iRhythm Technologies Announces Hiring of Dr. Mintu Turakhia as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iRhythm Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRTC), a leading digital health care solutions company focused on the advancement of cardiac care, today announced that Mintu Turakhia, M.D. M.A.S., will join iRhythm in the new role of Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Turakhia will join the executive leadership team to drive continued innovation, lead research and evidence generation, and enhance and augment the portfolio of clinical products and services.

Dr. Turakhia is an internationally recognized cardiac electrophysiologist and leader in digital health and heart rhythm care. He brings over 20 years of experience in patient care, outcomes research and trials, data science and artificial intelligence, medical device regulation, and the creation and commercialization of digital health products. In 2014, Dr. Turakhia performed the first-ever study of silent atrial fibrillation with the original Zio patch¹, which helped to propel the field to perform large atrial fibrillation studies at scale, including the iRhythm mSToPS Clinical Trial². Dr. Turakhia is also a seasoned operator who has led the development of virtual care and remote patient monitoring software for clinical trials, academic research, and commercialized health care products.

“As healthcare continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we are very excited to add Dr. Turakhia to our executive team,” said Quentin Blackford, iRhythm President and CEO. “Mintu is a prolific scientist, respected clinician, and fast thinker whose work in heart rhythm and digital health is on the leading edge of healthcare innovation. Mintu’s forward-thinking approach to the future of medicine, including advanced technologies, artificial intelligence, and new models of care delivery will help iRhythm continue its evolution as a market leader in the digital healthcare space.”

Additionally, iRhythm’s Chief Clinical Officer Judy Lenane has announced her intention to retire from the company after nearly fourteen years of service. Ms. Lenane has been a highly valued member of the iRhythm leadership team since joining the company in 2008.

“We would like to thank Judy for her significant contributions to iRhythm during her tenure. Her clinical, medical and strategic expertise has been crucial to getting our company to where we are today, and her unwavering patient focus will have an enduring influence on our company,” continued Mr. Blackford.

About Dr. Turakhia

Mintu Turakhia, M.D. M.A.S., is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, outcomes researcher, and clinical trialist. He is Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Director and Co-Founder of the Stanford Center for Digital Health. In his clinical role, he is Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and performs invasive procedures such as catheter ablation and device implantation to treat heart rhythm disorders.

Dr. Turakhia is internationally recognized for his clinical, scientific, and health technology work. He leads a large multidisciplinary research program in heart rhythm disorders, real-world evidence, clinical trials, and digital health. He has led several large-scale trials of digital health tools and wearables for heart disease, including as co-principal investigator of the landmark Apple Heart Study, enrolling over 400,000 participants and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. At the Center for Digital Health, he leads multiple large public-private partnership efforts and led the creation of the American Heart Association-funded Stanford Heart Health Technology Center, where he created one of the first ever health technology fellowship training programs. In academic and industry roles, he has led teams to build and commercialize software-enabled disease management and remote patient monitoring programs for heart disease.

An elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, Dr. Turakhia has authored over 300 publications and has received over $40 million in research funding. Over the last 20 years, he has had several dozen leadership, clinical practice guideline, and committee roles in the Heart Rhythm Society, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and European Cardiology Society. Dr. Turakhia will join iRhythm under a planned leave of absence from Stanford University.

About iRhythm Technologies, Inc.

iRhythm is a leading digital health care company redefining the way cardiac arrhythmias are clinically diagnosed. The company combines wearable biosensor devices worn for up to 14 days and cloud-based data analytics with powerful proprietary algorithms that distill data from millions of heartbeats into clinically actionable information. The company believes improvements in arrhythmia detection and characterization have the potential to change clinical management of patients.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, include risks described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and should not be unduly relied upon. iRhythm disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

¹ Turakhia MP, Ullal AJ, Hoang DD, Than CT, Miller JD, Friday KJ, Perez MV, Freeman JV, Wang PJ, Heidenreich PA. Feasibility of extended ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring to identify silent atrial fibrillation in high-risk patients: the Screening Study for Undiagnosed Atrial Fibrillation (STUDY-AF). Clin Cardiol. 2015 May;38(5):285-92. doi: 10.1002/clc.22387. Epub 2015 Apr 14. PMID: 25873476; PMCID: PMC4654330.

² Steinhubl SR, Waalen J, Edwards AM, Ariniello LM, Mehta RR, Ebner GS, Carter C, Baca-Motes K, Felicione E, Sarich T, Topol EJ. Effect of a Home-Based Wearable Continuous ECG Monitoring Patch on Detection of Undiagnosed Atrial Fibrillation: The mSToPS Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2018 Jul 10;320(2):146-155. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.8102. PMID: 29998336; PMCID: PMC6583518.