Steven Arless, BSc’71(Chemistry), returned to his alma mater, McGill University, in the Fall of 2016 as Professor of Practice in the Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Surgery’s cutting-edge Surgical Innovation Program. More recently, he joined one of Canada’s fastest growing medical technology accelerators, Centech, as Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Academically speaking Mr. Arless completed an MBA at Concordia University in 2008 and then lectured there for several years thereafter.
After graduating from McGill, Mr. Arless worked for 17 years at Smith & Nephew Inc., serving as President for close to five years.
His innovative talent led him to CryoCath Technologies Inc., a catheter-based cryoablation technology for the treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, which he nurtured from a startup to commercial success, serving as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from 1996 to 2006, ultimately resulting in a successful exit to Medtronic. He maintained his interest in the diagnosis of and minimally invasive therapies for rhythm disorders of the heart, assuming the position of CEO of Cleveland-based CardioInsight, from 2009 to 2012, with the Company ultimately being acquired by Medtronic.
Mr. Arless then moved on to becoming the Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board (2015-2019) of Soundbite Medical, a Montreal-based shockwave technology company, also in the field of cardiovascular disease therapy.
While at SoundBite, he also initiated a MedTech business incubator and accelerator program at Centech as well as accepting the position as Professor of Practice within the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University. He continues to work in these two teaching and mentoring capacities.
Most recently ( March, 2020 ), Mr Arless founded and currently leads
( as CEO) ViTAA Medical Solutions, an AI-driven digital health company using cardiac-gated CT imaging data to aid physicians in the better management of patients with AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysms ).
His most notable award was Ernst & Young’s 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year in the life science category.