Grant Accelerator

As President and CEO of Buffalo Filter, a leading surgical safety devices company, Samantha (Sam) Bonano increased the company’s investment in R&D and new product commercialization, leading to an acceleration in top-line growth and a sale to Madison Industries / Filtration Group in 2013. Following the sale of Buffalo Filter, Sam assumed the role of President of the Medical Device division of the Filtration Group, a market leading provider of filtration products and solutions, where she led multiple medical device companies, including surgical equipment, diagnostic equipment, hospital supplies, and home-care devices, assisted with integrating multiple acquisitions, and implemented numerous strategic growth plans. She most recently served as President of Multisorb Technologies, a leader in active packaging solutions, following the company’s acquisition by the Filtration Group.       

Throughout her career, Sam has demonstrated a strong track record of driving transformational growth in enterprise value in both public and private equity-backed businesses. She has extensive experience in global business strategy, organizational management, sales and marketing, business development, and product development across medical device, pharmaceutical, and healthcare businesses. Sam’s leadership style combines disciplined execution, customer-focused innovation, and team development.

As a hands-on operator, strategic partner and seasoned executive, Sam has an accomplished track record of delivering innovation, operational transformation, and growth acceleration to medical device organizations. She is deeply committed to advancing the healthcare industry and serves on the board of several pre- and post-commercialization medical device organizations.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Kantar US, a life science market research and data analytics consultancy, Jerry led the company through a period of transformative growth and strategic evolution from 2017 to 2021. Under his leadership, Kantar was acquired by Bain Capital in 2019 and later divested its health division to Cerner in 2021. Jerry’s tenure was defined by data-driven decision-making, deep industry partnerships, and a focus on scaling high-value insights services across global healthcare markets.

Jerry was the founder of The Mattson Jack Group, a health insights and consulting firm established in 2000 and acquired by Kantar in 2003. He held successive executive roles at Kantar, including President, COO, and ultimately CEO, helping to shape its global healthcare and life sciences strategy.

Before founding Mattson Jack, Jerry held commercial leadership roles at Aventis (now Sanofi), where he developed a strong foundation in pharmaceutical strategy and market access. His career reflects along-standing commitment to advancing healthcare commercialization, integrating science and data with actionable insight.

Jerry brings a unique blend of entrepreneurial experience, operational excellence, and commercial acumen to every organization he leads.

As President of the Contract Development and Manufacturing Operation (“CDMO”) Drug Substance division at Cambrex, Dave Meadows held full P&L responsibility and led significant growth across the custom Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (“API”) business. He oversaw all key functions including business development, commercial operations, R&D, program management, and manufacturing. Prior to Cambrex, Dave served as President of the Scientific and Regulatory Review Group at WCG Clinical, where he successfully led the turnaround of six operating companies.

At both organizations, Dave drove measurable improvements in operational performance, resulting in sustained organic revenue and EBITDA growth. He also played a key role in strategic M&A initiatives, leading due diligence efforts and overseeing the successful integration of acquired businesses.

Dave is a highly analytical and results-oriented leader with a passion for operational excellence. He specializes in business transformation and turnaround strategies, leveraging data-driven decision-making, and focuses on key performance metrics to build high-performing, execution-focused teams.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Midwest Medical and its affiliates, a leading medical transportation business serving hospitals across multiple states, Jeff directed the strategic growth of the organization. His experience includes all aspects of patient care, compliance, operations, risk management, business development, and finance. He believes in data driven growth and facilitating true partnerships with customers through transparency and collaboration.

Working with his leadership team, he developed sustainable, tailored solutions for a wide range of market profiles, from super rural to large, inner-city urban communities.

Jeff has experience applying creative methods to enhance medical transportation operations and help them realize their opportunities for growth and quality operations. He has a strong commitment to improving the industry and has been involved with a variety of related industry organizations throughout his career.