Catalyst Fellowship Spring 2023

Pam Bellino is an Improvement Advisor specializing in Patient Safety, Lean Healthcare Improvement, team facilitation, and system improvement initiatives. She received her Master of Arts degree in Occupation Therapy in 1995. Ms. Bellino is a Coast Guard Veteran and has worked at the VA throughout her career. She has led the Patient Safety Program at VA Boston Healthcare System since 2003. As an Occupational Therapist, Ms. Bellino can provide guidance to all healthcare disciplines in an unbiased manner to identify root causes and implement actions for system improvements. She has also participated in research projects related to delirium, medication reconciliation, and patient safety. Ms. Bellino is a faculty member of the VA Chief Resident in Quality and Safety program and Ambulatory Patient Safety and Quality Improvement medical resident program. She provides core patient safety skills training and mentorship to students by utilizing improvement tools such as Healthcare Failure Mode Effects Analysis (HFMEA), Root Cause Analysis (RCA), data analysis, and use of Lean improvement tools in their improvement work. In 2016, Ms. Bellino was selected as a Gold Status Fellow by the VHA Innovation Diffusion of Excellent Program for her innovative practice of the Deployment of IN Naloxone (Nasal Narcan) within Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Cabinets. This best practice is currently being spread nationally throughout the 168 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in the country. Ms. Bellino presented her best practice in a Ted Style Talk within VA in August of 2018 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. This has resulted in media coverage by a variety of sources including National Public Radio (NPR), Kaiser Health News and VA Insider. Ms. Bellino was a recipient of The Joint Commission & National Quality Forum National Eisenberg Award in 2021 for The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Rapid Naloxone Initiative.

Eric B. Bruns is a retired career Army officer with over 25 years of valiant service to the nation where he served as an Air Defense officer responsible for the implementation of warfare simulations programs. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving in Kitzingen, Germany, Guantanamo Bay Cuba and exercises in Japan, receiving a Legion of Merit. Eric graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1988 with a BS in Engineering and completed an MBA from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University that he uses to continue a career in service to others.

Eric served as the Associate Director for the Events Division of the VHA Employee Education System (EES) in the Crystal City Facility where he addressed education needs for VHA clients. As the Associate director, he implemented the policies, procedures and systems required for maintaining and enhancing the overall organizational mission, develops and documents standards to measure quality and effectiveness of programs.

Eric is currently the Executive Director of the Simulation Learning Evaluation, Assessment and Research Network (SimLEARN) where he develops strategy for using simulation based clinical education products to drive the innovation of healthcare, making the VA a high reliability organization.

Leandro DaSilva joined the VA New England Healthcare System in 2011.

Mr. DaSilva served in the U.S. Navy from 1999 to 2006, onboard the USS Kitty-Hawk (CV-63) home based in Yokosuka, Japan; and at the Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Facility (NPMOF) in Whidbey Island, WA; where he earned his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a Major in International Business, and MBA with emphasis in Global Management. After Honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, Leandro worked at UnitedHealth Technologies as a Program Manager working on Mergers & Acquisitions and integrated technologies solutions.

He joined the VA in 2011 as a member of the VISN 1 Network Office, as a Project Manager for the VISN 1 Quality Manager Office, and in November 2017 became a member of the VISN 1 Clinical Informatics team. In 2020 Mr. DaSilva helped launch the VA New England Center for Innovation Excellence (NECIE) as part of the VHA Innovation Ecosystem.

Mr. Dasilva currently serves as the NECIE Director. The NECIE’s focus is fostering collaborations to address VHA’s most pressing healthcare challenges

Stephan Gaehde, MD, MPH is the Boston VA Medical Informatics Fellowship Program Director and Chief of Emergency Services.  His research interests are in emergency department prediction models,  development of data visualization tools to improve patient flow and patient centered interventions that support guideline adherence for patients with chronic diseases.  He has  mentored faculty on prior innovation projects and has expertise on the integration of interventions into organizational workflow. 

Dimitra joined Qral Ventures as a General Partner in 2020, and serves as Chief Business Officer (CBO) in select portfolio companies. She is an experienced biotech professional with deep knowledge of personalized medicine projects, therapeutics. medical devices, diagnostics, and Health IT. She is currently also a member of the Innovation Faculty team for MIT’s LinQ Catalyst program, mentoring and guiding innovators solving health and medical challenges. Dimitra serves on the investment committee of the Aim-Hi Accelerator Fund, and is a technical due diligence lead for the Keiretsu Forum Midwest Investments and a Venture Partner for MBx Capital (formerly FundRx), a next-generation life science venture capital firm. Dimitra has deep expertise in Tech Transfer with deep connections with the US innovation ecosystem, as she continues to be a mentor for mHUB’s MedTech Accelerator program, a venture mentor for the Polsky COMPASS program and a venture advisor for Northwestern’s N.Xt Fund. Dimitra is a Director at Large for Women in Bio (WIB), an organization dedicated to promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship of women in the life sciences.

She was previously with Baxter International, where she was hired as an Innovation Scout, supporting late-stage technology scouting and tech assessment for due diligence M&A deals. Prior to that, she was the Director of Commercialization for Northwestern University’s Innovation and New Ventures Office, where she actively pursued innovation management, commercialization and funding strategies as well business development opportunities for inventors, ranging from start-up ventures to strategic partnerships, and established and directed an I-Corps like program called INVOForward. Before joining Northwestern, Dimitra was the VP of R&D of Ohmx Corporation, a diagnostic company with novel POC (point-of-care) technology and prior to that she worked for Nanosphere (now Luminex) and Inverness Medical (now Alere / Abbott), in novel biosensor development. Dimitra earned a Ph.D. in Bioelectrochemistry from University College London (UCL), an M.Sc. in Biosensors from King’s College London; her post-doctoral work focused on nanoparticle based diagnostics. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and patents.

Martha Gray, PhD, has a multifaceted career in which she has built programs to drive biomedical technology innovation, conducted research to better understand and prevent osteoarthritis, led a preeminent academic unit, and served the profession through work with organizations and institutions. Trained in computer science and electrical and biomedical engineering, and serving as an MIT faculty for nearly three decades, she has held numerous leadership positions. For 13+ years, she directed the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), an academic unit with multiple research and training programs for careers in medicine, business, and research. Dr. Gray currently directs MIT linQ which operates several multi-institutional ventures focus on accelerating and deepening early-career researchers’ potential for impact. Over the course of these efforts, she and her team developed a principled methodology for needs identification and opportunity development.

Professor Jacob Hooker has built his career on the concept that measuring neurochemistry in the living human brain can have a profound impact on human health and wellbeing. Through the development of new tools and techniques, Prof. Hooker is advancing our fundamental understanding of diseases and disorders like Alzheimer’s and autism. His work has led to many landmark firsts—first human neuroepigenetic imaging technology, first linkage between glial activation and chronic low back pain, first demonstration of dynamic neurochemical imaging (fPET)—and catalyzes others to achieve advances of their own. He has dramatically expanded the capabilities of PET imaging by pioneering new radiotracer synthesis methods, radiotracers and concepts. At the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, he founded and directs a first-in-class imaging facility that merges functional MRI and positron emission tomography for neurochemical study.  Prof. Hooker is currently the Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport MGH Research Scholar and an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School.

To learn more about the work coming from his lab and his incredible collaborators, visit: https://hookerlab.martinos.org.

Daniel Hurtado is currently a visiting professor at MIT, and an associate professor at PUC Chile, where he co-founded the Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering. He leads the Computational Medicine Group, an interdisciplinary team of computational engineers, applied mathematicians, and medical doctors that focus on creating patient-informed digital replicas of human lungs and the respiratory system. These computational models find translational applications in understanding mechanical ventilation therapy and creating novel tools for the early diagnosis of pulmonary diseases. His work also involves the creation of innovative wearable systems for the democratization of respiratory monitoring and pulmonary assessment, a technology currently developed and commercialized by the startup company IC Innovations, for which he is a co-founder and chief scientific officer.

Dr. Hurtado received his MS and PhD degrees from the California Institute of Technology as a Fulbright fellow. His thesis work made him the recipient of the Robert J. Melosh Medal, presented by Duke University. In 2018, the World Economic Forum selected him as one of the 50 most influential young scientists worldwide under 40 years old for his contributions to research and innovation in biomedical engineering. He is also an elected member (first Chilean) of the World Council of Biomechanics and a young scientist of the World Laureate Forum.

Dr. Angela Joubert James is the Vice President heading Clinical Pharmacology at MacroGenics Inc. in Rockville, MD. Leadership in Oncology at Astellas Pharma. Dr. James earned a B.A. in Biology from Rice University, an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Houston and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Pharmacometrics and Pharmaceutical Sciences, respectively, from University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her expertise in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics led to roles of increasing responsibility in Clinical Pharmacology at Alcon Laboratories (formerly a subsidiary of Novartis), Celgene and Astellas Pharma. Her accomplishments include the design and implementation of the Clinical Pharmacology strategy to support successful development and approval of XOSPATA® (gilteritinib) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory AML with a FLT3 mutation. Dr. James transitioned to the role of Director of Global Development Project and led cross-functional project teams to successfully execute on global strategies for the development of novel immuno-oncology agents. In her current role, Dr. James drives strategies based on Model-Informed Drug Development to inform decision making for innovative therapeutics including antibody drug conjugates (ADC) and bispecific antibodies.

Dr. James lives by the African proverb “Each one, teach one” and is passionate about mentorship of students and early career scientists. She has moderated and participated in several panel discussions focused on career journeys and challenges in STEM careers stemming from gender and racial bias. Dr. James is the current President of Chicago chapter of Women In Bio (WIB-Chicago), Past Chair and current member of the Joint Steering Committee for the Oncology Community of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT). She sits on the Board of Directors for Youth Technology Corps, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that teaches real-world STEM skills to middle and high school students while nurturing their civic responsibilities through donations of refurbished computers to their community members.

Mahnaz is an AI technologist and an entrepreneur with strong leadership skills. She has successfully launched products in the space of AI and life sciences. 

She was co-founder and managing member of Dana Solutions (acquired by CuriBio), co-founder and CTO of Cellogy, and lead scientist of Auxogyn (now Progeny, PGNY). 

She is an inventor of multiple products including Pulse, the first computer vision product for the non-invasive characterization of stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes, an AI-based cell counting software for an infertility medical device, an AI-based phenotypic drug screening platform, and, in collaboration with FDA, a deep learning method for in-vitro drug toxicity testing. She has served as an invited speaker for various events for applications of AI in drug efficacy and safety testing. She established and led MIT DHIVE program, a healthcare innovation program, as part of MIT Sandbox innovation fund.   

She received her master’s degree from the University of Tehran and her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT CSAIL in 2008.

Mahnaz is currently with the Data Science Platform at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she is the director of Machine Learning for Health. 

As part of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology, the Padera Laboratory examines the pathophysiology of tumor associated lymphatic vessels and lymphatic metastasis. Lymphatic vessels are responsible for draining interstitial fluid from tissues and for transporting immune cells to lymph nodes to maintain the body’s immune surveillance. Lymphatic vessels also facilitate the dissemination of cancer cells from a primary tumor to regional lymph nodes. The mechanisms used by cancer cells to form lymph node metastasis are starting to be understood, with the hope of identifying treatment strategies to lower mortality due to disseminated cancer. In addition to studying lymphatic metastasis, the Padera Lab also studies the molecular control of lymphatic function which plays a role in regulating tissue-fluid balance as well as immune function. When lymphatic function is interrupted, the result is lymphedema and local immune compromise. By understanding the mechanism controlling lymphatic function, the Padera Lab hopes to develop therapies to relieve lymphedema and maintain competent immune surveillance.

Dr. Anne Quaadgras is the Director of the MIT Sloan Health Systems Initiative, and a Senior Lecturer at the Sloan School of Management. As director she builds collaborations in health systems delivery transformation across faculty, students, health care providers and industry leaders. Her own research focuses on health systems transformation, impacts of coordination of work in health systems, and the role of information technology in systems change. She co-teaches Healthcare Lab: Introduction to Healthcare Delivery in the United States.

Prior to becoming HSI Director, Anne was a Research Scientist at the MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center (SSRC), focusing on designing and measuring the impact of coordination of work in health systems. She led field research for the US Marine Corps as part of the DoD-wide Post Traumatic Stress Innovations (PTSI) project, a four-year $8mm interdisciplinary effort examining the continuum of care offered through the Military Health System for Post-traumatic stress and related conditions.

Anne earned her doctorate in information systems at Boston University. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering from MIT.

Dr. Ravi Rasalingam is a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School and a staff cardiologist at VA Boston Healthcare. He received his Bachelor of Human Biology and Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degrees from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He completed Internal Medicine residency at the University of Rochester, New York and Cardiology Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania. Dr. Rasalingam is a clinical educator and has been recognized for excellence by physicians training in echocardiography. While on faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, he was the inaugural editor of The Washington Manual of Echocardiography. His clinical expertise is in echocardiography,advanced cardiac imagingand valvular heart disease. His research interests are broad and primarily focus on novel applicationof echocardiographic techniques in early detection of coronary artery disease as well as assessment of patients with mechanical devices to support the heart when it fails. He has received a strategic alliance research grant to foster collaboration between groups of investigators across difference disciplines, departments and schools.

Dr. Pranjul Shah is the Head of the Incubator at the University of Luxembourg responsible for expanding the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is an educator, entrepreneur, innovator and an active mentor. He is the chief architect behind the University’s entrepreneurship, venture mentoring and acceleration programs. During his PhD from the Technical University of Denmark, he was handpicked as a Kauffman Global Scholar for his entrepreneurial acumen to embark on an intensive entrepreneurial fellowship coordinated by the Kauffman Foundation, MIT, Stanford University and Harvard University. In his current innovation projects, he focuses on developing microfluidics-enabled technologies targeting elucidation of mechanistic aspects of the human microbiome, humanizing organs-on-chip systems and improving aging research tools. He demonstrated the Human-Microbe crosstalk (HuMiX) system allowing investigations into the molecular crosstalk between the human host and the gut microbiota. His work has fetched numerous business, research and innovation awards including Outstanding Research-Driven Innovation award from Fonds National de la Recherche offered to key innovators in Luxembourg.

Andy Shin, JD, MPH, MBA, is the Senior Vice President of Strategy at Mass General Brigham. In this role, he is responsible for shaping and advancing the system strategy that includes: two world-renowned academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, health plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services.

Prior to Mass General Brigham, Andy held leadership positions across social, public, and private sectors in strategy, operations, business development, and policy roles. Previously, Andy launched and led the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Center for Health Innovation- the combined health services research, education/training, data, and commercial business units of the AHA, including the AHA Innovation Development venture fund.

Andy was as an early leader helping to launch the CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) as Director of Stakeholder Engagement. As a health policy fellow for the Energy and Commerce Committee, he supported the development of national health reform legislation, eventually leading to passage of the Affordable Care Act. He also has experience as a consultant, investment analyst, and officer in the United States Air Force.

Andy is a former Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship with the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University. He is also a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Population Health Management.

Suzanne Shirley, LCSW, is the Director of Community Engagement & Fellowship with the VHA Office of Healthcare Innovation & Learning and holds a faculty position with MIT’s Catalyst Fellowship Program.  In the role of community engagement, Ms. Shirley builds strategies to engage new markets as partners and customers of VHA innovation.  These strategies incorporate a collaborative approach across industries to accelerate mission driven innovation that improves clinical care and lowers cost. A few of these strategic initiatives include VA Pathfinder, VSO Engagement strategy, Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Respite Relief for Military & Veteran Caregivers, VA program office and field leader innovation offerings, and Mission Daybreak- Suicide Prevention Grand Challenge.  In her role leading the VHA Innovation Fellowship program, Ms. Shirley strategically implements a variety of high-level experiential learning opportunities that aim to shape future thought leaders in healthcare.  The ‘Senior Innovation’ and ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ Fellowship tracks offer mid-later stage career employees the opportunity to advance their projects with executive mentorship, navigational resources, project management and communications support.  The MIT Catalyst Fellowship offers innovators both within VA and across industries, the opportunity to work together in the design, development and testing of health tech solutions that aim to improve VA care and lower cost.    

Ms. Shirley has been recognized for her leadership and service through awards such as 2020 Arthur S. Fleming, 2021 Service to the Citizen, 2021 Teddy Roosevelt, 2022 ACT-IAC Igniting Innovation and 2022 G2xchange Women in Leadership Impact award.

Nancy retired from Pfizer in 2018, after a diverse career, which included leadership roles in Corporate Strategy and Innovation, Digital Health, Business Development and Organizational Development.

Among her notable accomplishments at Pfizer, Nancy led the development of the 10-year Corporate Strategic Plan which drove innovation in oncology, vaccines and go-to-market capabilities. Nancy collaborated with external partners and start-ups to pursue product portfolio opportunities, especially in wellness, diagnostics and disease prevention. 

Nancy was also the founder of a health services company, Pfizer Health Solutions (PHS), a subsidiary delivering telehealth care to patients and clinical decision support to providers and payers, in the management of diabetes, CHF, depression, asthma and hypertension.  

Nancy’s professional background includes clinical research at Bellevue/NYU psychiatric hospital, marketing of biomedical devices, leadership development at IBM, and serving as a ward psychologist in a large psychiatric facility. She is a trained coach in team and leadership development. Nancy holds a BA in Psychology from the New School for Social Research and a MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. 

Today, Nancy works with entrepreneurs in a variety of programs, including MIT Catalyst, which supports scientists and clinicians in the development of research-based innovations.

Ben Vakoc received a PhD in applied physics from Stanford University in 2001 where he researched the application of optical sensing devices for sonar applications. After his dissertation research, Dr. Vakoc participated in a venture funded start-up company, Novera Optics, which developed optical devices for the telecommunications marker. In 2002, Dr. Vakoc joined the Wellman Center for Photomedicine to participate in the development and translation of optical instrumentation to the clinic and biology laboratory.

Their laboratory focuses on the development and translation of optical technologies into either patient care or biological studies. In the clinic, they are developing coherent optical imaging platforms that can be deployed endoscopically to diagnosis and guide the treatment of disease. In the biological laboratory, they are developing these imaging technologies into tools that provide new insight into disease processes and therapeutic responses. The Lab’s methodology combines a core focus on optical technologies with broad-based engineering and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Mike Catania directs the innovation program at the VA of Greater Los Angeles and manages its portfolio of investments. He was a 2021 VA Innovation Fellow specializing in entrepreneurship and new ventures.

Before joining the VA, he was an entrepreneur for a decade, co-founding two e-commerce companies that were acquired. Mike is on the faculty at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and a faculty advisor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in the Discovery Program. He has mentored several winning hackathon teams at MIT Hacking Medicine events. 

Mike holds a BFA in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MBA from UCLA.

Dr. Indra Sandal is Chief of Innovation at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital & Clinics, Tampa FL.  She has wide portfolio that include collaboration with VHA Innovation Ecosystem but also expand to include Innovation with Academic and Community Partners plus expansion of collaboration with national Innovation leaders.

Dr. Sandal has 15+ years of experience leading transformational programs, innovation, and research initiatives across academic, non-profit and federal sectors. Dr. Sandal served as the Director of Innovation at the Memphis VA Medical Center from 2019 to 2022 as well as in several prominent national and local facility innovation roles with VHA Innovation Ecosystem team. From 2020-2022, Dr. Sandal was selected as VHA Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Executive Management Fellow where she spearheaded a National VHA-Uber health Connect (VUHC) Initiative in 2022. Through the initial pilot, 3600 Veterans received 22,000 Uber Health rides and 10 VA Medical Center (VAMC) facilities were able to achieve $25 M in cost savings from faster emergency and inpatient discharges and avoidance of no-show/missed appointments. This pilot will be expanding to an additional 60 new VAMCs in 2023.

Before joining VA, Dr. Sandal also held prominent research roles, including serving as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, UT from 2011 – 2014 and as Research Scientist at Virginia Tech from 2005 – 2011. Her genetic and genomic research outcomes included 17 secured patents, 14 peer reviewed journal publications as lead author, 3 book chapters, and over 50 conference presentations worldwide. Dr. Sandal has a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Northwestern University-Kellogg School of Management, Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Institute, India and Master of Sciences (MS) in Life Sciences from Kanpur University, India.

Learn more about Dr. Sandal’s journey from growing up in a Veteran family to serving US Veterans in this article: Innovating for America’s Veterans | Kellogg School of Management.

Samantha Sissel is the Innovation Specialist at VA Boston Healthcare System. In her role she leads the facilities’ innovation program and empowers employees to develop their innovative ideas following a Human Centered Design approach. As a part of the VHA Innovators Network she collaborates with Innovation Specialists across the country to develop and teach HCD and Innovation Strategy curriculum and to build a community of VHA employees who actively move VA forward using innovation to better serve Veterans and their families.

Samantha joined the VA in 2012 as an Industrial Engineer in System Redesign, where she helped develop and deploy a Lean culture by teaching Lean Six Sigma methodology courses, mentoring staff and students, and leading multi-disciplinary project teams with their improvement efforts.

In 2011, she earned an MS from Clemson University in Industrial Engineering with a concentration in Human Factors and Safety Systems.

Christiana Iyasere, MD, MBA, is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her residency at Mass General in internal medicine in 2005. Following her tenure as a medical resident at Mass General, Dr. Iyasere undertook an administrative fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Peter Slavin, with an emphasis on technology evaluation, adoption and promotion. She subsequently went to Harvard Business School for continued management training and finished her degree in 2008.

Dr. Iyasere currently splits her time between administrative and clinical duties, and works as both an Inpatient Clinician Educator and as the Associate Director of the Innovation Support Center at Mass General.

Most importantly, Dr. Iyasere loves spending time with her family, especially her son and twin daughters. She also enjoys travel, yoga, scuba diving and hiking.

Joseph R. Smith, MD, PhD is primarily responsible for external innovation and BD’s technology roadmap to deliver transformative innovations that align to three irreversible forces driving the future of health care: smart connected care, the transition to new care settings and chronic disease. Smith will lead a reinvigorated focus on external technology partnerships and oversee the development of new innovation models. Smith will also establish and co-chair the BD Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which will be comprised of top external medical key opinion leaders, science and technology experts and experienced innovation leaders. Smith reports to Elizabeth McCombs, executive vice president and chief technology officer for BD.

Prior to joining BD, Smith was at Digital Health Corp, a holding company where he served as president and CEO, responsible for the company’s strategy to invest in or acquire digital health and therapeutic technologies. He also served as president for a digital transformation consultancy, providing business, technology and clinical insight to medical device and diagnostics companies. During his career, Smith has held medical, scientific and technology leadership positions at multiple organizations including Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific and the West Health Institute. He has also served as academic faculty at Washington University School of Medicine and Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and biomedical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University; a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; a Ph.D. in medical engineering and medical physics from the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology; and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He has been board certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. Smith has authored more than 60 publications, and he holds 11 patents.

Smith is a member of the board of directors at four, private companies including Constant Therapy Health, Inc; EP Sciences, Inc.; PDS, Inc.; and Ocudyne, Inc.

Tonya Smoot, PhD is a leader in clinical research with experience in drug and device development. Dr. Smoot has held faculty positions at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Louisville. She has led statistical teams and supported clinical functions at major pharmaceutical companies as well as clinical research organizations (CROs), and has experience across multiple therapeutic areas including ophthalmology, psychiatry, maternal and child health, nutrition sciences and dermatology, among others. Currently, she is the Sr. Director of Biostatistics for Therapeutics, Inc., a dermatology centered CRO.

A graduate of Spelman College, Dr. Smoot earned her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Biostatistics from The University of Alabama at Birmingham and her graduate certificate in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Law and Compliance from Seton Hall University School of Law. Dr. Smoot currently resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Barry Stein, MD MBA FSIR FACR RPVI, is the Chief Clinical Innovation Officer for Hartford HealthCare (HHC) where he also practices as a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He has held numerous leadership positions including Chief Imaging Informatics Officer at HHC, Vice Chair of Radiology, Chief of Cardiovascular MRI & CT, and Director of the Advanced Imaging and Quantitative Analysis Core Laboratory at Hartford Hospital. Barry graduated with his executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. He received his post graduate medical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he did his Radiology residency, served as Chief Resident, and completed fellowships in MRI and Vascular & Interventional Radiology. He received his medical degree from the University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. Barry is board certified by the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Radiology and Vascular and Interventional Radiology and is a fellow of both the Society of Interventional Radiology and American College of Radiology. He is a recognized expert in cardiovascular MRI and CT and was one of the pioneers in Magnetic Resonance Angiography. Barry continues to remain engaged at MIT. He serving on the Sloan Alumni Board, as an invited lecturer on Innovation, quantitative and qualitative approaches to leadership, mentor for LinQ programs in the MIT Institute for Medical Engineering & Science, host to students from the MIT Initiative for Health Systems Innovation, as well as a co-principle investigator conducting clinical and operational heath systems analytics research in collaboration with Sloan faculty at HHC. He is currently focused on building a differentiated healthcare Innovation ecosystem at HHC, to accelerate transformative healthcare delivery ideas to impact.

Frances is head of IP strategy for Life Biosciences. In this role, Frances works closely with company scientists and outside counsel to define and implement a broad IP strategy. Previously Frances was Executive Vice President, Strategic Alliances at Nantkwest Inc, a clinical stage cell therapy company in the immune-oncology space, managing corporate and academic alliances and providing strategic direction for intellectual property protection. Prior to joining Nantkwest she was Executive Director, Strategic Development, Partners Healthcare, leading Partners HealthCare’s efforts related to international and national collaborations. Frances has unique experience in building and executing high value relationships gained from her prior Partners’ role in managing technology transfer and other strategic activities at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During her 12 year tenure, she increased licensing revenues by a consistent 20% year over year and oversaw the launching of 73 startups in areas such as aesthetic dermatology, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. She comes from the biotech industry, having played various technical and business development roles. She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from McMaster University in Canada.