Cutera Appoints Len DeBenedictis As Chief Technical Officer; And Michael Poole As Vice President Of North American Sales

BRISBANE, Calif., Jan. 5, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cutera, Inc. (Nasdaq:CUTR), a leading provider of laser and other energy-based aesthetic systems for practitioners worldwide, today announced the appointment of Len DeBenedictis as Chief Technical Officer and Michael Poole as Vice President of North American Sales.

Kevin Connors, President and CEO of Cutera stated, "We are excited to have Len in this critical role leading our research and product development efforts. He has over 20 years of laser and light-based industry experience, including most recently serving as Chief Technology Officer at Solta Medical, Inc., that acquired Reliant Technologies in 2008, where Len was a co-founder. We are committed to developing innovative solutions for the aesthetics market and Len has an outstanding background to lead our research and development efforts. Len is an internationally respected inventor with approximately 25 issued US patents and 55 pending patents. His addition complements and further strengthens our existing team and reflects our continued commitment to investing in product research and development."

"Scott Davenport, who has been with Cutera since 2003, will continue in his role as Vice President of Research and Development and will report to Len. Scott, with his key technical and leadership skills, has been instrumental with many product introductions, including, the recent launch of the Genesis Plus and the upcoming vascular product launch at the American Academy of Dermatology next month."

"We are also pleased to announce the return of Michael Poole as Vice President of North American sales. He has over 17 years of a broad range of sales experience, a solid track record of sales and leadership success, and an in-depth knowledge of the laser and light-based industry. Most recently, Michael served as Director of US Sales with Syneron Medical Ltd. Prior to that, he was with Cutera from 2004 to 2008, first as an accomplished sales representative and then was promoted into sales management. Michael takes over from Chris West, who has returned to Japan in an expanded role to lead our Pacific Rim operations, which have become an increasingly important part of our business. We appreciate Chris' leadership and support in managing North American sales since July 2009, while continuing to achieve record revenue in Japan. With these changes, we have significantly strengthened our distribution channels in these regions of the world."