Speakers
DR. MANNY VILLAFANA
Founder, St. Jude Medical
Founder, CPI
Founder, Medical 21
Dr. Manny Villafana is a renowned American entrepreneur and medical innovator who has made significant contributions to the field of medical technology. Born on January 7, 1940, in The Bronx, New York Villafana's journey is an inspiring story of determination and innovation. Raised in a modest family, Villafana displayed an aptitude for engineering and a deep interest in the medical field. After graduating from Cardinal Hayes High School, he pursued a career in biomedical engineering. He worked for several medical device companies, where he gained invaluable experience and expertise. In 1977, Villafana founded Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. (CPI), a company that focused on developing and manufacturing implantable cardiac devices. Under his leadership, CPI introduced innovative pacemaker technologies, including the first battery-operated pacemaker, as well as devices that incorporated sensors to adapt pacing based on a patient's physiological needs. In 1985, the company went public and was later acquired by Eli Lilly and Company. After the acquisition, Villafana continued to make significant contributions to the medical field. He founded St. Jude Medical, a leading global medical device company specializing in cardiovascular and chronic pain management technologies. In 1993, he established the Medtronic Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on expanding access to healthcare in underserved communities worldwide. Throughout his career, Villafana has received numerous accolades for his contributions to the medical technology industry. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Dr. Manny Villafana's entrepreneurial spirit, visionary leadership, and commitment to innovation have revolutionized the field of medical technology. Villafana's legacy as a trailblazer and innovator will forever inspire future generations in the pursuit of groundbreaking advancements in medical science.
DENNIS PURCELL
Founder, Aisling Capital
Former Head of Investment Banking, JP Morgan Chase / H&Q
Mr. Purcell is the Founder of Aisling Capital LLC. Previously, he served as the Senior Managing Partner. Prior to Aisling Capital, Mr. Purcell served as Managing Director of the Life Sciences Investment Banking Group at Chase H&Q (formerly Hambrecht & Quist, “H&Q”) for over five years. While at H&Q, he was directly involved with over two hundred completed transactions and supervised over $10 billion of financing and advisory assignments in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical products industries. During his tenure, BioWorld and other industry publications cited H&Q as the leading underwriter of life sciences securities. Prior to joining H&Q, Mr. Purcell was a Managing Director in the Healthcare Group at PaineWebber, Inc.
Mr. Purcell is a frequent commentator on the industry and has been honored in the “Biotech Hall of Fame” by Genetic Engineering News, named to the Biotechnology All-Stars list by Forbes ASAP, honored as one of the top 50 Irish-American businessmen and cited as one of the top 100 contributors to the biotechnology industry.
Mr. Purcell has served as a director of Aton Pharma (acquired by Merck), Bridge Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pharmaron), Cengent Therapeutics, Dynova Laboratories, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Valentis and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Purcell also has served as a member of the Section Governing Board at BIO (“Biotechology Innovation Organization”), the Irvington Institute and on the Board of L.E.K. Consulting. He currently sits on the Boards of Real Endpoints, Summus Global, Inc., BioScience Managers, and Ichnos Sciences. He sits on the Editorial Advisory Board at Life Science Leader Magazine; Member of the Board at NYBIO Association; Board Member at The University of Delaware Investment Visiting Committee as well as a member of the Biopharmaceutical Innovation Board at the University of Delaware.
Mr. Purcell received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Delaware.
SHAHID SHAH
Former CTO (CTS) of Cardinal Health
"The Healthcare IT Guy"
Shahid is an internationally recognized and influential healthcare IT thought leader who is known as “The Healthcare IT Guy” blogger and has served as a health IT advisor to programs within the National Institutes of Health, CTO of Cardinal Health’s CTS unit, Chief Systems Architect for the American Red Cross, and Senior Vice President of Healthcare Technology at COMSYS. In addition to his executive role at simplifyMD, Shahid serves as an on-going consultant to the Executive Office of the President (White House), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Shahid earned his Master’s Degree in Technology Management from the University of Maryland and his Computer Science Bachelors Degree from Penn State University.
He is an influential thought leader and a winner of Federal Computer Week’s coveted “Fed 100″ award given to IT experts that have made a big impact in the government and runs three successful blogs. At http://shahid.shah.org he writes about architecture issues, at http://www.healthcareguy.com he provides valuable insights on how to apply technology in health care, at http://www.federalarchitect.com he advises senior federal technologists, and at http://www.hitsphere.com he gives a glimpse of the health-care IT blogosphere as an aggregator.
FRED NAZEM
Former Chairman, Oxford Health Plans
Founder, 6 Healthcare Venture Funds
Co-Founder, Bluebird Bio
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.
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.
DR. DAVID PRIM
Principal, Broadview Ventures
David shares responsibility for the day-to-day investment activities at Broadview Ventures, including identification and screening of new opportunities, due diligence, negotiation of deal structure, and portfolio company board involvement.
Prior to joining Broadview, David was a Senior Associate at Locust Walk, a global life sciences transaction firm, where he led engagements for biopharma and medtech clients guiding corporate development strategy and supporting sell-side, buy-side, and financing deal execution. Previously, David was a consultant at ClearView Healthcare Partners, a premier life science strategy consulting firm, where he supported completion of high-impact strategy projects for a broad range of industry clients across all aspects of the product lifecycle, including new product planning, R&D, commercial, medical affairs, market access, and lifecycle management.
David earned a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, where his research focused on vascular grafting. His research projects covered a wide range of vascular mechanics, hemodynamics, and tissue engineering, with a specific focus on understanding and improving remodeling of coronary artery bypass grafts. David also holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Carolina with honors from the South Carolina Honors College.
David serves on the Board of Directors for CorFlow Therapeutics, Relief Cardiovascular, and Puzzle Medical Devices. He is a Board Observer to Vascular Graft Solutions.
DR. MICHAEL SALGALLER
Director Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit (TAMU), NCI/NIH
Dr. Michael Salgaller leads the Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit (TAMU) within the National Institute’s of Health (NIH’s) NCI Technology Transfer Center, where he leverages over 20 years of business, scientific, and investment experience in various life science sectors to support technology development and commercialization. The TAMU serves in a business development role to foster licensing and collaborative activity between buy-side stakeholders and the NCI (as well as National Institutes of Heath in general). It also provides education and assistance to tech transfer staff and investigators seeking to make a more compelling business case to potential licensees and collaborators. Previously, Dr. Salgaller was a Vice President at The Conafay Group, a healthcare-focused government affairs firm, where he led alliance development activities centered on civilian health. He served as President of Biologics Consulting Group, a boutique firm providing professional services focused on regulatory affairs. Salgaller spent several years on the investment team of an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to the life sciences. He began his buy-side career as Vice President of R&D for Northwest Biotherapeutics, where he led the development of cancer cell therapies that achieved clinical benefit and resulting in an IPO. He began his career as a Senior Scientist with Dr. Steve Rosenberg at the NCI. He has written over 80 scientific/business articles and book chapters. He sits on the Editorial Board of Med Nous, a UK-based journal on the buiness of science. He is the author of "Biotechnology Entrepreneurship," and teaches an entrepreneurship class at the NIH's graduate school - the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences. Dr. Salgaller received his Ph.D. in Pathology from The Ohio State University.
RICK LIPKIN
Partner, Easton Capital
Founder and Co-Chair, Catalytic Impact Foundation
Richard Lipkin is the Founder and Co-Chair of the Catalytic Impact Foundation (CIF). He is also a Managing Director of Easton Capital Investment Group, a NYC-based life sciences and healthcare venture capital firm; and a co-Founder and Co-Chair of Princeton Alumni Angels (PAA). Through CIF, he serves as a Board Director of Epivax Therapeutics and Ceretype Neuromedicine, and Board Observer of Deck Therapeutics. Previously, he served as a partner of Commerce Health Ventures, a life sciences and healthcare fund of NewSpring Capital; Laird & Company, a private merchant bank; and other private investment partnerships, including as a biotech analyst and consultant for a Goldman Sachs hedge fund. He also served as Executive Director, Strang Cancer Prevention Center; and Director, International Development, for IDT Corp., including the launch of Net2Phone. He has consulted for DARPA, and served as a writer and editor for Scientific American and Science News, producing more than 400 articles, chapters, and books for many organizations, including National Geographic, Natural History, The Journal of NIH Research, Journal of Neuroscience, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, The Wilson Quarterly, Smithsonian Books, WNET-13, United Press International, Grolier’s Encyclopedia, and the American Mathematical Society; reprinted by Annual Editions, Global Studies, Social Issues Resource Series, the U.S. Information Agency, and recognized in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering and Men of Achievement. He was awarded the American Chemical Society’s Grady-Stack Award, recognizing analysis of basic and applied scientific and medical research. He has studied cognitive and computational neuroscience at Columbia University and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, and served on Columbia University Medical Center’s Health Sciences Advisory Council, Neuroscience Council, and Medical Science and Technology Council. He is a frequent panelist, moderator, judge, mentor and advisor to many companies and impact organizations, active in many not-for-profit, educational, and social progress ventures, and served as Director, Board member, committee member, program overseer, grant reviewer, including in neuroscience and oncology research; served as member of boards, councils, and committees for the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Israel Cancer Research Fund, Rockefeller University, Marine Biological Laboratory, Columbia University, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Montefiore Medical Center. He is an honors graduate of Princeton University, has an MBA from Columbia Business School, and served as a Senior Staff Associate in Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute of Mind, Brain, and Behavior. He lives in New York City with his wife and two sons.
SERGEI PETUKHOV
Founder, Ludicrous Ventures
Sergei is the Founder of Ludicrous Ventures, a family office focused on Seed to Series A investments in human and animal health companies.
Sergei is a seasoned VC biotech investor with 15+ years of experience. He also has C-level executive, board member/board observer experience for private and public biotech companies. He has led Series A/B/C investments in early-stage startups with an exemplary track record of successful IPOs and M&A exits valued at over $3B.
He holds a DVM in Biophysics from Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology. He also has done post doctoral work at Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, and the Rockerfeller University.
NOAH KROLOFF
Founder and Managing Director, Black Granite Capital
Noah J. Kroloff is Founder and Managing Director of Black Granite Capital. Mr. Kroloff has been helping innovative healthcare and technology companies grow for over 30 years--as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co., a senior operating executive at i-STAT Corp., and an investing partner at NGN Capital and Black Granite Capital.
At Black Granite Capital, Mr. Kroloff leads the firm's growth equity stage investing in healthcare and technology, with a focus on software for the healthcare sector. Prior to founding Black Granite Capital, Mr. Kroloff invested in healthcare companies at NGN Capital for 11 years, with a focus on medical devices and diagnostics. Prior to NGN Capital, Mr. Kroloff served as an executive officer at i-STAT Corp., a publicly-traded medical device and diagnostics company where he was Vice President for International Sales & Marketing and Corporate Development. He led the creation of global alliances with Abbott Laboratories and Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group and created i-STAT’s international distribution network. He was actively involved in the sale of i-STAT to Abbott for approximately $450 million. Prior to i-STAT, Mr. Kroloff was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co. where he advised leading pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and tech companies on R&D management, portfolio strategy, and alliance formation. Mr. Kroloff also worked in international business development at Merck & Co.
Mr. Kroloff received his BA in general science from Brandeis University and his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management where he was a co-founder and served as a judge of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition--one of the largest such competitions in the world. Mr. Kroloff is currently or was previously a board member or board observer of Valtech Cardio, Cerapedics, OptiScan Biomedical, Hospital IQ, TigerConnect, Bluesight (Kit Check), IntelyCare, Jump Technologies, and Z Software. He is a member of the board of the American Technion Society-NY and has served as an advisor to the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s healthcare initiative and as a member of McKinsey's alumni advisory council.
STEVEN ABERNATHY
Founder and Chairman, The Abernathy Group II Family Office
Steven Abernathy is the Founder and Chairman of The Abernathy Group II Family Office. Prior to The Abernathy Group II Family Office, Mr. Abernathy was recruited by Shearson American Express in 1982 and joined its training program in 1983, eventually becoming Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management. In 1989, Mr. Abernathy joined Cowen & Co., a research and trading boutique specializing in healthcare and technology, as a Special Limited Partner and Director of its Executive Services Division. While at Cowen, Mr. Abernathy developed The Abernathy Group, a group of investment professionals specializing in asset management for experts in healthcare and technology. This collaboration between investment professional and client-expert was called the Collaborative Investing® style of portfolio management. This group was committed to furthering Mr. Abernathy’s goal of marrying the Collaborative Investing® style with value investing. The collaborative effort forged between Mr. Abernathy’s financial knowledge and the technology and healthcare expertise of his clients has produced “top-tier” results. In 1996, Mr. Abernathy co-founded The Abernathy Technology Research Institute, formerly known as The Abernathy Leet Institute for Financial Research, a registered broker-dealer. Mr. Abernathy is a member of CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts. Mr. Abernathy earned a Bachelor of Science Degree as a pre-med student from Fordham University. In addition to studying Biology, he completed extensive studies in music theory and received a full football scholarship.
Mr. Abernathy has been featured in many publications, including Fortune, Forbes, American Medical News, Nelsons Worlds Best Money Managers, Barron’s, Medical Economics, Physicians Money Digest, Ophthalmology Management, Orthopedics Today, The Physicians Personal Advisory, The Financial Times, Money Manager Review, Podiatry Management, Anesthesiology News, Hedge Mar, CPA Wealth Advisor, Business Week, Journal of Financial Planning, American Way, Journal of Practical Estate Planning, Biotechnology Investing, Wealth and Retirement Planner, Financial Advisor Magazine, Advisor Today, Journal of Retirement Planning and the cover of Money Magazine, among others, and on various television programs, including CBS MarketWatch, CNN, MSN and Bloomberg.
The Abernathy Group II and its predecessors have been ranked number 1, 16 times by Nelson’s World’s Best Money Managers since 1991.
CHRISTINE HORTON
Advisor, Capita3 Ventures
Christine is an advisor to Capita3, which invests in Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A companies across the US, investing in the convergence of deep tech and digital health.
Christine is a Dynamic Senior Executive with a passion for turning strategy into real-world success in the medical device industry. Consistently drive growth through bold, innovative commercial strategies. Expertise in uncovering new business opportunities and building meaningful partnerships that bring ideas to life and align teams around a shared vision. A dedicated leader and mentor, committed to developing next-generation talent and fostering collaborative, high-performing cultures. Experience across Orthopedics, Cardiovascular, Consumer Health, and Point-of-Care. Deeply energized by the evolving intersection of digital innovation and AI in healthcare, where technology and medicine meet to create better patient outcomes. Ms. Horton serves on numerous boards and has launched companies, products and people into great success. Christine’s diverse expertise span that has a patent holder, researcher, fundraiser and venture fund advisor.
JANET DALLY
Director of Healthcare, FORCE Family Office
Founder, MaidStone Life Sciences
Janet L. Dally has over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical technology industries as an investor relations advisor, healthcare fund analyst, business development, medical device marketing manager, and microbiologist. She is an active advocate for the biotechnology industry. From 2010 to 2022, Ms. Dally hosted a leading annual cancer immunotherapy conference for the investment community and industry.
Before founding MaidStone Life Sciences, Ms. Dally was a senior partner at MD Becker Partners. Prior to this, she was president of MontRidge, LLC, a boutique investor relations and strategic consulting firm specializing in the life science industry. During her tenure at these firms, Ms. Dally built meaningful relationships with the executive management of life science clients and the U.S. and European investment communities, resulting in increased institutional ownership, diversified shareholder base, sell-side analyst coverage, enhanced valuation, product acquisition, and successful financing.
Ms. Dally previously was vice president of investor relations at Burns McClellan, a life sciences communication firm. She was a buy-side analyst for six years for the Merrill Lynch Healthcare Fund, evaluating and recommending biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, and healthcare services firms. She has held executive positions in strategic planning, business development, licensing, and mergers and acquisitions at Sterling Drug and Forest Laboratories.
In 2023, she joined FORCE Family Office as Director of Healthcare.
Ms. Dally has an M.B.A. from the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Microbiology from Wagner College, and a B.S. in Medical Technology from Rutgers University.