Charles R. Engles – Acoustic Wave Cell Therapy

Our Team

Charles previously was founder and CEO of Cutanix Corporation, a dermatological drug development company whose products were acquired by Allergan, and COO of Centaur Pharmaceuticals, a development stage pharmaceutical company. He organized and took public the only platinum/palladium mining company in the U.S. which was listed on NYSE for 15 years and then acquired by a South African conglomerate for $2.2 billion. He has served as chairman, audit committee chair and compensation committee chair of multiple public companies. He is an inventor on five U.S. patents and foreign equivalents. Before his entrepreneurial work, Charles was a partner of Booz Allen and Hamilton, managing director of a family-owned private equity firm, and senior VP of corporate development for Johns Manville corporation. Charles has a B.A. in electrical engineering from Rice University, an M.Sc. in management from the University of Warwick, a Ph.D. from Stanford in operations research and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.

Tom F. Lue, MD, ScD (Hon), FACS – Principal Scientific Advisor

Dr. Lue is Professor and Emil Tanagho Endowed Chair in Clinical Urology at the University of California San Francisco and medical director of the Knuppe Molecular Urology Laboratory. Dr. Lue is an internationally recognized expert on treatment of male sexual dysfunction and a pioneer in surgical methods to treat Peyronie’s disease and priapism. His research team proved that PDE5 inhibitors enhance erection in animals, providing the scientific basis for Viagra, Levitra and Cialis. He is also an expert on incontinence and developed the first animal model of female stress urinary incontinence, now used widely to study potential treatments. He is co-inventor of the sacral stimulation method of treating urge incontinence, the technology underlying Medtronic’s Interstim product line. Dr. Lue graduated with highest honors from the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan and completed his urologic training at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. He has authored or co-authored twelve books and more than 500 scientific publications. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Gold Cystoscope Award and Presidential Citation from the American Urological Association and an award for most innovative research from the American Foundation of Urologic Diseases, Valentine Medal from New York Academy of Medicine, MERIT Award from NIDDK, NIH, and America's Top Doctor (on erectile dysfunction), Men's Health Magazine.

Robert Miller – CFO

Bob served as CFO for Nivagen Pharmaceutical, Sonoma Pharmaceuticals, GAF Corporation, PenwestInc., Cerus Corporation, Ameron Corporation, and Bugle Boy. He also served as Treasurer for Mead Corporationand as Vice President of investment banking at Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co. His specialty in recent years is funding and commercializing unique and effective medical technologies. Bob has a B.A. from Stanford in Economics and Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Columbia University.

Jan Dugas – V.P. Clinical Programs

Jan has more than 30 years of experience in managing all components of clinical research from protocol development through commercial regulatory approval, both in the U.S. and internationally. She has worked for Medtronic, Cardiovascular Systems, EnteroMedics, Terumo CardioVascular, Coloplast, Neuros Medical, and Respithera. She also developed clinical compliance and clinical operations organizations for medical device companies and implemented global regulatory policies and procedures. Jan graduated from Bethesda Nursing School and Bethel University for businessmanagement, with honors in both programs.

Rona Wu – V.P. Compliance and Design

Rona has more than 30 years of experience in managing design control, quality systems, and reliability for medical devices. She has worked for Johnson & Johnson, Covidien, Stryker, Boston Scientific and Genentech. Rona is responsible for AWCT’s compliance with FDA QS and GMP regulations. She also manages the two CMOs who design and manufacture our device. Rona has a B.S. in electrical engineering with highest distinction from Chongquing University in China and an M.S. in in Electrical Power System Operation and Optimization from the University of Texas.

Tao Deng – Sr. Director of Engineering

Tao has 30 years of experience in process engineering, manufacturing engineering and supplier engineering. Prior to joining AWCT, he worked for Intuitive Surgical, Genentech, Alexa Pharmaceuticals, Sanmina-SCI Medical Devices, and Applied Materials. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina.

Paul MacCaskill – Chairman

Paul has worked for over 40 years in the design and implementation of nonqualified executive benefit plans for the ultra-affluent and corporate markets. Paul is a founding shareholder of The M Financial Group, one of the nation’s premier financial services design and distribution companies. From 2004 – 2018, he was a Managing Director and shareholder of Pen-Cal Administrators, a leading nonqualified plan financing and administration provider. Prior to his tenure with Pen-Cal, he was a Managing Director at another firm in this field for 25 years. Paul has been instrumental in the development and implementation of many innovative financing and investment techniques used in the benefits area, including the use of total return swaps and insurance wraps. Paul graduated with a B.S. degree in Business and Accounting from University of Southern California.