Hanson is a Managing Partner at The Foundry, LLC, and a Partner at Lightstone Ventures. Since its inception in 1998, Hanson has led The Foundry in the invention, identification and development of new technologies; the formation, financing, and staffing of the new companies; and ongoing support of these new ventures as a board member. Hanson was also involved in founding five ophthalmology companies at Forsight Labs.

Prior to The Foundry, Hanson was VP of R&D at Heartport- NASDAQ:HPRT. In 1992, Hanson co-founded and served as managing director of Bavaria Medizin Technologie, GmbH. In 1991, Hanson served as President of Cardiovascular Therapeutic Technologies, acquired by Eli Lilly. From 1985-1990, Hanson worked at DVI, also acquired by Eli Lilly. Before joining DVI, Hanson worked in engineering roles at Oximetrix, acquired by Abbott, and General Dynamics.

Hanson serves on the boards of directors of FIRE1, Foundry Therapeutics 2, Half Moon Medical, Tangible Science, Contego, and Reprieve Cardiovascular. At Lightstone Ventures, Hanson is a member of the LSV medical device team. He also serves as a mentor to the Stanford Biodesign fellows. He has a BSME from Cornell University, and is a named inventor on over 370 issued US patents.

Kara joined The Foundry in 1999 and manages internal operations, including HR, finance and accounting for The Foundry and resident portfolio companies.

Prior to joining The Foundry, Kara was the Human Resources Manager for Medtronic AneuRx, where she ran local HR operations as well as providing post-acquisition transitional support to implement Medtronic corporate initiatives. Previously, she held HR positions at the corporate headquarters of Specialized Bicycle Components and EXECUTONE Information Systems in Connecticut.

Kara earned her BS in business administration from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Karun is an operating executive and entrepreneur in the healthcare industry. As part of The Foundry’s leadership, Karun has led the formation and incubation of several new ventures, including Foundry Therapeutics, a platform for localized, sustained drug delivery, Allay Therapeutics, a clinical stage company focused on durable, opioid-free pain control following major surgery, and Apreo Health, a development stage medical device company that is development treatments for pulmonary disease.
Prior to joining The Foundry, Karun was part of the executive team at Altura Medical, a venture funded startup that developed a breakthrough endograft for treating abdominal aortic aneurysm and was acquired by Lombard Medical. Prior to joining Altura Medical, Karun was Director of Corporate Development at Medtronic, where he had roles in business development, strategic partnering and corporate investment across Medtronic’s cardiovascular portfolio. Karun joined Medtronic via its acquisition of Ardian, a Foundry portfolio company that pioneered a catheter-based treatment for hypertension, where he served on its executive management team. In a previous stint with The Foundry, Karun served on the founding team of Miramar Labs, a dermatology and aesthetics medicine company. Karun also previously worked at Mentor Corporation, as its first in-house intellectual property counsel, and Jones Day, a leading international law firm.

Karun serves on the boards of directors of Foundry Therapeutics, Allay Therapeutics (observer), Apreo Health and Mavericks Endo and is also a patent attorney registered with the US Patent Office. Karun holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University, a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and an MBA from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.