Meet the Wellsense
Leadership Team.
Every member of the Wellsense Leadership Team is wholly committed to our mission of zero pressure injuries.
Jonathan Black
CEO
Jonathan Black joined Wellsense as its Chief Executive Officer in January 2024 bringing more than two decades of healthcare entrepreneurial and leadership experience. Throughout his healthcare career, Jonathan has focused unwaveringly on leading organizations that deliver high-quality, patient- centered care, products, and services.
Jonathan has served in CEO, operations, investor, and active board advisor roles, across the continuum of care and in a variety of disease states and conditions. In 2021, Jonathan co-founded Bluwave Capital, a boutique investment firm exclusively focused on partnering with companies, solving today’s critical healthcare challenges. Previously in his career, he held CEO roles at DuraMedic, a hospital-centered durable medical equipment provider, Liberty Medical LLC, a home delivery medical supply service, and Omnis Health, a leading diabetes testing supply manufacturing company. He also served as Chief Development Officer of Press Ganey, the industry’s leading patient experience firm.
Jonathan earned a master’s degree from Babson College in business and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University. He is a board member of The Carroll School, and is actively involved in numerous other healthcare, community, and non-profit organizations.
Ron Ferber
President & CTO
Ron Ferber served as our President and Chief Executive Officer from October 2015 to January 2024. He has now moved to the position of President and CTO. He was an original investor in Wellsense and has served on the Board since its founding. Ron is a uniquely talented entrepreneur with a proven track record of success.
Ron co-founded HoMedics in 1987 where he served as President for 28 years. In 2011, he founded myCharge, a leader in the portable charging category. He has since launched many successful companies and continues to bring innovation and emerging technologies to the market. Ron also has many philanthropic endeavors including an organization close to his heart, The Friendship Circle, which he has been involved with since its infancy and continues to be an active member. Ron is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Marshall Simpson
Executive Board Member
Marshall Simpson has served as a Board member since 2019 and moved into the role of Executive Board Member as of April 2023. Marshall has spent the past 30+ years in the Healthcare industry, 20 of those years at Owens and Minor (a $10B Fortune 500 company – OMI on the New York Stock Exchange) where he served as Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer. Marshall has extensive experience with entrepreneurial ventures/startups and has high level clinical & financials relationships within most of the IDNs/GPOs nationwide.
Marshall is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, with executive training from both the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Kathy Gunn
Vice President of Commercial & Clinical Operations
Kathy Gunn serves as our VP of Commercial & Clinical Operations and has been with the company since 2016. She has over 17-years of documented success in both B2B and B2C experience within the Pharmaceutical (Rx & OTC) and Medical Device (DME & MSE) markets. Roles throughout her career include: Sales, Training, Product Management, Key Accounts and Marketing Management. Prior to her current role, Kathy was a Director with a division of the Ferndale Pharma Group.
Kathy serves as a Board Member for Angels of Hope, a Michigan-based nonprofit that provides financial assistance to families as they battle cancer. She received her B.Sc. degree in Biomedical Sciences and Chemistry from Western Michigan University and holds an M.B.A. from the DeVos Graduate School at Northwood University. Kathy is an alumna of Alpha Chi Omega.
James Ervin
VP of Product, Engineering, and MFG
After consulting for Wellsense in 2021, James Ervin, Ph.D., joined as VP of Product, Engineering and Manufacturing in 2022, bringing 25 years of experience in corporate strategy, product design and development, controls, calibration, manufacturing, and quality. Dr. Ervin earned a BSME from Lawrence Technological University and a Masters and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt, is certified as a Medical Device cGMP Professional, and holds over 40 patents.
His product experience spans automotive, med device, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and defense. Before Wellsense, he was CTO of Inspire Rx, developing devices for Covid-19 containment, and CTO at Reven, leading drug development and drug manufacturing. Over a 20-year career at Ford Powertrain, he managed vetting and scaling of next-tech electromechanical systems, while also consulting on aerospace and industrial projects. He also currently serves on the board of Bulsai, a med device startup.
Dr. Ervin’s self-taught approach to biological systems, as built on his systems engineering background, enables him to tackle new technologies in disease and wellness. He emphasizes system outcomes over point solutions and uses data-driven processes to navigate complex tradeoffs. A lifelong learner, he embraces new challenges and applications.