Amend Surgical, Inc.

Medical Device Company in Gainesville, FL

Amend Surgical is dedicated to the discovery, development, and manufacture of breakthrough medical devices.

Developing a platform of strong adhesive barriers, our team is focused on solving difficult clinical problems:

• Barriers and adhesion in the most challenging surgical environments
• Offering compelling alternatives to suture and boosting the current standards of care

Robby Lane Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

Co-founded Amend Surgical and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer.  Before starting this current venture, Robby worked at RTI Surgical as Executive Vice President of Commercial Distribution, where he led the development and growth of a $126 million division. Following RTI’s acquisition of Tutogen in 2008, Robby was appointed President and Managing Director at Tutogen Medical, GmbH in Neunkirchen, Germany.  Prior to RTI, Robby worked as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at DeRoyal and before that, served as Business Manager for the Hip Division at Stryker Corporation.

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Robby earned a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Tennessee. He also earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee.

Jamie Shaikoski, Ph.D. Director of Research and Development

Currently the Director of Research and Development at Amend Surgical, Jamie and her team are focused on the development of Amend Tissue Tape and Tissure product lines. Before joining Amend Surgical, Jamie completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Clemson University and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Florida in Materials Science and Engineering. Her academic work involved research and development of polymeric materials for biomedical applications and conducting polymers for neural interfaces.

Jessica Hahn Director of Operations

Jessica has been with Amend Surgical since April 2016 and currently serves as the Director of Operations.  She brings over 15 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and medical device fields.

A native of Florida, Jessica earned an Associates of Science in Biotechnology from Santa Fe College. While working her way from lab assistant to lab manager at Ology Biosciences, she also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Supervision and Management.

Carol Muniz Director of Quality Assurance

Carol is focused on patient safety and regulatory compliance. Prior to joining the Amend Surgical team, she was the Senior Manager of Technical Quality at National Resilience, a contract manufacturer in the pharmaceutical space. Before that, Carol was the Manager of Compliance with RTI Surgical where she managed the audit program and facility registrations. Carol is an alumni of the University of Florida with a BS in Microbiology and Cell Sciences and a BS in Animal Sciences.

Jessica Boehlein Product Development and Quality Engineer

Jessica is currently a Product Development & Quality Engineer. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering. Jessica completed a yearlong internship at Amend Surgical before coming on full-time to lead the product development of Tissure.

Tyrone Williamson Operations Technician

Tyrone joined Amend Surgical in 2022. A CNC machinist with over 10 years of experience, he currently serves as Amend Surgical’s Operations Technician.

Ron Cobb, Ph.D. Co-Founder & Board Member

An accomplished molecular biologist with over 30 years of biopharmaceutical and medical device research and development experience.  Ron is currently an Operator in Residence at the Venture Arm (Amplify) of Mass General Brigham.  Prior to Amplify, he was Chief Scientific Officer at Ology Bioservices, Inc.  Previously, he was Director of Research and Development at RTI Surgical, Inc. leading a team that launched over 20 new products.  In his career, he has worked in several therapeutic and medical device areas including immunology, cardiovascular, infectious disease, and most recently gene therapy.  Ron received his BA in Biology from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.  He earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA.

Michael Orrico, DDS Board Member

​A graduate of Northwestern University Dental School with more than 28 ​years practicing dentistry in Northwest Indiana.​ Michael is a graduate of the Misch International Implant Institute​ and a Fellow of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists. Michael is also on the Board of Directors for MD Angels.

Dr. Wade Pilling, Board Member

Dr. Wade Pilling has been an educator and innovator in the fields of Implant and Cosmetic dentistry.  He graduated from BYU with a neurology degree and later from The University of Louisville  school of Dentistry.   He has been in Private practice since 2005 and has run private  educational programs for dentists around the world.  He is one of the head educators for the prestigious Implant Pathway education center.  He has Lectured internationally and runs one of the countries largest full mouth reconstruction programs.  His work has been published in various education journals as well as textbooks.

James Kirk, Ph.D Board Member

One of the first investors in Amend Surgical, James brings over 20 years’ experience in the medical device industry. He worked for Ology Bioservices for 10 years in various management positions, including Vice President of R&D, Vice President of Engineering, and Director of Special Projects in Business Development. James has been critical to the development of the NanoFUSE® technology. He is an inventor on several patents for the NanoFUSE ® technology and performed the initial formulation development and actively participated in conducting the initial product testing and document preparation for the initial 510(k) application. James received his BS and MS in Engineering from MIT in Cambridge, MA.  He received an MBA from Boston University and earned his PhD in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.