Thomas Fogarty , MD

President
Fogarty Research & Development
Portola Valley, CA

Thomas J. Fogarty is a specialist whose creative talents have impacted many diverse professional and entrepreneurial arenas. In addition to his teaching responsibilities as Professor of Surgery at Stanford University, Dr. Fogarty performs numerous cardiac and peripheral vascular surgeries, manages several medical device companies founded upon his product designs, is founder and active Senior Partner in the venture capital firm of Three Arch Partners, and also finds time to pursue his interest in oenology at the family owned and operated Thomas Fogarty Winery and Vineyards. During the past 40 years he has acquired over 70 surgical patents, including the "industry standard" Fogarty balloon embolectomy catheter. Patented in 1969, this first balloon catheter for the vascular system was a sophisticated version of the original crude instrument that young Tom Fogarty, then an OR scrub technician, designed in the late 1950's using a surgical glove finger tied to a ureteral catheter. This inflated balloon extraction technique revolutionized surgical embolectomy procedures. Dr. Fogarty, along with biomedical design engineers at Fogarty Research, developed a number of balloon devices that are used in laparoscopic hernia repair and other laparoscopy-assisted cardiovascular procedures. Other commercially successful medical products designed by the Fogarty engineering group include a minimally invasive device for breast cancer diagnosis and therapy, and also a self-expanding stent-graft used to treat critical aortic aneurysms via a minimally invasive technique. Dr. Fogarty has founded or co-founded over 30 companies in the medical device or services field and serves in the capacity of scientific advisor on the boards of numerous others.