Management Team
Edward Wright
Richard Bear
Mitchel Guttenplan
Alicia Johnson
Edward Wright, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Wright has extensive management and leadership experience in the luxury retail and wholesale sectors. His background includes considerable success in developing and operating the North American divisions of some of the world's leading luxury brands.
Mr. Wright, until 2006 was the Executive Vice President of Retail in North America for Cartier, a top international luxury brand with a storied history dating back to the 1800's. Prior to Cartier, Mr. Wright held the position of President of Baume & Mercier since 2002. While at Cartier, Mr. Wright was responsible for the development and operations of the entire North American retail division including implementation of strategic goals, supervision of retail development, and ensuring successful attainment of Cartier�s retail objectives for the North American market segment. Upon returning to Vancouver, B.C., Mr. Wright became the Chief Executive Officer of CRH Medical, a fast growing North American medical company.
Richard Bear, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Bear has served as one of our officers since March 2006. Mr. Bear is currently the Chief Financial Officer of CRH Medical Corporation. Mr. Bear was the Chief Financial Officer of ID Biomedical Corporation from June 2005 until GlaxoSmithKline acquired the company in December 2005. He served as Vice President, Finance of ID Biomedical from June 2002 through May 2005. Prior to joining ID Biomedical, Mr. Bear was with XO Communications from September 1995 until May 2002, where he held the positions of Vice President/General Manager and Vice President of Finance. Mr. Bear received his degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Mitchel Guttenplan, MD, FACS, Medical Director
Dr. Guttenplan initially joined CRH Medical Products Corporation in 2006 as the Co-Medical Director of the Centers for Colorectal Health in Metropolitan Atlanta. Dr. Guttenplan graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine prior to completing a residency and chief residency in General Surgery at the Emory University Affiliated Hospitals, and he has been practicing general surgery in metropolitan Atlanta since 1987. In 2008, Dr. Guttenplan became the Medical Director for CRH Medical Products Corporation, and since then has trained hundreds of surgeons and gastroenterologists in the use of the CRH O’Regan System. During this time, he has also been a guest lecturer at numerous Medical Schools, Hospitals, GI Societies as well as regional and national scientific meetings.
Alicia Johnson, Director of Marketing
Ms. Johnson has more than 17 years of healthcare marketing and public relations experience. She has created and produced several national healthcare awareness campaigns for companies such as Merck, Teva Neuroscience and Aventis. In addition, she has produced national public service announcements for non-profit associations such as The National Osteoporosis Foundation, The American Heart Association and The Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Prior to joining CRH Medical Corporation, Ms. Johnson was the Sr. VP of Marketing of Spotlight Health. Ms. Johnson earned her undergraduate degree in both Public Communications and Visual Communications at Trinity College in Washington, DC, Summa Cum Laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Following graduation she received a full fellowship to UCLA's School of Public Health Master's Program.