LSI Alumni Innovator Spotlight: Centese’s Evan Luxon and Randy Preston

Under the leadership of Co-Founder and CEO Evan Luxon and CBO Randy Preston, Centese is rewriting the playbook for recovery following heart and lung surgery. With more than 15,000 patients treated to date, Centese’s intelligent surgical recovery platform, Thoraguard, is accelerating recovery times, reducing complications, and reshaping the post-operative experience for cardiothoracic patients.

From Incubator to Impact

Centese originated inside San Francisco-based medical device incubator TheraNova, where Evan Luxon worked as Partner in new product development. While researching the clinical benefit of an automated urine output monitoring device, a chance conversation with cardiac surgeons sparked a new idea.

"They asked us if we could do something similar for chest drains," Luxon recalled. "Those devices were even harder to manage, played an integral role in highly complex procedures, and hadn't seen innovation in decades. That was the spark."

TheraNova founder Dan Burnett, MD, introduced Luxon to Randy Preston, an experienced, commercially focused operator with experience in cardiovascular markets. "Evan and I dove in, initially on nights and weekends," said Preston. "We validated the clinical need, talked with leading surgeons from around the country, and explored whether innovating in this field could make a real impact in the lives of patients and healthcare more broadly."

With early support from the National Science Foundation and non-dilutive state funding, Centese began to take shape. Luxon returned to his hometown of Omaha to advance product development, set up pilot manufacturing, and grow the company, while Preston stayed in San Francisco to lead market development, clinical affairs, and commercial strategy.

This blog is originally published here: https://www.lifesciencemarketresearch.com/insights/lsi-alumni-innovator-spotlight-centeses-evan-luxon-and-randy-preston

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