The Galway native who previously served as Vice President of Medtronic’s Worldwide Operations has taken up a new role as Chief Operating Officer with a new MedTech multi-national that is providing cutting edge support in cardiac support.

CardiacBooster CEO, Florian Ludwig, confirmed the appointment of Gerry Kilcommins to the position of Chief Operating Officer at the company.

CardiacBooster is an early-stage medical technology business with locations in Galway, Ireland and Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

The company is developing an innovative minimally invasive medical device designed to assist cardiologists in providing cardiac support to patients who are in acute or chronic heart failure. The product is aimed at enhancing the pumping capacity of the heart.

Prior to joining CardiacBooster, Gerry has worked with Healthdyne, Becton Dickinson, CR Bard, AVE and Medtronic.

Over the past 20 years, he has held roles of increasing responsibility at a Medtronic Business Unit, Group and Corporate level. He was General Manager of the Medtronic Parkmore site from 2003 to 2013 before taking on more expanded roles as Vice President of Global Operations with responsibilities for plants around the world.

In recent years with the company, he has held responsibility for circa 25 manufacturing plants and approximately 18,000 employees in the US, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Singapore and China. His base of expertise also includes the scaling and launching of several major new products and therapies.

In his new role, Gerry will be based out of the CardiacBooster R&D & Manufacturing Facility at Parkmore Business Park East in Galway.

A past pupil of St Mary’s College, Gerry graduated from the University of Galway with a Degree in Manufacturing Technology and in 2003 was awarded a Masters in Management & Business Science from Trinity College, Dublin.

During 2011, Gerry held the position of President of the American Chamber of Commerce, Ireland and was also Chairman of the Irish Government-sponsored Ireland West Region Enterprise Action initiative.

He recently served as a member of the Ibec Board of Directors for three years.

Gerry took early retirement from Medtronic in May 2024. He was announced as the AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) US/Ireland Global Leadership Business Award Winner 2024.

In August 2024, Gerry was conferred with an honorary doctorate by the University of Galway for his contributions to the medical technology industry in Ireland.

Gerry resides in Mountbellew with his wife Pauline. They have two daughters, Bronagh and Muirne.

Outside of his professional life, Gerry is a hobby farmer – and an avid sports enthusiast, having played Gaelic Football over many years. He has recently served as chairman of his local St Brendan’s GAA club.

Gerry officially took up the COO role with CardiacBooster on Tuesday, March 11.

Pictured: Gerard P Kilcommins…new Chief Operating Officer with CardiacBooster, pictured here receiving his honorary doctorate from the University of Galway last year.