Respiratory Motion
Based in Waltham, Mass., Respiratory Motion is a medical device company that received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its ExSpiron system in October 2012. This tool monitors ventilation and has the potential to serve as a leading indicator of respiratory failure during and after surgery. Respiratory Motion has recruited eight interns over the past three years through the Internship Challenge. Mike Lalli and Lynn Desmarais are two of those talented interns that helped with clinical testing, and eventually human trials, which led to FDA approval.
Desmarais, of Natick, Mass., was a student at Massachusetts Bay Community College, pursuing an Associate’s Degree in Biological Engineering, when she began her work at Respiratory Motion. “They took a chance on me, and I took a chance on them – it could not have worked out better!” she said. Desmarais, like Lalli, started her internship by working on the clinical trials of the ExSpiron prototype. She was soon put in charge of managing the product literature and graphic design for the product. “In a start up, you just can’t sit around and wait for someone else to do something – you have to just stand up and do it yourself.” That kind of determination is what brought Desmarais from intern to a marketing and clinical associate at Respiratory Motion after she graduated.