lipschultz previously served as Senior Vice President, Orthobiologics and Business Development at SeaSpine since 2018 and served as Vice President, Orthobiologics and Business Development at SeaSpine from 2015 to 2018. Before joining SeaSpine, from 2008 to 2015, Mr. Lipschultz held positions of increasing responsibility at NuVasive, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company, most recently serving as its Executive Vice President, Global Operations and, prior to that, Executive Vice President, Biologics. Prior to joining NuVasive, he was a Director at ProtoStar, a medical device incubator that formed Annulex, CVRx, and VERTx, which Mr. Lipschultz cofounded. In 2002, VERTx merged with Spine Wave, where he subsequently served in a variety of roles, including Executive Vice President and General Manager of the mechanical business. Prior to ProtoStar, Mr. Lipschultz held the position of Equity Research Analyst at Piper Jaffray and served in various marketing/product management roles at Stryker, Smith & Nephew, and DePuy. He received a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration from Kalamazoo College and an M.B.A. from the executive program at Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

Dr. Beau Standish was appointed President, Global Enabling Technologies following the merger. Dr. Standish joined SeaSpine in 2021 as the President of Enabling Technologies. Before joining SeaSpine, Dr. Standish served as a cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of 7D Surgical from 2014 to 2021; prior to 7D, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Standish is an author on 50+ patents and leads the research, development, and commercialization of SeaSpine’s machine-vision image guidance suite of products. Dr. Standish leverages his 16+ years of experience in the medical imaging space to bring products from the idea phase through to full commercialization. He achieved his Bachelor of Engineering from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and holds a Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto, where he was a Terry Fox Scholar of the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

Frank Vizesi, Ph. D., was appointed Chief Scientific Officer following the merger. Dr. Vizesi previously served as Chief Scientific Officer at SeaSpine, where he joined in September 2015 and previously held the role of Vice President, Orthobiologics Research & Development, and Clinical Affairs. Dr. Vizesi was responsible for research and product development of the orthobiologics portfolio, as well as clinical and preclinical research for all of SeaSpine. He has dedicated his career to the intersection of engineering and biology in spine and orthopaedics and developed and launched market-leading products supported by scientific evidence. Prior to SeaSpine, Dr. Vizesi spent eight years at NuVasive and played a pivotal role in growing its biologics franchise to more than $100 million annual revenue. Dr. Vizesi completed his Ph. D. in Biomedical Engineering, M.E. in Biomedical Engineering, and B.E. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.