Ned Buffington
Chief Executive Officer

Ned is a leader known for developing highly qualified teams that plan/implement successful business strategies to take ideas/inventions from concept to profitability. He creates a clear vision of the ROI potential and uses this insight to build passion and ownership for the project from personnel, investors, suppliers, and customers. Ned obtained a BS in business and economics from Rollins College and has 35 years of experience in sales, marketing, business development, senior management, and the economics of finance. He has owned and managed companies and has served as CEO, general manager, and executive director for others. For the last 15 years, he has worked with multiple emerging, high-growth companies; first as the organizer of an angel investment group, Capital Partners of Brevard, and then making seed round investments of $250K for the venture firm Advantage Capital. The first start-up he headed was Security Innovation, which was profitable in its first year. The government division later sold to Raytheon and investors realized approximately a 3.5x ROI.

William (Bill) S. Westin, CMA
Chief Financial Officer

Bill has the vision and insight to understand and plan a company’s financial course of action from regulatory compliance to capital needs. His focus on his fiduciary responsibility to investors and shareholders drives his ability to control the company’s burn rate while working closely with professional service providers to ensure regulatory compliance. He has provided critical support and guidance for Avancen while demonstrating success by obtaining almost $500K in grants and loans during the worst financial crisis in recent history. Bill has over 35 years of experience in senior financial positions, including CFO, treasurer, and controller. His industry experience covers a wide range of companies ranging in size from start-up to over $5 billion in annual revenue. Bill has shepherded (from a financial perspective) several companies through successful mergers and acquisitions. One such example: At Navistar, Bill identified incorrectly deferred tax entries reducing the cash buyout by $1 million. He is active in the local and regional business community, working with entities like SCRA, Charleston Digital Corridor, and EXECnetSC, which keeps him abreast of both regulations and opportunities. He holds an MBA in finance and a BS in computer systems from San Diego State University.

Sharon Conley MD PhD CPE
Chief Medical Officer / Founder

Dr. Sharon Conley earned a PhD in biochemistry, followed by 10 years of experience as a bench researcher in molecular biology, a subsequent MD degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia School of Medicine, a residency in internal medicine, and a fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at the University of Florida. She practiced as a medical oncologist at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, from 1991 to 2003. Dr. Conley currently serves as a consultant for clinical research organizations and has authored multiple clinical trial documents and research papers. She is the inventor of the MOD® device as well as several other medical products for future development by the company. Dr. Conley’s role in Avancen is varied. She serves as the chief medical officer, primary contact for clinical hospital relations, clinical trial management, clinical documentation, and product management. She also serves as the chief regulatory officer.

Michael Olia
Chief Operating Officer

Michael came to Avancen with more than 25 years of business operation experience, a multibillion-dollar business portfolio, and global operations and management. He led two of the top 50 international engineering teams and was awarded the design/build of some of the most prestigious and advanced hospitals in the world. Michael’s process management qualifications are included but not limited to global operation management, contracting and high profile negotiations, commercial growth process, organic growth, strategic positioning, consortium building, distributorship channel development, overseas manufacturing, technology and equipment commercialization. He is a committed leader with established global credentials in widely differing healthcare industries and specializes in international government relationship management, regulations, FCPA expert and technology licensing. Michael is known throughout the world for developing new market trends in alignment with commercialization plans. In addition to these great assets, Michael brings to Avancen his successful track record in securing major healthcare and EPC projects in the global market by way of his comprehensive knowledge of growth regions business landscape and cultural challenges that influences the principal of deal structuring.

Samara Bay
Chief Communications Officer

Sami joined the Avancen team in 2007 and was recently named Chief Communications Officer for the company. She is responsible for all communication strategy as well as all channel management including media, digital, print, trade show, investor and public relations and social media engagement strategies. Her 25+-years experience spans a wide range of companies ranging in size and scope, from start-ups to $1 billion in annual revenues. Prior to joining Avancen, Sami was the Director of Marketing for a large East Central Florida radiology practice and earned multiple awards for her efforts in advertising and collateral materials. Outside of the medical community, Sami previously held the position as the Director of U.S. Sales Promotions for the Tupperware Corporation, managing a multi-million dollar budgetary program for growth. Before moving to Florida, she served as the Director of Sales Support and Motivational Programs for The Longaberger Company out of Dresden, Ohio. Shas earned healthcare industry awards for her work with print advertising. Her involvement with Avancen has been multi-faceted, running the gamut from clinical staff training to MET labeling. Her experience includes B2B and B2C marketing, medical marketing, promotions, training, and incentives. Sami is actively involved in her local and state medical community, is a member of the Volusia/Flagler Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association, and is a Board Member of the Halifax Rowing Association. She holds a BA in Communications, Speech, and Theatre from the University of Cincinnati and has completed her postgraduate work in Organizational Communications.

Eric Melanson MS MBA
Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Eric brings to Avancen a breadth of experience in strategic marketing, marketing management and sales in the life sciences, diagnostic, biotechnology/pharma, software, and medical device industry segments to drive its growth to the next phase of commercial success. Eric has over 25 years of experience in marketing and portfolio management, market research, sales, strategy development, marketing communications and clinical product and services expertise. He began his career in the forensic field as a forensic toxicologist for the St. Louis city and county medical examiner and then moved to SmithKline Clinical Laboratories (now Quest Diagnostics) as a department manager. From there, Eric held positions of increasing responsibility at Finnigan MAT Corporation, Varian, Life Technologies/Perkin-Elmer, Bio-Rad’s Informatics Division, and most recently, as director of marketing at B Braun Medical, where he directed the growth of a portfolio of medical devices, services, and related disposables from $29 million to over $155 million dollars. Eric holds an MBA in Marketing Management from Drexel University, an MS in Pathology from St. Louis University School of Medicine, and a BA in Biology from Boston University.

Brian McKearney
Director, Business Development

Brian brings an infusion of both experience and young energetic talent to Avancen. Brian received a degree in business from North Carolina State University where he was the recipient of the prestigious, nationally awarded Park Scholarship. Brian spent the summer of 2009 interning for Avancen in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where he applied his school knowledge to the practical needs of business. Brian is an avid entrepreneur with experience in leading three separate companies with great success. Through his experience with these companies, he has developed a number of valuable skills that will aid in Avancen’s growth. Brian has worked one on one with government agencies and elected officials to negotiate contracts and deals, and he has also negotiated contracts with leaders within Fortune 100 companies. Coupled with these experiences, Brian has been at the helm of outlaying strategies for success and forging roadmaps to guide his teams towards them. In addition to his startup experience, Brian was trained in guest service management by the Walt Disney Company and he learned to interface with medical professionals as an EMT for the nation’s number one EMS agency.

Angela Cassano, Pharm. D., BCPS
Pharmacy Consultant

As a consultant to the team, Angela offers Avancen and its customers extensive education and experience in hospital pharmacy operations. Dr. Cassano has worked in various capacities within hospital pharmacies, most notably as a clinical pharmacist, assistant health system director of quality assurance and drug safety, and as the assistant health system director for clinical pharmacy programs. Dr. Cassano's clinical subspecialties in adult internal medicine, pediatrics, and neonatology draw on her experience gained during two post-graduate residencies. Additionally, her research efforts and subsequent presentations and publications have allowed her to excel in regulatory compliance, quality assurance, and medication safety