Lewis Schwartz

Background

About Lewis Schwartz

After completing medical school, general surgical residency and vascular surgical fellowship, I joined the Section of Vascular Surgery at The University of Chicago. For ten years, I maintained an active academic practice in vascular surgery as well as conducted federally-funded research in the fields of vascular biology, rheology and gene therapy, including serving as principal investigator for an NIH R01 award. Through the course of basic and translational research, I became interested in how novel, experimental therapies ultimately are developed to reach the medical marketplace. In order to gain experience in the industry of medicine, I joined Abbott Laboratories as Global Medical Director for Thrombolysis in 2003. In short order, I was named Divisional Vice President of the fledgling Abbott Vascular division in 2004 and directed several programs of novel drug-device combinations for coronary and peripheral vascular disease including initiation of the firstever clinical trials of drug-eluting resorbable scaffolds (absorbable stents) for the treatment of peripheral vascular occlusive disease. In 2013, I was named Vice President, Global Device Development for Hospira, Inc, the world’s leading manufacturer of generic injectable pharmaceuticals and infusion pumps, where I participated in restoring safety and regulatory compliance for existing products and reinvigorated the medical device pipeline.After ten years in the device and pharmaceutical industries, I returned to the practice of clinical vascularsurgery and, with several business colleagues, founded Efemoral Medical, Inc, a company devoted to thedevelopment of the world’s first bioresorbable drug-eluting scaffold for peripheral vascular disease. My current positions include Clinical Professor of Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine; Vascular Surgeon, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital; Chief Medical Officer, Efemoral Medical, Inc.