Debra Reisenthel, Founding CEO of Novasys Medical Inc., will receive the Adaptive Business Leaders Organization (ABL)’s 2010 “Leadership in Innovation” Award and make the Keynote presentation at ABL's 12th Annual Innovations in Healthcare^SM Awards Event, on April 28, in Newport Beach, California. 

Debra Reisenthel has led Novasys Medical, a women’s health company, since its inception, in 2001.  Along the way, she raised $90 million in venture capital to see the company’s flagship product, the Renessa® System, through product development, animal studies, human clinical trials, FDA-approval, market acceptance, and widespread reimbursement.  In a market with huge challenges, few visionaries remain a company’s chief executive throughout the entire progression, from idea to commercialization.

Renessa was named the 2009 Most Promising New Product, selected by industry CEOs, at the Phoenix Medical Device and Diagnostic Conference. Also since 2009, Renessa has received several positive insurance coverage decisions, including approvals for nationwide coverage from Aetna, a positive Blue Shield of California Technology Assessment (CTAF), and coverage approvals from seven of the ten Medicare regions - enabling Medicare to cover Renessa for over 75% of insured women nationwide.

Debra has more than 25 years experience in the health care industry, primarily focused on women's and children's health. Based on her fundraising success, she was asked to author a chapter entitled "The Fundraising Process: A CEO's Perspective" in the book, Inside the Minds: Raising Capital for Health Care Companies. Prior to Novasys, Debra was Vice President and General Manager of Tyco Healthcare, Nellcor Division, for more than 10 years. She provided leadership for the development and commercialization of the division's key product, a breakthrough technology for non-invasive oxygen monitoring of the fetus during labor and delivery. Debra commenced her career as a Respiratory Therapist and later was Assistant Director for Labor and Delivery, Pediatrics and Neonatal Intensive Care at Loyola Medical Center in Chicago, Il.

She holds an A.S. in Respiratory Care (CRTT, RRT), a B.S. and an MBA. Debra is a leader in numerous professional organizations, including as a member of the Advisory Board to the Professional Women's Healthcare Alliance. Her work at Novasys has been the subject of both Stanford University and Harvard Business School Cases and she is a frequent speaker on FDA and Reimbursement topics.

In accepting ABL’s “Leadership” Award, Reisenthel, joins the impressive circle of ABL’s previous “Leadership in Innovation” Awardees.  In 2008, the Award went to Patrick Soon-Shiong, visionary philanthropist and founder of Abraxis Bioscience and Health; in 2007, to Steve Case, founder of Revolution Health and AOL; in 2007, to Steve Burd, CEO and chief wellness advocate of Safeway Inc.; in 2006, to Ken Kizer, MD, visionary behind the VA’s VistA Electronic Medical Record System, as the US Dept of Veterans Affairs’ Under Secretary for Health; in 2005, to Kent Thiry, CEO of DaVita, an innovative provider of health education and dialysis services; and in 2004, to Leonard Schaeffer, CEO of WellPoint Health Networks, one of the nation’s largest health plans.