Irina Ridley is a CLO Who Can Move Mountains When She Believes in a Company’s Mission

Irina Ridley, chief legal officer of Aerin Medical, has earned a reputation as a bold, business-minded legal executive who thrives on momentum. When American Healthcare Leader last spoke with her in 2020, she had just guided Counsyl, where she served as associate general counsel and privacy officer, through its acquisition by Myriad Genetics. Recognizing the importance of a smooth transition, Ridley agreed to stay on at Myriad as chief counsel for two years to help integrate the two companies and ensure the combined organization could move forward successfully.

“Two years is a long time on my clock,” she jokes—because Ridley is a relentless force, focused on making things happen.

Since leaving Myriad in 2020, Ridley has helped steer not one but two medtech companies through pivotal transformations. At NeuroPace, which has a minimally invasive, implantable solution for treating epilepsy, she joined at a crossroads, just as the company was weighing whether to go public.

It wasn’t her first rodeo. Ridley had navigated these decision points before and knew the terrain. Her ability to swiftly assess risk, align stakeholders, and keep execution on track proved invaluable. NeuroPace went public in April 2021—less than five months after she joined—and through her guidance, Ridley ensured that it was one of the last small cap medtech firms to do so before the open window in the capital markets slammed shut.

That was milestone one. “As a public company, it quickly became an incredibly difficult environment for small cap medtech,” the CLO recalls. “Markets were volatile, COVID was still presenting an outsized impact on hospital procedures as well as investor risk profiles, and GLP-1s basically changed the investment thesis across all of healthcare. It was a wild time, yet also the most rewarding experience to go through, professionally.”

Soon thereafter, when NeuroPace’s market cap and stock price were at their lowest, Ridley took over investor relations and committed to bringing it back to IPO levels. It was a whole new and very exciting challenge. She says it took some time, but they got there.

Ridley also recalls the broader COVID-impacted NeuroPace experience. “I did not meet anyone in person until the flight from SFO to our road show in New York. The CEO turned out to be much taller than I expected,” she says. “We rang the closing bell at NASDAQ. I sneaked into the Squawk Box studio and sat in [Jim] Cramer’s chair. Who doesn’t want to check these things off their bucket list?”

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Aerin Medical had been on Ridley’s radar for some time—she had long admired the company, knew the investors and board of directors well, and had tremendous respect for the company’s management team. Aerin is pioneering noninvasive solutions for chronic nasal conditions. The company’s FDA-cleared technologies, VivAer and RhinAer, offer patients an alternative to lifelong, oftentimes ineffective, medication or surgery. But it wasn’t just the products that drew her in—it was the purpose.

“I want to know the work I do helps patients,” she explains. “That’s always been a constant for me. That has looked different over the years, but at Aerin, we’re solving real, everyday problems that significantly impact people’s quality of life. The mission resonates deeply, and that’s what motivates me to push the company forward.”

Ridley has a clear mindset about what it takes to be an effective leader. She thrives on cross-functional problem-solving, pushing strategic conversations, and yes, sometimes arguing. “Good arguments mean there’s trust and open communication,” she says. “That’s where innovation happens—it is a sign that communication is strong and that passionate minds are working hard to make things happen.”

The CLO says the larger-picture thinking is what inspires her most about her day-to-day duties, traversing the business, the law, and finding new ways to add value.

It’s no surprise that Ridley’s work often transcends traditional legal responsibilities. Her business instincts, operational acumen, and communications savvy make her as comfortable in a boardroom as she is managing regulatory strategy. Ask those who work with her, and they’ll tell you: she’s equal parts lawyer and operational; she is a strategic thinker and a visionary.

“Irina Ridley is a strong leader with strategic business insights and dedication to her company’s success,” say David Dykeman, Roman Fayerberg, and Heath Briggs, shareholders at Greenberg Traurig. “Her intelligence, decisiveness, and dynamic leadership make her a tremendous asset to Aerin Medical. We are proud to call her a client and friend.”

It’s the odd evolution of the very best in-house attorneys: ones who excel so fully at enabling business, they become more effective as business leaders in their own right.

“I came here to help guide strategy as both a legal and business leader,” Ridley says. “I’ve only been at Aerin for a year, and there’s still a lot I want to accomplish. When the vision is clear, the path forward comes into focus.”

To Ridley, legal is not a checkpoint—it’s a launchpad. She believes the old trope of legal departments as obstacles to innovation is not just outdated, it’s counterproductive. “We can’t afford to be reactive,” she says. “Legal needs to be at the table early and often. That’s how you mitigate risk and accelerate progress.”

It’s a philosophy that has served her well—and one that’s increasingly essential in medtech, where the pace is fast, and the stakes are high. “The goal is the same for everyone,” she adds. “We want to move the business forward, responsibly and intelligently. Legal isn’t here to slow that down—it’s here to help make it possible.”

In just five years, Irina Ridley has guided one company to the public markets and embedded herself in the leadership fabric of another. Her story is one of momentum, mission, and an unwavering belief in the power of aligning business and purpose. When Ridley gets behind your vision, she doesn’t just help move it forward, she moves mountains.

And when she is not moving mountains at work, she is doing the same for her family—her husband, Chris; her two children, Alexandra (Sasha) and Charlie; and her trusted dog, Gus; as well as the various boards on which she serves.