Edward J. Ludwig 2021 AdvaMed Lifetime Achievement Award Winner!

Former BD CEO Edward J. Ludwig Named
2021 AdvaMed Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 24, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) today announced that former Becton Dickinson (BD) CEO Edward J. Ludwig will receive the 2021 AdvaMed Lifetime Achievement Award at the industry’s premier annual gathering, The MedTech Conference 2021, at an in-person and livestreamed event on Sept. 27 at 3:15 pm ET in Washington, D.C. 


Ludwig is a purpose-driven, visionary leader who saw challenges at BD as opportunities. Everything he did was centered around “helping all people lead healthy lives,” according to Ludwig. Under his leadership, the company expanded its global reach, always with a focus on improving the health of people around the world, and a strong commitment to global humanitarian efforts.

“Every year we present the Lifetime Achievement Award to an individual who, throughout their career, has had a profound impact on our industry and the patients we serve,” said AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker. “It’s one of the toughest decisions we make every year, because our entire industry is literally defined by its commitment to saving and changing lives for the better. Ed Ludwig dedicated his remarkable career in medtech to doing just that.”

Ludwig was born in the Bronx and grew up in the small town of Norwood, N.J., the oldest of five children and the first in his family to attend college. The son of a construction worker, he had summer jobs in construction himself during college and from a young age was taught the value of hard work and a college education.

With a B.S. in accounting and economics from the College of the Holy Cross, an MBA from Columbia University, and a few years of work experience, Ludwig accepted a position at Becton Dickinson as a senior financial analyst in 1979. That job led to an illustrious career and more than 30 years at BD, where Ludwig would rise through the ranks to head of a diagnostics division, CFO, and eventually CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board. Ludwig retired from BD in 2012, but his impact is still felt in the company and throughout the medical technology industry today.

Ludwig was instrumental in bringing the BD BACTEC 9000 system to market, a family of automated blood-culturing instruments that revolutionized the way blood culturing was performed, ultimately improving patient care and safety for health care workers.

With the goal of developing current and future leaders in the company, Ludwig established BD University, a management-driven leadership-development program within the company. At BD, everyone who worked with him could tell you about his focus on diversity and his inclusive management style through which he sought honest feedback from employees, and then acted on that feedback to improve the company. 

Ludwig served as the Chairman of the Board of AdvaMed from 2006 to 2008. He had the experience and management style to be able to step back and help guide the organization, always with a focus on what was best for the entire medtech industry.

Ludwig has always made philanthropic causes a priority, and since retiring he has worked together with his family on many causes, donating both time and resources to organizations near and dear to their hearts.

When Ludwig retired from BD in 2012, he didn’t leave the medical technology field behind. He has remained at the forefront, serving on many boards in the health care industry. He is currently a director at CVS Health and Boston Scientific, and he has also worked with eight medtech startups as an investor and advisor.

# # #

AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less-invasive procedures, and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.

 

 

Stasia Ogden, JD

Stasia Ogden recently joined GRIP in a General Counsel role with a particular expertise in Intellectual Property Law.  Stasia has over 20 years as a practicing attorney in law firms and major multi-national corporations and 9 years with Baxter Healthcare Corporation and 4 years with BD.  Her focus on healthcare industry global IP strategy, transactions, licensing, litigation and global portfolio management will help GRIP navigate global IP issues and maximize existing rights to 3+ patent families that provide the foundation for GRIP’s novel electronic biosensor.  Stasia has a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University, an MBA from University of Missouri – St. Louis, and a BA in Biochemistry from Northwestern University in Chicago.

Michael Osterholm PhD

University of Minnesota Regents Professor 
  • McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health 
  • Author
  • University of Minnesota
  • Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
  • Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering,
  • Medical School – Adjunct Professor
  • Science Envoy for Health Security on behalf of the US Department of State 2018-19
  • Numerous national/global Advisory Board appointments on Biosecurity, Health Research and Pandemics

Steven Koester PhD

Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Minnesota

Research Areas:

  • Graphene Biosensors
  • Biomedical & Biological Computational Methods
  • Energy Systems & Power Electronics
  • Micro and Nano structures 

Michael McAlpine, PhD

Professor Mechanical Engineering University of Minnesota

Research Areas:

  • 3D printing functional materials & devices
  • Advanced manufacturing using nanoscale inks
  • Biomedical devices
  • Bioelectronics

Edward Ludwig

  • 45+years of senior executive medical industry leadership experience
  •   Numerous Board roles, including with; Boston Scientific, CVS, Aetna, AdvaMed (Chairman), Johns Hopkins Michael Bloomberg School of Public Health, Hackensack University Medical Center, College of Holy Cross, Columbia Business School, The Center for Higher Ambition Leadership 
  • MBA – Columbia University

Laurie Knutson MBA

Vice President of Marketing

Laurie Knutson is GRIP’s VP of Marketing.  She bring over 30 years of healthcare strategy, product development and systems transformation experience across Fortune 50 to pre-revenue companies. Laurie has held C-level roles healthcare services, products, insurance, financial services and consulting, and was founder or C-level at 4 tech startups.  Laurie’s focus on commercializing products in the healthcare sector is based on her unique ability to assess the market and product adoption variables in areas of unmet needs. Laurie also has 10+ years analytics with care model development for seniors, commercial and vulnerable populations.  Laurie has her MBA in Finance from the University of Minnesota and her BA in Biology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Richard G Minicus MBA, MS

Rich Minicus is seasoned Chief Financial Officer with over 30 years in M&A, venture capital investment, and capital markets transactions. Rich brings 21 years in medical technology business development with Becton Dickinson, BD Ventures, and Pfizer which has enabled GRIP to quickly formulate a detailed financial plan beyond what most startups provide to investors. Rich also has 9 years in finance with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, ML Venture Capital, and JP Morgan. Rich earned his MBA at Harvard Business School, and holds a MS in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Caroline Popper

Caroline Popper, MD is the Co-Founder and President, Popper & Co. healthcare consultancy. Caroline has the perfect combination of 30 years’ experience in medical diagnostics and drug discovery, combined with extensive direct clinical experience. She has held many senior managerial and advisory positions with numerous global diagnostics companies, including BD, bioMérieux and MDS Proteomics. Caroline was also an attending physician at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she completed residencies in internal medicine and pathology.

Edward Gillan

CEO, CCO

Ed Gillen is GRIP’s CEO and brings over 30 years medical device industry experience, including point-of-care diagnostics.  Ed enjoyed a successful 23-year career at Becton Dickinson (BD) holding many positions globally including WW Senior Director – Strategy & Business Development – Diabetes Care Division, Global VP/GM – Surgical and Anesthesia Systems ($200M P&L), Advanced Drug Delivery, Global Business Leader – Vaccine Delivery.  Ed’s startup experience includes his most recent role as CEO Medality Medical. Ed has his MBA from Penn State University.

disease diagnosis Grip molecular

Bruce Batten

Founder/Chairman/President

Bruce Batten has been founder / CEO of four technology startups including C-level roles at Thermo Instruments, CyberOptics and Advantek. Bruce started his career in Academia earning a Ph.D. in Anatomy & Cell Biology at the Medical College of Virginia, post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School. He was Faculty member at Harvard, Tufts and The Ohio State medical schools and later ran the MBA Program at Augsburg University. Bruce has over 10 years of molecular diagnostic development, including detailed work on a POC Zika virus assay. Bruce founded GRIP Molecular to commercialize breakthrough solid state bioelectronic technology that will disrupt the diagnostic industry and empower consumers and doctors with fast, accurate and comprehensive information.

Linkedin