Years of research, applied.

The History

2003

First study of timing impairments in concussion, funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation, conducted in a collaboration between University of California, San Francisco, University of California, Berkeley, and Weill Cornell Medical College. The study was led by Dr. Jam Ghajar, Principal Investigator.

2006-2008

In 2006, Dr. Jam Ghajar and Dr. Minah Suh publish an investigation into predictive eye tracking and mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) for Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF).

Two years later, Dr. Ghajar and Dr. Richard Ivry publish a new theory of Predictive Brain State – a mechanism for attention that is affected by concussion.

2009

SyncThink founded to develop mobile eye tracking technology and analytics in support of Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) research with Department of Defense.

2010

First prototype headset developed.

Dr. Ghajar, Dr. Jun Maruta, and BTF confirm link between predictive eye tracking impairment and MRI white matter injury among concussion patients.

2012

SyncThink develops head-mounted eye tracking platform using clam shell design.

Brain Trauma Foundation awarded $25M grant to pursue largest-ever ocular-motor clinical study.

2013

SyncThink is awarded Department of Defense grant to develop lightweight platform for field use.

2014

SyncThink integrates eye tracking assessments onto emerging VR platform, called EYE-SYNC.

Brain Trauma Foundation publishes link between predictive eye tracking and ADHD on-and-off medication.

2015

Stanford adopts and develops concussion protocol around EYE-SYNC for all student athletes.

2016

SyncThink awarded FDA clearance for EYE-SYNC, and its 10th patent.

EYE-SYNC deployed in research study on the sidelines across Pac-12 schools – Utah, Stanford, USC, Oregon State – to monitor recovery rates after injury, as well as by clinicians at Stanford University Hospital, Mass General Hospital, and Walter Reed.

2017

SyncThink upgrades hardware version 2.0 to Gear VR with built-in eye trackers.

SyncThink works with Shire to apply SyncThink technology to clinical models.

Our Leaders

Ernie Santin

CEO

Mr. Santin has 35 years experience in building and managing emerging growth companies. He has founded two successful venture backed technology companies. The first, Strato Medical Corp, a medical device company was acquired by Pfizer in 1990. The second, Sensitech Inc, a cold chain visibility solution provider was acquired by United Technologies in 2006.

Daniel Beeler

CTO

Mr. Beeler joined SyncThink in 2010 and serves as CTO. He was recruited for his expertise in image analysis and carries three patents. Dan has worked closely with Dr. Ghajar for over five years to invent and implement new technologies for SyncThink.

Jamshid Ghajar

Founder & Chief Scientific Adviser

Dr. Ghajar, MD, PhD, FACS, is a board certified neurosurgeon, Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery, Director of the Stanford Concussion and Brain Performance Center, and President of the Brain Trauma Foundation in New York City and Palo Alto.

Scott Anderson

Chief Customer Officer

Scott joined SyncThink in 2017 after 10 years of distinguished leadership of the Sports Medicine program at Stanford University. It was there he met and subsequently worked alongside Dr. Ghajar as part of a multidisciplinary research collaborative studying the natural history of head injuries. Over a three year period, Scott worked closely with Dr. Ghajar to roll out investigational studies into the EYE-SYNC technology, integrate the technology into the clinical care of athletes, and develop a comprehensive treatment algorithm for concussion emphasizing the key role of eye tracking as a clinical sub type.

In addition to deep product knowledge of the EYE-SYNC technology, Scott also brings market expertise in domestic and international sports organizations. He holds numerous clinical specialty certifications, and is an internationally recognized speaker on the topic of head injury management. Scott currently serves as a consultant to the National Football League, and prior to joining the team at SyncThink, he served as Chair of the Pac 12 Sports Medicine Committee.

Umesh Rajashekar

Senior Data Scientist

Umesh Rajashekar received the B.E. degree in electronics and communication engineering from The Karnataka Regional Engineering College, India, in 1998, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in 2000 and 2005, respectively. His dissertation involved an analysis of the impact of low-level image features on human eye movements. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory for Computational Vision, New York University from 2006 to 2011 working on the perceptual quality assessment of images. He worked as a Scientist at the Brain Trauma Foundation in New York from 2011 to 2017 investigating the utility of eye movement metrics as potential indicators of attention. He has worked closely with SyncThink since 2011 assisting in the development of eye movement metrics.

Jay Stevens

Director of Sales

Jay Stevens is a successful Medical Device Business Owner and Sales Manager. Jay attended Oklahoma State University, BS. Prior to joining the SyncThink team, he spent 15 years with DJO Global a World Leader in Medical Devices. During the time with DJO, he led a very successful sales team that set the standard for DJO. Jay Stevens lives in San Diego, CA.

Matt Mills

Director of Customer Success

Matt Mills, MA, ATC joined SyncThink in 2017 after working as an Associate Athletic Trainer and the Director of the Advanced Athletic Training Fellowship at Stanford University. He has extensive experience of utilizing the EYE-SYNC solution as a clinician and worked closely with Dr. Ghajar and a multidisciplinary concussion workgroup to help implement technological solutions in the care of athletes at Stanford.

Our Advisors

Allison Kumar

Former FDA Senior Project Manager,
TBI Endpoint Development

Bio

Allison has more than 15 years of regulatory experience, with 10 years at the FDA and over 5 years in the medical device and biotech industry. At FDA, Allison provided specialized and strategic direction to academia, industry and government partners for alignment of novel, innovative medical device development efforts with regulatory expectations. Allison served as a policy and scientific adviser in several product areas including traumatic brain injury, IVDs, mobile medical apps, advanced physiological monitoring, critical care devices and conducted pre-market reviews for cardiovascular devices and combination products. Allison is currently using the valuable experience and knowledge gained at FDA to advise medical device companies on their regulatory strategies as they pursue marketing approval. Allison has a biomedical engineering degree from Virginia Tech, a graduate degree from Georgetown University in Biothreats and Emerging Infectious Disease, and graduated from the Harvard School of Public Health’s National Preparedness Leadership Institute.

Lenore Herget

Vestibular Specialist

Bio

Dr. Herget is a Senior Physical Therapist, Sports Clinical Specialist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Certified Clinical Instructor and Certified Emergency Medical Responder at the MGH Sports Medicine Center and serves as the Rehabilitation Consultant to the MGH Sports Concussion Clinic and Boston Bruins and is a member of the New England Patriots Medical Staff. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Psychology from Wheaton College in 2000, her Masters in Education degree from SUNY in 2005 and her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2009.

Dr Herget’s practice includes rehabilitating athletes who have sustained a sports concussion, most specifically evaluating and treating high school through professional level athletes with concussions and assisting in their safe return to play. Her research has focused on management of athletes with post-concussion syndrome and the efficacy of pre-season and post-season visuo-vestibular testing to aid in return to play decision making as well as managing care for the female athlete triad diagnosis. She has lectured nationally on the topics of concussion and the non-acute management of athletes with post-concussive syndrome. Her clinical expertise is in the cervicogenic contributions and visuo-vestibular treatment of athletes who sustain concussions as well as the progression of exercise through exertional protocols. Additionally, Dr. Herget focuses her orthopaedic practice on the biomechanical assessment and management of lower quarter injuries.

Michelle Kafka

Public Relations

Bio

A born and raised Floridian, Michelle Kafka is the co-founder of Kafka Media Group and a PR professional. She graduated from Florida State University with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and is an avid Seminoles fan. Kafka is passionate about sports technology and works with SyncThink to help spread the word about their role in the advancement of eye-tracking technology and concussion awareness.

Our Board

Alan Quasha

Chairman and CEO, Quadrant Management

Kevin Quinn

Advisory Director at Roomi, Genki Advisory LLC

John H. van Merkensteijn, III

Managing Director, Rossi Technologies LLC

Jamshid Ghajar

Founder & Chief Scientific Adviser

Ernie Santin

CEO

Our Investors