The team

We are a passionate group of engineers, orthopaedic surgeons and medtech specialists, and our mission is to improve people’s lives through innovative implant technology.

Sloan Kulper, PhD
CEO and Co-founder

Sloan is a biomedical engineer with deep ties to the Silicon Valley startup community. A serial entrepreneur and inventor with multiple international patents, he has built successful startups in four countries, raising millions of US dollars in funding. Sloan has previously served as an engineering consultant to several multinational medical device companies including Stryker and CR Bard and received a B.Sc. from MIT, a Master of Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine (Dept. of Orthopaedics & Traumatology).

Erica Ueda Boles, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
and Co-founder

Erica is a highly cited biomedical engineer from MIT and is responsible for setting Lifespans R&D objectives and leading our engineering team. Erica obtained a B.S. from UCLA an M.S. from MIT in Mechanical Engineering and worked at Abbot Vascular in Santa Clara and the MGH Center for Systems Biology in Boston before obtaining her Ph.D. from KIT (Germany) in Chemistry & Biosciences, gaining further experience as a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine (Dept. of Orthopaedics & Traumatology).

Assoc. Prof. Christian Fang, FRCS
Chief Medical Officer
and Co-founder

Chris is a Clinical Associate Professor in the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine (Dept. of Orthopaedics & Traumatology) and drives our mission to improve clinical outcomes and access to care through innovative technology, marketplace transparency, and rigorous ethical standards. Chris studied medicine at HKU (MBBS) and his fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCSEd) and is the author of numerous papers and patents in the field of orthopedic surgery.

Richard Holloway, MBA
Chief Marketing Officer

Richard is an orthopedic industry sales and marketing executive, previously of Stryker, BBraun and Orthofix, growing sales volumes from US$10M’s to US$100M’s. With decades of experience selling orthopedic and spine implants worldwide, he works with our CEO to set our global sales and marketing strategy.

Prof. Frankie Leung, FRCS
Director, Clinical Strategy
and Co-founder

Frankie is a full Clinical Professor and Assistant Dean at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine (Dept. of Orthopaedics & Traumatology) and is a major contributor to international clinical standards in orthopedic surgery and has a long relationship with the AO Foundation.

Frankie has led the education of numerous surgical trainees and is a globally recognized thought leader in clinical practice and research, with numerous publications and patents. He was educated at HKU (MBBS) and his fellowship received from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCSEd).

Prof. William Lu, PhD
Director, R&D Strategy
and Co-founder

William is a biomedical engineer and chaired Professor in the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine (Dept. of Orthopaedics & Traumatology) where he founded the department’s Orthopaedic Research Centre in 1995 and is acknowledged as one of the top scholars in bioengineering, William has a strong track record of attracting seed funding, licensing, and acquisition from investors for his biomaterial and device inventions. William received his PhD from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Adrian Chan,
CPA Australia / HKICPA
Chief Financial Officer

Adrian is an investment banker turned chief financial officer and has worked for a number of listed as well as private investment companies. Adrian has gained multiple years of experience in corporate finance with previous dealings in the execution of financial advisory, initial public offering, merger and acquisitions, privatization, and other equity capital market transactions.

Archie Leung, BEng
Senior Biomedical Engineer

Archie is a mechanical engineer with a profound depth of experience in product development. Starting as a mould-making apprentice, his career has encompassed the creation of sophisticated products across a wide range of consumer and industrial sectors. Archie completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and holds multiple additional diplomas and certificates in manufacturing engineering and computer-aided engineering.

Janice Oentaryo, PhD
Scientific Officer

Janice is a biotechnology scholar with a doctorate in Neuroscience from The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine. At Lifespans, Janice leads research and development projects in orthopedic implant development and safety testing, as well as acting as a liaison to government grant and regulatory agencies. Originally from Indonesia, she is a speaker of five languages, three of which are at native proficiency.

Katie Whiffin, MEng(Hons)
Biomedical Engineer

Katie is a biomedical engineer and prior research scientist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in the stroke rehabilitation program, where she worked with stroke patients to clinically test and develop the interactive Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) cycling system. Katie was previously a Platform Engineer at GlaxoSmithKline, where she managed the manufacture and testing of the Ellipta inhaler device. Katie received her Master of Engineering with First Class Honors in Medical Engineering from the University of Surrey.

Board of advisors