Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> October 5, 2000
BARRY CHESKIN is President and CEO of RITA Medical Systems, Inc. He
joined RITA in May 1997. Prior to joining RITA, Mr. Cheskin spent five
years with Datascope Corp., initially as Director, Corporate Business
Development. Mr. Cheskin was later promoted to President, Collagen
Products Division and Corporate Vice President. He was responsible for
the successful launch of the VasoSeal product, a first-of-its-kind
product for sealing vascular punctures following interventional
cardiology procedures. He built a direct US sales force, restructured
international distribution networks, increased manufacturing capacity
and brought the business to profitability. Prior to joining Datascope,
Mr. Cheskin held the position of Senior Associate at Booz-Allen &
Hamilton, where he managed marketing and operations consulting
assignments for high-tech and pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Cheskin
began his career as a Senior Product Development Engineer at C.R. Bard.
Mr. Cheskin holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, an MSME from
Stanford University and an MBA from Columbia University. Profile
TWST: Would you provide our readers with a brief overview of RITAMedical Systems?
Mr. Cheskin: RITA was founded in 1994, and went public just this past
July. We are a medical device company