Vivian Riefberg Joins ONWARD Medical’s Board of Directors

ONWARD Medical N.V. has appointed Vivian Riefberg as a non-executive board member, serving on the governing body’s Compensation Committee. 
 
“Vivian Riefberg is a distinguished expert in healthcare, government, and strategy. I am excited and honored to welcome her to our Board,” ONWARD CEO Dave Marver said. “Vivian brings a rich understanding of the institutions with which we will collaborate to bring our therapies to market, including the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Her experience and insights will be invaluable as we work to create an entirely new therapeutic domain in neuromodulation and help people with spinal cord injury and other movement disabilities.”
 
Riefberg retired in 2020 as a senior partner with McKinsey & Company, where she held various senior positions, including leader of the Public Sector Practice for the Americas and co-leader of the U.S. Health Care practice. She served on McKinsey & Company’s global Board of Directors and on the committee evaluating and developing global partners. Riefberg is currently a professor of Practice at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where she is the David C. Walentas Jefferson Scholars Chair. At Darden, she focuses on healthcare, consulting, and strategy across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Her emphasis is senior executive leadership, including leading during times of uncertainty and crisis, solutions and innovations in healthcare, and women’s leadership.
 
Riefberg is a board member of Signify Health, K Health and Lightrock (an impact investing firm); the Public Broadcasting System (PBS); Johns Hopkins Medicine; the Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation; and the National Education Equity Lab. She is also an advisory board member for the Smithsonian Institution’s planned American Women’s History Museum. Riefberg previously served on the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center Board of Governors and on the NIH Advisory Board for Clinical Research. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), a nonprofit, created to mobilize efforts to solve the child obesity challenge as an outgrowth of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign.
 
Riefberg is a frequent speaker at various conferences including the World Economic Forum at Davos. She is also a contributor to industry publications on improving U.S. healthcare, addressing government productivity, and women’s leadership.
 
She earned a bachelor of arts degree in history from Harvard-Radcliffe College and an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School.

“ONWARD has the opportunity to build a very special enterprise that is both successful and impactful,” Riefberg said. “I have had the privilege to counsel many leading companies during my career. ONWARD has a chance to help people with spinal cord injury by leveraging groundbreaking science, technology, and intellectual property, fueled by a fullhearted mission.”
 
ONWARD is a medical technology company creating therapies to restore movement, independence, and health in people with spinal cord injuries. ONWARD’s work builds on more than a decade of basic science and preclinical research conducted at the world’s leading neuroscience laboratories. ONWARD’s ARC Therapy, which can be delivered by implantable (ARC-IM) or external (ARC-EX) systems, is designed to deliver targeted, programmed spinal-cord stimulation to restore movement and other functions in people with spinal cord injury, ultimately improving their quality of life. The company has received three Breakthrough Device Designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration encompassing both ARC-IM and ARC-EX. ARC-EX is an external, non-invasive platform consisting of a wearable stimulator and wireless programmer. Positive top line data were reported in September 2022 from the company’s first pivotal study (Up-LIFT), evaluating the ability of ARC-EX Therapy to improve upper extremity strength and function. The company is now preparing marketing approval submissions for the United States and Europe. ARC-IM consists of an implantable pulse generator and lead that is placed near the spinal cord. The company completed its first-in-human use of the ARC-IM neurostimulator in May 2022.
 
ONWARD is headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. It has substantial operations in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a growing U.S. presence in Boston.