Company Vision and Executive Team

Our Vision

The SynCardia Total Artificial Heart is the preferred option to heart transplantation.

Our Mission

To save lives, one heart at a time. To better serve our patients through innovation and quality. To collaborate with our healthcare partners to provide the right patient, with the right device, at the right time.

Our Values

To develop innovative technologies and manufacture quality products for our patients, as we would for our family.

At SynCardia Systems, LLC, we have a very special mission: to give end-stage heart failure patients the priceless gift of more time. More time with their families and friends, more time outside the hospital enjoying life and more time to receive a heart transplant.

Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, SynCardia was founded in 2001 by renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Jack G. Copeland, MD; biomedical engineer Richard G. Smith, MSEE, CCE; and interventional cardiologist Marvin J. Slepian, MD. Today, SynCardia is the sole manufacturer and provider of the world’s only commercially approved temporary total artificial heart.

By partnering with, training, and supporting healthcare teams at transplant hospitals and heart failure programs in more than 20 countries, SynCardia helps create better outcomes for critically ill adults and adolescents whose best chance of survival is total heart replacement. When a donor heart isn’t available, SynCardia provides a new temporary heart without the wait for patients at risk of dying or becoming too sick to transplant.

The SynCardia team is passionate about saving lives and dedicated to responsiveness, teamwork, safety, reliability and innovation. We believe that no one should die waiting for a matching donor heart. We also believe that a hospital isn’t a home; that for optimal patient quality of life, the ability to discharge stable patients home to enjoy a near-normal quality of life is vital. As a result, we are committed to advancing the treatment of end-stage biventricular failure to help improve patient care, quality of life and long-term outcomes.

In September 2021, SynCardia was acquired by Hunniwell Lake Ventures, LLC, a California-based Venture Capital investment firm. This has provided SynCardia with financial and operational resources to ensure that we can continue to grow and flourish in the U.S. and around the world. This support has also allowed us to continue developing innovative medical devices and pursuing new indications so we can help more patients.

Board of Managers

Richard Fang

Board of Managers

Daniel Teo

Board of Managers

Management Team

Patrick Schnegelsberg

Chief Executive Officer

Richard G. Smith

Chief Scientific Officer

Frank Tinker

Chief Technology Officer

Elizabeth Oei

Director of Global Distribution & Clinical Education

Matthew S. Schuster

Director of Operations

Aaron Meier

Director of Regulatory Affairs & Quality