People

Fellows
Faculty
Independent Advisory Panel

By involving clinicians, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and business people in research and professional development programs, Catalyst fosters an innovation ecosystem that produces high impact people and technologies. Fellows discover and lead collaborative project teams, guided by a cadre of multiprofessional leaders and mentors.

Emerging biomedical innovation leaders

Catalyst Fellows collaborate with one another and with practicing professionals in areas relevant to healthcare to identify and develop a new biomedical research projects. Working together and with the guidance of Catalyst faculty and mentors, they identify medical needs that can be met with innovative technologies, build multiprofessional teams to design these new technologies, and launch projects that show strong potential for healthcare impact.

Current Phase 1 Fellows

Mercy Asiedu, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Lola Baird, LICSW, ACSW
Polytrauma/TBI Social Worker at VA Boston Healthcare System

Vyda Bielkus, MBA
CEO Health Yoga Life, EMBA Candidate at MIT Sloan School of Management

Mark Drinkwater, NP
Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at VA Boston Healthcare System in Emergency Services

Amy Hanson, RN
Assistant Nurse Manager VA Boston Healthcare System

Natrina Johnson, MS
Candidate in Health Services Research at Boston University School of Public Health, and researcher in the VA Boston Healthcare System

Nahun Kim
MS Candidate at MIT’s Integrated Design + Management

Jonathan Li, PhD
PhD Candidate in Computational & Systems Biology at MIT

Chelsey Solar, PhD
Fellow in Medical Informatics at VA Boston Healthcare System

Smithri Sunil, PhD
Candidate in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Boston University

Eric Swart, MD
Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts

Christine Zhang
MBA Candidate MIT Sloan School of Management

Kai Zhang, PhD
Project Manager, QIAGEN

Current Phase 2 Fellows

Ravi Rasalingam, MBChB
2019 spring cohort
Staff Cardiologist, Medicine/Cardiology, Boston VA Healthsystem

Aasia Romano, MD
2019 spring cohort
OBGYN Physician, Clinical Instructor for Harvard Medical School, Veteran Affairs Healthcare System Boston

Tarsha Ward, PhD
2019 spring cohort
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School

Fellows Alumni

Iliyana Atanasova, PhD
2012 cohort
Associate Director of Global Oncology Forecasting at Sanofi Genzyme

Margaret Bennewitz, PhD
2012 cohort
Assistant Professor in Biomedical Imaging, West Virginia University

Soledad Betanzos-Lara, PhD 
2012 cohort
Patent agent, Goodrich, Riquelme y Asociados

Judith Birkenfeld, PhD
2014 cohort
MULTIPLY MSC Action Fellow at IO-CSIC, Visual Optics and Biophotonics Group

Aurelien Bourquard, PhD
2013 cohort
Chief Data Scientist and Cofounder, Leuko Labs

Ian Butterworth, MSc
2013 cohort
CTO and Cofounder, Leuko Labs

Chris Carr, ScD
2019 spring cohort
Research Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Molecular Biology

Carlos Castro González, PhD
2013 cohort
CEO and Cofounder, Leuko Labs

Jon Champagne, PA-C
2019 spring cohort
Physician Assistant, Cardiac Electrophysiology, West Roxbury VA

Ryan Coe, PhD
2013 cohort
Engagement Manager at Triangle Insights Group

Susan Conover, MS
2016 cohort
CEO and Cofounder, LuminDx

Shivang Dave, PhD
2011 cohort
CEO and Co-Founder, PlenOptika

Nicholas Durr, PhD
2011 cohort
Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University

Yigitcan Eryaman, PhD
2011 cohort
Assistant Professor at Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota

Osasere Evbuomwan, PhD
2012 cohort
Assistant Professor of Chemistry at University of San Francisco

Berta Martí Fuster, PhD
2014 cohort
Head of Communications & Partner Relations, Oncoheroes Biosciences

Luca Giancardo, PhD
2013 cohort
Assistant Professor, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston

Javier Jimenez Gonzalez, PhD, MBA
2012 cohort
CEO and Cofounder, NBS

Germán González Serrano, PhD
2011 cohort
Independent Researcher and Scientific Consultant

Tobias Hahn, PhD
2013 cohort
Director Strategic Programs, OSRAM

Anna Jagielska, PhD
2019 spring cohort
Research Scientist, ŸMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Ara Kassarjian, PhD
2011 cohort
Founder and Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologist at Elite Sports Imaging

Robert Karl Kosior, PhD
2011 cohort
Resident in Psychiatry at University of Manitoba

Eduardo Lage, PhD
2011 cohort
CTO and Co-Founder, PlenOptika

Wencke Lehnert, PhD
2012 cohort
Head of Medical Physics, Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf

Daryl Lim, PhD
2011 cohort
COO and Co-Founder, PlenOptika

Bevin Lin, PhD
2012 cohort
Program Director, Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Amy Linsky, MD
2019 spring cohort
Physician, Internal Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System

Cristina Lois, PHD
2012 cohort
Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School

Joaquín López Herraiz, PhD
2012 cohort
Associate Professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Jie Luo, PhD
2013 cohort
Assistant Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Carlos Sanchez Mendoza, PhD
2013 cohort
Head of Data Science at Snappet Connected Learning

Asif Naseem, PhD
2014 cohort
President & Chief Executive Officer, Paragon Development Systems (PDS)

Vicente Parot, PhD
2011 cohort
Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University

Álvaro Sánchez-Ferro, MD
2013 cohort
Chief Medical Officer and Cofounder, Leuko Labs

Colas Schretter, PhD
2012 cohort
Senior Research Scientist, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Luis Rubén Soenksen, MSE
2014 cohort
Venture Builder in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare at MIT

Jason Tucker-Schwartz, PhD
2014 cohort
Director of Marketing and Business Development, SpectraWAVE

Esra Abaci Turk, PhD
2013 cohort
Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital

Representing the spectrum of biomedical innovation and care

Catalyst Faculty come from the worlds of medicine, science, and business, and provide to Fellows and one another their unique perspectives on health care and technology innovation. Any stakeholder in the healthcare arena ready to collaborate across disciplines and accelerate innovation is welcome.

Current Faculty

Pamela Bellino MA, OTR/L
Director of Patient Safety, VA Boston Healthcare System

Lars Frølund, PhD
Research Director, MIT Innovation Initiative
Visiting Fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management

Stephan Gaehde, MD, MPH
Boston VA Medical Informatics Fellowship Program Director and Chief of Emergency Services

Dimitra Georganopoulou, PhD
Venture Partner, FundRx

Martha Gray,PhD
Director, MIT linQ

Jacob Hooker, PhD
Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport MGH Research Scholar
Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Beth Kahn, MS
Associate Director, NE I-Corps
NSF I-Corps Instructor

Tim Padera, PhD
Associate Professor in Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School

Alice Lin Pomponio, MPP
Advisor, Red Sky Partners

Andy Shin, JD, MPH
Coo, AHA Center for Health Innovation

Nancy R. Steele, MA
MIT linQ Faculty

Ben Vakoc, PhD
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Catalyst Faculty, 2018–2020

Pamela Bellino MA, OTR/L
Director of Patient Safety, VA Boston Healthcare System

Lydia Bourouiba, PhD
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering;
Affiliate Faculty of Harvard Medical School

Heather L. Davidson, MD
Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine;
Deputy Chief of Staff and Hospitalist Physician at VA Boston HCS

Lars Frølund, PhD
Research Director, MIT Innovation Initiative
Visiting Fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management

Stephan Gaehde, MD, MPH
Boston VA Medical Informatics Fellowship Program Director and Chief of Emergency Services

Dimitra Georganopoulou, PhD
Venture Partner, FundRx

Karen Golmer, MBA
Innovation Manager MIT Desphande Center for Technological Innovation

Martha Gray, PhD
Director, MIT linQ

Peter Hansen, PhD
Founder of Union Biometrica, Inc.

Jacob Hooker, PhD
Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport MGH Research Scholar
Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Andy Levine, MS
CEO and President, Conformal Medical

Beth Kahn, MS
Associate Director, NE I-Corps
NSF I-Corps Instructor

Fiona Murray, PhD
Associate Dean for Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management
Co-Director of MIT Innovation Initiative

Emily Niederst, PhD
Director of Scientific Initiatives, Alana Down Syndrome Center

Tim Padera, PhD
Associate Professor in Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School

Alice Lin Pomponio, MPP
Advisor, Red Sky Partners

Andy Shin, JD, MPH
Coo, AHA Center for Health Innovation

Karthik Sivashanker, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine;
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist, VA Boston Healthcare System

Nancy R. Steele, MA
MIT linQ Faculty

Collin Stultz, MD, PhD
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science

Ben Vakoc, PhD
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Providing insight and wisdom to refine projects

Like the Catalyst Faculty, members of the Independent Advisory Panel (IAP) represent a diversity of experience, expertise, and perspectives. IAP members provide fresh, unbiased analysis and guidance to Fellows over the course of project discovery and development. Current and past members are included here.

Saurabha Bhatnagar, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Head of Technology & Performance, UnitedHealthcare

Bonnie Charland, PhD
Associate Director of Quality Management, VA Boston Healthcare System

Heather Davidson, MD
Deputy Chief of Staff, VA Boston HCS; Hospitalist

Melinda Decker, MS, MBA
Chief Commercial Officer, Mymee

Samuel “Mooly” Dinnar, PMB
Founder of Meedance,
Instructor at Harvard and MIT

Will Febbo
CEO of OptimizeRx

Christiana Iyasare, MD
Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Medicine Innovation Program;
Co-Founder, Dyrnamix, Inc.

Julia Jackson, MBA
Director, Digital Health at Sage Therapeutics

Terry Keane, PhD
Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at VA Boston Healthcare System

Emily Lindemer, PhD
Director of Data Science and Analytics at Wellframe

Daphne Psacharopoulos, MBA
Digital Integration at CVS Health

Jagesh Shah, PhD
Vice President, Gene Therapy Technologies at Sana Biotechnology, Inc.

Barry Stein, MD, MBA, FSIR, FACR, RPVI
Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at Hartford HealthCare

Frances Toneguzzo, PhD
Intellectual Property and Business Strategy Consultant

Ryan Vega, MD
Diffusion of Excellence Lead; Hospital/Attending Physician, Richmond, Va. VA Medical Center