Meet the Team

About Us

Vascular Perfusion Solutions (VPS), a Texas-based early-stage Medtech company, is revolutionizing organ transplantation with a focus on simplicity, ease of use, and accessibility in price through our flagship product, the VP.S ENCORE®, a hypothermic machine perfusion device for prolonged cardiac graft preservation.

This innovative device represents a groundbreaking advancement in heart preservation technology, surpassing conventional methods such as the ice-cooler. It gained FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in 2021 and has undergone successful preclinical testing on over 100 hearts, including ovine, porcine, and human hearts donated for research.

Leadership

Rafael Veraza, PhD, MPh

Chief Executive Officer

Toni Hänninen

Interim CFO

Kristina Andrijauskaite, PhD, MS, MEd

Chief Scientific & Technology Officer

George Lamberson

Principal Mechanical Engineer

Team Members

Zachary Maxwell

Operations Manager

Chelbee Mendez

Senior Scientist

Riley Lopez

Quality Engineer

Exal Cisneros

Research Engineer

Maria Basurto

Electrical Engineer

Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board

Donald E. Ingber, MD, PhD

Founding Director, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University

Cristiano Amarelli, MD​

Cardiothoracic, Surgeon, Naples Italy​

Chair of Gordon Conference ​in Cardiac Preservation​

Board of Directors for the European Society for Organ Transplantation

Co-Chair

Alexis E. Shafii, MD

Cardiothoracic, Surgeon, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center

Surgical director of the heart transplant program at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center

Co-Chair

Thomas C. Mayes, MD, MBA​

Former President and CEO of ​UT Medicine SA

Medical Director of the Pediatric ICU's at University Hospital and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital

Maj Gen Byron Hepburn, MD

Associate VP and Inaugural Director of the Military Health Institute at UT Health San Antonio

William (Billy) Cohn, MD

Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Executive Director at the Center for Device

Innovation at the Texas Medical Center in Houston

William Bauta, PhD

Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Therapeutics BioAffinity Technologies