Management Team

Jeff Robertson serves as president of the Secant Group and SanaVita Medical. He joined Secant Medical as a vice president in August 2011, during which time he managed the strategic oversight of business development, marketing, client accounts, product development, and operations.

Previously, Jeff worked at ARmark Authentication Technologies, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adhesives Research, Inc. Robertson co-developed ARmark Authentication Technologies in 2005 and served as director and general manager. Previously, Jeff held positions at Adhesives Research as Northeast regional manager, business development manager, and general manager of a global business unit. He began his career in pharmaceutical sales at Bock Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Meyers Squibb.

Jeff has a Bachelor degree in Bio-Behavioral Science from Colby College and a Masters in Business Administration from Kennedy-Western University.

John D'Ottavio is Sr Vice President overseeing Operational Strategy and Innovation for the Secant Group.  In this role, John is responsible for all Operations in Medical Components, Technical Materials, and Applied Biomaterials. 
John previously served as the company's vice president, operations, where he oversaw all manufacturing departments, including textiles, extrusion and advanced biomaterials, before his promotion.

Prior to joining the Secant Group, John was plant technical manager at JDSU Authentication Solutions Group/OpSec Security, where he led the quality and engineering departments. He served as global business manager and quality and regulatory affairs manager at Adhesives Research, Inc. and its subsidiary, ARmark. During his tenure, he led the commercialization of a high-definition micro-extrusion technology, established a company-wide Quality Management System and executed continuous improvement efforts to increase yield, reduce materials costs and maximize productivity. Early in his career, John held positions at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. and Johnson Controls.

John has a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Bucknell University and an executive master’s in technology management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Carlos Valdes is vice president, quality and technical services and is responsible for the Secant Group's facilities engineering, maintenance and IT services. Prior to his current position, Carlos served as vice president, engineering, and previously, director, manufacturing engineering.

Before his tenure at the Secant Group, Carlos served as director of operations at the Healthy Beverage Company, LLC and director of engineering at Safeguard Business Systems. Previously, he worked at Gemplus Corporation as a process project engineer and later as an engineering manager. Carlos began his professional career at Armstrong World Industries as a project engineer and worked up the ranks to manufacturing team manager.
 

Carlos has a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University and a masters in technology management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Ann Hegedus is senior director, commercial strategy.  She is responsible for creating and directing commercial initiatives that support and strengthen business partnerships with customers and contribute to the overall growth of the Secant Group businesses.
 
Prior to joining the Secant Group, Mary Ann was director, global accounts for Colorcon, Inc where she played a key role in the development of the strategic direction of the global account program. Mary Ann has built strategic alliances with C-suite and senior executives that resulted in sustainable business relationships, and created innovative partnerships to achieve win-win results. During her tenure, Mary Ann held various account management and business development positions, driving growth and profitability. Over her career, Mary Ann has held a number of senior sales and business development positions supporting the pharmaceutical, medical, and biotech industries.

Mary Ann has a bachelor of science degree in biology from Bucknell University, and pursued graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Jeremy Harris is research director at the Secant Group, responsible for coporate research in support of the company's divisions.

Prior to joining the Secant Group, Jeremy worked for several start-up companies in the areas of personal care and medical devices, leading research efforts to develop new polymeric materials for use in the medical device field.  Jeremy has extensive experience in materials characterization, polymer synthesis, product development, intellectual property and FDA device regulatory pathways.

Jeremy has a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the College of Wooster and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Michigan State University, where he studied ultrathin polymeric films for use in the development of novel coatings and membranes.

Edmund Graf is finance director at the Secant Group, responsible for overseeing the organization's financials, inventory control and procurement.

Edmund has 15 years’ experience in the life sciences industry, serving in finance leadership roles at companies in the pharmaceutical and medical device space. Prior to the Secant Group, he was at Novocure, where he led global management reporting, budgeting and forecasting. He has also held finance positions at moksha8, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
 

Edmund has a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Bucknell University. He has a master of business administration from W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and a master of international management from Thunderbird, School of Global Management.

Diana Lande is director, human resources. She is responsible for managing the company's organizational development and human resources department.

Prior to her tenure with the Secant Group, Diana served on the executive staff of a small, privately held information technology firm, Content Data Solutions. She has also held executive level human resources positions for the information technology subsidiaries of the global publishing conglomerates, Reed Elsevier, PLC and Thomas Publishing Company, LLC. Diana has prior experience in the Defense Industry, where she focused primarily on compensation and benefit initiatives in both technology and manufacturing environments. She possesses expert generalist experience including recruitment, employee relations, policy development and implementation, performance management, training, and legal compliance.

Diana has a bachelor of business administration in human resources and risk and insurance management from Temple University.