Charles Bridges

Since December of 2021, Dr. Bridges has served as the Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of CorVista Health where he leads the application of advanced signal processing and machine learning methods to develop novel point of care diagnostics for coronary disease, heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.

From 2018 through 2021 he had several roles including, Chief Technology Officer, Pulmonary Hypertension and Cardiovascular Therapeutic Areas, and Head of Cross Enterprise Innovation at Janssen Pharmaceuticals. From 2015 through January 2018, Dr. Bridges was Global Vice President, Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area Expert for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices, serving as the worldwide scientific lead for high-profile investments and acquisitions in the Cardiovascular and Neurovascular spaces culminating in the formation of Cerenovus, Johnson and Johnson’s neurovascular business in July 2017. Cerenovus achieved FDA approval for their mechanical thrombectomy platform in 2019, allowing for the reversal of the manifestations of ischemic stroke in a majority of patients. Cerenovus is now one of the fastest growing sectors in Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices. One of Dr. Bridges’ first investments after joining Johnson & Johnson, a $40 million dollar equity investment in a Minnesota-based company, CVRx, led in August 2019 to the first ever FDA-approved neuromodulation device to treat heart failure.

Dr. Bridges was the first African American Full Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital; Professor and Chairman of Cardiovascular, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at Carolina’s HealthCare System. He has over 170 peer-reviewed publications, 15 patents (issued and pending) with over $10M in continuous NIH-RO1 funding for nearly two decades. Dr. Bridges was a Regular Member of the Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences Study Section of NIH and past Chairman of the Cardiovascular Committee of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy. He is a Co-founder of CardioMyogen, LLC, an early-stage biotechnology company developing novel gene-based therapies for muscular dystrophy.

Dr. Bridges received an AB in Applied Physics from Harvard College magna cum laude. He entered Harvard Medical School at age 18, receiving an MD with Honors from Harvard Medical School in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology; a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Doctor of Science in Chemical Engineering from MIT as a Whittaker Health Sciences Fellow. Dr. Bridges competed in the 2016 World Rubik’s Cube Association US Nationals championships.