Minneapolis-based Inspire made Sparks’ appointment effective on July 27. As CMO, she serves as a member of the sleep apnea treatment maker’s executive leadership teams. Sparks’ responsibilities include leading medical and clinical affairs, reporting to President and CEO Tim Herbert.
The appointment of Sparks comes one week after the company named Carlton Weatherby as its new chief strategy officer.
“We are excited to add Dr. Sparks, a board-certified physician with extensive business and leadership experience, to our executive team,” said Herbert. “Inspire has long partnered with leading ear, nose, and throat surgeons, and sleep physicians, as part of our medical advisory boards. In her role as our chief medical officer, Dr. Sparks will continue to amplify these important collaborations, further enhancing our focus on delivering high-quality patient outcomes.
“As a result of her deep knowledge of Inspire’s business from her service on the board, Dr. Sparks is well-positioned to lead Inspire’s clinical development initiatives to ensure optimized therapy design and inclusion of critical user inputs.”
Inspire Medical Systems develops minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The proprietary Inspire therapy is the first and only FDA-approved neurostimulation technology that treats moderate to severe OSA. It offers an alternative to traditional positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in the sleep respiratory market.
About new Inspire Medical CMO Dr. Charisse Sparks
For more than 10 years, Sparks practiced as an orthopedic trauma surgeon. She formally transitioned to medtech when she joined Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Synthes. After that, she served as CMO at Applied VR, a virtual reality-based pain treatment developer.
Sparks also served on the Inspire board of directors as a member of its nominating and corporate governance committee. In connection with her appointment as CMO, Sparks resigned from the board and the committee.
“Having served on the board of Inspire, I have developed a deep understanding of the Inspire technology and the significant opportunity we have to impact the sleep market in the future. It is a tremendous opportunity to contribute as a full-time member of an excellent leadership team,” said Sparks. “I look forward to assisting all physicians who are in service to OSA patients to deliver outstanding clinical results and contribute to Inspire’s mission of serving the many patients with untreated OSA.”
