VISE Fall Seminar with Hrishikesh Deo, PhD
VISE Fall Seminar
to be led by
Hrishikesh Deo, PhD
Founder and CEO, Ergami Endoscopy
Date: Thursday, October 20, 2022
Time: 11:45 a.m. Lunch, 12:00 p.m. start
Location: Stevenson 5326
Title: Flexible endoscope hygiene and infection prevention strategy: Innovations in endoscope design
Abstract: Flexible gastrointestinal endoscopes are used for the screening, surveillance and management of various conditions with tens of millions of endoscopy procedures performed worldwide each year. Over the last decade, several outbreaks of transmission of infection have been linked to flexible endoscopes and their reprocessing protocols. Specifically, duodenoscope-transmitted nosocomial infections have become one of the most visible topics, leading to significant efforts from the industry, hospitals, societies and regulatory bodies. In this talk, I will discuss the development of Flexible endoscope hygiene and infection prevention strategy with a focus on innovations in endoscope design. I will also touch upon my contributions to other innovations in the flexible endoscopy space.
Short Bio: Dr. Hrishikesh Deo received his B.Tech. from IIT Bombay (2001) and Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006), both in mechanical engineering. Following his Ph.D., Dr. Deo worked as a research engineer at GE Global Research Center, where he led the innovation and development of novel turbomachinery sealing technologies. In 2013, Dr. Deo joined Pentax Medical as Senior Director (Technology Development) and started an upstream innovation R&D group in Cambridge, MA focused on identifying unmet needs and delivering innovations in the area of flexible endoscopy. Since 2018, Dr. Deo took on roles of increasing responsibility in the areas of R&D, Product, Strategy and Business Development. Most recently, Dr. Deo was Vice President (Strategy and Business Development) where he led multiple external partnerships and deals for Pentax including the divestiture of endoPRO franchise to Provation. Since 2020, he was also responsible for Global Strategy at Pentax for Endoscope Hygiene and Infection Prevention and led multiple design innovations that have given Pentax a leadership position in the endoscope hygiene space. In 2023, Dr. Deo started a flexible robotic endoscopy company Ergami Endoscopy as the Founder and CEO. Ergami Endoscopy aims to develop an endoscopic robotics solution to address the unmet need of endoscopist ergonomics using design principles of origami.