Anthony M. DiGioia III, MD

Anthony M. DiGioia III, MD, Blue Belt co founder and Chairman, is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, and Clinical Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. DiGioia specializes in the treatment of hip and knee disorders including total joint replacement and other surgeries for the treatment of arthritis in these joints. In addition, Dr. DiGioia is Founder of the AMD3 Foundation and the Innovation Center at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.

Dr. DiGioia received a Bachelor of Science degree and Master's degree in civil and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and graduated with Honors in a Special Field from Harvard Medical School. His internship in general surgery and residency in orthopaedic surgery were completed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He then completed a fellowship in adult reconstructive surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is board certified in orthopaedic surgery and a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.

After years of working to develop and advance technology in the field of health care, resulting in numerous patents and extensive publications on the subject, Dr. DiGioia combines the art and science of medical practice by developing innovative methods to improve processes that dramatically improve patient outcomes while delivering exceptional care experiences. In addition, Dr. DiGioia has also organized and chaired several conference series on Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC); Bone and Joint Health; and Less and Minimally Invasive and Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery.

Dr. DiGioia is also a Senior Research Scientist, founder and co-director of the Center for Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery at Carnegie Mellon University. He has received numerous professional awards for his clinical and technical achievements and received the Design News Special Achievement Award and the Pittsburgh History Makers Award in the area of medicine and health. He has authored or co-authored many scientific papers, book chapters and serves on several Editorial Advisory Boards.

Craig S. Markovitz

Craig S. Markovitz is co-founder and CEO of Blue Belt Technologies, Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA. Blue Belt is a medical technology company that develops innovative computer assisted surgical tools for the medical field. The company's flagship product, the Precision Freehand Sculptor, is a computer-controlled, compact, handheld intelligent tool that allows for precise bone surface preparation. Markovitz is also a Managing Director for AMD3 Consulting, Inc. where he provides consulting and advisory services in the areas of healthcare management, process improvement and strategic operations.

Prior to founding Blue Belt, Markovitz worked with The Redleaf Group, Inc., a $285 million early stage venture capital fund, as the Chief Operating Officer of PenNetWorks, LLC at the University of Pennsylvania. PenNetWorks was a full-service, pre-seed stage technology business accelerator providing investment capital, venture coaching, networking opportunities and operational assistance to entrepreneurs.

Before joining Redleaf, Markovitz was an independent consultant providing services to university technology transfer offices and early stage businesses. These services focused on development of commercialization strategies, strategic partner identification/negotiation, seed stage fund raising, business plan development, technology licensing, and start up assistance. In this capacity, he worked with over 100 university technologies and early stage companies. Prior to this, Markovitz managed a $50 million portfolio as a corporate lender for PNC Bank and performed customer service and marketing activities for Nortel Networks in Chicago, IL.

Markovitz graduated with distinction from the MBA program at the Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University in Chicago with a degree in Entrepreneurship and graduated cum laude from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA with a B.A. in Management. He has also taken continuing education courses at Carnegie Mellon University.

He is an active speaker, mentor and guest lecturer at various universities and events across Pennsylvania discussing topics such as: technology transfer, private equity investment, business start up and financing strategies, and other entrepreneurial topics. He serves as an advisor to several start up technology companies and is on the board of the AMD3 Foundation.

He lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife and three children.

Branislav Jaramaz, PhD

Branislav Jaramaz, PhD, is a Blue Belt co founder and Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Jaramaz received a Ph.D. in civil engineering/ computational mechanics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is one of the pioneers of Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery, and a co-developer of HipNav, the first surgical navigation system for total hip replacement. His professional and research interests encompass the areas of simulation for surgery and rehabilitation, medical image processing and medical robotics. For his work in this area Dr Jaramaz has received several awards, including the 1998 Hip Society Otto Aufranc Award, and the 2008 Maurice E. Müller Award for Excellence in Computer Assisted Surgery. He was awarded several patents and has authored and co-authored numerous scientific publications. Dr Jaramaz is also a Senior Director for Simulation and Interactive Media at the Innovation Center, Magee Woman’s Hospital of UPMC in Pittsburgh and an Associate Research Professor at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.