Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Texas based Founder operating in the Health Care space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Jasen Trautwein
Chief Visionary Officer and Co-Founder of Pathway Partners Vet Holding
Jasen Trautwein, DVM, founded Pathway Partners Vet Holding LLC in 2012 and also serves as its Pathway Partners Vet Holding LLC. Mr. Trautwein is the Owner of Veterinary Medical Associates, Austin, TX. Mr. Trautwein is an Owner of Austin Vet Care since 2003. He has been Consulting Veterinarian and Board Member at Capital of Texas Zoo since 2003. He direct zoo staff in vaccination schedules and parasite control; Perform Annual USDA inspections and responsible for medical zoo population. He was Associate Veterinarian of Anderson Mill Animal Clinic, Austin, TX from 2000 to 2003. He was responsible for care of hospitalized patients; performing routine small animal surgeries and Diagnosis and treatment of outpatients. He is a Member of VMG-1. He was the President of Capital Area Veterinary Medical Association from 2006 to 2010. He serves as a Member of Veterinary Advisory Board at Trupanion, Inc. He is a Member of TVMA, AAHA, CAVMA, AVMA and VECCS. He is a Texas A&M Student Chapter IAAAM President in 1997. He holds Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University in 2000. He holds Bachelor of Science in Zoology from The University of Texas in 1996.
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About Pathway Partners Vet Holding, Veterinary Growth Partners: Pathway Vet Alliance is a veterinary hospital owner and operator.
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Shawn McVey
Chief Culture Officer and Co-Founder of Pathway Partners Vet Holding
Shawn is an open, honest person who will push all the right buttons to get you to work together as a team and realize your full potential as a leader. He combines his background as a psychotherapist with 20 years of in-the-trenches experience building specialty and emergency practices to show you what “is” in your practice, along with what “could be.” He knows how to get you there—to a workplace that’s more team-oriented, flexible, happy, respectful, and productive. Shawn advises and trains veterinary practice teams approximately 50 times per year, and he would love to talk with you about how he can work magic in your practice.
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About Pathway Partners Vet Holding, Veterinary Growth Partners: Pathway Vet Alliance is a veterinary hospital owner and operator.
Odero Otieno
Founder and Chief Technology Officer in Residence of Texas Medical Center
As a Founder and Chief Technology Officer in Residence at the Texas Medical Centre (TMC) Innovation in Houston, Odero works with other talented innovators from diverse backgrounds to quickly bring breakthrough products to market. Odero’s work involves collaborating with various key stakeholders from TMC member institutions ($25B in annual revenue), a global network of advisors and embedded corporate partners within the broader American healthcare ecosystem.
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About DawaSwift, Entrepreneur First, HealthBank, Healthipy, Texas Medical Center: Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a life sciences medical complex focused on patient care, research, education, and prevention.
William Cameron Powell
President, CMO and Co-Founder of Airstrip Technologies
An obstetrician by training, Dr. Cameron Powell stopped practicing in 2008 to focus full-time on the business of developing AirStrip, which he co-founded with Gene Powell and Trey Moore. It is that real-world medical experience that drives the continued development and expansion of the AirStrip healthcare solution suite.
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About Airstrip Technologies, San Antonio Academy, WellAware: AirStrip Technologies provides a platform that delivers critical patient information directly to a doctor’s smartphone, laptop or desktop.
Howard Buff
Co-Founder & CEO of Citra Health Solutions
As CEO and Co-Founder of Orange Health Solutions— He is passionately leveraging his unique entrepreneurial skills and disciplined Fortune 500 company successes. For 20 years, his Executive leadership focus has been in all aspects of healthcare and financial services within UnitedHealth Group, Paychex and Insperity. Howard led and drove numerous enterprise-wide organizational efforts that resulted in double/triple digit growth, industry leading customer/consumer satisfaction outcomes, high levels of employee engagement, while expanding profit margins and improving shareholder value. Prior to creating Orange Health Solutions, Howard held various Executive positions at UnitedHealth Group since 2004. Most recently, he led the enterprise-wide Health Wealth Financial Services business, along with that position he also was a UHG Innovation Executive. As Health Wealth Executive, his oversight included all financial and operational aspects of the division. In a previous UHG role, he was CEO of UnitedHealthcare Benefits Services, a subsidiary that provides Benefits Administration and Insurance Services. Also during that time, he held a concurrent role as Chief Operating Officer for UHC Consumer Services. Throughout his tenure at UHG, he would drive strategic initiatives, including spearheading the acquisition of multiple companies in the healthcare, consumer, healthcare exchange, TPA and benefits administration/outsourcing industries. During his tenure at Paychex, he held various Executive HRO/BPO/PEO business positions in operations, sales, product & innovation, marketing, strategy & business development, finance and technology services. In his last role, he preformed multiple roles as President of the Paychex Insurance Company and Senior Executive of the Human Resource Outsourcing, Paychex Business Solutions and Retirement Services. At Insperity, he had overall Senior Executive responsibility for the Health & Welfare, Property & Casualty, Retirement Services and Human Resources. Howard is very focused on improving and eliminating all Childhood Cancers and improving the overall US healthcare system. Currently, he serves on boards of two national organizations. He is the Treasurer for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Director, Board member for the national Momcology organization. He is dedicated to his loving family, wife Kimberly, son Matthew (Leukemia cancer survivor) and daughter Erikah.
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About Citra Health Solutions, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, vsource: Innovative technology and services healthcare enablement company.
Gopi Natarajan
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Omega Healthcare
Gopi Natarajan is the Chief Executive Officer at Omega Healthcare Management Services Pvt. Ltd. and has more than 25 years of experience in the US Healthcare Industry (payers, providers, systems and services vendors). Prior to Omega, he was heading a midsized healthcare Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) company in the US with India operations as well. He also has relevant experience in healthcare IT and BPO/KPO services outsourcing during his senior management stints with Aetna, EDS, and Healtheon/WebMD. Gopi has a brilliant track record in leadership, management, and operational experience, having been instrumental in leading small-sized companies to grow into medium/large-sized companies. As a Co-Founder of Omega, Gopi brings an incredible amount of industry knowledge and relationships that he has built through the years while working in senior management positions in US-based healthcare services companies.
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About Omega Healthcare: Omega Healthcare, a front-runner in the healthcare service space in India.
Clinton Phillips
Founder & CEO of Medici
Clinton Phillips is the founder of Medici and launched the company in early 2017 with a vision to create technology that would revolutionize the way doctors provide care to their patients. As a serial-entrepreneur Clinton previously founded 2nd.MD in response to frustrations he had experienced when seeking medical care for his daughter, Gabi, who had suffered a stroke shortly after birth. 2nd.MD has since helped thousands of people in over 45 countries gain access to high-quality second opinions with outcomes that has saved lives and lowered healthcare and recovery costs for patients, providers and carriers. Before this, Clinton served as a consultant to The Vitality Group working to lower healthcare spending through employee education and engagement programs. Clinton is also a certified Chiropractor and founded the successful Colorado-based Aspen Back & Body, a non-surgical rehabilitation clinic for people with back problems. Originally from South Africa, Clinton and his family now reside in Austin, Texas.
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About 2nd.MD, Medici: Medici is a mobile technology platform that provides text, video, and voice chats between patients and doctors.
Michelle Davey
Founder & CEO of Wheel
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About Wheel: Wheel is a healthcare technology company that brings together the tech infrastructure and clinicians to power virtual care and telehealth.
Griffin Mulcahey
Co-Founder, Chief Compliance & Strategy Officer of Wheel
Griffin Mulcahey is the Founder and Chief Revenue & Regulatory Officer at Enzyme Health.
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About Wheel: Wheel is a healthcare technology company that brings together the tech infrastructure and clinicians to power virtual care and telehealth.
Steven McKnight
Founder of Peloton Therapeutics
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About Flare Therapeutics, Peloton Therapeutics, Tularik, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School: Peloton Therapeutics, a biotech company based in Dallas, is involved in discovering and developing novel drugs for cancer treatments.
Robert Sek
Founder, CEO of Total Men’s Primary Cares
Robert Sek is a serial entrepreneur who works to apply technology to solve problems in various industries, from Healthcare to Marketing.
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About Capital Factory, Central Texas Angel Network, Eagle Eye Networks, Luxury Auto Works, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Total Men’s Primary Cares: Reinventing the Primary Care experience for Men.
Stephen Hays
Founder of What If Ventures
Stephen Hays is the founder, and managing partner of What If Ventures, a VC firm investing in early stage mental health and addiction recovery related startups. What If Ventures was formed in the spring of 2019 and closed its first investment in January 2020. Stephen also founded and managed Deep Space Ventures from 2015 until 2018. During that time he invested in 25 seed and series-A stage startups in the B2B SaaS, esports and FinTech spaces. Personal struggles with addiction and mental health led Stephen to step away from Deep Space Ventures in late 2018 and begin to focus on addiction recovery and mental health both personally and professionally. The Deep Space portfolio has achieved outsized returns with approximately 3x TVPI just 4 years since inception with 5 exits and nearly a dozen series-A and later rounds within its portfolio companies. Prior to founding Deep Space Ventures, Stephen worked as an investment banker for 6+ years in both New York and Dallas. During this time, he executed a numerous capital markets and M&A transactions for Fortune 500 companies. Stephen is a a graduate of West Point and obtained his MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt.
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About What If Ventures: What If Ventures invests primarily in mental health, addiction, and stigmatized healthcare services from seed stage to pre-IPO.
Russell Moon
Founder of Perio Sciences
Founded in 2008, PerioSciences is Russell Moon’s third entrepreneurial venture. Following his undergraduate degree at SMU, he worked in the field of finance. His first entrepreneurial business was Crescent Bankers Mortgage. Within two years, Crescent opened branches in Arlington, Texas and New Orleans, employed 40 people and achieved sales of $25 million. Mr. Moon sold the company to a financial clearinghouse in 1994. That same year, he and Alden Pinnell co-founded a skin care distribution company. SkinCeuticals developed and marketed stable, high-end topical antioxidants. The company’s chief medical advisor was Mr. Pinnell’s father, Dr. Sheldon Pinnell, who at the time was the chief of Dermatology at Duke University. After years of building the skin care enterprise, they sold SkinCeuticals in 2005, in what was honored as the “Deal of Year/Southwest” award from The Deal finance and business magazine. Russell Moon and Alden Pinnell were named “Entrepreneurs of the Year/Southwest Division” by Ernst & Young in 2003. Fresh from his success with SkinCeuticals, Moon applied his expertise with topical antioxidants to another venture. In early 2008 he enlisted the resources of a major dental university to determine how the anti-inflammatory effects of antioxidants on skin cells would translate to the oral environment. After two years of intensive research, development and testing, Moon’s new corporation, PerioSciences LLC, released its first antioxidant-based oral care product in January 2011. Research and development on new products are continuing.
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About Perio Sciences: Perio Sciences develops oral healthcare products such as dental gels, mouth rinse products, toothpastes and oral care systems.
Julia Taylor Cheek
CEO and Founder of EverlyWell
Julia Taylor Cheek is the CEO and Founder of EverlyWell, a digital health startup empowering consumers to order, self-collect, and understand lab tests. Based in Austin, EverlyWell launched in June 2016 after raising $3M in capital and garnering awards from Tech Crunch and Rock Health. They now have over 5,000 customers in 46 states. Julia was also named the number one female entrepreneur to watch by CIO magazine for 2017. Prior to founding EverlyWell in 2015, Julia was the Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at MoneyGram International, a public financial services company that operates in 200 countries. As the youngest VP in the company, she worked for MoneyGram’s CFO for several years, leading corporate transactions, restructuring projects, and special projects for the CEO. Before that, she served as the founding Director of Strategy and Operations at the George W. Bush Institute and played a key role in building the organization from just a handful of employees to the Presidential Center that you see today at Southern Methodist University. After attending Vanderbilt, Julia started her career in management consulting at Deloitte and went on to earn her MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she graduated as a Baker Scholar with high distinction. She also is a former multiple World Champion equestrian, officially retiring in 2009.
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About EverlyWell: EverlyWell is a digital health company that offers consumer testing, virtual care, at-home collection tests, and digital results.
John Constantine
Co-Founder & Director of KindHealth
John Constantine is Co-Founder of Sozo Global, Inc. John Constantine has 18 years of Network Marketing experience as a top Distributor, owner, and board member of successful Network Marketing companies. He is also Co-Founder of five successful companies in the fields of Direct Sales, Insurance and Healthcare. John Constantine serves as a Director of Sozo Global, Inc.
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About KindHealth: The Digital Platform that simplifies Health Insurance Management.
Christopher Ciabarra
CTO and Co Founder of Athena Security
Co-founder, CTO at Athena Security
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About : Athena’s mission is to save lives by preventing crimes like active shooter situations with AI Gun Detection Software and detecting a fever.
Founder of Gravitas Healthcare
Mr. Navarro is a founder of Gravitas Healthcare, LLC, a strategic advisory firm based in Greenwich, CT and San Francisco, and focused exclusively on emerging medical device companies, advising on transactions, strategic fund raising amd M&A. In addition to Arstasis, Mr. Navarro has served on the Boards of four other medical device companies: MicroTherapeutics, Jomed, Photomedex, and Fixes-4-Kids, as well as non-profit foundations and one non-medical company, Pixelux Entertainment. From 2005 through 2008, Mr. Navarro served as a Managing Director and Global Head of Medical Technology Investment Banking at Cowen & Company. From 1998 through 2001, he was Global Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at ING Barings, and prior to that, he was Senior Medical Technology Research Analyst at UBS, Furman Selz and Needham & Company. He also ran a large NYC based hedge fund’s healthcare portfolio from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Navarro was awarded an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a Master in engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelors degree in engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
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About Gravitas Healthcare: Gravitas Healthcare provides live in care and caretakers for patients who live at home but still need help.
Stephen M. Mooney
Founder, President & CEO of Conifer Health Solutions
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About Conifer Health Solutions: Conifer Health Solutions is a healthcare services company helping organizations strengthen their financial performance
John Bright
Founder and Managing Director of CeMD
John Bright, Founder & CEO of Med Claims Compliance Corporation. .
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About CeMD, Med Claims Compliance Corporation: CeMD specializes in delivering services in the global healthcare industry.
Jake Kohl
CEO, Co-Founder of NurseDash
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About NurseDash: NurseDash is the on-demand healthcare marketplace for providers that need staffing support and qualified candidates looking for open shifts.
Andy Chen
CEO, Co-Founder of NurseDash
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About NurseDash: NurseDash is the on-demand healthcare marketplace for providers that need staffing support and qualified candidates looking for open shifts.
Jamie Fitch
Co-Founder & CEO of OnlineMedEd
Jamie is an Ohio State and Tulane graduate rooted in medicine and healthcare. He’s currently the cofounder and CEO of OnlineMedEd (OME), a hyper-growth adult learning platform based in Austin, TX. In his day to day he focuses on investing in his employees through coaching to keep his company culture genuine and aligned. As an angel, he invests in industries such as: medical diagnostics, telemedicine and digital marketing. Jamie’s focus on culture, trust and empowerment has led him to become passionate in supporting startup community. He helps craft narratives to attract talent, funding and business opportunities.
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About OnlineMedEd: OnlineMedEd is a digital health care learning platform designed for medical students and health professionals.
Jason Story
Co-Founder and VP of Business Development of ReturnSafe
Jason Story currently works as Co-Founder and VP of Business Development at ReturnSafe. He previously worked at Interlock Partners as Founding Partner.
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About ReturnSafe: The first end to end platform for managing infectious disease.
Idicula Mathew
Founder and CEO of Hera Health Solutions
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About Hera Health Solutions: Hera Health Solutions is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of long term treatments.
Patrick Spain
Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of First Stop Health
Patrick Spain started First Stop Health because of his own unsatisfactory experience with the healthcare system and his desire to improve that experience for others. Spain is a serial entrepreneur who has founded or cofounded four Web-based companies. Co-founder and long-time chairman and CEO of Hoover’s, Inc., Spain led the company from a small book publisher in 1992 to a profitable, publicly traded online business information services company with $31 million in revenue in 2001 with a sale to D&B in 2003 for $119 million. Spain was also the founder, chairman and CEO of HighBeam Research, which he started in 2002 and sold to Cengage Learning in December, 2008. He also co-founded and serves as executive chairman of Newser, a news filtering and summarization service with an audience of over three million readers each month. Spain serves as a board member of Televerde a rapidly growing, socially responsible telemarketing service and InfoArmy a Silicon Valley-based company information service that is using crowd sourcing to revolutionize data collection, quality and delivery. Until recently Spain served on the boards of SmartAnalyst, a research company that serves the pharma industry and GuideStar, the largest and most trusted database of information on the not-for-profit sector. Spain is a member of the Board of Governors of Opportunity International, the largest and best capitalized micro-lender in the world. Spain has worked in the technology industry since 1979 and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a law degree from Boston University. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife and three daughters.
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About First Stop Health, Newser, Occasion: We provide care that people love with 24/7 access to licensed doctors via app, web or phone.
Alan B. Chaveleh
Co-Founder of Healix
Alan B. Chaveleh co-founded Healix in 1989 with Mort Baharloo. Dedicated to providing the highest quality of care, he co-developed the CORIS® program, one of the foremost infusion therapy management programs in the nation. Alan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University and has over 25 years of management experience in the healthcare, technology, and financial industries.
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About Healix: Since 1989, Healix has been driven by its mission of helping healthcare providers offer excellent patient care.
Mort Baharloo
Co-Founder of Healix
Mort Baharloo co-founded Healix in 1989 with Alan B. Chaveleh. Throughout the course of decades of experience in healthcare, Mort has served in a variety of pharmaceutical and healthcare management positions. His passion in healthcare has been that of innovation in the delivery of sophisticated therapies in the most efficient manner possible. Mort is also a fiction writer whose first novel was released in November of 2004.
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About Healix: Since 1989, Healix has been driven by its mission of helping healthcare providers offer excellent patient care.
Mark Winters
Co-Founder of Healix
Mark G. Winters joined Healix in 1990 and played a significant role in building the company. Throughout his tenure, Mark was instrumental in company operations as well as securing multiple strategic private equity exits across healthcare, manufacturing and technology markets. Mark currently serves on the board of various organizations and is an active advisor/investor with the Baylor Angel Network. He holds a master’s degree with distinction from the University of Houston, as well as an engineering degree from Texas A&M University.
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About Healix: Since 1989, Healix has been driven by its mission of helping healthcare providers offer excellent patient care.
H. David Shockley
Founder and CEO of International Biophysics Corporation
H. David Shockley, Jr. co-founded Inova Labs in 2002 and has served as President since then. Prior to working at Inova, Shockley co-founded International Biophysics Corporation (IBC) in 1992 where he also serves as President. Shockley has oversight for both Inova Labs and IBC of sales, marketing, financial and general management functions. In addition, he has overseen the development of IBC’s international distribution channels and manufacturing partner relationships. Prior to forming IBC, Shockley held positions with CardioMetrics, a cardiovascular surgical technology firm, from 1987-1992. He began as a sales manager and was promoted to president within five years. Shockley also served as a sales manager for SciMed, now the core of Boston Scientific’s interventional cardiology business, from 1986-1989. Shockley was a founding member of the Austin, Texas, chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization, now the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from The University of Texas at Austin.
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About International Biophysics Corporation, OrganiCare: International Biophysics Corporation is a marketing agency for medical devices and technologies that improve treatment therapies.
John M. House
Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO & President of USMD
John M. House, M.D., a board-certified urologic surgeon, is the co-founder, chief executive officer and president of USMD Holdings. He is also the co-founder of Urology Associates of North Texas, one of the largest Urologic Surgery groups in North America. Dr. House received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of South Dakota and he received his Master’s Degree in chemical engineering at Texas Tech University. He then graduated from University of Oklahoma College of Medicine with a degree of Doctor of Medicine and subsequently completed his residency in urologic surgery at the University of Missouri in 1988. Dr. House is a Diplomat of the American Board of Urology and has served as a founding Board Member of the Large Urology Group Practice Association (LUPGA), a consortium of more than 50 large urology group practices.
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About USMD: USMD Holdings develops, operates and manages entities that deliver diagnostic, therapeutic and hospital-based health care to patients.
Jayant Panchal
CEO & Co-Founder of Alpha Cognition
Jay Panchal is the CEO and Co-Founder at Alpha Cognition. Before that, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of Goodybag, Inc (Sold to Bite Squad in 2016).
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About Alpha Cognition: Alpha Cognition utilizes a portfolio approach to identify, validate, and develop bioactives for neuroprotection and the early treatment.
Jeffrey Fry
CEO / President – Founder of Well Beyond Care
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About Keep Safe Care, Well Beyond Care: Disintermediating the High Cost of Caregiving
Boe Hartman
Co-Founder, CTO of Nomi Health
Boe Hartman is the Co-Founder and CTO at Nomi Health. He works at Goldman Sachs before that.
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About Nomi Health: Nomi Health is a direct health company that aims to reduce the cost of health care for employers and patients.
Peter Li
CEO, Co-Founder of Atlas Wearables
Founder of Atlas Wearables.
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About Atlas Wearables: Atlas Wearables is a fitness-technology company that designs products to enrich the fitness experience both in and out of the gym.
Hunter Howard
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hormone Therapeutics
Hunter Howard has founded three successful HealthTech companies, following Fortune 100 experience, focusing on using technology to improve care access and quality while reducing costs. He built a 900 member medical billing company he sold to a PE firm and now has a national telemedicine platform focusing on home testing and access to specialist physicians anywhere for personal health optimization. Hormone Therapeutics and Therawell share the combined mission to Add Twenty Healthy Years to every Life! They provide patients a Scientific Map to personal Health Optimization using precision in-home testing (blood, hormone, genetic, biome, telomere) and a national telemedicine platform to decode and translate each unique biological make-up and develop ‘Personalized Therapeutics’ programs for an individualized scientific health map to optimal wellness. As life expectancy has increased 64% over the past 100 years (.001% of human evolution) their bodies are not keeping up. Hunter has a BA from SMU and MBAs from UNC and CEIBS in Shanghai China. His teams have won three INC 500 awards, three Dallas 100 awards, DBJ 40U40 and three national health startup competitions.
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About Hormone Therapeutics: National telemedicine platform for health optimization using in-home testing and personalized therapeutics
Krishna Kurapati
Founder & CEO of qliqSoft
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About qliqSoft: Secure messaging application provider
Mark Stibich
Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer & Speaker of Xenex
Stibich is the Chief Scientific Officer at Xenex.
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About Xenex: Xenex offers Pulsed Xenon Full Spectrum, a UV disinfection solution that reduces the bacterial load associated with the risk for HAIs.
Jon Weidanz
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist of Abexxa Biologics
Dr. Jon Weidanz, Ph.D. serves as the president and director at AbeXXa Biologics Inc. He also founded Receptor Logic, Inc. in 2003 and served as its Chief Scientist since 2003. Dr. Weidanz served as the President of Discovery & Clinical Development of Receptor Logic, Inc. At Receptor, Dr. Weidanz oversaw all research and development activities, directed product commercialization strategies and advised management on new technology opportunities and assisted in constructing technical partnerships. Dr. Weidanz has over twenty years of experience in biotechnology with an emphasis in immunology, immunotherapy and immunodiagnostic product development. He also co-founded two other biotech companies and serves as one of its Scientific Board Member. He has a breadth of experience in research management, technology commercialization and product development. He also serves as Founding Active Director for the Center for Immunotherapeutic Research and is a Tenured Associate Professor at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. As Center Director, he is responsible for building an interactive group of researchers to develop novel immunotherapeutics. Prior to his academic appointment and Receptor Logic, Dr. Weidanz was co-founder and Principal Scientist at Sunol Molecular Corporation, where he created and managed the T cell receptor (TCR) technology. Prior to Sunol Molecular, Dr. Weidanz worked for Baxter Diagnostics as a Research Scientist and was responsible the establishment of several protein expression systems that included bacteria, insect cells and mammalian cells. At Baxter, he was involved in assay development and contributed to the development of immunodiagnostic assays for cardiac markers and infectious diseases. Dr. Weidanz has been honored with six awards from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center since 2003. He has been an invited speaker to over 50 national and international technical conferences, has 13 pending or issued patents, has numerous journal publications, and a book chapter. Further, Dr. Weidanz has received $19M in awards for a variety of research pursuits including the NIH and NIST. He earned his B.S. in Biology from West Virginia University, and both his M.P.H. (Epidemiology) and Ph.D. (Molecular and Cellular Biology) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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About Abexxa Biologics, The University of Texas at Arlington: Abexxa Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on discovering and developing breakthrough antibody-based drugs.
Rick Appling
CEO & Founder of Apothecary Health Solutions
Rick Appling is a CEO & Co-founder at Apothecary Health Solutions company.
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About Apothecary Health Solutions: Apothecary Health Solutions (“AHS”) began with the mission in mind of Preserving wellness one patient at a time.
Stuart Lloyd
Co-Founder / CEO of DoctorLogic
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About DoctorLogic: DoctorLogic offers an EHR-integrated marketing service that helps doctors grow their practice.
Ray Myers
Co-Founder / CTO of DoctorLogic
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About DoctorLogic: DoctorLogic offers an EHR-integrated marketing service that helps doctors grow their practice.
Paul Herchman
Founder & CEO of ThermiAesthetics
Paul was CEO of MedSurge Advances, which developed into one of the nation’s largest independent provider of aesthetic medicine products and services to physicians from 2003-2007 having launched 228 medical spas and provided assistance to more than 350 physicians who have entered the field of aesthetic medicine. MedSurge was named by Inc. magazine in 2007 as the 387th fastest growing private company in the United States. According to Inc., in 2002-2003 MedSurge also ranked among the 10 fastest-growing private companies in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. Paul serves on the Board of Directors for BioNorth Texas and is a mentor for Health Wildcatters. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Lasers, Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS) and was on the Board of Directors of Sona Med Spa from 2001-2003. Paul’s top areas of expertise include; Capitalization of all stage businesses, Business Development and Healthcare with a focus on Elective Procedures.
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About Ideal Implant, ThermiAesthetics: ThermiAesthetics is a developer and manufacturer of thermistor-regulated energy systems for plastic surgery and dermatology applications.
Nicholas Olteanu
Co-Founder of imaware
Nicholas Olteanu has the mission to expand health awareness through convenient home-based health testing. He empowers individuals with access to their health information to take corrective action and to improve their quality of life. As the Chief Executive Officer of imaware and Microdrop LLC, they are committed to the health awareness of their customers. He is confident that imaware provides accurate and precise lab reports that are validated by medical doctors. Through their actionable results, patients can find a way to change their life. After all, imaware utilizes leading-edge, highly sensitive, and specific testing technology to support small volume, multi-biomarker blood testing.
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About imaware, Meditech International (BioFlex Laser Therapy ): imaware is the leading digital health platform that provides home-based health tests.
Dr. Gregory Burzynski
Founder and CEO of Houston Concierge Medicine
Dr. Gregory Burzynski provides high-quality primary care and integrative medical care through Houston Concierge Medicine, an independent clinic he founded in 2014. A University of Texas graduate who earned his Doctor of Medicine from Jagiellonian University Medical College, Greg Burzynski has devoted his career to a number of primary care issues and he is a leading supporter of integrative medicine. Dr. Gregory Burzynski is a licensed US Civil Surgeon and he is authorized by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to conduct Immigration Physicals and Immigration Exams for the Department of Homeland Security. A Poland native himself, Greg Burzynski is proud to participate in the adjustment of immigration statuses for individuals. In addition to this, Dr. Burzynski has been fascinated by mental health and addiction treatment options. His interest was first piqued during a clinical rotation in addiction medicine at Jagiellonian University Medical College. Greg Burzynski is proud to play a role in the adjustment of immigration statuses for individuals. He sees a myriad of primary care issues and offers integrative options. He is qualified per the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) to treat opioid dependence with FDA-approved medications. Dr. Greg Burzynski offers genetic testing services to offer better treatment and preventative care. The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000), Title XXXV, Section 3502 of the Children’s Health Act, permits physicians who meet certain qualifications to treat opioid addiction with Schedule III, IV, and V narcotic medications that have been specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration for that indication. Such medications may be prescribed and dispensed by waived physicians in treatment settings other than the traditional Opioid Treatment Program (“methadone clinic”) setting. Since there is only one narcotic medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of opioid addiction within the Schedules given, DATA 2000 basically refers to the use of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid addiction. Methadone and LAAM are Schedule II narcotics approved for the same purpose within the highly regulated methadone clinic setting. Under the Act, physicians may apply for a waiver to prescribe Suboxone or Subutex for the treatment of opioid addiction or dependence. Requirements include a current State medical license, a valid DEA registration number, specialty or subspecialty certification in addiction from the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Society of Addiction Medicine, or American Osteopathic Association. Exceptions were also created for physicians who participated in the initial studies of buprenorphine and for State certification of addiction specialists. However, the Act is intended to bring the treatment of addiction back to the primary care provider. Thus most waivers are obtained after taking an 8-hour course from one of the five medical organizations designated in the Act and otherwise approved by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. When a physician qualifies for the waiver, he is given a second DEA number. Once a physician obtains the waiver, he or she may treat up to 30 patients for narcotic addiction with buprenorphine. Recent changes to DATA 2000 have increased the patient limit to 100 for physicians that have had their waiver for a year or more and request the higher limit in writing. Greg Burzynski has authored numerous studies and led presentations at scientific conferences, including “Personalized targeted therapy in advanced cases of cancer” at the 2012 Shanghai World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine and Regenerative Biomedical Technologies Expo and “Long-term survival (over 13 years) in a child with recurrent diffuse pontine gliosarcoma: A case report” presented at the 4th Quadrennial Meeting of the World Federation of Neuro-Oncology in conjunction with the 18th Annual Scientific Meeting and Education Day of the Society for Neuro-Oncology. Dr. Gregory Burzynski recently graduated in the Spring of 2017 with a Fellowship in Integrative Medicine from The University of Arizona, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine – Tuscon. He is an expert in the pillars of integrative medicine, which include mental health, heart health, and disease prevention. He and the team at Houston Concierge Medicine share insights on everything from healthy family relationships to proper eating habits and the importance of exercise, all of which factor into your health both day-to-day and long-term. Although Dr. Greg Burzynski is board-certified in internal medicine he also takes the time to propose personalized health plans and treatment options for patients that aren’t starkly pharmaceutical.
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About American Medical Association, Burzynski Clinic, Houston Concierge Medicine: Houston Concierge Medicine and Wellness Center offers quality healthcare through a concierge membership program.
Logan Stout
Founder & CEO of IDLife
Logan Stout is the Founder and the CEO of IDLife. He is also an established author and leader, training others who want to become business owners or who want to learn about how to better manage a current business. IDLife is a relatively new business, being established in 2014. Logan Stout has managed to take the business to the 100 Solid Top MLM Companies across the world in only a short time. IDLife is a company that sells nutritional supplements that are organic. These supplements are made for nutritional purposes and for weight management. One of the things that Logan Stout has a passion for is helping others. He knows that there are people who are capable of owning a business but might not know how to get started. When he sees that there is someone with an idea, he offers encouragement and his leadership skills to help get the business off the ground. Stout has partnered with several speakers and authors who share in his vision to help others in their leadership skills. One of the people Stout has partnered with is John C. Maxwell. Together, they have a desire to bring leadership to every nation in the world. With the success and desire that Stout has, there is no doubt that he can succeed in sharing his ideas and establishing leaders in each nation.
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About Dallas Patriots Inc., IDLife: IDLife offers a unique approach to optimizing your health, providing nutritional supplements customized to meet your personal goals.
Daniel H. Kim
Founder of XCath
Dr. Daniel Kim is a Professor at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Dr. Kim is a fellowship-trained, board-certified neurosurgeon who is an expert in minimally invasive spinal surgery, both endoscopic and robotic, peripheral nerve surgery, and complex spinal reconstruction. Dr. Kim has won numerous awards and honors, authored hundreds of papers and published 17 surgical textbooks. He is a preeminent researcher in peripheral nerve repair through nerve transfer and nerve graft, and is also recognized for his work in neurorehabilitation through robotics and cortical stimulation, spinal biomechanics and innovative neuromodulation treatments for chronic pain.
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About ColubrisMX, XCath: XCath is a Houston-based stealth healthcare company.
Eric Johnson
Founder & CEO of membersy
Eric Johnson is the Founder & CEO of membersy.
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About membersy: Membersy is a digital health company that creates thoughtfully designed membership programs to make dental care more approachable.
Chris Steven Villanueva
Founder & CEO of MB2 Dental Solutions
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About MB2 Dental Solutions: MB2 Dental Solutions offers an array of services to streamline dental office management while maintaining a high quality of patient care.
Amado Guloy
CEO, Head of Product, and Founder of Rex Animal Health
Amado is a scientist turned entrepreneur. He is a chemist by training and is experienced in pharmaceuticals and big data/analytics. Prior to founding Rex Animal Health, he was advising startups and Fortune 500 companies in product development and intellectual property strategies.
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About Rex Animal Health: Rex is take care animal health to the 21st century by making veterinary medicine and husbandry data driven.
David Zakariaie
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Senseye
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About Civil Air Patrol, Senseye: Senseye is a Neurotechnology company
Neil Smiley
Founder/CEO of Loopback
Neil Smiley is the founder and CEO of Loopback Analytics. Smiley started Loopback Analytics in 2009, after serving for 12 years as the founder and CEO of Phytel, a provider-led population health improvement company acquired by IBM Watson. Smiley started his professional career in management consulting with Accenture and later as a partner with EY, working with Fortune 1000 clients in the manufacturing, high tech, oil and gas, and transportation industries. Smiley serves as President of the Charles H. Hood Foundation, supporting child health research with leading institutions across New England and the Board of the Dartmouth Hood Museum of Art. Additionally, Smiley and his wife Judy are Auction Chairs for the Carson Leslie Foundation for pediatric cancer research. In 2013, Smiley was one of four finalists nominated for the Tech Titans Award for Emerging Technology Innovation in Dallas, and selected as one of the top 25 most influential persons in health care by the Dallas Business Journal. He serves as an active investor and mentor with Health Wildcatters, a health technology accelerator based in Dallas, working with emerging health care startups. Smiley’s passion is to build the kind of company where every employee feels connected to the mission of transforming the country’s health care system to benefit patients and providers. Smiley holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Dartmouth College.
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About Loopback: Loopback Analytics offers a management platform helping health systems identify at-risk patients, match intervention, and improve outcomes.
Michael Torres
Co-Founder and Vice President of R&D of ReCode Therapeutics
Michael Torres is Co-Founder at Recode Therapeutics.
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About ReCode Therapeutics: ReCode Therapeutics is a genetic medicines company developing targeted, disease-modifying therapies for life-limiting respiratory diseases.
Dwamian Mcleish
Co-Founder & CTO of Flourish
Dwamian is a serial entrepreneur and former Partner and Chief Technology Officer of Camp Gladiator. At CG, he helped take Camp Gladiator from a bootstrapped startup to over $70MM ARR within 8 years and appearing 7 years-in-a-row on the INC 5000 list between 2012 and 2019.
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About Flourish: Flourish helps women get healthy for good.
Claire Siegel
Founder of Flourish
Claire Siegel is the Founder at Flourish.
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About Flourish: Flourish helps women get healthy for good.
Daniel Rose
Co-Founder/CEO of Sixpack Shortcuts
Daniel Rose is the co-founder and CEO of Six Pack Shortcuts.
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About Sixpack Shortcuts: Sixpack Shortcuts is an online fitness company that provides diet plans, workouts, and other fitness products.
Chris Dillie
Co-Founder, President & CEO of ESO
Chris was the co-founder of ESO and has been with the company since its 2004 inception, first as Vice President of Marketing and Sales and now as President and CEO, a position he has held since 2009. He brought 13 years of EMS experience and a solid business background to ESO, having served in roles ranging from EMS manager to founder of a real estate company that bought, sold and managed properties. Chris designed the first several versions of the ESO ePCR software, and his vision continues to be the driving force behind the development of new products to meet the changing demands of the healthcare market.
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About ESO: ESO is a computeer software company that develops a software intended to improve community health through the power of data.
Brand Newland
CEO and Co-Founder of Goldfinch Health
Brand has over 15 years of experience in bringing new healthcare solutions to payers, employers and patients. Brand joined OutcomesMTM, a pharmacy Medication Therapy company, as the firm’s fourth employee. He served OutcomesMTM in business development and operations leadership roles, seeing the company through rapid growth and eventually its acquisition by Cardinal Health in 2015. Brand received a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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About Goldfinch Health: Goldfinch Health helps companies save money by empowering employees to better navigate surgery and recovery.
Janet Campbell
Chairman of the Board & Founder of Dominion Aesthetic Technologies
Janet Campbell is Chairman and CEO of Dominion Aesthetic Technologies, Inc. Dominion is pioneering the development and commercialization of a first-in-class platform for non–invasive aesthetic procedures. The target market is focused on the fastest growing aesthetic applications. She has assembled a team comprised of some of the world’s leading laser experts who have developed and commercialized over 75 lasers for an array of industries including the aesthetic market. The aesthetic system is currently in development. Ms. Campbell is the founder and former Chairman and CEO of Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., based in San Antonio. Seno is the world’s leader in the research, development, and commercialization of opto-acoustics for cancer diagnosis. This technology is the first new functional imaging technology developed in 20 years. Ms. Campbell secured over $100M in investment capital for Seno. As CEO, she oversaw the FDA PMA (pre-market approval) which included the largest diagnostic study conducted in the U.S. She secured the CE Mark Approval for European sales. Prestigious institutions that participated in Seno’s U.S. study included MD Anderson, Cleveland Clinic, Yale, Northwestern, Georgetown and New York Weill Cornell. Under her leadership, Seno received numerous local and national recognitions such as the Stars of Satai and the Frost & Sullivan Awards. Previously, Ms. Campbell served as President and Chief Operating Officer of InforMedix, Inc., where she commercialized technology and took the company public. She was Chief Executive Officer of Mach Diagnostics, a venture capital based medical company focused on rapid diagnostics for women’s healthcare. She founded Health Tech, Inc., a management and consulting firm in the medical field. There she used her international managerial experience to assist firms strategically in finance and business. Her knowledge of medical products and market changes positioned her with solid working relationships for emerging and Fortune 500 companies and venture capital communities, such as the Woodlands Venture Fund (The Essex Woodlands), Vanguard Ventures and the Susquehanna Group. Ms. Campbell also was the healthcare partner of Rockecharlie & Co., a Houston-based investment banking firm. She is a board member of the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Previously, Human Genome Science appointed her as their board representative to Vascular Genetics Inc., where she was elected Chairman of the Board. While residing in Maryland, she was on the Board of Directors of the High Tech Council of Maryland Incubator. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Bioscience Committee and the Jewish Federation in Washington, D.C. Ms. Campbell was a board member of the Griffith’s Leadership Society for Women at the University of Missouri and served as a special volunteer and guest researcher for the Office of Technology Transfer for the National Institutes of Health. She previously served as an independent reviewer for NIH grants in the cardiovascular arena. Ms. Campbell was recognized by the University of Missouri as Alumni of the Year in 2005 from the School of Arts and Science. She was the recipient of the international Gold Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013. The San Antonio Business Journal honored her as CEO of the year in the field of medical devices. She was also featured as one of only three CEO’s in The Texas CEO Magazine. She was inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016. Ms. Campbell received her BA from the University of Missouri, Columbia and her MBA in finance from Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C.
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About Dominion Aesthetic Technologies: Dominion Aesthetic Technologies is a laser platform medical device company.
Arturo Bonilla
Co-Founder of Dominion Aesthetic Technologies
Arturo Bonilla is a co-founder at Dominion Aesthetic Technologies.
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About 37th Parallel Properties, Dominion Aesthetic Technologies, Forbes Real Estate Council, Seno Medical Instruments: Dominion Aesthetic Technologies is a laser platform medical device company.
Brian Robinson
Founder And Managing Member of Innovative Regulatory Risk Advisors
Innovative Regulatory Risk Advisors LLC was founded in 2008 by Brian Robinson. Mr. Robinson has degree in Business Administration and Management from Texas Wesleyan University and went on to obtain his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Robinson worked for the prominent law firm of Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis et al. After law school Mr. Robinson was recruited to join the region VI legal department within the U.S. Small Business Administration where he worked with hundreds of businesses to assure their adherence to Federal regulations and served as a liaison with regard to lending requirements, real estate matters and business operations while protecting the legal interest of the Federal Agency. This experience helped to build a foundation for providing regulatory advisory services. Mr. Robinson went on to obtain his most critical expertise advising Fortunate 500 companies, Global Financial Institutions and Tech 100 companies providing subject matter expertise for multi-billion dollar global high stakes client matters involving regulatory enforcement actions, legal consulting, mergers and acquisitions, law enforcement interests, governance, risk consulting, government contracting and business advisory. Applying the foundation gained from many years of real time practical experience and the genuine understanding of what it takes to consistently meet the needs of global reaching clients who have serious business pain thresholds, they have put the versatile building blocks in place to be able to maintain a high level of client satisfaction for the long haul. Successfully handling “High Stakes” client matters on a regular basis is normal at Innovative Regulatory Risk Advisors LLC and that allows us to carefully and successfully take the “Regulations Are Everything” approach. Equipped with the strong leadership and the management of Mr. Robinson, Innovative Regulatory Risk Advisors LLC has developed into a preferred “Best Value” independent, subject matter expert.
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About Innovative Regulatory Risk Advisors: Innovative Regulatory Risk Advisors LLC, is a full service professional niche regulatory advisory firm.
Alvaro Guillem
Co-Founder & President of ZS Pharma
Al co-founded ZS Pharma in 2008. He is a veteran of the pharmaceutical industry with over 30 years of leadership experience in bringing new therapies to market at both well-established and start-up companies. Prior to ZS Pharma, he held senior positions at Genzyme/Bone Care, Wyeth and Boeringher Ingelheim, as well as at start-up companies such as Medeva Americas and Adams Respiratory Therapeutics. Most recently, Al held the role of Vice President of Quality and Scientific Affairs at Ash Access Technology, which developed a catheter lock for patients with ESRD on dialysis. Al holds a B.S. in chemistry from Mary Washington University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University.
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About ZS Pharma: ZS Pharma develops ion trap therapies for the treatment of life-threatening medical conditions such as hyperkalemia and liver diseases.
Rohit Sachdeva
Co-Founder, Chief Clinical Officer & CFO of OraMetrix
Prior to his arrival at OraMetrix, Dr. Rohit Sachdeva was a professor of orthodontics at Baylor College of Dentistry and Texas A&M University, Dallas. He also served on the faculties of the Universities of Connecticut and Manitoba, and has held numerous visiting faculty positions at internationally recognized universities. He is internationally recognized for his contributions in the field of orthodontics, especially in the areas of bioengineering and material sciences. He is the developer of copper nickel titanium, titanium niobium orthodontic alloys and titanium brackets, and holds more than a dozen patents in the medical and dental fields. Dr. Sachdeva received his dental degree from the University of Nairobi (Kenya) in 1978. In 1983, he earned his Certificate in Orthodontics and Masters in Dental Science at the University of Connecticut. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Japanese Society of Promotion of Science Fellowship Award.
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About OraMetrix: OraMetrix provides 3-D technology solutions for facilitating and improving the quality of orthodontic care.
David Strauss
Co-Founder of PetWell Partners
David H. Strauss serves as Manager and Director at Petwell Partners LLC.
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About PetWell Partners, Roo: PetWell Partners is a veterinary company focused on making positive impacts in the veterinary community and the clients it serves.
David Murvin
Founder of PetWell Partners
David C. Murvin serves as Executive Director at Petwell Partners LLC.
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About PetWell Partners: PetWell Partners is a veterinary company focused on making positive impacts in the veterinary community and the clients it serves.
Donald Gonzales
Founder & CMO of Cryosa
Dr. Gonzales belongs to a rare class of clinical entrepreneurs who successfully blend their clinical experience and business outlook to address unmet needs within the medical community. In 2004, he formed the first of several companies including Xorbent Technologies, Xorbent L.L.C. and Xorbent, Inc., that would eventually merge to become ENTrigue Surgical, Inc. ENTrigue Surgical was acquired by ArthroCare (ARTC) in 2013. He has also performed cutting-edge research at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Strang Cancer Institute at Rockefeller University, and Cornell University. Dr. Gonzales has also had active clinical practices as a staff physician at Tulane University and in private practice in Beverly, MA. Currently, Dr. Gonzales is a founding partner for D3DC, a medical device development company. D3DC funds and manages early stage medical device companies. Dr. Gonzales graduated from Gordon College and Cornell University Medical College, then completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Tulane University School of Medicine. He is also listed as an inventor on more than 50 patents and patent applications for devices and methods in ENT surgical applications.
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About Cryosa, Stryker: CryOSA is a medical device company developing novel treatments for obstructive sleep apnea.
Li Chen
Founder & CEO of Hua Medicine
Dr. Li Chen leads Hua Medicine, a drug discovery company whose mission is to bring clinically differentiated medicines to patients in China and worldwide. Before Dr. Chen founded Hua Medicine, he was the Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research at Roche R&D Center (China) Ltd. and a member of Roche’s Pharma Research Leadership Team. As a founding Director in this position, Li was responsible for development and implementation of China’s drug discovery strategy, creation of the China discovery portfolio, and management of China operations including Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Discovery Technology, Drug Supply and Drug Safety. He developed a “Collaborative Innovation” model through integration of over 100 scientist-based China partnerships with academic institutes, biotech, contract research organizations and clinical development organizations. During his 18 year pharma career, Li also had several leadership positions at Roche Nutley in New Jersey, including head of combinatorial/high throughput chemistry. He is a co-inventor of two Roche drugs that reached Phase II clinical trials in Asthma and in MED. He also served as a member at Roche’s Patent Coordination Committee at Nutley. Li was the President of the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA) in 2001, and is now a member of the SAPA Board of Directors. He has received numerous honors including the Roche Pharma Olympia Award 2005, Roche D2K Award, and SAPA President’s Award. Most recently, he received IBC China Pharma’s R&D Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals whose contributions changed the landscape, reputation, and ecosystem for drug R&D in China. He has also received the “Shanghai Leading Talent” Award from the Shanghai government. Li received his Ph.D in Chemistry from Iowa State University. He was formerly a lecturer in Organic Chemistry at East China Normal University, and is currently an adjunct professor of Chemical Biology at Tongji University. He has over 70 publications in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals and in patent literature.
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About Hua Medicine, Tongji University: Hua Medicine is a clinical-stage, innovative drug development company in China.
Nicholas Barbara
CEO and Co-Founder of Expressable
Nicholas Barbara is the CEO and Co-Founder of Expressable.
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About Expressable: Expressable is an online speech therapy practice for those with a communication disorder.
Leanne Sherred
President and Co-Founder of Expressable
Leanne Sherred is the President and Co-Founder of Expressable.
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About Expressable: Expressable is an online speech therapy practice for those with a communication disorder.
Stephen Ellsworth
Co-Founder , CEO of Poppi
Stephen Ellsworth is the Co-Founder and CEO at Poppi.
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About Poppi: Poppi manufactures prebiotic soda that combines real fruit juice with apple cider vinegar.
Hubert Zajicek
Co-Founder, Partner & Chief Executive Officer of Health Wildcatters
Hubert Zajicek is CEO & Co-founder of Health Wildcatters, a healthcare seed fund and accelerator in Dallas, TX. Health Wildcatters provides mentorship, capital and guidance to up to 12 healthcare related startups during an intensive 12 week program which culminates in a pitch day annually. Health Wildcatters three funds are invested in over 30 healthcare startup companies. Dr. Zajicek has extensive experience with startups and is an active speaker, panelist and thought leader on healthcare innovation, startups, entrepreneurship & financing. He serves as advisor, mentor and board member on various organizations and startup companies. He was managing director – medical technology at NTEC (North Texas Enterprise Center), where he ran what eventually became the Southwest’s largest medtech investment conference, showcasing startups that attracted in excess of $300M. Prior, he was on faculty at UT Southwestern, as an NIH funded principal investigator, in the Departments of Internal medicine and Cell Biology. He is president and founder of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs – DFW chapter, co-founder & partner of Lone Star Angels and is on the Board of the Southwest Venture Forum. He has an MD from the University of Vienna and an MBA from SMU.
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About Health Hacking Crisis Network, Health Wildcatters: Health Wildcatters is a mentor-driven seed accelerator focused on improving healthcare by supporting entrepreneurs and healthcare startups.
Bob Gower
Founder of Ensysce Biosciences
Bob Gower was CEO of Lyondell Petrochemical from 1985 through his retirement at the end of 1996. Together with Dr. Richard Smalley, Dr. Gower founded Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. (CNI) in 2000 developing fullerene carbon nanotubes for multiple applications. CNI was acquired by Unidym in 2007. Dr. Gower founded Ensysce Biosciences Inc. in early 2008 for the specific focus of using carbon nanotubes in therapeutic areas. Bob received his PhD from the University of Minnesota.
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About Ensysce Biosciences: Ensysce Biosciences has developed an abuse-deterrent and overdose technology that can be applied to 75% of all marketed drugs
Kelly S. Drewry
Founder & CEO of Renova Health
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About Renova Health: Renova® provides access to specialized care for neuropathic pain related to back, neck, hand and foot conditions.
Walter Schwing
Co-Founder of Partners Surgical
Walter E. Schwing, also known as Ned, co-founded National Cardiovascular Partners, LP. in 2006 and serves as its Chairman. Walter E. Schwing co-founded Specialty Therapeutic Care, LP, (“STC”). He founded Physicians Surgical Care, Inc. (PSC). He co-founded Southwest Renal Care, a regional provider of outpatient dialysis services.
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About Partners Surgical: Partners Surgical (PSC) is a leading multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center (ASC) management company.
Robert Schwing
Co-Founder of Partners Surgical
Robert Schwing is a Co-Founder of National Cardiovascular Partners, LP and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Robert Schwing served as President of Physicians Surgical Care, Inc. and was its Co-Founder. Prior to starting Physicians Surgical Care, he founded Southwest Renal Care. Prior to founding NCP, he co-founded Specialty Therapeutic Care, LP, (“STC”) in 2006.
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About Partners Surgical: Partners Surgical (PSC) is a leading multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center (ASC) management company.
Howard Mann
President, Founder of Alternate Health
A prolific entrepreneur, Howard Mann is the founder of Alternate Health and the Co-Founder of DC Netcast Media Group Inc. Making a name for himself in online business and technology, Howard has developed numerous annuity-based membership platforms, social networks, television and video production, animation and merchandising, branding and direct marketing projects. Howard is a keen investor and developer of entertainment and media assets, having launched innovative projects ranging from social media and gaming to developing, licensing and syndicating various pay-per-view programs and DVD, magazine and related multi-media properties. As a pioneer in the online gambling industry, Howard operated, managed and divested an early stage software and licensing firm that grew to a tremendous success internationally. Howard is the former Director of New Business Development for World Gaming PLC, and the former Director of Product Development and Marketing for PlayStar PLC. Howard has also made numerous appearances as a commenter and correspondent on a variety of news media programs. Howard attended Sir Sandford Fleming College in Ontario Canada with a Degree in Computer Science and was admitted into the Legal Arts program at Trent University in Ontario Canada.
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About Alternate Health: Alternate Health is a healthcare investment company specializing in the software development for the healthcare industry.
Rusty Phillips
Founder & VP of BioStable
VP, Technology, BioStable Science @ Engineering, Inc.
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About BioStable: BioStable is a cardiovascular device company that develops innovative new products for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
JC Adams
Founder and CEO of Cloud 9
JC Adams is Founder and CEO at Cloud 9.
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About Cloud 9: Cloud 9 creates a dual treatment solution for behavioral healthcare prevention and intervention.
Ben Hebert
Founder of Natural Stacks
Founder at Natural Stacks
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About Natural Stacks: Open-source cognitive enhancement supplements
Andrea Thomaz
Co-Founder, CEO of Diligent Robotics
Andrea Thomaz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Diligent Robotics and a renowned social robotics expert. Her accolades include being recognized by the National Academy of Science as a Kavli Fellow, the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Tech, MIT Technology Review on its Next Generation of 35 Innovators Under 35 list, Popular Science on its Brilliant 10 list, TEDx as a featured keynote speaker on social robotics and Texas Monthly on its Most Powerful Texans of 2018 list. Andrea’s robots have been featured in the New York Times and on the covers of MIT Technology Review and Popular Science. Her passion for social robotics began during her work at the MIT Media Lab, where she focused on using AI to develop machines that address everyday human needs. Andrea co-founded Diligent Robotics to pursue her vision of creating socially intelligent robot assistants that collaborate with humans by doing their chores so humans can have more time for the work they care most about. She earned her Ph.D. from MIT and B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UT Austin, and was a Robotics Professor at UT Austin and Georgia Tech (where she directed the Socially Intelligent Machines Lab).
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About Diligent Robotics, Georgia Institute of Technology, The University of Texas at Austin: Diligent Robotics develops AI-powered robot assistants to collaborate with and adapt to humans in everyday environments.
Raahil Sha
Co-Founder & CTO of Zeta Surgical
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About Zeta Surgical: Zeta Surgical develops surgical navigation and robotics tools to make minimally invasive surgeries easier, faster and more accessible.
Michael Walsh
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cariloop
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About Cariloop: Cariloop’s caregiver support platform relieves the anxiety of caring for a loved one while working a full-time job.
Steven Johnson
Founder, President & CEO of CareView Communications
Steven G. Johnson has over 20 years of experience in the Cable and Wireless Industry. Serving as Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of American Wireless Systems Inc. (AWSY), he then restructured and sold American Wireless Systems Inc. to Heartland Wireless Communications Inc. Mr. Johnson served as President of Hanover Systems Inc., a Delaware Corporation founded by Mr. Johnson, engaged in the business of manufacturing telecommunications products. Mr. Johnson has been actively involved with the wireless cable industry since 1984 and has served on the board of directors for the Wireless Cable Association and with its FCC regulatory committee. Mr. Johnson holds a BA Economics and Business Administration degree from Simpson University. Mr. Johnson has developed various electronic telecommunications equipment for the Wireless Cable Industry including microwave downconverters, wireless cable set top converters, antennas, and MMDS transmitters.
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About CareView Communications: CareView Communications offers a video monitoring system enabling nursing staff to maintain visual contact with remotely-located patients.
Eric Rock
Founder & CEO of Vivify Health
Eric Rock has demonstrated repeat successes as an innovator and entrepreneur, having founded three highly successful software companies. Most recently, Rock has launched Vivify Health, delivering an advanced cloud-based Remote Care Management platform connecting providers with their patients via wireless mobile devices. The result is a disruptive transformation in the delivery of healthcare to the to the consumer, reducing costs and greatly increasing provider efficiency. Prior to Vivify Health, Rock had founded MEDHOST, a healthcare software company serving over 400 hospitals and 10 million patients annually, with electronic medical records, charge capture and operational efficiency solutions. Innovations also included geographic bed/facility views, patient self-service kiosks, multi-touch data visualization and an enterprise operational visibility engine. MEDHOST was the pioneer in touchscreen technology for healthcare and stands today as the most intuitive hospital EMR in the industry. MEDHOST was successfully acquired in early 2010, shortly after Rock had launched Vivify Health. Prior to MEDHOST, Rock launched his first company based upon the first-ever Table Management System, ProHost, for the hospitality industry. The solution utilized geographical visualization of restaurant status to help staff solve the surprisingly complex problem of balancing restaurant resources, improving workflows and accurately forecasting wait times. Additional innovations included on-line reservations, customer kiosks, status displays via televisions and a wireless paging transmitter. ProHost was deployed in over 5,000 restaurants world-wide, before it was ultimately acquired by OpenTable.com. Rock is an advisory board member of various technology organizations, including Microsoft, and a frequent speaker at events such as HIMSS, ATA, mHealth Summit and TEDx. Rock also finds quality time for his wife and two young boys, including weekend treks in the RV, soccer coaching and Boy Scout leadership.
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About Vivify Health: Vivify Health delivers a cloud-based, device-agnostic, and ecosystem-connected remote care management platform.
John Chen
Co-Founder and CTO of Valhalla Healthcare
John Chen is the Co-Founder and CTO of Valhalla Healthcare.
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About Valhalla Healthcare: Valhalla Healthcare leverages advances in AI and machine learning technology deliver the affordable, accessible, and effective healthcare.
Cara Wells
Founder of EMGenisys
Cara Wessels Wells is the Founder of EmGenisys.
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About EMGenisys: EMGenisys offers an embryo health assessment platform that determines embryo viability and sex in a single assessment in the lab.
Russell Killingsworth
Co-Founder and Veterinary Medical Officer of EMGenisys
Russell Killingsworth is a veterinarian with nearly 40 years of experience specializing in bovine reproduction. He serves as a Veterinary Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Emgenisys.
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About EMGenisys: EMGenisys offers an embryo health assessment platform that determines embryo viability and sex in a single assessment in the lab.
Jeffery J. Sheldon
Founder, Chairman & CEO of Houston Medical Robotics
Jeffery Sheldon is Chairman & CEO at Houston Medical Robotics.
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About CitareTx Investment Partners I, EMIT Corporation, Houston Medical Robotics, Yguana Entertainment: Houston Medical Robotics develops and commercializes image-guided handheld medical robotics for use in various therapeutic applications.
Jack Hooper
Co-Founder & CEO of Take Command Health
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About Take Command Health: Take Command Health is an innovative health insurance software provider for small businesses and independent professionals.
George A. Gates
Founder & Chief Medical Officer of OtoNexus Medical Technologies
George A. Gates MD: Founder, Chief Medical Officer, Board Member. Dr. Gates is a nationally recognized clinician and medical researcher in otology, with substantial experience in the diagnosis and treatment of otitis media. Dr. Gates is an otolaryngologist and neurotologist, and is currently an Emeritus Professor at the University of Washington (UW) and former director of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the UW. In his career, he has authored over 220 peer-reviewed published research reports, review articles, and clinical concepts in Otology/Neurotology. Dr. Gates is the inventor of our technology.
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About OtoNexus Medical Technologies: OtoNexus has developed the first medical device to evaluate middle ear infections so clinicians know when to prescribe an antibiotic.
Steven Idell
Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Lung Therapeutics
Steven Idell, M.D., Ph.D. is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Lung Therapeutics, Inc. Steven is a clinical investigator who has been continuously funded over the past 25 years by the National Institutes of Health for his work in the areas of acute lung injury and pleural diseases. Steven is a board-certified internist and pulmonologist who has also directed the Intensive Care Units at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Texas. Steven is now Vice President for Research, a Professor of Medicine and Temple Chair of Pulmonary Fibrosis at UTHSCT and Director of an NIH-sponsored Program Project Grant to study the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of lung and pleural disease. Work from that project led to the development of scuPA as a treatment for pleural loculation and of a peptide-based approach to treat acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis. Steven also continues to manage patients in the UTHSCT Pulmonary Clinic. Steven has successfully obtained over $17 million in grant support from agencies including the NIH, The American Heart Association, The American Lung Association and various foundations. Steven is the Director of the Texas Lung Injury Institute of UTHCT and has raised nearly $1 million of philanthropic support for lung injury research to develop novel experimental therapeutics from the community, grateful patients and various foundations in East Texas and has received commitment from the NIH RAID and SMARTT programs to perform IND-enabling studies with his lead therapeutic, LTI-01. In addition to his role as CSO, Steven also serves as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and a Member of the Board of Directors. Steven received his M.D. from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1977, followed by a Ph.D. in Physiology in 1987 from the same institution. Steven specialized in research into thrombosis, the process by which blood clots, as well as clot destruction and how these processes relate to the pathogenesis of lung injury and repair.
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About Lung Therapeutics: Lung Therapeutics provides innovative treatments for underserved, life-threatening lung conditions.
Rob Krassowski
Co-Founder/Director of Product Strategy & Research of Conceivable
Rob brings years of clinical and research experience to Conceivable’s product strategy initiatives. Formally trained as an acupuncturist and herbalist in both the US and China, Rob holds a Doctorate Degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Bastyr University, the nation’s leading university for natural health sciences. He is also a Fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (ABORM). Providing wellness counselling and adjunctive care for women trying to get pregnant, both naturally and through advanced interventions like IVF, Rob has helped hundreds of couples achieve their goal of starting a family.
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About Conceivable: Conceivable is the first modern fertility program that radically improves a woman’s natural ability to get and stay pregnant.
Michael Dadashi
Founder, CEO of Infinite Recovery Holdings
Michael Dadashi has been living in active recovery since 2009. He used the transformative lessons that he learned in recovery to rebel against what society tells us about addicts and empower those seeking a transformed life. By hiring other people in long-term recovery, Michael built a multi-million dollar e-waste recycling business that became one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. In 2013, Michael took his mission to help addicts rebuild their lives one step further by opening Infinite Recovery.
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About Heart Water, Infinite Recovery Holdings, MHD Enterprises: Infinite Recovery is an addiction rehabilitation center based Austin, Texas.
Stephen Odaibo
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RETINA-AI
Stephen G. Odaibo is Founder, CEO, and Chief Software Architect of RETINA-AI, a company using Artificial Intelligence to improve Healthcare. He is a Retina specialist, Mathematician, Computer Scientist, and Full-Stack AI Engineer. Stephen Odaibo is the only Ophthalmologist in the world with advanced degrees in both Mathematics and Computer Science. In 2017 UAB College of Arts and Sciences awarded Stephen Odaibo its highest honor, the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. In 2005 he won the Barrie Hurwitz Award for Excellence in Clinical Neurology at Duke Univ. School of Medicine where he topped the class in Neurology and in Pediatrics. In 2016 Stephen Odaibo delivered the Opening Keynote address at the Global Ophthalmologists Meeting in Osaka Japan. And he delivered the inaugural Special Guest Lecture in Ophthalmology at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. In 2018, Stephen Odaibo delivered the keynote address at the National Medical Association’s New Innovations in Ophthalmology Session. And he delivered a Plenary Keynote address on AI in Healthcare at AI Expo Africa in Cape town, South Africa. He is author of the book “Quantum Mechanics and the MRI Machine” (2012), and of the book “The Form of Finite Groups: A Course on Finite Group Theory” (2016). And a Co-author of “Artificial Intelligence Simplified” (2018). Stephen Odaibo was born in Ilorin Nigeria, and currently serves on the advisory board of Data Science Nigeria.
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About RETINA-AI: RETINA-AI Develop Artificial Intelligence Software for Diagnosing Retinal Diseases from Images of the Retina
D. Jeffrey Keyser
Co-Founder, President, and COO of Renibus Therapeutics
Jeff co-founded ZS Pharma in 2008 and has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining ZS Pharma, Jeff served as the Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Encysive Pharmaceuticals. In addition, he served as Vice President of Development and Regulatory Affairs at Adams Respiratory Therapeutics and held senior management positions at Medeva Americas, Marion Merrell Dow, Marion Laboratories and Abbott Laboratories. Jeff has experience in regulatory, medical, clinical and product development and has directed efforts to develop, prepare and secure approvals of numerous INDs and NDAs/MMAs in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Jeff received his B.S. degree in pharmacy and his J.D. from Creighton University. He earned an M.P.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Dallas
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About Renibus Therapeutics, ZS Pharma: Renibus Therapeutics operates in the healthcare industry focusing on the pharmaceutical business.
Alex Bonetti
Co-Founder & CEO of Genova Health
Prior to co-founding Genova, Alex co-founded Family Tree In-Home Senior Care and grew it to become the leading home care company in Houston, Texas. Alex serves on various industry boards including the Alzheimer’s Association (Houston & Southeast Texas Chapter), Houston Gerontological Society (Vice President) and HYPAA (Houston Young Professionals Against Alzheimer’s Disease). Additionally, he is a board member of the Texas Wranglers Alumni Association, the prior Chairman of the Private Duty Committee of the Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice, and an associate member of the UTHealth Consortium on Aging. Alex is active in outreach and volunteer efforts in the community, including his work with the Ms. Wheelchair Texas Foundation.
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About Genova Health: Genova Health manages a portfolio of integrated solutions that leverage applied research and clinical care methodologies.
Daniel Gottschalk
Co-Founder & President of Genova Health
Prior to co-founding Genova, Daniel practiced corporate law in the Houston office of Baker Botts L.L.P. where he focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions. Daniel has completed over fifty transactions with over $40 billion in total transaction value. Daniel was named to the Houston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list of business leaders in 2017. He serves on the board of directors for several Houston-area organizations, including the Houston Symphony (Community Partnership Committee), the Houston Law Review Alumni Association (Vice President) and the Ross M. Lence Foundation. He is also active on the Houston Symphony Young Associates Council. Daniel serves on the advisory board of the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation Institute, Rivet Capital Partners, and JAS Inc.
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About Genova Health: Genova Health manages a portfolio of integrated solutions that leverage applied research and clinical care methodologies.
Shu Zhu
Co-Founder of GeneriCo
A co-founder of GeneriCo, Shu brings over a decade of business and technical expertise in the generic drug industry to his role as VP of Product and Partner Selection. A leader with increasing responsibility at large (Pliva, now part of Teva one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world) and specialty pharmaceutical firms Par and KV Pharmaceutical. Shu has a proven track record of growing business through portfolio management and business development and licensing. With an extensive network within the U.S. and Chinese generic drug industry, Shu is able to add significant value to his role as VP Product and Partner Selection. Shu’s relationship with key Chinese businesses within generic drugs adds value to GeneriCo’s global market opportunities. Shu received his Ph.D from Princeton University.
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About GeneriCo, Invitae: GeneriCo is a generic drug company developing and marketing generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S.
Gary Heavin
Founder of Curves
Gary Heavin is Founder at Curves.
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About Curves: Curves offers a complete fitness and nutrition solution. The Curves 30 minute workout exercises every major muscle group and burns up to
Diane Heavin
Co-Founder of Curves
Diane Heavin is Co-Founder at Curves.
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About Curves: Curves offers a complete fitness and nutrition solution. The Curves 30 minute workout exercises every major muscle group and burns up to
Sridhar Yerramreddy
Founder & CEO of Oculus Health
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About Oculus Health: Oculus Health is a digital remote care management company.
