MANNY VILLAFANA

Founder, St. Jude Medical

Founder, Cardiac Pacemakers

Founder, ATS Medical

Manny has a substantial track record starting companies that develop and deliver successful products to the market.

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• Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. (CPI) revolutionized the pacemaker industry by introducing a long-life lithium iodine pacemaker, a technology still used today by 100% of the pacemaker/defibrillator market.  CPI is now owned by Boston Scientific.

• St. Jude Medical developed an innovative, mechanical, bi-leaflet heart valve that dramatically reduced the frequency of blood clots.  St. Jude is now part of Abbott Medical.

• ATS Medical further evolved the mechanical heart valve, introducing an open-pivot design and capturing a strong share of the market.  ATS is now owned by Medtronic.

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As a result, Manny has received numerous awards of recognition, including:

• The "Living Legend of Medicine" award from the World Society of CardioThoracic Surgeons.

• MDEA Lifetime Achievement Award.  (https://www.mddionline.com/manny-villafa%C3%B1a-relentless-risk-taker-and-enduring-entrepreneur)

• Inductee of the Minnesota Business Journal Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame.

PAUL LAVIOLETTE

Managing Partner, SV Health Investors
Former COO, Boston Scientific
Former President VC, Boston Scientific

Former President, International, Boston Scientific

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Paul joined SV in 2009 as a Venture Partner and in 2011 was made a Partner. Paul was promoted to Managing Partner & COO in 2014 and heads our medical device investments.

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Prior to SV, Paul built and ran medical device businesses for 29 years before joining SV Health Investors. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer at Boston Scientific (BSC), an $8 billion medical device leader. During his 15 years at BSC, Paul served as Chief Operating Officer; Group President, Cardiovascular; President, Cardiology; Group President, Endosurgery; and President, International.

During his tenure, the company grew revenue over 20 times. Paul integrated two dozen acquisitions and led extensive product development, manufacturing and worldwide commercial organizations. Previously, Paul held marketing and general management positions at CR Bard and various marketing roles at Kendall (Medtronic).

Outside of SV, Paul serves as Chairman of the Medical Device Manufacturing Association and as Vice Chairman of the Innovation Advisory Board for the Partners Health System. Paul also served on the board of Advamed for 10 years and is a routine speaker at industry meetings.

Academic Credentials
BA, Psychology, Fairfield University; MBA, Boston College

DAVID NEUSTAEDTER

VP, Venture Capital, Medtronic

Frm VP, Director Venture Capital, Covidien

Frm VP, Director Venture Capital, Stryker

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As Vice President of Venture Capital at Medtronic, Dave works closely with Medtronic’s leadership to complete new venture capital investments in areas of strategic interest and socialize key developments at existing portfolio companies. Dave has completed a large number of investments over the years and serves or has served as a Director or Observer on approximately 20 Boards including superDimension, Idev, Medina, and Entellus.

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Prior to Medtronic, Dave served in similar roles at Covidien and Stryker. While at Covidien, he also led a process to prioritize white space opportunities for the company. Earlier in his career, as a healthcare-focused strategy consultant, Dave supported clients on decisions regarding acquisition opportunities and internal R&D prioritization across the medical device, diagnostic and biopharmaceutical industries. He received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA from Yale University, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

FRED NAZEM
Founder, Rejuvenan

Frm Chairman, Oxford Health
GP/Founder of 7 Venture Funds

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Fred Nazem, entrepreneur and philanthropist, has founded or financed several multi-billion dollar corporations. Known also as a turnaround specialist, he led the reorganization and successful reversal of Oxford Health Plans which was later sold to United Healthcare for $5 billion. He is a corporate architect, biochemist, high tech innovator, investor and leader.

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Fred Nazem began his career in the financial industry in the late 1970's. As founder of Nazem and Company, he managed seven private venture capital funds and a joint venture in partnership with Banque National De Paris of France. In the four decades since its founding, Mr. Nazem has started, financed or guided more than three hundred cutting edge enterprises. With an ever-expanding width of experience, he has defined new fields and ideas in finance, high technology and healthcare. Several of the companies founded by Mr. Nazem have become multi-billion dollar enterprises. A most recent venture is Rejuvenan Global Health, a highly digital, membership based healthcare delivery system which provides its members with the knowledge and tools they need to own and manage their health and the health of their families.

Mr. Nazem is also well-known for his role as a turnaround specialist. In 1997, as Chairman of Oxford Health Plans, he led the reorganization and successful reversal as the company experienced operational and financial difficulties. Oxford was later sold to the United Health Group for $5 billion. As director of one of America's most prominent family fortunes, Mr. Nazem orchestrated a dramatic turnaround from near bankruptcy to a ranking on the Forbes 400 list for wealthiest people of the world. He has namaged private wealth for four decades and currently is Managing Partner of Hedgeworth Capital, a private fund founded in 2003.

Alongside his business ventures, Mr. Nazem devotes much of his time and energy to important philanthropic concerns. Primarily working through the Nazem Family Foundation, he has supported many civic, educational and healthcare-related cases. He currently serves on the Science and Technology Advisory Board of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Furthermore, he is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts and the Economic Club of New York. Mr. Nazem is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award granted to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to the United States.

Fred Nazem received a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from Ohio State University, a Master of Science in physical chemistry from University of Cincinnati and an MBA in finance from Columbia University. He also did doctoral work in quantum physics at Washington University. Mr. Nazem worked as a chemist at Keebler and Company, and Matheson Coleman and Bell before he ventured to Wall Street. He served as a securities analyst and Assistant Vice President at Irving Trust Company (now Bank of New York) before founding his own venture capital firm.

AMIR JAFRI

CEO, Immunicom

Former M&A and R&D Head, Devices, Cardinal Health

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Amir Jafri is the founder of Immunicom and has served as its President and Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception in 2013. Amir has over 25 years of experience in healthcare technology and devices.

As a senior executive in Fortune 50 companies and his own startups, he has managed multi-billion-dollar products on a global basis and is highly experienced with global regulatory environments. He was COO at West Health Institute; VP/CTO, VP R&D and VP Operations at Cardinal Health managing products with $1B in annual revenue (NYSE: CAH); VP/General Manager Healthcare Division at Manpower Group, responsible for the healthcare practice nationwide across 35 locations (NYSE: MAN).

Prior to joining Manpower, Amir founded various healthcare startups that were subsequently acquired. He has successfully managed global businesses and has a track record of success in every business he has led. Amir serves on the Board of various healthcare technology startup companies and non-profit organizations. Amir received his Bachelors of Science Degree from Houston Baptist University with a double major in Chemistry and Biology and a minor in History. He attended medical school at the University of Texas but pursued an entrepreneurial and corporate path.

ALISSA LYNCH

Global Leader Medtech Strategy and Solutions, Google Cloud

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Alissa is a senior health technology executive with over 20 years of global MedTech
and Consumer Goods experience. She currently leads MedTech Strategy and
Solutions for Google Cloud, working closely with C-Suite executives at Medical Device
companies to drive digital transformation.

Previously, she was Vice President at Johnson & Johnson and led multibillion-dollar
international businesses in operational and strategic roles while living in the United
States, China, and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Prior to her business
career, she traveled and peformed around the world as a professional modern dancer.

Alissa earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and an MBA
from Columbia Business School. She is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute
and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theatre and the
Board of Directors of ePrep, Inc.

TAK CHEUNG

Principal, NEA

Tak joined NEA in 2018 as a Principal on the healthcare team. He focuses on medical device investments.

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Prior to NEA, Tak was a Venture Partner at Merieux Development Venture Fund where he led all phases of investment for healthcare startups, including sourcing, diligence and investment approvals. Tak also co-founded Lexington Medical, a commercial-stage medical device startup in the gastrointestinal surgery space. Prior to Merieux and Lexington, Tak was VP of Business Development for the Global Surgical Division at Bausch & Lomb, and was responsible for all business development efforts in the ophthalmic surgical division. Tak has held various corporate and business development leadership roles at Edwards Lifesciences in the Heart Valve Therapy Division and Advanced Medical Optics (acquired by Johnson & Johnson).

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Tak received a BS with Honors in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology, an MD from the University of California, Irvine, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

DEBBIE LIN

Executive Director, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund

Dr. Debbie Lin is Executive Director at Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in the US and started and leads the Fund’s North American investment efforts in Digital Healthcare. She led the investments for and has Board Directorship roles at Wellth Inc. (New York, NY) and Bodyport Inc. (San Francisco, CA). She joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in 2008. Within Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma, she worked across various regions and divisions in both the USA and at the Corporate Headquarters in Germany. She has worked in Medical Affairs in the area of central nervous systems /women’s health and later in Health Economics and Outcomes regionally, supporting sales and marketing with all commercial product sales and launches to payers and health systems in the Western region of the US including Kaiser Permanente (CA, WA, OR, CO, Hawaii), Health Net, Blue Shield of California, Providence Health, Department of Defence, State Medicaid, among others. She also supported non-brand efforts, working with teams to develop disease management programs and trained all levels of healthcare providers to implement them in their health systems. During this time she also led BI USA’s social entrepreneurship program Making More Health and growing the impact of the program globally. In 2013, she transitioned to Corporate Headquarters in Germany in Corporate Strategy and Development as Global Director of Corporate Development. There she was responsible for BI’s corporate global development strategy, working with various teams in Germany and across Europe and Asia, crafting BI’s future global corporate development strategy and leading BI’s global venture into stroke rehabilitation. She developed the strategy for, secured funding for and led multi-country teams to negotiate and set up the company’s first Consanas stroke rehabilitation centers in Shanghai, China and in Lisbon, Portugal, bringing a model of stroke rehabilitation from Germany to China and Portugal. Prior to Boehringer Ingelheim, she worked as a Public Policy Consultant for Pacific Health Policy Group supporting Medicaid Policy implementation in various states such as Vermont and West Virginia during the Clinton Administration. She also consulted for Roche Bioscience helping to evaluate new genomics technologies. Her doctorate is in Pharmacogenomics and Bioinformatics from UCSF, she also has a Masters in Engineering from Stanford University and a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA.

MICHELE COLUCCI
Co-founder/Managing Partner, DigitalDx Ventures

Michele Colucci, Co-founder/Managing Partner, is a lawyer, investor, serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She has authored five patents in the technology space and founded companies in the legal, technology, retail, and entertainment spaces. Michele’s extensive experience operating in highly regulated verticals has focused on issues from management to legal (employment, corporate, International, litigation, torts, negotiations, business strategy, and marketing). Her most recent company focused on the application of big data and artificial intelligence in legal technology. She has worked at law firms including Hughes Hubbard & Reed, run her own media production company, owned and operated a chain of retail stores in the political space, run a political fundraising venue, and founded a legal technology company. 
 
Currently, Michele serves on public and private Boards of Directors at Global Indemnity Group, Nephrosant, Optina Diagnostics, Prime Genomics, and Trayt. She is also an Advisor to eHealth Analytics (a digital health startup) and Quantellia (a platform powering decision-based analytics through artificial intelligence). She is a Huffington Postblogger on female entrepreneurship and an award-winning expert on E-Local. She has served as a regular guest lecturer and mentor at Stanford University’s School of Engineering focused on Global Marketing and Entrepreneurship and has lectured at USC’s Gould School of Law. 
 
In 2017 Michele was named by the Nobel Laureate Foundation as a West Coast Ambassador for her ongoing work in concert the Nobel Laureate Foundation to expand their global footprint and aid young scientists— selected from around the world to attend their summer program—to connect, learn, and interact with Nobel Laureates in their field of study. She has served on nonprofit boards including NOFAS (National Organization for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome), Hope After Divorce, and City Hearts.

The Silicon Valley Business Journal honored Michele as a ‘Silicon Valley Woman of Influence.’ She was featured in a cover article of the American Bar Journal as a ‘Leading Woman in Legal Technology’ and named a ‘Person to Watch’ by Silicon Valley’s Gentry Magazine. Michele’s accomplishments have been featured in a variety of media including NBC, Inc. Magazine, Redbook, and the San Jose Mercury News.
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Michele earned her Bachelor’s degrees in English and Philosophy and J.D. from Georgetown University. She earned a Master’s in Fine Arts from the American Film Institute. She speaks three languages, and lives in Silicon Valley with her four children. 

SHAHID SHAH

"The Healthcare IT Guy"
Former CTO of CTS, Cardinal Health

CEO, Citus Health

Shahid Shah is an internationally recognized and influential healthcare IT thought leader and multiple patent awardee who is known as “The Healthcare IT Guy'' across the Internet. He is a serial entrepreneur and technology strategy advisor to many federal agencies and winner of Federal Computer Week’s coveted “Fed 100″ award given to IT experts that have made a big impact on the US government. 

Shahid has architected and built multiple clinical solutions over his almost 30-year career. He helped design and deploy electronic health record solutions across thousands of sites for the American Red Cross. He is a serial entrepreneur who has cofounded and exited two Electronic Health Records companies and co-founded and is currently scaling a third EHR company focused on digital front door, patient engagement, and remote patient monitoring. He’s designed large professional collaboration sites and, as an ex-CTO for CardinalHealth’s CTS medical devices division (now part of Becton Dickinson), he helped design advanced clinical interfaces for hospital based medical devices. Shahid also has served as a senior technology strategy advisor to NIH’s and TATRC’s SBIR/STTR program helping startups commercialize their healthcare applications.

For the past 30 years Shahid has held the positions of CEO, CTO, VP of Technology, Chief Software Architect, or Enterprise Architect at large enterprises. His technology expertise includes AI, machine learning, conversational user experiences, service-oriented and event modeling architectures, and trust networks backed by immutable databases and blockchain. His healthcare focus starts with an emphasis on e-health, EMRs, HL7/FHIR-based data integration, and legacy modernization but his passions also include innovation evaluation, tech due diligence, real world evidence collection, and clinical trial design.

These days, as publisher of Medigy.com, he’s focused on trying to figure out how transparent, crowd-sourced, and credentialed peer reviews can separate real healthcare innovations from marginal or fake ones. Medigy.com is an effort to bring some of the transparency we have seen in online product reviews to medical device, digital health, and life sciences innovation. At its best, Medigy can help identify innovations worth investing in…or innovations that are not likely to produce the outcomes we desire.

JASMINE KIM

Frm Director of Digital, Sutter Health

Entreprenuer in Residence, DigitalDx 

L. Jasmine Kim is an innovative builder of ideas and concepts into scalable businesses that engage and deliver value to people around the world.  Jasmine has extensive and eclectic customer engagement experience, in digital media and commerce, from health care, hospitality, to commerce, from marketing, product design, analytics, strategic alliances, and all things in-between. She has made her mark, being the translator and the integrator of emerging and disruptive ideas, platforms, and most importantly, people, to coalesce, scale, and build renowned businesses worldwide.  

Jasmine has led many intrapreneurial and innovation initiatives in Fortune 100 companies, as well as accelerating venture-backed start-ups to scale. She has held senior marketing and general management operating roles with Sutter Health, Johnson & Johnson, Expedia, Yahoo!, and P&G. "Make the complex simple, and the simple compelling" is her north star.