Our leaders

Bernard J. Zovighian is CEO and on the Board of Directors of Edwards Lifesciences since May 2023, after serving as the company’s president. As CEO, Zovighian is leading Edwards into a new era of groundbreaking structural heart innovation, with a sharpened focus and pursuit of expanded opportunities to transform the care of structural heart patients worldwide. Building from Edwards’ foundation rooted in the company’s Credo, the patient-focused culture and the unique innovation strategy, Zovighian and the global Edwards employees are united and inspired to enable the company’s sustainable growth and extend its global leadership.

With a career spanning nearly three decades in medical technology, Zovighian has led global businesses across two world-class companies, during which time he lived and led teams in several countries. Zovighian blends a global mindset and a team-based approach to leadership with strengths in strategy development, innovation and adoption of disruptive technologies that elevate the standard of care, and establishment of trusted partnerships.

Zovighian joined Edwards Lifesciences in January 2015 as vice president and general manager of the Surgical Structural Heart business, and he later served as corporate vice president of the surgical business from 2016 until he became corporate vice president responsible for the company’s Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (TMTT) business in January 2018. Zovighian established a global organization focused on developing a portfolio of therapies designed to change the standard of care for mitral and tricuspid patients. Prior to joining Edwards, Zovighian held roles with increasing levels of responsibility at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for nearly 20 years, including worldwide president of one of the company’s divisions.

Currently, Zovighian serves as an advisory board member for the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at the University of Southern California. He has dual master’s degrees in science and business from Universities of Marseille, France.

Donald E. Bobo, Jr., has been corporate vice president since 2007 and is currently responsible for the company’s corporate strategy and corporate development functions. In addition, Bobo has executive responsibility for key heart failure initiatives as well as the U.S. healthcare solutions and commercial services team. Bobo has more than 35 years of experience in the medical technology and healthcare industry and has served in various operating roles at Edwards, including, most recently, the development of the company’s Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid business, vice president and general manager of the Surgical Structural Heart business and global valve manufacturing operations. Prior to joining Edwards in 1995, Bobo held a variety of roles with increasing levels of responsibilities with American Hospital Supply and Baxter Healthcare Corporation and InnerSpace Medical. He serves on the boards of egnite and Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and has been a board member and chaired the executive committee of the California Life Sciences Association. Bobo received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Bob Jones University, and his master's degree in engineering from the University of Southern California.

Todd J. Brinton, M.D., has been corporate vice president, advanced technology, and chief scientific officer, since 2019. Dr. Brinton has significant experience as a champion of cardiovascular innovation and has a strong patient focus as a tenured practicing clinical cardiologist. He has deep ties to the medical technology community as a founder, board member and advisor to several start-up companies, including his role as physician founder, board member, and chief medical officer of Shockwave Medical, Inc (SWAV). Dr. Brinton began his career as an engineer in the medical technology industry, ultimately becoming a director of clinical research and development, prior to entering medical school. Before joining Edwards, he was a clinical professor of medicine (cardiology) and adjunct professor of bioengineering at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He was an attending interventional cardiologist at both the Stanford University Medical Center and the Palo Alto VA Medical Center. Dr. Brinton also served as the fellowship director at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign from 2006 to 2019, where he mentored and directed numerous teams on the development of new technologies. In addition, he served as the co-director for both the graduate and executive education programs at the center during a similar time period. He is currently an adjunct professor of medicine (cardiology) at Stanford University as well as senior advisor and member of the board for the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. He is extremely active in the American Heart Association (AHA) serving as the chair of the 2022 Bay Area Research Roundtable and the 2022 Orange County Heart & Stroke Ball. He currently serves on the AHA national research committee and board of directors for the AHA Western region. He also serves on the board of directors for the Medical Device Manufacturers Association and advisory boards for the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation Cardiovascular Innovation and Research Center at UC Irvine and Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design at John Hopkins University. Dr. Brinton received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego in biomedical engineering, and his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University. He completed his internship, residency, and fellowships in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Stanford.

Annette Brüls joined Edwards as corporate vice president, EMEACLA, in August 2024. Prior to joining the company, Brüls was the CEO of Medela, a leading breast pump brand and medical device manufacturer.

Previously, Brüls held several senior leadership positions at Medtronic including president of the diabetes service and solutions division, general manager of the diabetes western Europe and Canada division and vice president of marketing for cardiac rhythm disease management. She also served as vice president of marketing at Abbott Vascular for the EMEA region.

Brüls has more than 25 years of experience leading diverse teams with a mission-driven approach, coupled with a passion for innovation and technology. She has been named among the Top 50 Technology CEOs (ranked ninth) by The Health Technology Report and Best CEO for 2020, 2021, and 2022 by Comparably. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, she is personally dedicated to elevating women in the workplace.

Since 2021, Brüls has served on the board of Coloplast, where she is a member of the compensation and nominating committee.

She holds a bachelor’s in engineering and a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Liège’s Ecole Polytechnique, Belgium and completed additional management courses at Wharton and Harvard Business School.

Daveen Chopra joined Edwards Lifesciences as corporate vice president, Surgical Structural Heart, in May 2018, and assumed leadership of Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies in January 2023. Chopra has broad experience in the medical technology industry, including global leadership in strategy, marketing, commercial operations, research and development, and program management. Prior to joining Edwards, Chopra held various roles with increasing levels of responsibility at Medtronic, plc, from 2005 to 2018, culminating in a global leadership role as vice president and general manager of its aortic franchise. Chopra previously served as vice president of global marketing leading Medtronic’s endovascular therapies business. While in Medtronic’s endovascular therapies business, he served as vice president, U.S. commercial operations, director of program management office, senior business manager for the endovascular and peripheral business in Asia-Pacific, global group product manager for thoracic stent grafts, and international aortic product manager. Prior to Medtronic, Chopra served as an international strategy consultant at The Parthenon Group supporting clients in various industries ranging from education to industrial manufacturing. In 2021, he joined the board of Octane. Chopra earned a dual bachelor’s degree in economics and biology from Duke University, and a masters from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with honors.

Gomez-Thinnes joined Edwards as corporate vice president of Implantable Heart Failure Management in October 2024. She recently served as the chief commercial officer for medical technology start-up Better Therapeutics, where she developed organizational capabilities to launch the first prescription digital therapeutic to treat diabetes.

Gomez-Thinnes brings more than two decades of healthcare experience across the medtech, prescription medicines and consumer health sectors.  She spent 17 years at Johnson & Johnson in strategy and commercial roles with Cordis, Ethicon and Mentor, where she served as worldwide president.  Following this, she went on to serve as U.S. president for Galderma.  She began her career as an engineer in the oil industry.

Gomez-Thinnes serves on the board of the Association of Latino Princeton Alumni and is a founding board member of the Preston Hollow Young Men’s Service League.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and a master’s degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Sarah Huoh became corporate vice president, public affairs, in September 2024. With more than 20 years of experience in medical technology and healthcare, she has successfully led numerous high-profile initiatives and engagements, supporting and enhancing company reputations through strategic global stakeholder engagement. Huoh joined Edwards in 2007 in global communications, and, in the following 15 years, assumed increasing levels of responsibility, leading external communications and media strategy for key Edwards milestones including the introduction of Edwards’ transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and subsequent expansions globally. In 2023, she was named senior vice president of public affairs and strategy, leading the development of the company’s global public affairs strategy, as well as the functions of global corporate giving, corporate medical affairs and patient engagement. Before joining Edwards, Huoh held communications positions with Weber Shandwick, the University of Southern California and Waste Management. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Huoh received a bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Southern California.

Daniel J. Lippis became corporate vice president, Japan, Greater China and Asia Pacific, in January 2024. Lippis has more than 25 years of sales, marketing, business operations and general management experience in the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. Lippis joined Edwards in 2010 where he led marketing for the transcatheter heart valve (THV) business and subsequently oversaw the successful launches and therapeutic adoption of TAVR and the SAPIEN valve platforms in the U.S. and globally. Most recently, Lippis served as senior vice president of Europe THV where he led sustained growth of TAVR technology in a mature market, developed a high-touch field organization and championed diversity, inclusion and belonging efforts throughout the region. In 2022, his responsibilities were expanded to include business operations and regulatory affairs for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Canada and Latin America. Before joining Edwards, Lippis held sales and marketing leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson companies Biosense Webster Inc. and Cordis Inc. based in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific. He received a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of Adelaide with a double major in pharmacology and human physiology, and a post-graduate diploma in marketing from the University of Technology Sydney.

Wayne Markowitz joined Edwards as general manager and senior vice president, Surgical Structural Heart, in August 2023. He has responsibilities for R&D, operations, marketing, commercial, clinical and regulatory initiatives. Markowitz has more than 20 years of experience in the medical technology industry including leadership roles in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Prior to joining Edwards, he served as worldwide executive vice president and global head of endovascular robotics at Siemens Healthineers. Prior to that, Markowitz spent several years in general management and leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, as well as functional leadership responsibilities at Boston Scientific for a decade. His experience spans therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, neurovascular, plastic surgery, sterilization and vision. Markowitz earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from Duke University.

Christine Z. McCauley has been corporate vice president, human resources, since 2012. McCauley has more than 35 years of experience working in all the functional disciplines of human resources. Prior to assuming her current role, she served as Edwards' vice president, human resources. Before joining the company in 1999, McCauley held a variety of human resources positions at Texas Instruments, Loral (Ford) Aerospace and Bally's Health and Tennis. Currently, she is member of the board of directors for Baxter Credit Union and Aurion Biotech. She previously served as the chair of the American Heart Association Orange County Go Red for Women and as a member of the board at Octane. McCauley earned a dual bachelor's degree in business administration and organizational effectiveness at The College at Brockport State University of New York and a master's degree in human resource management from Chapman University.

Joseph Nuzzolese joined Edwards as corporate vice president, global supply chain, in August 2016 and his responsibilities were expanded to include quality and regulatory compliance in June 2020. Prior to joining the company, Nuzzolese was the vice president, supply chain, for Johnson & Johnson's global surgery business, where he was responsible for leading worldwide operations for the Ethicon and Cardio and Specialty Surgery Businesses, which included Ethicon, Ethicon EndoSurgery, Biosurgery, Biosense Webster, Acclarent, Mentor, Advanced Sterilization Products and Sterilmed. Nuzzolese has more than 25 years of experience leading all facets of supply chain and held a number of senior leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, including vice president of supply chain in the Office of Strategy & Execution, vice president of worldwide operations for Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. and vice president of drug delivery for ALZA Corp. Nuzzolese was appointed to the Orange County United Way Board of Directors in July 2018 and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) Board of Directors in 2023. Nuzzolese received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Arnold A. Pinkston joined Edwards as Corporate Vice President, General Counsel in July 2019. Pinkston has more than 35 years of experience as a lawyer and business leader including serving as general counsel at Allergan, general counsel at Beckman Coulter, deputy general counsel at Eli Lilly and Company and chief legal officer at CoreLogic, Inc. Throughout his career he has built and led high-performing global teams and managed complex business and legal issues relating to litigation, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, board governance, compliance, finance and securities. Pinkston currently serves as a board member for Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE: BIO) and the Forum for Corporate Directors. He is also on the Orange County Community Foundation’s Board of Governors. He received a bachelor's degree in geophysics from Yale College and a juris doctor degree from Yale Law School.

Gary I. Sorsher was appointed vice president, quality and regulatory compliance, in June 2020, and became senior vice president in 2022. Sorsher joined Edwards in 2015 as vice president, quality, for the early transcatheter mitral valve therapies organization. He later was appointed as vice president of quality for the Valve Network, and was the key quality partner to the Surgical Structural Heart leadership team. Gary was later appointed the vice president of quality responsible for Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (TMTT), Advanced Technology (AT), quality laboratories and pilot operations. Prior to joining Edwards, Sorsher was vice president of corporate quality compliance and medical device operations at Allergan, Inc., with responsibility for U.S. and international device facilities. Previously, Sorsher held quality leadership roles at Endologix, Inc., C.R. Bard, Inc., and Cordis, Johnson & Johnson. He serves on the board of trustees for Orange County Ronald McDonald House. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Byelorussian Polytechnic Institute, Minsk, Belarus.

Scott B. Ullem has been chief financial officer since 2014. He is responsible for leading Edwards’ global finance organization. In addition, Ullem has executive responsibility for the company’s information technology, information security, risk management, indirect sourcing, and corporate services teams. He also led the creation of Edwards’ Social Impact Investment Fund to expand access to capital in underserved communities. Prior to joining Edwards, he served as chief financial officer of Bemis Company Inc., a S&P 500 supplier of packaging and pressure sensitive materials used in leading food, consumer, and healthcare products. Ullem was also the executive leader of one of Bemis' three business segments. Prior to Bemis, Ullem was an investment banker for 17 years, serving as a managing director at Goldman Sachs and later at Bank of America. As an investment banker, Ullem worked with public and private companies in multiple industries on mergers and acquisitions as well as equity and debt financing. Ullem currently serves on the board of directors of Illumina as well as Berry Global. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Ullem received his bachelor's degree in political science from DePauw University and his master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Larry L. Wood has been corporate vice president, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, since 2007, and has been responsible for key company R&D, operations, marketing, commercial, clinical and regulatory initiatives in transcatheter valve replacement around the globe since the program was a development project. In January 2023, he took on an expanded role as group president, with additional leadership responsibility for Surgical Structural Heart and other key company initiatives. Under Wood’s leadership, the Edwards SAPIEN heart valve has won numerous awards, including the Prix Galien “Best Medical Technology Product” award and was named Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New” Grand Award winner in the Health category. In 2022, the SAPIEN 3 Ultra valve received the silver medal for the Prix Galien Golden Jubilee Award for best medical technology. Wood has more than 35 years of experience in the medical technology industry at both Edwards and Baxter International, and is a frequently invited faculty member at key interventional cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery scientific congresses. Wood previously held key positions in manufacturing management, regulatory affairs, and strategic and clinical marketing, primarily in the company’s leading surgical heart valve franchise. Wood received his master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University.