2019 Agenda

Arundhati Parmar is VP and Editor-in-Chief at MedCity News. Previously she was senior editor at UBM’s Medical Device + Diagnostic Industry and has been a business journalist for more than a decade. Arundhati has three degrees from three continents – a Bachelor of Arts in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; a Masters in English Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia and a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. She has sworn never to enter a classroom again.

James Hereford is president and CEO of Fairview Health Services. Based in Minneapolis, Fairview is $5.4 billion non-profit, integrated health system affiliated with the University of Minnesota. Fairview’s 34,000+ employees and 5,000+ system providers provide exceptional clinical care, from prevention of illness and injury to caring for the most complex medical conditions. Fairview has proudly served its communities for more than 100 years.

James provides strategic direction and ensures operational effectiveness for Fairview’s entire continuum of services, which is unmatched in the region. Joined by HealthEast in June 2017, Fairview is one of the most comprehensive and geographically accessible systems in the state, with 11 hospitals—including an academic medical center and long-term care hospital—serving the greater Twin Cities metro area and north-central Minnesota. Its broad continuum also includes 56 primary care clinics, specialty clinics, senior living communities, retail and specialty pharmacies, pharmacy benefit management services, rehabilitation centers, counseling and home health care services, medical transportation, an integrated provider network and health insurer PreferredOne. Fairview also is a founding member of specialty pharmacy network Excelera and many other unique partnerships that advance our vision of driving a healthier future. Prior to joining Fairview, James served as chief operations officer at Stanford Health Care. Previous roles included chief operations officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a series of leadership roles with the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.

James holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Montana State University. He has taught courses with Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, University of Washington’s Master of Health Administration program and The Ohio State University’s Masters of Business Operations Excellence program. He is a frequent writer and presenter on the topic of lean management systems and transformation.

Jodi Hubler is the Managing Director of Lemhi Ventures, a health care services venture capital fund with $385M under management. Over her 25-plus-year career, she has held executive positions in a variety of public and private companies, including Cargill, Alcoa, and Definity Health, where she served as chief people officer. She has served as a board member or chair of the board in over a dozen health care services companies valued for her keen insight, direct approach, and skillful stewardship of organizations. She is especially adept at leading and governing in industries facing transformative change.  Her experience across global organizations and multi-industry domains, coupled with her deep health care industry experience, make her uniquely qualified to provide insightful advice to boards and executive teams committed to creating significant value for stakeholders. In addition to currently serving on four privately held company boards, she is currently a member of the Healthcare Executives Leadership Network and Women Business Leaders in Health Care Foundation and serves on the University of Minnesota’s Discovery Capital Investment Advisory Board. Jodi also serves on the non-profit boards of Caring Bridge as Vice Chair and Medical Alley Association. Jodi holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa.

Mark Foley is the Director of Translational Informatics at Mayo Clinic. In this role, he provides leadership for the Office of Artificial Intelligence and the Informatics and Knowledge Management Program, currently focusing on infrastructure needs and processes to get AI into clinical use. He has an extensive background in IT with over 25 years’ experience in research, building and implementing the electronic medical record and departmental IT systems such as radiology, cardiology and GI. He has lead teams building Mayo’s clinical data repository with data from all of our electronic systems and applications on top of data repository for population health, real time alerting algorithms and innovative patient care tools. Outside of work, Mark enjoys family time, biking, Nordic skiing, landscaping, and wood working and is very involved in a local church.

Matthew Versaggi holds a senior leadership role in the Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Technologies space for the Advanced Technology Division (ATC) of  Optum Technology. Combination role comprises the responsibilities of (a) thought leader, (b) evangelist, (c) education SME, (d) strategist, and (e)  advanced technology delivery of projects and technical capabilities in the AI/CT spaces. His previous role in Optum had him leading a global AI/ML delivery team (Dublin, Boston, Minnesota and South Carolina). Other responsibilities he holds are Education and Subject Matter Expert in AI/ML for College of Artificial Intelligence in the Optum Tech University, and Subject Matter Expert in the UHG Patent Review Board reviewing AI/ML technologies.

Matthew’s previous roles prior to Optum were: AI Engineer for a Military Contractor, CEO of his own company, CIO of a dental insurance company, Adjunct Professor at a University, Business Startup Partner,  and AI Developer.

He has four university degrees : BA (Computer Science), BS (Finance / MIS), MS (Computer Science -Artificial Intelligence), MBA ( International Business / Economics).  He also has Professional certificates  in Security (Server / Network), Data Science / Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing.

Ric Magnuson is responsible for ensuring resources are properly deployed to enhance the quality, safety and effectiveness of the care Allina Health provides to its patients.

Mr. Magnuson also served as senior vice president, Finance and Treasury, responsible for treasury, financial accounting & reporting, real estate, tax, design & construction, logistics, materials management, purchasing along with Supply Chain Management.

Previously, Magnuson served Allina Health from 1987 to 2004 in a variety of roles, including Chief Financial Officer for Mercy and Unity Hospitals and vice president of Finance and Operations at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. After leaving in 2004, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Fletcher Allen HealthCare in Vermont; Executive Vice President & Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Group Health, in Washington; and Chief Financial Officer of City of Hope, an organization providing research around cancer and diabetes care.

Magnuson has a bachelor’s degree at Augsburg College in accounting and finance and a master’s degree at the University of St. Thomas.

Alyssa serves as Vice President of 7wire Ventures where she focuses on investments in digital healthcare and technology-enabled services that empower consumers to be better stewards of their health in today’s changing healthcare ecosystem.Alyssa’s prior experience in venture capital includes her time as Senior Associate at Pritzker Group Venture Capital where she led investments in Bright.md and Tovala as well as worked closely with Apervita, SilverVue, Eved, and AiCure. Additionally, she worked at Hyde Park Angels (HPA), one of the Midwest’s largest angel organizations and Healthbox, an early stage healthcare innovation firm, supporting their accelerator program called the Studio. Alyssa is also a Co-Founder of TransparentCareer, a 2016 NVC winning company focused on helping people make more data-driven career decisions.

Prior to business school, Alyssa worked as the Senior Director of Performance Technologies for the Advisory Board Company. There, Alyssa was charged with expanding new business through the sales of technology platforms. With an extensive travel regimen, Alyssa met with hundreds of hospital executive teams to understand their strategic needs and recommend various solutions. She has copious amounts of experience in launching new products and thinking about go-to-market strategies.

Alyssa holds a bachelor degree in Marketing and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business.

Blake joined NEA in 2014 and focuses on investments in healthcare services, healthcare IT, and biopharmaceuticals. He is also a member of NEA’s Asia investing team and is involved with the firm’s healthcare investments in the region. Prior to NEA, Blake was a member of the private equity group at Ares Management, focused on investments in healthcare. Blake’s prior work experience also includes investment banking at Moelis & Company, where he was focused on transactions in healthcare, as well as equity research at Barclays Capital. Blake graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S in economics with concentrations in Finance, Real Estate and Management.

Pamela is the co-founder and general partner of Capita3, a venture capital group for unleashing an infusion of capital into women-led startups, and she has more than 25 years of experience as an inventor, entrepreneur, investor, and portfolio manager.

Pamela has experienced ~40x ROI in two startup exits, helped raise tens of millions in venture capital financing from Sand Hill Road investors, and pioneered innovations enabling millions of dollars in sales and hundreds of millions in company exit value. She also led the University of Iowa’s technology commercialization foundation, where she managed a portfolio of 1000+ technologies, built a startup ecosystem from scratch, and oversaw the formation of dozens of startups that raised $150M in follow-on capital with several exits totaling over $200M in value to date.

Pamela is currently the Board Chair of CoreBiome Inc., an investor in the Sofia Fund, adjunct faculty instructor for the University of Minnesota NSF I-CORPs lean startup program, a mentor for the Women’s Startup Lab Accelerator, co-founder of the Minnesota Women Entrepreneurs (WE*) movement and a commercial reviewer for the National Science Foundation SBIR program. She has a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, and holds numerous patents.

Shaye Mandle has served as President & CEO of The Medical Alley Association since 2014. During this tenure, the association has undertaken significant transformation to focus on championing and facilitating an environment that enables health technology and care organizations to innovate, succeed, and influence the evolution of healthcare. Under Mr. Mandle’s leadership, the association’s vision is to elevate Minnesota’s Medical Alley as the global epicenter of health innovation and care. He has more than 20 years of experience in government, the private sector and academia, leading organizations, public affairs and political activities.

Tom Lindquist joined Allina Health | Aetna as CEO in March 2018. In his role, Lindquist leads the joint venture, setting the overall strategic direction for the organization and directing the executive team.

Lindquist has an extensive background in the health care industry. Before joining Allina Health | Aetna, he was president of Molina Healthcare of South Carolina, where he developed and led a high performing team that consistently improved quality scores and health outcomes.

As the CEO of Canton & Company, Don McDaniel engages with pioneering healthcare firms across the industry, all striving to win in the new health economy. A true market-maker, he focuses on advancing innovation, elevating market positions, and connecting complementary players to disrupt and reshape the industry. Don is an industry leader and serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years’ experience. He has launched several healthcare businesses – including several industry-leading services firms.

Prior to founding Canton & Company, Don was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Sage Growth Partners, Vice Chairman and Chairman of Continuum Health, CEO of Lighthouse Risk Solutions, SVP and General Manager, Consulting of Northrop Grumman Health IT, Operating Partner of Venture Health Partnership Group, President of Ascendia Healthcare Management, and Vice President, Business Strategy of Bon Secours Health System. He started his career as the founder and CEO of a physician practice management company and a partner in a healthcare strategy and
information technology consulting firm. Don also had the great privilege of teaching health economics for almost 20 years at Carey Business School and the Bloomberg School of Public Health, both of The Johns Hopkins University.

Jeff joined Revel in early 2017 to define and lead the next strategic leap of the company. An experienced, innovation-centric CEO, Jeff leverages experience in health care and financial services technology to help the company meet the market where it is and where it is likely to be.

Jeff is credited with several growth technology successes including the foundation of Storyworks1 (now Insite Software) and Evolution1 (now WEX Health), one of the first and most successful organizations to introduce consumer-driven healthcare account technology based on a software-as-a-service model.

Jeff is passionate about customer experience methodologies, XaaS, population health initiatives, and modern software technologies.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Management from Drake University.

A Minnesota native and Eagle Scout, Jeff and his family are enthusiastic about connecting with nature, outdoor sports, travel and great food.

Melissa Kjolsing (coal-sing) is the cofounder and CEO of Recovree, a technology and services company dedicated to helping more people find recovery from substance use disorder through peer relationships. Working with employers, Recovree provides peer recovery coaching services to support and engage employees that are interested in changing the way they use drugs and alcohol.

Prior to launching Recovree, Melissa was the founding managing director of Lunar Startups, an incubator for underestimated entrepreneurs powered by the Knight Foundation and American Public Media. She also led the MN Cup for five years, the largest statewide startup competition in the country. She is responsible for scaling the program and positioning it as one of the pillars in Minnesota’s startup ecosystem.

Melissa has a background in business development and marketing having worked for The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the biosciences in Minnesota. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Minnesota State University, Mankato and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.

Dr. Patel trained at the University of Kansas Hospital in a combined Internal Medicine/Pediatric residency and Pulmonary/Critical Fellowship. He received a MBA from the Kelley School of business. He has served as Vice President of Ambulatory and Population Health for a large health system in Minneapolis, which eventually culminated into a system Chief Medical Officer role. “We are a healthcare company that will help medical practices achieve financial and technological means to deliver high quality care and improve patient satisfaction through better engagement of patients in their health. Being a physician I understand the challenges faced by my colleagues. Today’s healthcare environment is changing and this has created new obstacles for clinicians. I believe we have to create an environment that will allow us to practice medicine while maintaining the passion that led us into healthcare”

Dr. Marcus Schabacker became president and chief executive officer of ECRI Institute in January 2018. Dr. Schabacker is a board-certified anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist with more than 25 years of healthcare experience in complex global environments, and more than 18 years of senior leadership responsibilities serving the medical device and pharmaceutical industries across the healthcare value chain.

His experience includes designing, transforming, and leading organizations of up to 4,000 employees in companies including Baxter and Bristol Myers Squibb across five continents to provide safe and effective products to patients and healthcare providers worldwide. As part of his early career, Dr. Schabacker served as senior medical officer and head of the intensive care and anesthesia department at the Mafikeng General Hospital, North-West Province, South Africa. His work there was part of a humanitarian aid program to support the African National Congress government under Nelson Mandela in the restructuring and buildup of a rural healthcare system in post-apartheid South Africa.

Dr. Schabacker achieved his board certification in anesthesia and intensive care, as well as a doctorate in medicine from the Medical University, Lubeck, Germany. He also received certifications in emergency medicine and disaster medicine.

Dr. Michael D. Abramoff, MD, PhD, is a fellowship-trained retina specialist, computer scientist and entrepreneur. He is Founder and CEO of IDx Technologies, Inc., the first company ever to receive FDA clearance for an autonomous AI diagnostic system. In this capacity, as an expert on AI in healthcare, he has been invited to brief the US Congress, the White House, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 2010, Dr. Abramoff’s research findings led him to found IDx Technologies Inc. to bring to patients more affordable, more accessible, and higher quality healthcare. IDx is a leading AI diagnostics company on a mission to transform the affordability, quality, and accessibility of healthcare. The company is focused on developing clinically-aligned autonomous AI systems. By enabling diagnostic assessment in primary care settings, IDx aims to increase patient access to high-quality, affordable disease detection. In 2018, IDx became the first company ever to receive FDA clearance for an autonomous AI diagnostic system. The system, called IDx-DR, detects diabetic retinopathy without requiring a physician to interpret the results, and has been implemented widely in primary care clinics all over the US and in Europe. As a physician-scientists, Dr. Abramoff continues to treat patients with retinal disease and trains medical students, residents, and fellows, as well as engineering graduate students at the University of Iowa. Dr. Abramoff has published over 270 peer reviewed journal papers (h-index 59) on AI, image analysis, and retinal diseases, that have been cited over 28,000 times, as well as many book chapters. He is the inventor on US 17 patents and 5 patent applications on AI, medical imaging and image analysis.

Stephen Clark, also known as Steve has more than 30 years of experience in working with technology companies, governments and healthcare payers and providers in health care and technology evaluation, health economics, patient and consumer engagement, population health management, evidence-based medicine, real world data development and usage and third party payment and risk based assessments including bundled payments with physician groups. Mr. Clark’s current position is the US Commercial Lead for technology innovator Healthy.io. In this role, Mr. Clark is the first US employee and responsible for all aspects of the US market including clinical studies, client and market development,
partnership, new technology evaluation and reimbursement assessment and growing the US team. Mr. Clark previously served 13 years for the UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Life Sciences Data and Analytics team as Senior Vice President Head of Product Strategy and Commercialization, Chief Growth Officer and Chief Consultant for Market Access and Across UnitedHealth Care patient centered programs. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Mr. Clark had 20 years of experience in the medical device and federal policy and payer fields leading efforts in new product development, product launches, establishing payment policies for new technologies, engaging with patient and physician groups in technology assessments and adoption. He has led nationally recognized studies in such areas as biosimilars, AHRQ Evidence Assessments of medical devices in cardiac care, imaging, medical and genetics diagnostics, pulmonary, urology, gynecology and oncology as well as analysis and development of novel payment models for payments in new sites of service; ASC’s, office procedures, Outpatient payment and Skilled Nursing Facilities.. Mr. Clark has also been a member of the Office of the National Coordinators technology evaluation advisory council seeking to develop federal health and private payer policies to stimulate investment and adoption of innovation serving the patient.

Dr. Joseph (Joe) Smith serves as the chief executive officer of Digital Health Corp, which owns Reflexion Health and The Learning Corp. His background includes serving as the founding chief medical and science officer at the West Health Institute, president of the West Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and manager of the West Health Investment Fund. In addition to serving as a practicing cardiologist, he has held executive positions at J&J, Boston Scientific, and Guidant Corp. Dr. Smith holds bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins, a PhD from MIT, and an MD from Harvard Medical School.

Douglas brings over two decades of experience working in growth businesses that directly interface with the consumer or patient. He brings the learnings and experiences of what has proven to work as well as the experience of what might be done differently.

He operates as a partner with management, a strategic and measurement focused advisor, with access and relationships to a wide-range of people and organizations across the healthcare industry.

Douglas enjoys working in an environment filled with mutual respect, common goals and objectives and a clear sense of bringing Junction’s best and honest thinking for his partner clients to grow and build a sustainable business.

Aly is a Partner at Radian Capital. Prior to Radian, she focused on enterprise technology and services investments at FTV Capital and healthcare and retail investments at TA Associates. Selected investments at predecessor firms include LiveIntent, MarketsandMarkets, MarketShare Partners, MedSolutions (nka eviCore healthcare), and Senior Whole Health. Aly received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University

Tom draws upon his extensive healthcare experience as a physician and healthcare executive to identify medical device and health IT companies that improve patient outcomes and decrease healthcare costs. He currently serves as a board director for Aira Tech Corp, Fifth Eye, Lucina Health, and SonarMD and led Arboretum’s investment in nVision Medical, which was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2018. At ArborMetrix, an Arboretum portfolio company, he led the development of the clinical strategy as Chief Medical Officer during a major product launch.

Prior to joining Arboretum in 2014, Tom served as a member of Arboretum’s Technical Advisory Board. He practiced medicine for 15 years as a gastroenterologist serving as Chair of Medicine at Integrated Health Associates (IHA), a multi-specialty group consisting of 300+ providers, and as Chief of Staff at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital for more than 1,000 physicians. Tom is engaged as board member for several healthcare innovation initiatives including the Cleveland Clinic Medical Device Advisory Council and the Center for Machine Learning and Health at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the current Chairman of the Michigan Venture Capital Association.

Tom earned an M.D. from Wayne State University, completed his post-graduate medical training at the University of Michigan, and earned a Master of Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Blake joined NEA in 2014 and focuses on investments in healthcare services, healthcare IT, and biopharmaceuticals. He is also a member of NEA’s Asia investing team and is involved with the firm’s healthcare investments in the region. Prior to NEA, Blake was a member of the private equity group at Ares Management, focused on investments in healthcare. Blake’s prior work experience also includes investment banking at Moelis & Company, where he was focused on transactions in healthcare, as well as equity research at Barclays Capital. Blake graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S in economics with concentrations in Finance, Real Estate and Management.

Jeremy, co-founder and CEO of Sansoro Health, now known as Datica, brings over 25 years of experience in strategically guiding organizations, strengthening operations and leading successful teams. Previously, Jeremy served as CIO for Leidos Health. From 2002 to 2011, as a Principal and Owner of Validus Consulting, Jeremy led successful EHR implementations for Stanford Health, Tampa General Hospital, and Allina Health, growing the company to over $14 million. Jeremy serves on the boards of MinnPost and the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota. He received his MBA and MHA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, and his BA from Brown University.

Ben Freeberg is a Vice President at Optum Ventures where he leads diligence on Seed through Series C investments in addition to portfolio company support. Optum Ventures is a $600m fund focusing on early stage Healthcare IT companies. Prior to joining Optum Ventures, Ben was a senior associate at Alpha Venture Partners (AVP), where he managed their venture network and led company diligence. While there, Ben sourced Seed through Series B deals and curated events for Pritzker Group VC, whom AVP advises. Prior to AVP, Ben was an investment banking analyst at Peter J. Solomon Company, working with their Technology and Media M&A group and Restructuring division. Ben graduated from Duke University with a B.Sc. in Economics.

Blake joined NEA in 2014 and focuses on investments in healthcare services, healthcare IT, and biopharmaceuticals. He is also a member of NEA’s Asia investing team and is involved with the firm’s healthcare investments in the region. Prior to NEA, Blake was a member of the private equity group at Ares Management, focused on investments in healthcare. Blake’s prior work experience also includes investment banking at Moelis & Company, where he was focused on transactions in healthcare, as well as equity research at Barclays Capital. Blake graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S in economics with concentrations in Finance, Real Estate and Management.

Pamela is the co-founder and general partner of Capita3, a venture capital group for unleashing an infusion of capital into women-led startups, and she has more than 25 years of experience as an inventor, entrepreneur, investor, and portfolio manager.

Pamela has experienced ~40x ROI in two startup exits, helped raise tens of millions in venture capital financing from Sand Hill Road investors, and pioneered innovations enabling millions of dollars in sales and hundreds of millions in company exit value. She also led the University of Iowa’s technology commercialization foundation, where she managed a portfolio of 1000+ technologies, built a startup ecosystem from scratch, and oversaw the formation of dozens of startups that raised $150M in follow-on capital with several exits totaling over $200M in value to date.

Pamela is currently the Board Chair of CoreBiome Inc., an investor in the Sofia Fund, adjunct faculty instructor for the University of Minnesota NSF I-CORPs lean startup program, a mentor for the Women’s Startup Lab Accelerator, co-founder of the Minnesota Women Entrepreneurs (WE*) movement and a commercial reviewer for the National Science Foundation SBIR program. She has a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, and holds numerous patents.

Arundhati Parmar is VP and Editor-in-Chief at MedCity News. Previously she was senior editor at UBM’s Medical Device + Diagnostic Industry and has been a business journalist for more than a decade. Arundhati has three degrees from three continents – a Bachelor of Arts in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; a Masters in English Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia and a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. She has sworn never to enter a classroom again.