Meet Endolumik

The idea behind Endolumik came to Dr. Nova Szoka as she performed hundreds of bariatric surgeries at West Virginia University hospital, and was looking for a way to increase bariatric success rates, while making her own procedures more efficient.

What Dr. Szoka created with co-founder and CEO Mara McFadden is Endolumik, a surgical device company founded in Morgantown, West Virginia. Together, they have developed a patented fluorescence-guided gastric calibration system (i.e. bougie) for use in gastrointestinal surgery.

Endolumik has grown to envision a new generation of surgical tools that use light and digital surgery techniques to enhance surgeon performance.

Leadership

Dr. Nova Szoka

Founder

Dr. Nova Szoka, MD, FACS, FASMBS is a high-volume Bariatric Surgeon at the West Virginia University Department of Surgery. She has performed over 1,000 bariatric operations at the WVU Bariatric Program, an accredited MBSAQIP Center of Excellence.

Mara McFadden

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

Mara has a long track record of engineering, launching, and managing successful medical device products and business units. Throughout her career, she has worked for several notable companies including Johnson & Johnson and Philips Healthcare, in addition to accruing six years of startup experience.

Chris Vaught

Board Member

Former hospital CEO, entrepreneur and founder of six companies, including Vaught Inc., Pistachio, and NightWatch, which was acquired in 2023. Chris has been streamlining business operations for over two decades. Chris has built a reputation for his ability to improve processes and ensure regulatory compliance by responsibly deploying technology in new and innovative ways.

Steven Fleck

Board Member

Entrepreneur and healthcare technology leader with over 20 years of experience building and advising companies. Steve is the Founder and CEO of Cutwater Capital, Chief Strategy Officer at Free Market Health, and previously co-founded BeelineRx. He has also served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Carnegie Mellon University and Chief Operating Officer of ConnectiveRx. Steve brings extensive expertise in innovation, operations, and strategic growth to Endolumik’s board.

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Matthew Kroh, MD, FACS, FASMBS, FASGE

Vice Chair of Innovation and Technology in the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Kroh is the Section Head of Foregut Surgery and Surgical Endoscopy in the Department of General Surgery, and Professor of Surgery in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He most recently served as Chair, Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, developing clinical, operational, educational, and research programs in the United Arab Emirates.

Dr. Joshua Roller, MD

Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgeon Director

Dr. Roller is a fellowship-trained minimally invasive and bariatric surgeon and one of the most experienced bariatric surgeons in Arkansas. He completed his fellowship in bariatric and tertiary laparoscopic surgery at Duke University and has since performed over 9,000 weight-loss procedures, including gastric bypass, duodenal switch, and sleeve gastrectomy.

He was the first surgeon in Arkansas to perform a fully laparoscopic duodenal switch and continues to advance minimally invasive approaches in bariatric and general surgery. Dr. Roller is board-certified in general surgery, an active member of ASMBS, SAGES, and ACS, and has published on surgical and bariatric topics in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Dan Azagury

Section Chief of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at Stanford University

Dan Azagury is the Section chief of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at Stanford University. He is a minimally invasive surgeon and a health technology innovator with an international background.

He is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and serves as Medical Director for the Stanford Bariatric and Metabolic Interdisciplinary clinic as well as fellowship director for Minimally Invasive and Bariatric surgery.

His research focuses on multidisciplinary approaches to improving bariatric surgery outcomes as well as medical device innovation. He holds three patents and has published over 75 scientific articles and book chapters.