John Kelley: CereScan CEO drawn to 'medical technology's final frontier' the brain.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: EXECUTIVE edge

JOHN KELLEY BEAMS WHEN HE READS AN email about a 15-vear-old boy whose behavioral problems turned around after he underwent a brain scan at Denver-based CereScan Corp., where the Former chief executive officer at McData Corp. is CEO.

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"It's satisfying to know we have had a positive impact on the life of a young person who was very close to being given up on or who could have easily ended up on the wrong side or the criminal justice system." said Kelley, explaining that the teen had been misdiagnosed with ADHD before CereScan's digital brain imaging turned up a bipolar diagnosis.

"He's now rocking in school," said Kelley, Who took the reins at CereScan in, July 2009. "We get these kinds of emails all the time."

Kelley, the oldest of five children from a blue-collar family outside St. Louis, grew McData's annual revenues from $200 million to $630 million before its sale to Brocade Communications Systems in 2007 fin. $1 billion. Prior to that he was executive vice president of networks at Qwest Communications. overseeing a staff of 26,000.

The graduate of the University of Missouri was taking a break from the corporate world following the McData deal when he heard about CereScan from his son, who is in marketing.

"I'm somebody who reads like crazy, so I started researching for a month and was totally 'Oscillated with what could happen with the whole medical technology world. The brain is the final frontier," said Kelley, who joined CereScan's board of directors.

When CereScan's former GEC) committed suicide, Kelley stepped in as CEO, taking a nominal salary and heading a staff of 12.

"I don't have to draw money out of this company--it's all going to growth," said Kelley, 62, whose plan is to open 10 GereScan sites across the country over the next 2 1 /2 years. "I've invested modestly in the company and I manage a company that is making a difference in people's lives. You...