David S. Utley, M.D. graduated from Harvard Medical School (’92). He then completed his surgical training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, as well as facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, at Stanford University Medical Center, where he was subsequently appointed to the faculty as clinical assistant professor of surgery (1992-2003).

In 2003, Utley founded BARRX Medical (medical device, endoscopic ablative therapy for esophageal neoplasia) and served as CMO from 2003 to 2012. BARRX was acquired by Covidien in 2012 (now Medtronic). Utley served as CMO for Covidien until 2014.

In 2015, Utley founded Pivot Health Technologies to solve the global health crisis caused by smoking cigarettes. Pivot is a scalable digital solution which is aligned with the HHS practice guideline and which delivers a mobile app experience with tailored behavior change content, pharmacotherapy, an FDA-cleared carbon monoxide (CO) breath sensor, a supportive peer community, and personal tobacco treatment coaching. Pivot serves Target, Blue Cross NC, Health Partners and many other enterprise and health plan partners helping their employees and plan members quit smoking.