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About Us; Management

Directors Management Advisory Board

US Spine brings together seasoned industry executives with a cumulative tenure of over 100 years of industry experience.

The management team has successfully founded and marketed orthopedic and spinal implant companies and have designed and developed spinal instrumentation, have taken Class I, II, and III products through the FDA approval process, raised capital for start-up operations and sustained successful manufacturing operations.


Doris M. Blake, President

Ms. Blake is a veteran in the spine and orthopedic industry, with over 25 years of sales, marketing, management and operations experience in the medical device field. For two decades, she has held leadership positions with publicly traded and privately held companies, establishing new vision, developing strategic direction, recruiting management, sales and marketing teams consistently resulting in 'over market growth' as well as rapid development and FDA approval of Class II and Class III medical devices.

Recent assignments include the implementation of a strategic plan for Encore Medical’s spine products group, culminating in triple digit growth, as well as providing strategic guidance to an early stage spine implant company acquired by Medtronic. Ms. Blake's vast experience in the spine / orthopedic markets, her track record for establishing surgeon focused organizations as well as strong established relationships within the medical community provide additional depth to the team that she has created to lead the company’s continued product development and commercialization efforts. Prior to her work in the medical device industry, Ms. Blake held a leadership position for a multicenter provider organization, developing a novel, computerized patient assessment database program in affiliation with the Harvard Center for Community Health. Ms. Blake completed the University of Tennessee’s program for Health Care Administration, graduating in 1973.


Darrell Jackson, Vice President, Sales

Darrell Jackson Jr. has been with US Spine since June, 2007. Darrell has 15 years sales and management experience in the Spine and Orthopedic device industry. His responsibilities have included field sales and sales management for a large independent agency. Darrell also owned, operated and sold a successful agency/distributorship before serving as a Regional Director for Alphatec Spine. Darrell’s extensive corporate and entrepreneurial backgrounds are integral to the future success of US-Spine. Darrell earned his B.A. from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri


Trace Cawley, Vice President, Marketing

Mr. Cawley has eleven years of marketing and business development experience in the medical device industry with privately held, publicly traded and early stage companies. He most recently served as Vice President of Marketing with Alphatec Manufacturing, where he successfully led the development, manufacture and launch of products, from concept stage through successful commercialization, creating significant gains in sales and market share for the company. Prior to that, Mr. Cawley was instrumental in establishing the spine product division at Encore Medical, Inc.

Mr. Cawley has created strong company branding through the use of effective marketing campaigns and corporate positioning. In addition, Mr. Cawley has successfully managed marketing, sales and product development groups. Mr. Cawley graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing.


David Crook, VP, Engineering

David Crook has trained and worked as a mechanical engineer both in England and the United States. Over the past thirty years of engineering practice, David has been involved in all aspects of I.P. generation, design, prototyping, and production, ranging from implantable spinal systems through to flight control systems for extra-terrestrial aircraft. Currently David is Director of Engineering for US Spine and brings a wealth of technical experience to the company, having worked with such medical companies as American Medical Electronics; Orthofix; Orthologic and Nuvasive.


Dan Bernarde, VP, Business Development

Dan Bernarde has served as Vice President since July 2007. Dan comes to the company with 14 years of spine experience with the previous 7 in senior management positions. Prior to joining US Spine, Dan served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Alphatec Spine. Additionally, he has held sales management positions at Interpore Cross International, Surgical Dynamics, and Cross Medical Products. Dan earned a B.S. from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


Linda Golob, VP, Professional Education

Ms Golob has focused 15 of her 25 years in the medical device industry leading Professional Education Departments within emerging spine technology companies.

She has built strategic surgeon and sales professional training programs that have led to product adoption, increased sales and expedited FDA approval of first to market minimally invasive technologies. The companies include: Zimmer/SpineTech BAK, Endius Atavi FlexPosure and most recently Applied Spine Stabilimax NZ Dynamic Stabilization System. She has enhanced corporate visibility and surgeon product adoption by developing key opinion leaders through faculty led training, professional meeting presentations and preceptorship programs.

Ms. Golob has delivered educational programs and clinical support throughout the US and abroad for over twenty years, including living and working in Japan for two years.. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in Studio Arts and gained post graduate AA degree in Registered Nursing.