Rodney Perkins (born 1936), a physician and entrepreneur, is Professor of Surgery at the Stanford School of Medicine.[1]

Biography

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Born in 1936, Perkins grew up in Evansville, Indiana.[2] He attended Indiana University, initially enrolling as a dental student, but changed in his first year to pre-med, and then continued his studies at Indiana University School of Medicine. In his fourth year, as he was learning surgical procedures, he designed a medical device that cooled the blood prior to cardiac surgery that won first place in the AMA’s Medical Student Research Competition.[3][4] He graduated in 1961. He works as a Neuro-Otologist in Woodside, California.

Academic career

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Perkins moved to San Francisco in 1962 and one year later entered a surgical residency at Stanford University.[3] In 1968 he started his own practice adjacent to the Stanford campus.[5] This ultimately became the California Ear Institute at Stanford.[6] Perkins’ long tenure at Stanford was also celebrated with the dedication of the Rodney Perkins Microsurgery Laboratory in 2008.[7]

Business activities

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Perkins’ research and career as an entrepreneur has mainly focused on the field of otology. He is the founder of the California Ear Institute at Stanford and a founder or cofounder of Soundhawk, Collagen Corporation,[8] Laserscope,[9] ReSound, Novacept, Pulmonx,[10] Sound ID,[11] EarLens,[12] and DFine Inc.[13][14] Three of these companies have been taken public.[15][16][17]


Perkins is the founder of three public companies: Collagen Corporation (collagen-based implant materials),[3] Laserscope (surgical lasers),[9] and ReSound Corporation (high tech signal processing hearing devices).[17] He is also the founder and Chairman of Novacept (women's health), sold to Cytyc Corporation,[18] Sound ID (hearing science),[19] Pulmonx (interventional pulmonology and emphysema treatment),[20] and was Chairman of Surgrx (electrosurgical instrumentation), which was sold to Ethicon Endo-Surgery,[21] a division of Johnson & Johnson,[22] in 2008.

Currently, Perkins is founder, Director and CMO of Earlens Corporation, which is developing what it hopes will be a new method of sound transduction for hearing improvement.[23] Perkins is co-founder and Chairman of Procept,[24] a company developing a biorobotic minimally invasive solution for benign prostatic hyperplasia.[25]

Recognition

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Perkins received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Medical Futures,[2] a British organization that fosters innovation in medicine. He also received the Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award from Indiana University and was inducted into the Evansville Hall of Fame.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Rodney Perkins , MD". Stanford. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Professor Rodney Perkins Winner of a Medical Futures Lifetime Achievement Award". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Fields, Helen. "Biodesign series features innovations from Perkins". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Three Indiana University Alumni to Receive Honors During Busy Reunion Weekend". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  5. ^ "CEI History".
  6. ^ "Dinner & Interview – Medical Insights" (PDF). Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Microsurgery lab opens, named for Rodney Perkins". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  8. ^ Fields, Helen. "Biodesign series features innovations from Perkins". Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Laserscope History". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Pulmonx Raises $32 Million for Launch of Emphysema Products". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  11. ^ "About Sound ID". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Board of Directors". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  13. ^ "Executive Profile Rodney Perkins M.D." Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  14. ^ "Earlens Board of Directors". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Collagen Corp Acquires Interest in Cohesion Corp". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  16. ^ "Laserscope History". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  17. ^ a b "ReSound Corporation Completes Offering of 2,500,000 Shares of Common Stock at $8.50 Per Share". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  18. ^ "Cytyc to acquire Novacept for $325M". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  19. ^ "Board of Directors". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  20. ^ "Ethicon Endo-Surgery To Acquire SurgRx". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  21. ^ "homepage". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  22. ^ "Ethicon homepage". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  23. ^ Perkins, R (1996). "Earlens tympanic contact transducer: a new method of sound transduction to the human ear". Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 114 (6): 720–8. doi:10.1016/s0194-5998(96)70092-x. PMID 8643293.
  24. ^ "World First Surgery Robot Debuts at Tauranga Hospital". Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  25. ^ Dickison, Michael (Jan 25, 2013). "Silicon Valley surgery robot debuts in NZ". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  26. ^ Erbacher, Megan. "EVSC inducts group into Hall of Fame". Retrieved 16 December 2013.