TAG'D: Beyond The Award

In this episode of TAG'D: Beyond the Award, host Justin Starbird speaks with Mike Kolberg , Vice President & General Manager of Codonics , to explore how smart design and clinician-focused technology are revolutionizing medication disposal and safety in modern healthcare environments. Codonics was recognized as a two-time consecutive TAG Award winner for its groundbreaking Safe Waste Syste...

Celebrate innovation at its finest with us on this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award!  We sit down with Gabe Lazarus , Vice President of Marketing for Renal Denervation at Medtronic , following their massive win as Top Innovator at the inaugural TAG Awards for B2B Innovation .  Over a decade in the making, Medtronic’s FDA-approved Symplicity system is revolutionizing high blood pressure treatment...

Bringing a breakthrough medical device or therapy to market requires serious operational prep and regulatory foresight, qualities essential for both commercialization and judging top-tier life science innovations. In this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award , host Justin Starbird sits down with Tony Lopez , CEO of AVS Life Sciences and a TAG Awards judge. Tony shares how his real-world operational...

What does real B2B innovation look like when you peel back the marketing jargon? We sat down with TAG Awards Judge Tim Parrish (CEO of Sagemont Advisors ) to talk about what shocked him during the judging process, why medtech took center stage, and how true innovation impacts real lives, not just tax strategy or balance sheets. Whether you're planning to submit for future TAG Awards or buildin...

What does it take to turn a city into a powerhouse for health tech innovation? Host Justin Starbird sits down with Craig Scharton , Director of Connect Labs Charlotte by Wexford Science & Technology , to talk about building ecosystems where startups and established giants collaborate under one roof. In this episode, Craig breaks down how Connect Labs connects innovators directly with health sy...

Imagine surgeons getting real-time confirmation that all the cancer is gone.  Right in the operating room!  This week, Justin Starbird sits down on TAG’D Beyond the Award with Adrian Mendes , CEO of Perimeter Medical Imaging AI , to talk about their game-changing, award-winning Claire system.  He explains how this AI-enabled imaging tool is tackling the massive problem of repeat surgery, which cur...

Forget everything you think you know about robotics in dentistry!  We’re diving deep with Alon Mozes , CEO and Co-founder of Neocis , on the TAG’D: Beyond the Award podcast to hear the backstory, challenges, and the path forward for the revolutionary Yomi S Dental Robot! Robotics and precision surgery are not just hospital tech. The Yomi S is precision guidance brought directly to everyday dental...

Getting hit with a surprise medical bill is the worst. But what if the confusing world of healthcare pricing could be simplified to a single "Easy Button"?  Justin Starbird sits down on TAG’D Beyond the Award with BJ Maack , Senior Director of Healthcare Solutions at Enovis , the TWO-TIME TAG Award winner behind VeriPro, to dive into how VeriPro is revolutionizing patient price transpare...

They did it! 🎉 Aqua Medical 's Dr. Raj Nihalani joins us on TAG'D: Beyond the Award to celebrate the team’s TAG Award win in the Medical Device category for Endoscopic Therapeutic Innovation. Raj talks about how their game-changing Radiofrequency Vapor Ablation Platform is revolutionizing the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes.  Find out why their "if you can scope it, you can treat it&quo...

On this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award, Justin Starbird sits down with Dr. Helen Reeve Stoffer , Chief Operating Officer of Recor Medical 's, to unpack the extraordinary 14-year journey behind the Paradise™ Ultrasound Renal Denervation System, winner of the 2026 TAG Award for Cardiovascular Therapeutic Innovation . What began as a bold idea to treat hypertension with ultrasound technology...

They did it again! 🎉 Codonics is officially a two-time TAG Award winner , and today we’re celebrating the incredible team behind the innovative Safe Waste System (SWS)!  Join Mike Kohlberg , General Manager, and Cristy Berg , Vice President, OEM, Marketing, Communications, and Global Trade Shows, on the TAG’D Beyond the Award podcast as they walk us through how they cracked one of the toughest nu...

TAG’D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets . Ever wonder how the biggest names in manufacturing ensure their quality control is powder-to-finish perfect? On this episode, host Justin Starbird is joined by Aimee Ozarchuk , Southeast Business Sales Manager for Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions , to break down the mas...

Ever wonder what it takes to build something that literally saves lives, one microscopic component at a time? In this Beyond the Booth episode from MD&M South in Charlotte, brought to you in partnership with Informa Markets , we're stepping off the main stage and onto the shop floor (well, the trade show floor) with Mike Wang from Braxton Manufacturing . Braxton is the world's quiet expert in...

TAG’D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets . This week, we pulled Matt Johnson from Photonics Industries right off the MD&M South floor to talk about something way bigger than lasers: trust.  In the world of high-tech manufacturing, where do you find a competitive edge? Matt argues it’s not just in the machine's...

TAG'D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets . Forget the rigid, competitive scenes of Boston or San Francisco! Host Justin Starbird sits down with Craig Scharton of Connect Labs by Wexford right on the floor of MD&M South in Charlotte to talk about a health innovation ecosystem that feels totally fresh, like...

TAG’D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets . Kicking off a Beyond the Booth series live from the MD&M South show floor in Charlotte, host Justin Starbird sits down with Rob Lievense , a Solutions Engineer from Minitab .  If you thought Minitab was just a statistical software, think again!  Rob dives into how the...

What's the real difference between a brilliant concept and a product that changes healthcare? Two-time TAG Award Judge, MedTech design veteran, and founder Tor Alden is here to break it down on the TAG’D Beyond the Award podcast.  He dives into  how he evaluates nominations,  why "breaking the egg" is the best thing a startup can do,  and what the current economic climate is doing to...

Ever wonder why your company keeps losing on awards even with great products!?  Meet Susan Turkell , The Awards Guru , who says the problem isn't your product, it's your story.  Her secret? "Story mining". She's an outside expert who finds the powerful, emotional moments your internal team is just too close to see. In this episode, we dig into the real, raw psychology of awar...

Join host Justin Starbird for an insightful conversation with returning TAG Award judge, MaryBeth Privitera ! Fresh off her retirement from the University of Cincinnati, MaryBeth is kicking off a "design revival" in MedTech. Find out what truly separates a scientifically interesting idea from an impactful solution in Life Sciences, and why the "age-old excuse" about regulatory...

Ready to dive into the future of MedTech!? In this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award , Justin Starbird sits down with a good friend, ⁠ Steve Everly ⁠ , Brand Director for MD&M South at Informa. Join them as they dive deep into ⁠ MD&M South in Charlotte ⁠ , April 22nd–23rd, and why the city isn't just a location, it's the perfect "hot pocket of net new" for the entire sou...

Season Two of TAG'D: Beyond the Award, kicks off with a new TAG Awards Judge , Debbie Greenway, EVP of FEIG Electronics ! With four decades in tech, Debbie brings a unique blend of executive leadership and a genuine love for innovation. She talks about the real-world impact of RFID technology, from stopping the flow of counterfeit medical devices to enabling healthier patient outcomes through...

In this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award, host Justin Starbird sits down with BJ Maack, Senior Director of Healthcare Solutions at Enovis, one of the inaugural winners of the TAG Awards for MedTech 2025! Discover the incredible story behind MotionMD, the award-winning platform revolutionizing orthopedic practices through automation, transparency, and better patient experiences. From humble begin...

In this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award , host Justin Starbird sits down with Mike Kolberg , VP and General Manager of Codonics —an award-winning MedTech company redefining medication safety in hospitals. Fresh off their 2025 TAG Award win, Mike shares how Codonics’ Safe Label System is preventing medication errors in the OR, why listening to clinicians is their best R&D tool, and how the c...

Get ready for an inspiring journey on this episode of TAG'D: Beyond the Award ! Host Justin sits down with Mat Johnson, the visionary CEO of Althing Clinic , to dive into the revolutionary AIRs System . Hear how this 2025 TAG Award winner for MedTech in the Healthcare category is transforming scalable, preventative health and behavioral risk intervention. Mat shares the compelling story behind...

TAG’D: Beyond the Award – Featuring Vibrant Gastro’s Asaf Bar In this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award , host Justin Starbird sits down with Asaf Bar , CEO of Vibrant Gastro , winner of the Top Innovator Award at the 2025 TAG Awards for MedTech. Discover how Vibrant is transforming GI care with its revolutionary, FDA-cleared drug-free vibrating capsule that treats chronic constipation through bi...