About Us

David Saloff (david@palisadespartners.net) brings over 30 years of expertise in business start-ups and development, sales and marketing, and strategic alliances and licensing. His first start-up company was Akros, a medical device company that designed, manufactured and distributed wound care products. After less than 4 years, he negotiated the sale of Akros to Lumex Inc., the leader in patient aid equipment in the US. Shortly thereafter, his Dad was severely burned in a fire, which prompted David to look into innovative technologies for burn/wound repair. That path took him to developing a new electrotherapy device which he designed, developed and got clearance from the FDA. He funded that company through a series of private placement financings followed by an IPO. In less than 3 years, his devices were being reimbursed and treating chronic wounds in nursing homes across the country (earning $300 K a month and growing at 15% a month). He then co-founded another start-up, in the health and fitness area, forging partnerships with the biggest professional organizations in that area. During this period David recruited Ed Hammel and Sean Hagberg in that venture to consult with him and re-launched in the wound care market with vastly improved technology and science based evidence. That company raised approximately $35 million, through private investments, an IPO, a PIPE and several bridge loans and fought a successful battle with FDA to regain clearance regarding that technology. Today that is a privately held company, executing on a simple proposition: safe, effective pain control without drugs. David has been successful in developing relationships with payors and regulators as well as implementing sales force development and training, and understanding how to perform under pressure.

Ed Hammel (ed@palisadespartners.net) brings over 30 years of financial, operational and administrative expertise to Palisades Partners. He applied his Northwestern Master’s in Management to banking and the field of capital raising rising to the level of Vice President - Finance at Reliance Group Holdings, Inc, where he was responsible for over $1 Billion of merger and acquisition activity. He moved on to the Worker’s compensation insurance business as CFO of the second largest mutual company, which he took private and later public in a highly successful IPO. Following the sale of this company he struck out on his own, developing a medical practice management company in San Antonio and then joined David in 2000, as CFO of a healthcare and fitness company. He conducted all the financial modeling and planning, contracting and legal interface for the company. He, along with David and Sean moved to the wound care business, where he functioned as the head of finance and administration until the company went public and allocated his financial duties to the CFO. He continued to be responsible for contracting and negotiations with multiple suppliers, distributors, manufacturers, consultants, contract research facilities, universities and individual doctor practices, as well as all internal operations, including, staffing, insurance and benefits.

Sean Hagberg, PhD (shagberg@palisadespartners.net) spent his early career working in adolescent mental health, generally in locked psychiatric facilities, from clinical staff to creating and implementing training programs for staff and patients, conducting research, including programming research tools for computer administration and reporting and presenting his work at professional conferences. Sean took some time out to get a PhD, specifically studying the culture of scientific medicine and how that culture shapes treatment, at least as much as science. Like many anthropologists, Sean took up the formal training necessary to be a 'local expert,' which, In the US means a specific kind of shaman, a medical scientist. He did a post-doc in Community Medicine at Brown University Medical School. His technical training is in mapping these concepts into nonlinear dynamics, essentially creating models, models that can inform action. Sean gives talks in this area and was recruited to the health and fitness start-up because of his expertise in this area. There he did ‘normal’ scientific work, oversaw clinical trials, amassed supporting data, and served as the interface between the company and the medical and scientific community, raised money and developed the knowledge base for the technology and program. He was recruited into Palisades Partners for the same activities and followed into the medical device business to amass supporting data and where it did not exist, create it through contracted research. He provided scientific and clinical due diligence for the company, from individual practitioners, to multi-billion dollar multinational pharmaceutical and devices companies, as well investors and potential investors. He has a proven track record of successfully explaining scientific evidence to satisfy investor needs and requirements. Sean’s best capabilities are in using the knowledge and experience of medicine to create opportunities for new therapeutics to get through the door and then organize adoption strategies. Along the way he has been a hospital administrator, brewery owner and most importantly, his daughter's basketball coach.