John Miller

Chief Executive Officer

As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Miller is responsible for the strategic vision and mission of TranS1.  He is passionate about TranS1’s mission of Building Better Pathways to the spine that benefit both the patients and the surgeons.  Mr. Miller has over 20 years of industry experience leading both private and public companies, as well as involvement in multiple early stage start ups.  Mr. Miller also held several leadership positions with the original TranS1 during the early stages of commercialization.  This has positioned him well for leading today’s TranS1 under new ownership.

Mr. Miller earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Indiana University at Bloomington, IN. Mr. Miller also sits on the Board of directors for the Farnsworth medical research group.

Brandon B. Arthurs, PE

Vice President of Research & Development

Mr. Arthurs is responsible for all engineering and development activities. He works closely with surgeons to improve existing devices and bring new innovations to market.

Mr. Arthurs has been involved with TranS1 and the AxiaLIF technology since 2002. Prior to joining TranS1, Mr. Arthurs was in private practice as a consulting engineer. He has over 15 years of experience in machine design, manufacturing and project management prior to joining the medical device industry.

Mr. Arthurs holds a Batchelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and he is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Leighton LaPierre

Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Development

Mr. LaPierre is responsible for upstream and downstream marketing as well as strategic product development activities.

Mr. LaPierre has a long history with the AxiaLIF technology and other novel MIS technologies – previously, responsible for leading the product development and commercial launch of the current generation of AxiaLIF+ System. Prior to joining the new TranS1, he was a marketing manager at Zimmer Biomet Spine.

Mr. LaPierre earned his bachelors and masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kansas. His research focused on product development and spine biomechanics.

Kristen Allen

Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

As Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs, Kristen is responsible for management of global regulatory affairs, healthcare compliance, and quality assurance programs.   

Kristen has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including management positions in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors.  Prior to joining TranS1, Kristen was Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist at Amendia, where she was responsible for leading global regulatory efforts, managing domestic regulatory affairs and assisting legal counsel with management of healthcare compliance programs.  Previously, Kristen worked with Baxano Surgical (formerly TranS1, Inc.), where she held Regulatory and Quality Systems project management positions.  Before entering the medical device industry, Kristen held regulatory/quality management positions in the pharmaceutical sector, the most recent being QA/RA Director at Quality Chemical Laboratories.

Kristen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Laura Howard

Director of Customer Service

As the Director of Customer Service for TranS1, Laura Howard works directly with the TranS1 Sales Team to insure they have the tools needed to confidently stand by their surgeon. Mrs. Howard not only provides superb customer service, she also manages inventory and oversees the TranS1 vendors to insure product levels are maintained.

Mrs. Howard has more than 10 years of experience in the spine industry working with TranS1. During these years Mrs. Howard has accomplished Outstanding Customer Support and continues to strive to build strong long-term relationships with TranS1 each sales rep and customer.

Laura Howard graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from Meredith College, Raleigh NC.