Akeyna is revolutionizing aesthetic medicine with a proprietary smart needle intended to enhance safety during dermal filler injections. Featuring real-time detection technology, our device is designed to help mitigate vascular risks. It’s affordable, user-friendly, and scalable — empowering healthcare providers with additional insights during one of the most commonly performed aesthetic treatments worldwide.

Meet our Team

At Akeyna, our team brings together visionary leaders and seasoned experts in dermatology and aesthetic medicine—uniting deep experience with a proven record of successful innovation. We’re dedicated to delivering transformative solutions, with technology powered by decades of clinical experience. Join us as we set new standards in patient safety with intelligent, practical tools for the future of the aesthetic industry.

Karen Cronholm, MBA

CEO &
Co-Founder

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Molly Wanner, MD, MBA

Inventor &
Co-Founder

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R. Rox Anderson, MD

Inventor &
Scientific Advisor

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Gary Tearney, MD, PhD

Inventor

 
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KAREN CRONHOLM, MBA
Karen is the CEO and Co-founder of Akeyna, Inc., a medical device company focused on improving the lives of patients with its unique blood vessel detection technology. Karen was previously President and CEO and Board Member at Cytrellis from 2016 to 2022 and led the company from early clinical stage to the Company’s first-ever FDA clearance and market introduction in 2021. She has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and medical device industries and has a track record of launching exceptionally successful products. Karen also has extensive expertise in building commercial teams while spearheading operational improvements to drive productivity and increase company value. She managed the body contouring franchise at cynosure, directing marketing and product management of several dermatologic product lines. Previously, Karen was Head of Marketing for the Lab Solutions business at Millipore. Throughout her 12-year tenure at Millipore she successfully supported development of several new technologies, held various roles such as marketing manager, research and development scientist, and quality manager. She began her career in the biotech industry working at TransKaryotic Therapies. Karen has a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire and earned an M.B.A. from Northeastern University where she was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
Molly Wanner, MD, MBA
Molly Wanner, MD, MBA, is a founder of Akeyna, Inc. She is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and a practicing dermatologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Dermatology Laser and Cosmetic Center, one of the leading laser and cosmetic centers in the world. She has 15+ years of clinical experience and has had 20,000+ patient visits. Her research focuses on innovative treatments in cosmetic and laser dermatology. She translates scientific advances in laser technology and cosmetic dermatology into clinical practice. She is a recognized expert in her field, scientific advisory board member, and industry consultant. She has been an invited faculty member and a course director at the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Laser in Medicine and Surgery, and the American Society of Dermatologic Surgeons. Dr. Wanner has numerous scientific publications and is the editor of the Comprehensive Textbook of Cosmetic Dermatology. Dr. Wanner received her joint medical and business degree from Columbia University, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. She completed her dermatology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident. In addition, she completed a Laser and Cosmetic Fellowship at MGH and the Wellman Center for Photomedicine.
R. Rox Anderson, MD
Dr. Anderson is Director of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Professor at Harvard Medical School, adjunct Professor Health Sciences and Technology at MIT, and Lancer Endowed Chair of Dermatology. Dr. Anderson was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his groundbreaking contributions to dermatology. Dr. Anderson’s research has advanced the basic knowledge of human skin photobiology, tissue optics, and laser-tissue interactions. Dr. Anderson conceived and developed many of the non-scarring laser treatments now widely used in medical care. These include treatments for birthmarks, microvascular and pigmented lesions, tattoo and permanent hair removal. He has also contributed to treatment for vocal cords, kidney stones, glaucoma, heart disease, photodynamic therapy for cancer and acne, and optical diagnostics. Dr. Anderson has been awarded over 60 national and international patents, and has co-authored over 250 scientific books and papers. He is a graduate of MIT and received his MD degree magna cum laude from the joint MIT-Harvard medical program, Health Sciences and Technology. After completing his dermatology residency and an NIH research fellowship at Harvard, he joined the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Gary Tearney MD, PhD
Guillermo (Gary) Tearney, MD, PhD, FACC, FCAP, FNAI, is the Remondi Family Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair, Mike and Sue Hazard Family MGH Research Scholar 2012-2017, Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, an Affiliated Faculty member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and leads a 70+ person lab at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Tearney received his MD magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and received his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Tearney leads an extensive team of professionals who conduct research and collaborate across Boston’s Mass General Brigham ecosystem, as well as nationally and internationally, in the following areas: cancer, cardiology/vascular, critical care, dermatology, gastroenterology, otolaryngology, pathology, pediatrics, primary care, pulmonology, radiology and surgery. His specific research interests are focused on the development and clinical validation of non-invasive, high-resolution optical imaging methods for human disease diagnosis.

Dr. Tearney’s lab was the first to perform human imaging in the coronary arteries and gastrointestinal tract in vivo with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), which provides cross-sectional images of tissue architectural microstructure at a resolution of 10 μm. He has also conducted many seminal studies validating OCT and is considered an expert on OCT image interpretation. Recently, Dr. Tearney’s lab has invented a next-generation OCT technology, termed μOCT, which has a resolution of 1 μm and is capable of imaging cells and subcellular structures in the body.

A perennial inventor, Dr. Tearney has developed many other technologies, including a confocal endomicroscope capable of imaging whole organs at the cellular level, swallowable microscopes that traverse and image the entire gastrointestinal tract, the world’s smallest endoscope, a microscope capable of imaging at the nanoscale, and novel spectroscopy and multimodality chemical/molecular imaging techniques. In 2019 Dr. Tearney’s “gut probe in a pill” was named a Top 10 Breakthrough Technology by Bill Gates in MIT Technology Review.

Dr. Tearney is co-editor of The Handbook of Optical Coherence Tomography and has written over 300 peer-reviewed publications, including papers that have been highlighted on the covers of Science, Nature Medicine, Circulation, Gastroenterology, and Journal of American College of Cardiology. Dr. Tearney also has over 100 granted US patents, resulting in several commercial medical devices. In addition, Dr. Tearney has been a principal investigator on over 40 grants, including NIH R01s from the NCI, NIBIB, NHLBI, and NIDDK. He was recently elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and named one of the nation’s Top Translational Researchers by Nature Biotechnology.

Dr. Tearney’s work extends beyond his laboratory at MGH: He is the vice-chair of the Research Advisory Committee for the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew Senior Life (HSL) and the chair of HSL’s Venture Committee, and has been founder and co-chair of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) In Vivo Microscopy Committee, the CAP Digital and Computational Microscopy Committee, the International Working Group on Intravascular OCT Standardization and Validation, and the Mass General Brigham Center for COVID Innovation (MGBCCI).