The Board and Management Team

Askel Healthcare has an experienced Board of Directors supporting the CEO and the operational Management Team.

The Management Team consists of six members with various areas of expertise from R&D to commercial, clinical, and quality & regulatory.

Board of Directors

According to its Articles of Association, Askel Healthcare Ltd.’s Board of Directors is composed of six members. The Board is built with individuals that can best support the realization of both the company’s long-term vision and short-term objectives.

Ted Bird

Chairman of the Board

Ted joined the Board of Askel in 2023. He has over 40 years of global Commercial, Executive and Board leadership experience in the medical device arena, with deep expertise and an extensive network of surgeons, distributors and industry leaders in orthopedics and spine surgery. Ted is currently Chief Strategy Officer at Dymicron and Principal at Bird Medical Group, a strategic consulting firm for MedTech startups.

Jarkko Penttilä

Board Member

Jarkko joined the Board of Askel in 2020. Prior taking on Board responsibilities, he has worked closely with the Askel team as an advisor since 2018. He is the founder of Founders Bedrock Investments where he works as sparring partner in business building and financing for start-ups and growth companies. Jarkko has 15 years of experience in venture capital investing and has been serving as a board member and Chairman of the Board in multiple high-technology companies. He holds a master’s degree in industrial management.

Frédéric Picq

Board Member

Frédéric joined the Board of Askel in 2021. He has been the Head Trader of a global family office in New York City for 10 years. He then founded a venture capital fund, Pi2 & Cenitz, to invest in early-stage ventures that mold the world he wants to live in. He focuses his endeavors on strategy, corporate culture, finance, and execution.

Patrick Jamnik

Board Member

Patrick joined the Board of Askel in 2023. He has nearly 20 years of global market development experience, building businesses across multiple orthopaedic disciplines in both Europe and the US. He currently serves as President of Episurf Medical, Inc. and has previously held commercial leadership positions at Stryker, Zimmer-Biomet, Stanmore Implants, and InspireMD. While at UK-based Stanmore Implants, he played a central role in establishing, commercializing, and growing its US business, leading to its eventual acquisition by Stryker. Patrick holds a BA and MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Virpi Muhonen and Anne-Marie Haaparanta

Board Members

Askel Healthcare founders, Virpi Muhonen and Anne-Marie Haaparanta are also members of the Board. Their backgrounds are presented in the Management Team -section.

Management Team

Virpi Muhonen
Virpi Muhonen

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Co-Founder
v.muhonen@askelhealthcare.com

Virpi is the CEO and a co-founder of Askel Healthcare. She has an MSc in animal physiology and a PhD in orthopaedic cell biology. As a principal investigator, she has successfully raised funding for multidisciplinary research projects which she has thrivingly led. She has also supervised multiple MSc and PhD theses and is a credited author in over 20 academic publications in the field. She has been recognized for her commitment to promoting academic entrepreneurship and the impact of research. Currently Virpi also serves as a board member of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation.

Anne-Marie Haapala
Anne-Marie Haaparanta

Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Co-Founder
am.haaparanta@askelhealthcare.com

Anne-Marie is the CTO and a co-founder of Askel Healthcare. She has an MSc in biomaterials and a PhD in biomedical engineering. She has over 15 years of experience of research on biomaterials developing and manufacturing composite scaffolds and membranes for multiple biomedical applications. She has supervised multiple BSc and MSc theses and is a credited author in over 15 academic publications in the field. Her scientific work together with the multidisciplinary scientific co-operation has led to the invention of COPLA®, the cartilage repair device.

Niina Huikuri
Niina Huikuri

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
n.huikuri@askelhealthcare.com

Niina has been the CCO for Askel Healthcare since fall 2022. She holds an MSc in business administration. She has previously worked in various leadership roles in Optomed, Johnson & Johnson and Boehringer Ingelheim in business development, sales, marketing and communications. She has experience of IPO processes and international financing rounds as well as investor and analyst communication. She has been a member of a leadership group responsible for establishing a subsidiary and starting commercial operations in the USA. She is also a member of the Board of a medical devices R&D and manufacturing company.

Petra Raatikka
Petra Raatikka

Chief Clinical Officer (CCO)
p.raatikka@askelhealthcare.com

Petra has been the Clinical Operations Director for Askel Healthcare since fall 2021. Previously, she has led clinical research strategy for various business segments in GE Healthcare. Petra has over 15 years of experience bringing clinical insights to global medical device projects and medical innovations. She has a background as a registered nurse in Intensive Care and has been a company representative in academic health technology collaborations at a national level. Petra has extensive expertise in clinical evidence generation for both regulatory and marketing needs for different regions.

Mirva Ekman
Mirva Ekman

Chief Quality & Regulatory Affairs Officer (CQRO)
m.ekman@askelhealthcare.com

Mirva has been the QA&RA Director at Askel Healthcare since November 2021. She holds an MSc in mechanical engineering. Before Askel, she lead the QA&RA functions at ConMed Linvatec Biomaterials and Arctic Biomaterials as part of the management team and she has also worked in different quality positions at Perlos in Finland and China. Her over 20 years’ of experience includes implantable biodegradable medical devices and establishing and maintaining quality management systems according to the relevant regulatory requirements.