People
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.
Catalyst Fellows
Emerging biomedical innovation leaders
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, Massachusetts 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
Catalyst faculty
Representing the spectrum of biomedical innovation and care
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
Independent Advisory Panel
Providing insight and wisdom to refine projects
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
