Kim Driscoll
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

Kim Driscoll is the 73rd Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was sworn in on January 5, 2023, joining Governor Maura Healey in an historic series of firsts: Governor Healey is the first woman and first openly LGBTQ person elected Governor of Massachusetts, and together, Healey and Driscoll are the first all-women executive team to lead Massachusetts.

Driscoll was elected the City of Salem’s first woman Mayor in 2006, taking office at a time when the community was struggling with record deficits, poor financial management, and a declining bond rating. As Mayor, she turned deficits into record surpluses and saved taxpayers’ money by strengthening city services, revitalizing Salem’s downtown, leading a vast improvement in Salem’s k-12 schools, reforming city pensions and health insurance programs to protect employee benefits, bidding public contracts, and bringing transparency to City Hall.

Working collaboratively with state officials and local partners, Driscoll secured sizable public and private investments, including a new MBTA train station, a state courts complex, senior center, ferry and waterfront port at Salem Wharf, and positioned Salem as the primary marshaling port for the forthcoming Commonwealth Wind project that will serve residents across Massachusetts and New England, establishing the City as a national leader in the offshore wind sector.

From passing one of the first fully-inclusive LGBTQ non-discrimination ordinances in Massachusetts, to securing major investments in veterans’ benefits, standing up for immigrants’ rights, and enacting one of the first age-friendly action plans certified in the Commonwealth, Salem under Driscoll’s leadership has been – first and foremost – an inclusive community that welcomes everyone.

A proud mother of three children who attended Salem Public Schools, Driscoll chaired the Salem School Committee as Mayor. She helped push for collaboration and strategies to improve Salem’s schools and for added investments to support teachers and students. Under her leadership, Salem became one of the first communities in Massachusetts to adopt the expansion of free, high-quality early education opportunities starting at age four.

The daughter of a Navy chef from Lynn and an accountant’s assistant from Trinidad, Driscoll spent her childhood in a number of states, before attending Salem State University where she studied government and became a stand-out athlete on the women’s basketball team. Like so many Salem State students, she fell in love with Salem and made it her home after graduation, pursuing a career in municipal government, and married her college sweetheart, a second-generation union bricklayer.

Beginning with a position as the City of Beverly’s Community Development Director after college, Driscoll embarked on her long career of service to municipalities and went on to earn her law degree from the Massachusetts School of Law. Before becoming the Mayor of Salem, Driscoll served as the City of Chelsea’s Chief Legal Counsel and Deputy City Manager, and also served on the Salem City Council.

Exemplified by her extensive and successful career in local government, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll is focused on working with Governor Healey to create a forward-looking Commonwealth and communities that work for, empower, and include all who call Massachusetts home, as well as those who aspire to do so.

Danielle Abramson, PhD
Global Head of Intellectual
Property Strategy & Branding
embecta

Danielle Abramson, PhD, is Global Head of Intellectual Property Strategy & Branding for Embecta Corp., where she is responsible for all IP-related matters including strategies, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and technology management and protection. Danielle has held various positions of increasing responsibilities in her more than 20 years of experience. Prior to Embecta, Danielle joined RedHill Biopharma to create a patent legal function, with an expanded role supporting clinical operations. While at RedHill, Danielle worked closely with outside counsel in Hatch-Waxman Act litigation and defending patent infringement suits. Before moving in-house, Danielle practiced at Greenberg Traurig where she provided strategic IP counseling and analysis to Life Sciences companies. Danielle has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Binghamton University and a PhD from Brown University.  

Sanjeev Aggarwal, MD, MBA
Vice President, Global Clinical and Medical Affairs for Surgical Therapies
Abiomed

Preeminent cardiovascular surgeon Sanjeev Aggarwal, MD, MBA, recently joined Abiomed as Vice President, Global Clinical and Medical Affairs for Surgical Therapies.

Dr. Aggarwal has been internationally recognized for his work in advanced heart failure and structural heart disease. His clinical areas of interest include mechanical circulatory support, cardiac transplantation, ECMO, minimally invasive and transcatheter valve repair and replacement, and complex re-operative procedures. He has served on multiple institutional and national committees and scientific advisory boards. He has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, and book chapters, and has been a principle or co-investigator in several FDA-approved clinical trials.

Prior to joining Abiomed, Dr. Aggarwal served as the Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery and the inaugural Clinical Innovation Officer for Beaumont Health in Michigan. He previously was the Director of Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Aggarwal has also held faculty appointments in the Department of Surgery at Columbia University- New York Presbyterian Hospital and the University of Louisville Medical Center.

Dr. Aggarwal earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry and economics. He earned his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Dr. Aggarwal completed his residency in general surgery at NYU Medical Center, and then attended the University of Michigan for his cardiothoracic surgical training. While at the University of Michigan, Dr. Aggarwal was the recipient of a research training grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH). He also completed an advanced cardiac surgical fellowship in heart transplantation, ventricular assist devices, and minimally invasive surgery at Columbia University-New York Presbyterian hospital in New York. More recently, Dr. Aggarwal has earned an M.B.A. with certification in data science and business analytics from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chuck Alpuche
Retired Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Insulet

Mr. Alpuche served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Insulet Corporation since February 2019. Since 2016, he served as Executive Vice President and Senior Vice President in several operational leadership roles for Insulet, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Operations and Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Operations.

Prior to that, from 2012 – 2016, Mr. Alpuche served as an independent consultant for both domestic and international companies in the food, beverage and chemical industries. Previously, he spent thirty years at PepsiCo in leadership roles of increasing responsibility overseeing domestic and international plant operations. Earlier in his career at PepsiCo, he held a number of management roles in plant operations, product management and quality control. Most recently, he served as PepsiCo’s Senior Vice President of North America Beverages, and before that he held the position of Vice President and General Manager, Concentrate Operations, Asia and Americas. Mr. Alpuche holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Delaware Valley College and obtained an Executive Master of Science in Organizational Management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mike Ambrogi
Senior Technology Fellow
Novocure Inc.

Mike Ambrogi is a Senior Technology Fellow at Novocure Inc., a global oncology company (Nasdaq: NVCR).  Mike joined Novocure in 2006 as its first US employee and served as Chief Operating Officer until his transition to his current role in 2020.  As COO Mike helped Novocure grow from a startup to a $500+ million annual revenue operation serving tens of thousands of cancer patients worldwide.  Prior to Novocure Mike spent 15 years working for Deka Research and Development Corporation, inventor Dean Kamen’s private R&D firm, last serving as General Manager.  Earlier in his career Mike was a consultant with McKinsey & Company.  Mike holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.   

Mark Augusti
CEO & President
Conformis, Inc.

Mr. Augusti is President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors at Conformis, Inc. Prior to joining Conformis, Mr. Augusti was Integra LifeSciences Corporation’s Corporate Vice President, and President of Orthopedics and Tissue Technologies. Mr. Augusti served as Chief Executive Officer at Bioventus LLC, from May 2012 to August 2013, and was a member of the Bioventus’ Board of Directors during the same period. Prior to that Mr. Augusti spent nine years with Smith & Nephew, in a series of leadership roles within the orthopedics trauma and biologics businesses. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at GE Medical Systems, where he held various sales, marketing and strategic management roles, both in the U.S. and internationally. Mr. Augusti serves as a director of the AdvaMed Accel Board and is also serves as a director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum. Mr. Augusti received his M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and his B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Duke University.

Erica Blight, PhD
Vice President of Client Services and Marketing
Sekisui Diagnostics

Dr. Erica Blight serves as the Vice President of Client Services and Marketing at Sekisui Diagnostics delivering quality patient testing for the point-of-care and core lab.

Erica holds a Ph.D. in Biology from Duke University and a business core certificate from Harvard. Prior to being at Sekisui, Erica was the Senior Director of Global Marketing and Sales for Oncology at Cepheid (Danaher Corp) where she developed the long-term business strategy and strategic product roadmap for the company’s oncology business unit.

In addition to Erica’s experience at Cepheid, she also served in various roles at Beckman Coulter and Thermo Fisher.  She brings over 20 years of experience with a passion for bringing new technologies and transforming markets to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Jon Bloom
CEO
Podimetrics

Dr. Jon Bloom is a board-certified physician and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in technology development, patient monitoring, biomedical research, and health care delivery. He co-founded Podimetrics in 2011 while a student at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and he’s served as our CEO ever since. Dr. Bloom was first inspired to create a solution to help prevent diabetic amputations while practicing anesthesia; he frequently treated patients who required foot amputations and knew there had to be a less drastic way to prevent diabetic foot complications. He previously served as a Clinical Assistant Professor and staff anesthesiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and as the Director of Global Medical Affairs for Covidien’s Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions division. Dr. Bloom has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications with a primary focus on health care economics and perioperative complications. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Jamie Brownhill, PhD
Sr. Manager of Shoulder Reconstruction R&D
Depuy Synthes 

Dr. Jamie Brownhill, PhD is the R&D leader of DePuy Synthes’s Shoulder Replacement platform and is responsible for shaping and executing the product development strategy through close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders in order to accelerate the innovation cadence and bring products to market quickly and efficiently. Under Jamie’s leadership the DePuy’s Shoulder Replacement business has had more than 20 new product introductions in the past five years, helping drive significant growth for the business.  

Jamie began his career 20 years ago at the Hand and Upper Limb Center, a part of the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, where he did his PhD in Computer Assisted Surgery in Joint Replacement. Prior to arriving at Depuy in 2015 Jamie worked in private industry leading development programs for products ranging from small bone plating systems to large joint replacement. 

Alison Burklund, PhD
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Nanopath

Dr. Alison Burklund, PhD is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Nanopath, a growth-stage startup based in Cambridge, MA. Nanopath is working to develop molecular diagnostics for women – a healthcare space that has been consistently overlooked and under innovated. Nanopath aims to capture granular information that reflects the complex female biology within a single office visit. Alison co-founded Nanopath while working to complete her PhD at Dartmouth’s Engineering School. Prior, Alison received her M.Eng. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.  

Lana Caron
Sr. Director
Philips Ventures

Lana Caron is a healthtech executive and venture investor, currently at Philips Ventures, where she leads venture investing and business development initiatives focused on the areas of digital, AI, robotics and tech-enabled services. Lana has over 20 years of experience driving growth and innovation across healthtech, medtech and digital health and an established track record of success launching new ventures and expanding business into new markets. Prior to joining Philips Ventures, Lana held leadership roles as VP of Sales & Marketing for an early-stage enterprise software start-up, Director of Corporate Development at Sensata Technologies (formerly Texas Instruments) and Manager of Strategy & Business Development at Philips Healthcare. Lana started her career in management consulting with Accenture. Based in Boston, Lana is an active startup advisor and board member. She holds MS in Economics and MBA degrees and is a frequent speaker on venture capital, healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Carlo W. Colesanti
President & Chief Executive Officer
NextPhase Medical Devices

Carlo came to the Company from Nexcore Technology, which he joined in 2015 as President & COO and in 2017 was promoted to President & CEO. He then led the acquisition/integration of Phase 2 Medical Manufacturing and Proven Process Medical Devices and launched the new market brand NextPhase Medical Devices. 

Carlo has a distinguished 25-year record of successfully growing both private-equity-backed and public companies across a variety of industries and geographies. He has worked in the medical device, drug delivery, specialty chemical, and management consulting industries. 

On four separate occasions, Carlo has led middle-market business transformations that delivered maximal value to shareholders. 

Carlo has previously served as CEO of Agilex Flavors & Fragrances and of Verion, and as Managing Director of Bush Boake Allen Europe and of Ascendant Growth Partners. Earlier, he held positions as Division President at Cultor, Vice President & General Manager at Pfizer, and Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Crompton. 

Carlo earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Rhode Island, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. 

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Kevin J. Croce, MD, PhD
Director of Chronic Total Occlusion Complex Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Program
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Kevin J. Croce is an interventional cardiologist and the director of the Chronic Total Occlusion Complex Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).  He is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) who also directs the BWH Translational Discovery Laboratory which is a centralized research facility that uses state-of-the-art technology to perform preclinical testing of promising therapies and medical devices.

Dr. Croce received his medical and Ph.D. degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency, a cardiology fellowship and an interventional cardiology fellowship at BWH. Dr. Croce is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology.

His clinical interests include advanced treatments for obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), and optimization of antithrombotic and antiplatelet pharmacotherapy. The author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Croce’s research focuses on understanding the molecular pathobiology of atherothrombotic (CAD) and on identifying new targets for CAD treatment. His research has received support from the National Institutes of Health.

Julien Dedier, MD, MPH
Boston Medical Center Health System

Dr. Julien Dedier is a clinical associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, and a primary care provider at Boston Medical Center in the section of general internal medicine. He received his medical degree from Northwestern University, completed residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and obtained a Master of Public Health degree in quantitative research methods at the Harvard School of Public Health. His research has focused on the design and deployment of interventions to increase physical activity among patients of low socio-economic status. Dr. Dedier is also clinical co-lead of the Boston Medical Center Health Equity Accelerator’s diabetes initiative. The BMC Health Equity Accelerator is an institution-wide program to identify and address race-related health disparities through clinical care, research, community investment, and advocacy.

Marissa Fayer
CEO
DeepLook Medical

Marissa Fayer is a 20+ medtech executive, innovator, entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. She is the CEO and founder of non-profit HERhealthEQ, CEO of DeepLook Medical, and US Partner at Goddess Gaia Ventures. Her mission is to move innovation and the health of women forward throughout the world.    

Marissa has previously served as an executive at Hologic, Olympus (formerly ACMI), Maquet-Getting (formerly Atrium Medical), Providien Medical, and Accumed Innovative Technologies.  Her consulting clients include many of the Top 500 healthcare companies and innovative start-ups including Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Nuvasive, the National Institute of Health (NIH), Oerlikon Medical, Lonza Precision Medical, Emit Imaging, and others.   Marissa sits on the board of medtech companies Welwaze Medical and DeepLook Medical both focused on improving the diagnosis of breast cancer; and Ultrasound AI focused on predicting Preterm birth.  Marissa graduated from Boston University with a BS in Manufacturing Engineering, from University of Connecticut with an MBA, and graduate from the IESE Business School in Barcelona of the Global Health Innovation Management program. 

Marissa is a TEDx Speaker (2019 at TEDxLugano), a UCSC Miller Center Social Entrepreneur Fellow, and has been listed as one of the Top 100 Women in Medtech in 2018, a First in FemTech award winner in 2022, a Top Woman Activist to Watch, awarded the 2018/9 Africa Development Award, a Wonder Women in Medtech, and has delivered keynote discussions at the World Alliance Forum, MedExec Women, Lithuanian Biotechnology Association, Leading Entrepreneurs of the World, Women’s Health Innovation Summit, DeviceTalks, , GoldenSeeds TrendTalks, and others. Marissa has appeared in several online and print publications such as Medical Design & Outsourcing, BloombergLaw, FemTech Analytics, the Maven Collective, Med Device Online, and TheStreet.com.  Marissa leads the #wealththroughhealth and #healthequityforwomen movements and is dedicated to innovative solutions for global women’s health throughout the world.  

Marissa lives in New York City and can be found at www.marissafayer.com  

Rick Finch
Global Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare Consulting
Clarivate

Rick Finch, SVP is the Global Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare Consulting for Clarivate.  Clarivate’s consulting team delivers services and solutions to med-tech, pharma and biotech focused on discovery and translational science, clinical and regulatory strategy, market access and pricing strategy, HEOR, product portfolio and licensing strategies, technology and data science.  Rick’s team is located across the globe servicing clients in their most important markets.  

Prior to Clarivate, Rick held senior executive roles at several leading and innovative companies, including Accenture, where he was a Senior Managing Director responsible for sales and marketing consulting for the firm’s Products industry vertical segment in North America, servicing pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer goods, retail, and automotive companies. Finch was also Senior Vice President of Industry Solutions for Outcome Health, a VC-backed start-up, where he led sales efforts with life sciences and healthcare customers for the company’s point-of-care solutions. 

Rick has a MPhil in Economics for the University of Oxford and a BA in History from Boston College. 

Lori Fontaine
Vice President of Global Clinical Strategy
Smith+Nephew

Lori Fontaine is Vice President of Global Clinical Strategy at Smith+Nephew and is responsible for developing global clinical and health economic evidence strategies to support accelerated market access, expanded market adoption and secured access to products via close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders including healthcare providers, regulators, payers.  

Ms. Fontaine has more than 30 years of eclectic healthcare experience in clinical research, medical education, information technology, consulting, administration, and direct patient care.  Lori holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University.  

Before her career in medical device clinical research, she was a champion of career development as a consultant in the Boston office of Deloitte’s health care practice and an oncology nurse at Boston Medical Center.  Lori has a special interest in global health disparities and has served with satellite medical teams throughout Latin America. She believes the road to personal and professional success is to venture outside of your comfort zone and follow the best practices of the people who inspire you. 

Michelle Fox
Chief Medical Officer
Teleflex

As the Chief Medical Officer of Teleflex, Michelle Fox and her leadership team set the clinical vision and strategy for Teleflex. She provides leadership to Medical Affairs which provides medical guidance for the Company’s global product portfolio and assures compliance with global regulatory, legislative and medical requirements. Clinical Affairs representatives lead the design of and implementation of multidisciplinary clinical development programs covering a broad range of products and therapeutic areas in collaboration with strategic business partners. Michelle also leads the scientific, clinical research and reimbursement arm of the organization. Michelle’s work has focused on organizational and systems development. This includes interactive medical education, as a means to making transformational change and supporting research that implements the best medical practices into bedside clinical care. Michelle offers a rare blend of strong clinical practice and leadership, driven by her desire to improve patient outcomes, and tempered by a clear understanding of the challenges facing healthcare today.   

Caroline Irungu
Global Commercial Strategist
Dassault Systémes

Caroline Irungu is a Global Commercial Strategist for medical devices and diagnostics at Dassault Systémes. Caroline joined Dassault Systémes from Stryker where she led efforts to drive change for more sustainability in healthcare including leading product launches for products specifically designed for sustainability. Prior to Stryker, Caroline was a Director of Product Management at Zimmer Biomet where she led the Extremities business. Earlier in her career, at Medtronic, Caroline had extensive experiences leading global product launches and driving adoption of new medical technologies. She began her career as an R&D engineer where she learned her love of the operating room and partnering with surgeons to make an impact on patients. This led her to a long career in sales where she provided support to surgeons across many cardiovascular therapies. Caroline earned her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, and her Master of Public Policy degree from New York University.

Thea James, MD, MPH
Vice President of Mission
Boston Medical Center Health System

As Vice President of Mission, Dr. James works with caregivers throughout BMC. Additionally, she has primary responsibility for coordinating and maximizing BMC’s relationships and strategic alliances with a wide range of local, state and national multi-sector organizations including community agencies, housing advocates, and others that partner with BMC. The goal is to foster innovative and effective new models of care that are essential for patients and communities to thrive and reach full potential. This includes focus on the intersections of health and wealth, economic mobility and other upstream drivers of predictable poor health outcomes. These care models are critical to operationalizing equity in the broadest sense. 

In 2020-2021, Dr. James served on the Mayor’s Health Inequities Task Force for the City of Boston, to provide guidance on addressing inequities associated with the pandemic. She also served on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health COVID-19 Health Equity Advisory Group. Dr. James served on Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine 2009-2012, where she served as chair of the Licensing Committee. She is Director of the Violence Intervention Advocacy Program at BMC and a founding member of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention. In 2011, she was appointed to Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. 

Dr. James’ passion is Public Health both domestically and globally. For several years, she and colleagues worked with local partners in Haiti, and Africa, to implement sustainable healthcare models and ultrasound training. As a member of Equal Health, she was a visiting professor for the first class of Emergency Medicine residents in Haiti at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais and at St. Boniface Hospital in Fond des Blancs. 

Dr. James served as a Supervising Medical Officer on the Boston Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MA-1 DMAT), under the Department of Health and Human Services. She has deployed to post 9/11 in NYC, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, Bam, Iran after the 2003 earthquake, and Port-Au-Prince Haiti after the earthquake of 2010. Dr. James traveled to Haiti with MA-1 DMAT one day after the 2010 earthquake. 

She is a 2008 awardee of Boston Public Health Commission’s Mulligan Award for public service, and a 2012 recipient of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Role Model Award. She received The Boston Business Journal Healthcare Hero award in 2012 & 2015. She was a 2014 recipient of the Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Award. The Boston Chamber of Commerce awarded Dr. James with the Pinnacle Award in 2015, which honors women in business and the professions. She was a 2019 Massachusetts Public Health Association Health Equity Champion. In 2020, Dr. James received the American College of Emergency Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, The History Project presented her with a History Maker Award. 

A graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine, James trained in Emergency Medicine at Boston City Hospital, where she was a chief resident. 

Brian Johnson
President
MassMEDIC

Brian Johnson  was named president of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) in July 2018. An accomplished author, media entrepreneur, Brian serves as the  association’s second chief executive officer in its history, managing its day-to-day operations and working with medical device industry executives in developing its policy agenda. Since its establishment in 1996, MassMEDIC has grown to 300 member companies – manufacturers and developers of medical products, suppliers, research institutions and academic health centers –  and has advanced the public policy interests of the New England medical device sector on Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, and before various federal agencies. 

In 2007, Brian conceived and later launched MassDevice.com, where he been responsible for the strategic vision of the company, from inception through the summer of 2018, including leading the company through an acquisition in 2015 by WTWH Media.     

As publisher, Brian spearheaded the growth of MassDevice from 0 to 100,000+ readers each month and led the company to profitability in just 3 years and more than $2.8M in annual sales. In 2011, Brian conceived and launched DeviceTalks, a live-interview series featuring leaders in medicine. The event, which is held three times annually in Boston, Minnesota and Orange County, California, has attracted thousands of medical device executives to date and featured leaders from some of the world’s largest medical technology companies. Since 2015, Brian also founded and launched two additional magazines, Medical Design & Outsourcing and Drug Delivery Business News, bringing total readership under his supervision to over 1.5 million.  

Under Brian’s direction, MassDevice and its associated properties were widely recognized for its commitment to quality journalism. The editorial boards of the New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post have cited MassDevice’s coverage of issues pertaining to the medical device industry.  In 2012, MassDevice won a prestigious Communicator award in 2012 for excellence with its live web video series “Disruptors.”  

An experienced reporter and author, Brian has worked for The Associated Press, Boston Globe digital and The Eagle-Tribune newspaper, covering business and economics, local government and crime.  In 2017, his critically acclaimed first novel “MWD: Hell is Coming Home” was released by Candlewick Press. 

Brian resides in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife and two young children.  

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Rajit Kamal
MedTech Commercial Executive

Rajit has deep MedTech Commercial leadership experience with a proven track record of leading growth, turning around businesses, driving innovation/digital transformation and creating high performing teams. Rajit is known for his people/leadership skills, strategic thinking, commercial acumen, and collaboration skills. Over his tenure with J&J, he has held roles of increasing responsibilities culminating as WW President of ~$1B Sports and Shoulder Reconstruction business.

In this role, Rajit was the global leader of Johnson & Johnson’s $1B diversified Sports Medicine and Shoulder Reconstruction business, providing end-to-end leadership from strategy development, portfolio management to commercial execution and had full P&L responsibility. He led a cross functional leadership team across Marketing, R&D, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Clinical and Regions (US, EMEA, ASPAC, LATAM) to deliver global platform growth and performance. He was also member of the DePuy Synthes Leadership Team (Management board of the ~$9B Orthopedic business of J&J).

In his previous role as Vice President Asia Pacific, Rajit lead the $1.5 B Orthopedic business (Digital Surgery, Trauma, Spine, Joint Reconstruction, Sports Medicine) in Asia Pacific with focus on China, Japan, and Australia. Before that, Rajit was Vice President and Global Franchise leader for $1.5B knee reconstruction business for J&J and was responsible for global sales, P&L, global strategy, portfolio, and new product development. Prior to that he was the Senior Director for Strategy and Commercial Initiatives for US DPS, where he led the development of US DPS strategic roadmap and execution of US DPS transformation initiatives. Before that, Rajit led the creation of Business Insights center of excellence for DePuy Synthes Companies and also led strategic projects for the Global Orthopedic Franchise. Before moving into this position, Rajit led the commercial strategy and pricing function for the $3B joint reconstruction business. Rajit was also part of the Knee marketing team where he led the commercial aspects of the ATTUNE® launch – including global deployment in 14 markets, Pricing & Sales Training. Prior to this role, Rajit was with Mitek Sports Medicine business in marketing roles for Early Intervention/OrthoVisc and Access & Advanced Energy Platforms.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Rajit worked as a Strategy Consultant for the Boston Consulting Group & Innosight (customer insights & innovation consulting firm). In his consulting career, Rajit specialized in health care and advised senior management of Fortune 500 companies on Go to market strategies, cost benchmarking, product & business model innovation and organizational restructuring. Rajit started his career with Procter & Gamble in manufacturing, supply chain and demand planning.

He holds B.S. in Chemical Engineering with distinction from Indian Institute of Technology, M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, M.S. in technology management from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jeff Karp, PhD
Distinguished Chair
Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Jeff Karp is the Distinguished Chair in Clinical Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He is also a principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and an affiliate faculty member at the Broad Institute and at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.  Karp was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Royal Society of Chemistry, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s College of Fellows, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

He runs a basic research laboratory dedicated to the process of medical innovation that harness lessons from nature for inspiration (Bioinspiration) from creatures such as geckos spider webs, jellyfish, porcupine quills, snails to spiny headed worms. He works in the fields of drug delivery, medical devices, stem cell therapeutics, and tissue adhesives. He has published over 125 peer-reviewed papers, with >30,000 citations, and has given >300 invited lectures. He has >100 issued or pending national and international patents. Several technologies developed in his lab have led to multiple products currently in development or on the market and for the launch of ten companies that have raised over $600 million in funding. Technologies include high-tech skincare (Skintifique, products sold in pharmacies throughout EU), photocurable polymer technology for tissue reconstruction (Tissium, EU Approval in 2017) and 3D printed biomedical devices, immunomodulation with biologically responsive materials (Alivio Tx, acquired by Puretech Health in 2021), small molecule regenerative therapeutics ($FREQ – NASDAQ), cannabinoid therapeutics (Molecular Infusions acquired by Suterra Wellness in 2019), biomedical devices to improve child safety (Landsdowne Labs), needles that automatically stop at their target to deliver gene therapy (Bullseye Therapeutics, acquired in 2021), and a bioengineered luminal coating for controlled GI targeting (Altrix Bio).

Karp has received >50 awards and honors. Most recently Jeff received the highest award from the Society For Biomaterials for innovation – the Clemson Award for Applied Research.  Boston Magazine recognized Karp as one of 11 Boston Doctors Making Medical Breakthroughs. The Boston Business Journal recognized him as a Champion in Healthcare Innovation and MIT’s Technology Review Magazine (TR35) also recognized Karp as being one of the top innovators in the world (three members from his laboratory have subsequently received this award).  His work has been selected by Popular Mechanic’s as one of the Top 20 New Biotech Breakthroughs that Will Change Medicine. He gave a commencement speech at his high school in 2011, and a TEDMED talk in 2014 on bioinspired medical innovation, and since 2015 has been a member of the TEDMED Editorial Advisory Board. In 2015 and 2016, he received Breakthrough Awards from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and in 2015 was a commencement speaker at the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry and Pharmacy. Karp also won an internal Shark Tank award judged by Kevin O’Leary (from ABC’s Shark Tank). In 2018 Karp gave a TEDx talk on Radical Simplicity. Furthermore in 2019 Karp was a grade 8 commencement speaker at the Talcott Mountain Academy in Connecticut.

In addition to his research goals, Karp is dedicated to developing the careers of the next generation bioengineers at the forefront of regenerative medicine. He was selected as the Outstanding Faculty Undergraduate Mentor among all faculty at MIT and he received the HST McMahon Mentoring award for being the top mentor of Harvard-MIT students. To date, 30 trainees from his laboratory have secured faculty positions.

David Kolstad
CEO
Gentuity

David is the founder and CEO of Gentuity. He is a recognized industry leader with over 25 years of global experience creating and building profitable medical device businesses. Prior to founding Gentuity, he was Executive in Residence with RA Capital following his role as General Manager of St. Jude Medical’s Imaging business. Before that, David served as Chairman and CEO of LightLab Imaging, and Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Hewlett-Packard’s (now Philips) medical imaging business. He is presently also the Chairperson of MassMedic’s Executive Committee. 

David finds his work in medical devices extremely gratifying – working with bright, highly engaged individuals including world-leading clinicians to develop cutting-edge technologies that make a very real difference in the health and lives of people around the world. He builds strong teams achieving great results for patients, clinicians, teammates, and investors. He is proud of the work being done at Gentuity, reshaping vascular diagnostics, accelerating the delivery of improved patient care, and establishing new standards of care worldwide. Priorities for David are maintaining a sharp focus on improving patient care, working with integrity, and treating people with respect. 

David holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth. 

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Elena Mendez-Escobar, PhD
Executive Director of Strategy and the Health Equity Accelerator
Boston Medical Center Health System 

Elena’s passion is to right inequities and improve healthcare for underserved populations. At BMCHS she co-leads the Health Equity Accelerator and oversees our Grayken Center for Addiction.   

Prior to joining BMCHS, she was an Associate Partner at McKinsey where she served clients in the Medicaid space. She co-founded McKinsey’s Center for Societal Benefit through Healthcare, focused on underinvested areas of healthcare such as mental health, addiction, or social determinants of health. 

Elena holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA from MIT Sloan. She was named 40 under 40 by the Boston Business Journal. 

Joe Mullings
Chairman & CEO
The Mullings Group

Joe is the Chairman & CEO of The Mullings Group Companies, including TMG Search, Dragonfly Stories & TMG360 Media. The search firm is responsible for more than 8,000 successful searches in the medtech / healthtech / life sciences industry with clients ranging from multi-billion-dollar companies to emerging tech startups worldwide. Dragonfly Stories, which produces attention & awareness campaigns for companies globally, is the media production company behind the Award-Winning video docuseries, “TrueFuture”, of which Joe is the host. TMG360 Media utilizes the power of media and outreach in medtech / healthtech to move businesses and health forward. In 2020, Joe was appointed Chief Vision Officer for MRINetwork, Inc. MRINetwork includes over 300 search firms around the world, where Joe guides the digital transformation of the organization bringing video storytelling strategies and techniques for talent access, which he innovated at The Mullings Group. 

Robert A. Olsen
Chief Commercial Officer
NextPhase Medical Devices LLC

Rob came to the Company as Vice President, Sales & Marketing in 2017 from Nexcore Technology with more than 25 years of experience in the medical device outsourcing industry and was promoted to his current role in 2020. Most of his experience has been focused on business development across a broad spectrum of electronic and disposable medical devices, where he has developed and executed strategies that have led to significant growth. 

Rob’s previous role was at Vention Medical, where as Vice President, Business Development he led a team responsible for identifying, securing, growing, and retaining business that helped create substantial value and resulted in a successful exit event for shareholders. 

Earlier, he served as Vice President, Business Development at Flextronics International, and as Director, Business Development at Nypro. 

Rob earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Boston University and a Master of Business Administration from Nichols College. 

Sonal Patel
Vice President, Corporate Business Development and Strategy
Hologic

Sonal Patel is Vice President, Corporate Business Development and Strategy, with Hologic, Inc., an innovative medical technology company primarily focused on improving women’s health and well-being through early detection and treatment. Sonal has 20 years of experience in business development, strategy, and marketing roles within the MedTech industry. She joined Hologic in 2016 and is focused on defining and executing the company’s inorganic business development efforts.

Julie Pritchard-Hedtke
Vice President of Medical Affairs and Medical Education
Siemens-Healthineers, Endovascular Robotics

Julie Pritchard-Hedtke is an Executive Life Sciences’ Professional at Siemens-Healthineers, Endovascular Robotics, based in Newton, Massachusettes. Julie graduated from Moorhead State University in Moorhead, MN with a Bachelors degree in Paralegal Studies and a minor in Accounting. She began her career in the legal industry where she spent almost 30 years representing Healthcare and Med Device companies. In Legal, she spent a significant time with med device companies building productivity initiatives and operational excellence. While in the legal industry, from 2015 – 2019, Julie served as Chief Practice Officer and Chief Operating Officer where she focused on strategic growth initiatives.

Julie has been the Head of Medical Affairs and Global Education at Siemens Healthineers since 2020. As the Head of Medical Affairs, she oversees the development and implementation of strategy that governs the clinical and scientific communication with internal and external customers. Providing the highest quality of care to patients and ensuring that the medical staff is well-trained and knowledgeable is the highest priority for Julie. She is an advocate for patient safety and works to ensure that the medical centers are compliant with all applicable regulations. She is a leader in the medical community and is dedicated to providing the best possible care to all patients.

Since joining Siemens-Healthineers, Julie has delivered more than 60 educational and training events focussed on driving endovascular robotics. Julie has authored numerous articles for educational publications, including the topic of global training for physicians and sales team members during the pandemic through remote technology.

Julie has served as a mentor for female executives through various organizations including, Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network, American Bar Association and Association of Legal Administrators. Outside of work Julie is an avid runner, where she has completed halfmarathons in over 30 states, with the goal of finishing all 50 states.

Julie enjoys spending her free time traveling, boating and skiing with her family. Julie resides in Minneapolis, MN.

Rachel Robinson
COO
MassMEDIC

A high-energy, connection-driven, non-profit executive, with a background in life sciences, technology and robotics engineering, Rachel joined MassMEDIC as Vice President in February 2020. During her tenure, the organization has tripled its headcount and increased its operating budget by more than 40%. Rachel joined the organization just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all in-person events, and pivoted its in-person events strategy, launching a virtual events campaign to serve members and keep the medtech community connected.   

Promoted to Chief Operating Officer of MassMEDIC in 2021, Rachel is responsible for executing the organization’s strategy, including cultivating community partnerships and employee development.  She guides the direction and execution of the organizations programming and community collaborations, including Think Tanks on patient engagement, Working Groups around digital health, and she leads the MassMEDIC’s IGNITE Accelerator Program.    

As President of MassMEDIC IGNITE, one of medtech’s most successful accelerators, it has been her honor to help women- and minority-led ventures, raise more than $100M in the past two years. Their goal, and hers, is to drastically improve how medicine is practiced and challenge the standard of care.  

Rachel has spent the last 15 years in life sciences, primarily focusing on promotion of this important industry through business development and marketing. Through roles at Delve, Acorn Product Development and MPR, her skills have been centered on developing new strategic relationships, growing teams, and initiating thought leadership initiatives to drive awareness.  

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Adam Sachs
CEO
Vicarious Surgical

Adam Sachs is CEO of Vicarious Surgical, a surgical robotics company he co-founded in 2014. As an MIT-trained roboticist who is revolutionizing minimally invasive surgery through the development of proprietary surgical robotics, Sachs is passionate about improving care for patients and enhancing the work environment for surgeons, while helping the bottom line of hospitals. His hands-on approach and vision as CEO includes a focus on the development and commercialization of the Vicarious Surgical robotic system with the goals of ease of use, full access inside the body, and increased visualization for surgeons, utilizing a single small incision and providing 360-degree visibility inside the human body. In 2021, under Sachs’ leadership, Vicarious Surgical began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Deepak Kumar Sahu
Managing Partner Global MedTech
Alira Health

Deepak Kumar Sahu joined Alira Health’s Germany office in March 2013. He has completed an MBA in International Management at ESB Business School and received a Bachelor in Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Rourkela in India. Deepak has worked with Samsung India for two years and was responsible for mobile product development in Dubai and Turkey. Deepak also has extensive experience in the telecom market and in project management.

Deepak has developed huge expertise in remote monitoring market and telemedicine. He has been involved in helping emerging telemedicine market players. Deepak has also worked on imaging processing and cryptography technologies specifically implemented in teleradiology.

Holly Scott
Vice President & Partner
The Mullings Group

Holly is Vice President and a Senior Partner at The Mullings Group, and has been a part of the firm for 25+ years. She believes the most productive and fulfilling organizations are built on the complementary forces that make up a team. Her bidirectional approach to each search allows her to put the best interest of both the individual and the company at the center of her team’s work. She is passionate about the medical device industry, which works to elevate health and healthcare, the individual careers we help build, and the team at TMG. These individuals keep Holly committed to being better every day. 

Continuously giving back to the industry, Holly is a member, guest speaker, and advocate for MassMEDIC’s Women in Medtech organization. She also hosts two podcasts, The Power Curve, and Tech Talks with Holly Scott. 

Holly is a graduate of the University of Florida with a psychology major and a business minor. She has also been awarded Certified Senior Account Manager (CSAM) by MRINetwork, an international network of recruiting firms. 

Manisha Shah-Bugaj
CEO
Activ Surgical

Manisha Shah-Bugaj has a long-standing track record as a successful global medtech executive, key influencer and transformational leader, both globally and domestically, with a core strength in developing and protecting team culture founded in transparency, recognition, and acknowledgment of areas of improvement, with identified countermeasures. She joined Activ Surgical in January 2022 as Chief Operating Officer, she now serves as the Chief Executive Officer. Manisha is responsible for overseeing all business operations for the company, including oversight of the commercialization of its ActivSight™ enhanced visualization imaging module and the implementation of its surgical visualization technology at established pilot hospital sites in 2022. Prior to Activ Surgical, Shah-Bugaj architected the gynecology unit at Olympus from the ground up in the U.S., ultimately serving as General Manager and Global Vice President for the company and played an integral role in expanding the gynecology business internationally. She has more than two decades of experience, including building and implementing corporate business plans, directing regional and global businesses aligned to financial and operational targets, hiring and establishing new teams, and managing product portfolios. 

Ravindra Sharma
VP, Product Management
Clarivate

Ravindra Sharma is a Vice President at Clarivate and is the product leader for Clarivate’s Understand portfolio of products which includes Disease Landscape and Forecast and Epidemiology. ​

Ravindra has extensive experience of working on medical device markets in a number of different roles spanning from operations, consulting, and product management. His experience in Medtech involved working closely with clients in the diagnostic imaging, patient monitoring, IVD, diabetes, cardiac and respiratory devices, and clinical information systems for more that 12 years.​

Ravindra has also supported big and small medical device and pharma clients in their commercial operations by leveraging multiple data sources across many therapeutic domains. He has experience in leveraging multiple data sources such as – claims, EMRs, pharmacy data and purchasing datasets to deliver high quality solutions to address client business needs. Additionally, he has expertise in global healthcare markets in both pharmaceuticals and medical devices.​

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Upma Sharma, PhD 
President & CEO
Arsenal Medical

Upma Sharma has dedicated her career to transforming medicine with materials. Under her leadership, Arsenal Medical has established its platform of purpose-built biomaterials, achieved FDA breakthrough device status and IDE approval for ResQFoam™, and secured over $65M of non-dilutive funding from a diverse group of partners, including the Department of Defense, DARPA, NIH (both National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute), and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. 

Upma joined the company as a research scientist, and her role quickly expanded. She led Arsenal’s ResQFoam foundational program from concept to the clinic, guiding product development, GMP contract manufacturing, the regulatory process through IDE approval, and clinical trial design. Today, Upma leads the expansion of Arsenal’s biomaterial platform for strategic growth across high-value clinical indications. 

Prior to joining Arsenal, Upma was a key member of the Lyra Therapeutics team that created a novel bioresorbable scaffold. She oversaw the development of this technology for the treatment of chronic sinusitis, including leading a Phase I clinical study. The data from that study led to subsequent venture funding and the eventual IPO of Lyra Therapeutics. 

Upma earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in Chemical Engineering and a B.S.E. from Purdue University. During a post-doctoral fellowship in Bioengineering at Rice University, she was awarded a NIH Training Grant in Nanobiology. Upma has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is an inventor on more than 40 issued or pending patents worldwide, including 20 US issued patents. 

Michael S. Sherman, MD, MBA, MS
Venture Partner
RA Capital Management

Dr. Michael Sherman joined RA Capital Management as Venture Partner in April 2023. A highly respected multi-stage investment manager, RA manages over $9B in capital and is dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, services, and research tools.

Previously, Dr. Sherman served as executive vice president and chief medical officer at Point32Health, the 20th largest health plan in the US, formed in January 2021 by the merger of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan. Prior to that merger, he served as chief medical officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, nationally recognized for both innovation and quality. His accountabilities included clinical innovation, medical policy, quality, including regulatory and accreditation activities, health equity, and oversight of all physician functions (including provider engagement, medical cost management, utilization management, and employer engagement). He has been widely recognized as a pioneer in bringing advances in transformational therapeutics, precision medicine, and digital therapeutics to Point32Health’s members by launching structured pilots that balance access and affordability and also generate real world evidence.

His leadership in the development of value-based payment agreements with pharmaceutical companies, which tie payment for a drug to patient outcomes, has placed him at the forefront of the issue, and Dr. Sherman is credited with cementing Harvard Pilgrim’s position as a leader among insurers in crafting agreements with pharmaceutical companies that tie payments for a drug to its performance. In 2018, he received Xconomy’s “Contrarian Award” for his contributions, including having signed the nation’s first such payment model for a gene therapy, helping pave the way for developing innovative financing models. Dr. Sherman’s work is also featured in a Harvard Business School case study published in 2021. He has also led the nation to expand access to precision medicine, such as whole genome screening, and his organization became the first health plan to cover the GRAIL Galleri Multi-Cancer Early Detection Blood Test for a subset of its commercial members in 2022.

Dr. Sherman is a past chair of the Board of Managers of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, which encompasses the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School—the nation’s only appointing medical school department based in a health plan. He holds additional board appointments with several well-respected nonprofit organizations, including the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), the Personalized Medicine Coalition, the Harvard Business School Healthcare Initiative, and NEHI (Network for Excellence in Health Innovation). He is also a past chair of AHIP’s CMO Leadership Council, a trade association comprising chief medical officers from health plans throughout the United States and previously served as a board member and as Co-President of the Harvard Business School

Healthcare Alumni Association. Dr. Sherman has also served as a mentor for emerging physician executives enrolled in the AHIP Executive Leadership Program.

Prior to joining Harvard Pilgrim in 2011, Dr. Sherman served as corporate medical director for physician strategies at Humana. He also served as vice president of network and consumer solutions for UnitedHealth Group’s subsidiary Ingenix (now part of Optum) and as chief business development officer for United’s Medicare Part D business. Formerly, Dr. Sherman held the position of vice president and general manager at Thomson Medstat (now part of IBM Watson Health), and he previously held management roles at Immusol, a San Diego-based biotechnology company; HealthAllies, an organization created to provide discretionary medical benefits to the cash-pay market, which by UnitedHealth Group purchased; and Da Vita, a national provider of dialysis services.

Before pursuing an M.B.A. at Harvard Business School, Dr. Sherman received his M.D. from Yale and practiced as a cardiac anesthesiologist. He also holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Natural Sciences and an M.S. in Biomedical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Sherman is a diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Board of Medical Management. In 2009, he was named a fellow of the American College of Physician Executives in recognition of his national contributions to the field of medical management. Dr. Sherman frequently speaks at regional, national, and international conferences and lectures as a faculty member of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine. He has also been called upon to provide legislative testimony at the national level. Speaking at the White House in 2017, Dr. Sherman presented Harvard Pilgrim’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic at a meeting of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. He has also delivered congressional briefings on precision medicine.

Kenneth Snow, MD
Senior Director Medical Affairs
Insulet

Kenneth Snow is Senior Director Medical Affairs at Insulet Corporation.  His responsibilities include the development and review of research studies to provide clinical evidence in support of Insulet’s products.  In addition, Dr Snow serves as an internal subject matter expert regarding the treatment of adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Prior to joining Insulet, Dr. Snow was Product Strategy Medical Director in the Pharmacy Services Section of CVS Health and served as Medical Director for Clinical Trial Services overseeing research projects for external clients with attention to analytical results and clinical conclusions.

Prior to joining CVSHealth, Dr. Snow was Chief Medical Officer for NeuroMetrix, a medical device company involved in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic neuropathy.  Previously, Dr. Snow was on the staff of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston for 19 years including 5 years as Chief of the Adult Diabetes Section.  In addition, he was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Snow attended MIT and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  He did his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospitals in Chicago and his fellowship in Endocrinology at the New England Medical Center Hospitals in Boston.  He received his MBA from the University of Massachusetts.

Mark Turco, MD
CEO
Cardiac Implants

Dr. Mark Turco, a healthcare and business executive with 30+ years of academic, private, and public sector expertise. Dr. Turco was the Director, Center for Cardiac and Vascular Research at Washington Adventist Hospital before transitioning to the medical device industry working in operating roles at two-large-cap companies. Dr. Turco was instrumental in helping to build out Covidien’s vascular platform, which was subsequently a key component of Medtronic’s $49B acquisition of Covidien later returning to the academic sector leading innovation efforts at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA as their Chief Innovation officer. Dr. Turco was instrumental in the develop at UPenn of a large medical device center that connected medicine and engineering helping to facilitate the two schools producing numerous spin out companies and building important industry and academic collaborations. Currently, Dr. Turco is the President and CEO of Cardiac Implants LLC, a clinical stage medical device start-up with a novel treatment for Tricuspid valvular disease.  

Kenneth Turner
President & CEO
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center

Kenneth Turner is President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), an economic development and investment agency dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the life sciences in Massachusetts. He directs and oversees the center’s operations, investment strategy, programs, and partnerships.

Prior to joining the MLSC, Mr. Turner served as Director of Diversity & Inclusion/Compliance with Massport. He oversaw and managed the Authority’s multiple diversity programs, including business and supplier diversity, workforce diversity, and airport concessions, as well as all compliance initiatives associated with Massport’s Disadvantaged/Minority/Women Business Enterprise programs.

Previously, Mr. Turner served as Deputy Secretary for Administration & Finance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services. He has over 20-years of general management and executive experience in various Fortune 100 media and package goods companies including having served as Senior Vice President of Emerging Markets at AOL Time Warner as well as having held various marketing positions at Hallmark Cards and Hasbro Toys.

A retired U.S. Navy Captain and submarine nuclear weapons system officer with 26-years of service, Mr. Turner holds a B.S. degree in Liberal Arts from Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA.

Jeff Valk
Co-Founder & CEO
Admetsys

Jeff Valk is co-founder and CEO of Admetsys. Prior to taking the helm of Admetsys, he was the company’s Chief Technologist, responsible for development of its automated glucose control and continuous diagnostics system for hospital care and the state-of-the-art informatics and network monitoring technologies that support it. Jeff is a hardware and software engineer by background, specializing in the design of adaptive systems and has technical expertise in areas including machine intelligence, robotics, distributed systems, and human-computer interaction. 

Carl Vause
CEO & President
Hyalex Orthopedics

Carl Vause is the Chief Executive Officer, President, and member of the Board of Directors at Hyalex Orthopedics.  Carl brings extensive experience in the orthopaedic industry and new technology development and commercialization, in both large publicly traded and early-stage companies.

Prior to Hyalex, Carl has worked extensively in orthopaedics at both CONMED Orthopedics and Smith & Nephew, leading the development and global launch of groundbreaking new products.  He served as the founding CEO of Soft Robotics Inc, an early-stage venture established to translate groundbreaking polymer science out of the academic lab and address critical unmet needs in the global robotics and material handling industries. While CEO of Soft Robotics, Carl led multiple venture funding rounds, established a number of strategic and commercial collaborators, and built an industry-transforming line of products. Carl also serves as a Global Platform Fellow for the World Economic Forum’s Advanced Manufacturing Platform. Carl earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute, an MS in Management Information Systems from the University of Maryland, and an MBA from the London Business School.  Carl enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid aviation enthusiast.

Jon Warner, MD
Co-Chief
MGH Shoulder Service

Dr. Jon “J.P.”Warner is currently The Co-Chief of the MGH Shoulder Service and Founder of the Boston Shoulder Institute. He is Vice Chair for Quality and Safety for MGH Orthopedics and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He was previously Associate Professor of Orthopedics at the University of Pittsburgh where he was also the Director of the Shoulder Biomechanics laboratory, and Associate Director of the Sports Medicine Center. He founded the Boston Shoulder Institute Fellowship Program at MGH and New England Baptist Hospital in 1998. 

He completed his medical training at the University of Rochester, NY followed by a postgraduate residency at the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Surgery Program, Boston. His subsequent postgraduate training included Fellowships in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery at the University of Bern, Switzerland, University of Paris, France, Linkoping University, Sweden, and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He is also a graduate of the Executive Program at Harvard Business School. 

He is Past President of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and New England Shoulder and Elbow Society (NESES) which he founded. He is also the founder of the Codman Shoulder Society. 

In addition to his academic duties, he is a serial entrepreneur with several successful ventures and many ongoing concerns. Currently he serves on the Board and is Vice President of the San Diego Shoulder Institute, which is the oldest Educational program for Shoulder care in the United States. 

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Craig Weiss
Sr. Director of Diagnostics Commercial Operations
Hologic

Craig Weiss is the Sr. Director of Commercial Operations in Hologic’s Diagnostics Division, where he oversees multiple functions related to commercial insights, analytics and sales operations. He previously led Women’s Health Marketing at Hologic, having responsibility for STI and Cervical Cancer Screening portfolios. In addition to more than a decade at Hologic, Craig also held various marketing leadership roles in the Diagnostics and Life Science industry, including PerkinElmer and ThermoFisher Scientific. Craig holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an MBA from the McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley University.