WASHINGTON, D.C. – AdvaMed is saddened to share that a beloved member of the AdvaMed family, Wendy Siminski, Senior Vice President of Conferences and Events, has passed away after a brave battle with breast cancer. President and CEO Scott Whitaker released the following tribute:

“Wendy embodied the very best of AdvaMed, and her optimistic, ambitious spirit inspired everyone around her to rise to meet her unwavering standard of excellence. You’d never catch Wendy without a big smile and a list of ideas to leave a project better than she found it. The Medtech Conference is successful today because of Wendy’s hard work and determination. 

“Wendy was confident, collaborative, and courageous until the very end. She was a bright light on our team, and that light will continue to guide us and give us warmth in the months and years to come. At AdvaMed, the patients we serve motivate us; Wendy is no exception, and, in fact, she’s the perfect example. Her fight with cancer drives us all to fight harder for medtech innovation, so perhaps future generations – even Wendy’s own daughters – can conquer this terrible disease once and for all.

“We will miss Wendy dearly, and we’re sending comfort, peace, and strength to her family during this difficult time.”

As Senior Vice President, Wendy served as a lead planner for The Medtech Conference, AdvaMed’s annual flagship conference for the medical technology industry, and all other AdvaMed events and conferences. Her efforts grew the Conference’s programming footprint – at the 2020 conference alone, participants could access more than 150 sessions featuring more than 500 speakers – as well as the conference’s standards for inclusion and diversity – at the 2020 conference, women and minorities were represented in 95% of session panels. Prior to her time at AdvaMed, Wendy led teams at BIO, the AUVSI Foundation, O’Keefe Communications, National Trade Productions, and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.

Wendy was also a fierce patient advocate for the medtech industry; you can read her profile in AdvaMed’s Story of Medtech series.

She is survived by her two daughters, Kira and Ashley.

In lieu of flowers, Wendy’s family requests that donations be made in Wendy’s honor to METAvivor. One-hundred percent of all donations made to METAvivor go directly to fund grant awards for metastatic breast cancer research.

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AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.