Bob Higgins
General Partner
Highland Capital Partners

Bob has more than twenty-five years of experience in venture capital and has served as a director of many public and private companies. He is a former director of the National Venture Capital Association and President of the New England Venture Capital Association. In addition, Bob has been recognized by the prestigious Forbes Midas List as one of the top venture capitalists in the industry, and has earned the 2008 HBS Healthcare Alumni Achievement Award.

Bob has been an investor in many successful healthcare service, medical device and biotechnology companies. Some of the services companies he has backed are Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH), Mariner Health Group (IPO/acquired), New England Critical Care (IPO/acquired), Renal Treatment Centers (IPO/acquired) and U.S. Labs (acquired). Bob's medical technology investments include AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Codon Devices, Conor Medsystems (IPO/acquired), Generation Health, Helicos BioSciences (Nasdaq: HLCS), iZumi, Magen BioSciences, Mitotix (Neuer Market: GPC Biotech AG), Origin Medsystems (acquired), PerSeptive Biosystems (IPO/acquired), Pervasis Therapeutics, PRAECIS PHARMACEUTICALS (Nasdaq: PRCS) and RedBrick Health. Before co-founding Highland, Bob was a general partner at a Boston-based venture capital partnership. Immediately prior to entering venture capital, he spent four years as the Executive Director of the John A. Hartford Foundation. He also was the Chief Executive of the Clark Foundation and the Burden Foundation. Bob is a former Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and an Assistant to the head of the international division of the U.S. Treasury.

Bob hold an A.B., History, from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

John G. Freund, MD
Founder and Managing Director
Skyline Ventures

John has been involved in founding, financing, managing and advising healthcare companies since 1982. He began his career at Morgan Stanley in New York, where he co-founded the Healthcare Group in the Corporate Finance Department and was later the original healthcare partner at Morgan Stanley Ventures. He then was an operating executive for six years as Executive Vice President of Acuson Corporation (an NYSE-traded company that is now part of Siemens), where he ran Marketing and led the cross-functional management of the company's product introductions. In 1995, he licensed the technology that served as the core of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG), co-founded Intuitive and raised its initial venture capital. He then spent two years as the West Coast partner at the Private Equity group of Chancellor Capital Management (now INVESCO), before founding Skyline in 1997. He has experience with most of the major sectors of the healthcare investment market including medical devices, information technology, small molecule and protein therapeutics, biochips and diagnostics.

He received a B.A. from Harvard College, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and won the Loeb Fellowship in Finance. He was the co-author of The Official MBA Handbook, which spent 16 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1982. He loves golf and tennis, and is an ardent New York Yankee fan, always a problem at Skyline when the Bombers play the Red Sox.

Andrew Farquharson
Director
InCube Ventures

Andrew is an investor and entrepreneur with 17 years of experience building, restructuring and acquiring companies in life science arena. A founding member of InCube Ventures, Andrew is also an active advisor to InCube Labs, LLC.

Prior to joining InCube, Andrew was an active investor with The Angels’ Forum and a Partner in the Halo Funds, where he completed a Kauffman Fellowship and led investments in a portfolio of life science firms. These investments include Intrapace (obesity), Penumbra (ischemic stroke), Sonoma Orthopedic Products (bone repair), SwitchGear Genomics (gene regulation) & Spinal Modulation (pain management).

Earlier in his career, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of sales, marketing and research for QIAGEN Operon. During his tenure there, Andrew built a global sales force from scratch and launched the world's first microarray products for whole-genome analysis of the malaria and tuberculosis genomes. Along the way, he grew revenues of synthetic DNA products from $13 to $40M in two years, and played a key role in selling the business for nine figures. He subsequently acquired a company in Japan for QIAGEN, and restructured the genomics sales force of the merged entities. In his earlier career, Andrew held several roles in research operations at Genentech, Inc. and co-founded a gene design business in agricultural biotechnology. He has also founded several other companies, sat on a range of boards, and developed strategies for healthcare firms as a consultant.

Andrew holds a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s with high honors from the University of California at Berkeley.

Kevin Bitterman
Principal
Polaris Ventures

Kevin J. Bitterman is a principal in the Boston office of Polaris Ventures. Kevin joined Polaris in July 2004 and focuses on investments in the life sciences. Prior to joining Polaris, Kevin completed his Ph.D. in genetics at Harvard Medical School under the guidance of Dr. David Sinclair. His doctoral research focused on small molecule regulation of a novel class of protein deacetylases. Kevin has authored papers in the journals Nature, Science and Molecular Cell and is a cofounder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.

Kevin currently represents Polaris as a Director of Biolex Therapeutics, Certus Biomedical, Follica Inc., Genocea Biosciences, Parasol Therapeutics and Solace Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, Kevin is a Board Observer to Pulmatrix Inc. and Tempo Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to obtaining his Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School, Kevin earned a B.A. with Highest Honors from Rutgers College with a major in Biological Sciences and a minor in Philosophy.

Jessica Owens
Partner
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Jessica Owens joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 2006. Jessica focuses on investments in consumer medicine, biotech, and diagnostics. Since joining the firm, she has worked across KPCB’s initiatives in life sciences and pandemic preparedness. Jessica has been instrumental in the founding of five start-up companies in the areas of antivirals, oncology, consumer medicine, neuromodulation, and diagnostics.

Jessica brings a diversity of experience from positions on Wall Street, in the biotech industry, and in scientific research. Previously, Jessica worked in equity research at Thomas Weisel Partners covering the diagnostics sector. She also worked in corporate finance as part of the life sciences investment banking team at Robertson Stephens. In addition, Jessica worked in Oncology R&D Project Finance at Genentech. As a scientist, Jessica conducted research for four years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Special Pathogens Branch. Her work resulted in the discovery of genetic shift among Hantavirus strains. She also developed PCR-based diagnostic assays for the detection of rare infectious diseases. At Stanford, Jessica conducted research in the Department of Cancer Biology on tumor suppressor genes and cell cycle checkpoint proteins.

Jessica serves on the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Industrial Advisory Board and is a member of the twelfth class of the Kauffman Fellows Program. She received an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS from the Department of Cancer Biology at Stanford University, and a BA in Biology from Agnes Scott College.

Andrey Zarur
General Partner
Kodiak Venture Partners

Andrey Zarur, Ph.D., brings more than 15 years of operating and investing experience to Kodiak. Most recently, he founded, and served as CEO for BioProcessors, a provider of high-throughput solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry. During his tenure, the company raised more than $40M in venture capital and closed significant deals with several of the world's most prominent biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. As a General Partner at Kodiak, he focuses on the intersection of life sciences and technology. Andrey represents Kodiak on the boards of Fluxion, K-Motion Interactive and Weather Trends, and is Chairman of Allegro Diagnostics.

Prior to founding BioProcessors in 2001, Andrey served in a number of key positions in the life sciences and technology industries. Some of these included operational, executive and investor or board member for start-up companies involved in bioinformatics, genomics, medical devices, nanotechnology-derived materials and energy systems including Starlab N/V, GDI and StarSoft.

In addition to being on the Board of Directors of BioProcessors, he serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Anecova and StemLife, and is on the Board of Infantia, a foundation dedicated to providing education and services for underprivileged children in developing countries. Andrey is also a Young Global Leader and member of the Climate Change Taskforce of the World Economic Forum, and a member of the Board of Trustee's at Boston's Museum of Science.

Andrey holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute's Sloan School of Management.

Wayne A. Rosenkrans, Jr., Ph.D.
Chairman & President
Personalized Medicine Coalition

Wayne is a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Biomedical Innovation at MIT working on healthcare strategy and policy issues related to science and medicine. He is also Chairman, President and a member of the board of directors of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, a Washington DC based organization working with government and other agencies on evolving healthcare policy for Personalized Healthcare, Chief Applications Officer for SciTech Strategies focusing on scientific competency and capacity development for academia and industry, and VP Healthcare Strategy at Fuld and Co focusing on strategic simulations in healthcare. He is a former Director of External Relations for the Personalized Healthcare Team and Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) as part of External Medical Relations at AstraZeneca where he had responsibility for long-range external relations strategy and policy development. He has presented at numerous forums on aspects of personalized healthcare, evidence-based medicine, new development paradigms, and strategy development. He holds an S.B. in Biology from MIT, a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Boston Univ., and received post-doctoral training in Cancer and Radiation Biology at the Univ. of Rochester. Wayne lives in Malvern, PA, is married with two college-age children, and enjoys teaching martial arts (Tang Soo Do), restoring antique/classic Fords, and aviation history.

Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D.
Managing Partner and CEO
Flagship Ventures

Noubar Afeyan is Managing Partner and CEO Flagship Ventures, a firm he co-founded in 2000. He is also a Senior Lecturer at MIT in both the Sloan School of Management and the Biological Engineering Department. Dr. Afeyan has authored numerous scientific publications as well as patents since earning his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987.

A technologist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Dr. Afeyan has co-founded and helped build 20 successful life science and technology ventures during the past two decades. He was founder and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems (Nasdaq: PBIO), a leader in the bio-instrumentation field. After PerSeptive's acquisition by Applera Corporation (NYSE: ABI), he was Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics (Nasdaq: CRA).

Dr. Afeyan was previously founding director and investor in several successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals, Color Kinetics, Antigenics, EXACT Sciences and Adnexus Therapeutics, and currently serves on a number of public and private company boards. He is a Director and part of the founding team for Flagship portfolio companies Affinnova, BG Medicine, Codon Devices, Ensemble Discovery, Genstruct, Helicos BioSciences (NASDAQ:HLCS) and LS9. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of Boston University, the Board of Visitors of Boston University School of Medicine, and the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of several advisory boards including the Whitehead Institute at MIT, the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and the SKOLKOVO School of Management in Moscow. Dr. Afeyan is co-founder and board member of Armenia 2020, an international economic development project focusing on the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. He was honored in 2008 as one of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients, recognizing his contributions to the local community as well as his extensive role in supporting long range visions for the country of Armenia, its business environment and culture, and world-wide understanding and awareness of Armenian issues.

Raju Kucherlapati, Ph.D.
Scientific Director Emeritus
Harvard Medical School-Partners HealthCare Center for Genetics and Genomics

Raju Kucherlapati came to the United States in 1967 after receiving his B.S. in Biology at P.R. College, Kakinada, India and his M.S. in Biology at Andhra University, Waltair, India. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana and did his post-doctoral work in the lab of Frank Ruddle at Yale University. He was assistant professor in the Department of Biochemical Sciences at Princeton University, then became professor in the Department of Genetics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. In 1989 Dr. Kucherlapati went to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he was the Lola and Saul Kramer Professor of Molecular Genetics and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics, a position he held for eleven years. In 2001 Dr. Kucherlapati became the Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners HealthCare Center for Genetics and Genomics (HPCGG).

At HPCGG Dr. Kucherlapati is devoting his energies to advancing the cause of personalized medicine. Under his direction HPCGG launched initiatives that resulted in a large number of novel molecular diagnostics; built new information technology programs that captured the results of clinical and basic genetic research in structured formats that could then be applied meaningfully in clinical decision making that would benefit diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients. He also strengthened and developed new training and educational programs for physicians, scientists, healthcare professionals, patients, and others in human genetics and genomics and the application of genetics in healthcare.

Dr. Kucherlapati contributed to several different areas of research. These include human gene mapping, generation of physical maps of the human genome with special emphasis on human chromosome 12, development of techniques to modify genes in mammalian cells and in cloning many human disease genes. To date he holds 12 patents. He was a member of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research at the National Human Genomics Research Institute, was a co-chair of the steering committee for the National Cancer Institute’s Mouse Models for Human Cancer Consortium. He served on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and was editor in chief of the journal Genomics. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Dr. Kucherlapati was a founder of Cell Genesys, Abgenix and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He currently serves on the boards of privately held AVEO Pharmaceuticals and Enlight Biosciences.

Teresa M. DeLuca, MD, MBA
Vice President, Personalized Medicine
Medco Health Solutions

Dr. Teresa DeLuca is Vice President, Personalized Medicine, at Medco Health Solutions, Inc., the nation's leading pharmacy benefit manager. In this role, she provides comprehensive medical and business leadership for the design and development of personalized medicine services to ensure the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective pharmacy benefits for Medco’s clients and members.

Dr. DeLuca and her team provide the medical expertise necessary to develop policies and programs that promote best medical practices. They lead the clinical advisory boards that provide independent external review of Medco’s medical programs and laboratory network which includes the Laboratory &Therapeutics Committee. In addition, they manage member health information and develop member and client communications, including Medco's annual Drug Trend Report.

Dr. DeLuca also provides clinical guidance to enhance client relationships and showcase the company's clinical and business capabilities to internal and external customers.

Prior to Medco, Dr. DeLuca held senior director positions at PRA International (a clinical research organization), GlaxoSmithKline, and Premier Health Care.

Dr. DeLuca is a New York state delegate to the American Medical Association where she has helped draft AMA amendments and resolutions laying groundwork for legislation. She received her MBA in Management from Drexel University and completed her residency at Thomas Jefferson University. She is a certified psycho-pharmacologist with the American College of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Mara Aspinall
President
Genzyme Genetics

Mara Aspinall is a biotechnology executive with focus and experience in oncology, diagnostics and personalized medicine. She is currently on sabbatical from Genzyme working at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute on the implementation of personalized medicine into physician education, clinical practice and research. For the last seven years, Mara was President of Genzyme Genetics, a leading provider of testing and consultative services in the oncology and reproductive markets. Genzyme Genetics is a business unit of Genzyme Corporation, one of the world's largest biotechnology firms with more than 10,000 employees and $4 billion in revenue.

Under Mara's leadership, Genzyme Genetics set the standard for quality in the industry, while growing the business at an unprecedented pace. She transformed the business – expanding its scope and market reach to become one of the nation’s largest diagnostic laboratories. The division successfully completed and integrated four acquisitions, broadened the depth and breadth of research and development and initiated new programs for community outreach and education.

She is an active member of the Federal Secretary of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Commission on Genetics, Health and Society as well as Vice Chairman of the Personalized Medicine Coalition. In 2007, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engeering. Most recently, she co-authored, “Realizing the Promise of Personalized Medicine” in Harvard Business Review.

Mara previously served as President of another Genzyme division, Genzyme Pharmaceuticals. In her four years as President, she restructured the business from generic drug manufacturing to value-added custom production. She built a new international management team that created more than 25% annual growth.

Mara is currently Chairman of the Board of Predictive Biosciences, a Massachusetts based venture backed company creating innovative, non-invasive diagnostics for cancer patients.

Mara started her business career at Bain & Company, an international strategic consulting firm. A graduate of Tufts Unversity, Mara’s majored in International Relations (Class of 1983). Her Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School (’87) was enriched with the John P. Stevens Prize for leadership.

Arthur A. Daemmrich
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School

Arthur Daemmrich is an assistant professor in the Business, Government and the International Economy Unit and a faculty member of the HBS Healthcare Initiative. His research examines science, medicine and the state, with a focus on advancing theories of risk and regulation through empirical research on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical sectors.

Based on interdisciplinary training and interests, Daemmrich has published on regulation, innovation, and science, technology, and business policy in diverse scholarly and trade journals. His first book, Pharmacopolitics (2004), compared drug regulation in the United States and Germany, with a focus on regulatory laws, clinical trials, and adverse reaction reporting systems in the two countries. His edited volume, Perspectives on Risk and Regulation: The FDA at 100 (2007) drew on contributions by FDA officials and industry leaders to explore current and future trends in the regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, and dietary supplements. Daemmrich is currently writing a book comparing voluntary and command-and-control regulatory styles in the U.S. and EU, drawing on research into new testing programs for chemicals in our bodies and in the environment. He is also initiating a research project on healthcare and information technology that will compare internationally the legal and regulatory boundaries put on the commercialization of biomedical information and explore implications for companies developing personalized health products and services.

Before joining the HBS faculty in 2007, Daemmrich was the founding director of the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia, where he led a group carrying out theoretical and applied work on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific and industrial infrastructure. He holds a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University (2002) and a B.A. in History and Sociology of Science and German Literature (dual-degree) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Skip Irving
Partner and Managing Director
Health Advances, LLC

Skip Irving is a Partner and Managing Director of Health Advances, LLC, a 50-person, healthcare product-focused management consulting firm based in Weston, Massachusetts. Skip has spent more than twenty years advising companies on business strategy, technology commercialization, R&D planning, and mergers and acquisitions in the medical products industry.

Prior to joining Health Advances, Skip helped found seven life sciences companies as Vice President for Commercial Development at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Institute (MBRI). Earlier in his career, Skip founded and led the pharmaceutical consulting practice for Arthur D. Little, Inc. He has also previously worked in manufacturing and product development for AstraZeneca, and he contributed to the founding of t. Breeders, Inc., which eventually became ViaCell, Inc. and was purchased by Perkin Elmer.

Leveraging his knowledge of the biopharma industry, Skip has developed a practice advising not-for-profit disease organizations on their investments and relationships with industry. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Skip graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and earned his MBA at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Sarah Cairns-Smith
Partner and Managing Director
The Boston Consulting Group

Sarah Cairns-Smith received her PhD in Biochemistry from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London. She was a post-doctoral research scientist with a Muscular Dystrophy Association fellowship in the Center for Neurobiology at Columbia University. She then completed the MBA program at Columbia Business School (Distinction) and during this period she worked as an investment manager in venture capital with Schroder Ventures/Collinson Howe Lennox. Since joining The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1996, she has worked primarily in drug R&D for biopharmaceutical companies and foundations. She has been based in the Boston and Paris offices. She is also a member of BCG's global health leadership team.

Mark Goulet, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Drug Discovery & Optimization
Merck Research Labs

Mark Goulet received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1983 and in 1988 obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale University working with Professor Stuart Schreiber. Following graduate school he joined Merck Research Laboratories at the Rahway, New Jersey, site in the department of Medicinal Chemistry. While at Rahway he had the chance to both conduct research and lead medicinal chemistry teams working to develop new therapies for organ transplant rejection, endometriosis, obesity and atherosclerosis. In 2004 Dr. Goulet moved to Boston at the opening of Merck's new research facility. At MRL Boston, he serves as Head of the Drug Design & Optimization. He has contributed to the authorship of over 50 peer-reviewed articles and is an inventor on 45 issued U.S. patents.

William Annett
Director
Genentech

Originally from Vancouver BC, William Annett received his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1997. His career has focused on rapid growth situations in the life sciences industry. He has developed 4 early stage companies, including founding a company, taking it public on NASDAQ and running it for 6 years. Since 2003 he has had a number of positions at Genentech, including head of Commercial Strategy, Director of R&D Finance, and Director of the Commercial Blueprint Initiative. In the latter role, Mr. Annett is responsible for an ongoing 3 year, $150 million initiative which is replacing the Commercial organization's current IT infrastructure with a fully integrated platform featuring robust capabilities, greater simplicity and increased efficiencies.

Michael Canning
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP

Mike specializes in strategy and operational improvement in health care. Throughout the past 17 years, Mike has collaborated with health care clients throughout the United States on strategy development and transformation plans, implementation of large-scale projects, reengineering and operations improvements, as well as merger and acquisition activities. Mike has served as the lead client service principal for a number of Deloitte Consulting's largest health care clients, with a consistent track record of client service. Mike also leads the Boston office's Strategy and Operations practice. He earned a BA in economics from Oberlin College and a bachelor of music degree in organ performance from Oberlin Conservatory, where he completed his economic honors thesis on the Labor Market for Registered Nurses and was awarded the Shelby Houston prize for top graduate of the organ performance class. In addition, Mike earned a MBA degree from the University of Chicago with a focus on finance.

Kelly Victory, MD, MS
President
Victory Health

Kelly Victory is a residency-trained, board certified trauma and emergency specialist with over 15 years of clinical experience. She served as the Chief Medical Officer for Whole Health Management for more than 5 years before leading their new Health & Wellness Division, Live Whole Health. During that time, she led the medical team of over 800 health professionals in the delivery of on-site health and wellness services. She developed innovative health risk and disease management programs that generated superior clinical outcomes for patients. Kelly is an expert in disaster preparedness and the medical management of mass casualties, as well as quality assurance programs. Prior to Whole Health, she founded a medical-legal consulting firm and was a principle in an investment banking firm and lead efforts to raise funds for healthcare companies. She holds a BS from Duke University, did post graduate study in literature at Oxford University, England, has an MS in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois, and received her Medical Degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Kelly currently serves on the Board of Lake Erie College, the Golden Age Centers of NE Ohio and Town Hall of Cleveland. She is a guest lecturer at the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association Conference. Kelly has been recognized by several organizations in NE Ohio for her leadership in entrepreneurial ventures.

Graham Gardner, MD
Principal
Highland Capital

Graham is a Principal in Highland’s Lexington office, focusing on healthcare investments and specializing in medical devices and healthcare IT. Graham is on the board of Generation Health and is actively involved in Highland investments in Codon Devices, Pervasis Therapeutics and RedBrick Health. Prior to joining Highland, Graham completed his training in internal medicine and cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School where he also served as chief medical resident. He is the author of several peer-reviewed scientific articles and co-patented a medical device designed to provide hemodynamic support to patients with end-stage heart failure. In the past, Graham has served as a consultant to several pharmaceutical and medical device companies including Boston Scientific where he worked with the Corporate eMarketing Group to develop a physician extranet. Graham is currently a member of the Kauffman Fellows Class 12 under mentor Bob Higgins. He received his undergraduate degree in History and Biology from Brown University as well as completing his MD at Brown Medical School. Graham also received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Rick Gilfillan, MD, MBA
CEO and President
Geisinger Health Plan

Richard J. Gilfillan is President and CEO of Geisinger Health Plan and Executive Vice President for System Insurance Operations at the Geisinger Health System. Dr. Gilfillan is responsible for Geisinger¹s three managed care companies that provide a full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare beneficiaries. With $1B in revenues, GHP and its affiliates provide health coverage to more than 225,000 members. Previously, Dr. Gilfillan was the Senior Vice President for National Network Management at Coventry Health Care. Dr. Gilfillan has also served as the Chief Medical Officer for Independence Blue Cross and as general manager for AmeriHealth New Jersey. A former family practitioner, Dr. Gilfillan received his MD and undergraduate degrees from Georgetown University as well as his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

David Torchiana, MD
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Massachusetts General Physicians Organization

David Torchiana, MD, is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO). The MGPO, associated with Massachusetts General Hospital, is a member of the Partners HealthCare System and a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The organization is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation and the largest physician group practice in New England, representing more than 1,500 physicians. Dr. Torchiana graduated from Yale College in 1976 and Harvard Medical School in 1981. He completed residencies in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital before joining the Department of Surgery in 1989. Dr. Torchiana became chief of cardiac surgery at Mass General in 1998 and chief executive officer of the MGPO in 2003.

Richard G. Hamermesh
MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice
Harvard Business School

Richard Hamermesh is the MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School where he teaches in the MBA Program and is the Faculty Chair of the HBS Healthcare Initiative. Richard created and teaches the second-year MBA elective, Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital in Healthcare. From 1987 to 2001, Richard was a co-founder and Managing Partner of The Center for Executive Development, an executive education and development consulting firm. Prior to this, from 1976 to 1987, he was a member of the faculty at Harvard Business School.

Richard is an active investor and entrepreneur, having participated as principal, director, and investor in the founding and early stages of over 20 organizations, including start-ups, leveraged buy-outs, industry roll-ups, and non-profit foundations. From 1991 to 1996, he was the founding Chairman of Synthes Spine, Inc. Richard is the author or co-author of five books, including New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur. His best-known book, Fad-Free Management, was published in 1996. Richard received his AB from the University of California, and his MBA and DBA from HBS.

Gregory T. Lucier
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Life Technologies

Gregory T. Lucier serves as Chief Executive Officer of Life Technologies and as Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors. Previously, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Invitrogen Corporation, which merged with Applied Biosystems in November 2008 to form Life Technologies. The Company is one of the largest providers of systems, biological reagents, and services, supplying scientists around the world in every way that life science technologies are applied. The company aims to improve the human condition by enabling basic research, accelerating drug discovery and development, and advancing scientific exploration in areas such as regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st century forensics. Mr. Lucier has leveraged his background in healthcare management to prepare the company to participate in and shape the new era of personalized medicine.

Mr. Lucier is currently Chairman of BIOCOM, serves on the BIO Board of Directors as well as on the board of the Burnham Institute of Medical Research. He is actively involved at San Diego State University as a distinguished lecturer. He received his B.S. in Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from HBS.

Richard Ganz
President and Chief Executive Officer
OmniSonics Medical Technologies

Mr. Ganz joined OmniSonics Medical Technologies in June 2004 as President and Chief Executive Officer and brings to OmniSonics more than 25 years of sales and marketing, operations, and general management experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. OmniSonics is a privately-held medical device company focused on bringing breakthrough products for vascular occlusive disease to market. The Company’s patented OmniWave ™ Technology is the first technology that enables the delivery of acoustic energy over the entire active length of a small diameter wire. OmniWave is designed to have broad applications in peripheral vascular disease, which afflict millions of people worldwide.

Prior to OmniSonics, Mr. Ganz served as President of the North American Renal Division for Baxter International, Inc., a global medical products and services company with expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. He has also held executive positions with Abbott Laboratories, a global health care company, including Division Vice President and General Manager of its Vascular Medicine business. Mr. Ganz received his MBA from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. He also serves as a director on the board of MassMEDIC.

Samuel Leno
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Boston Scientific

Sam R. Leno is Executive Vice President of Finance and Information Systems and Chief Financial Officer at Boston Scientific Corporation. Sam joined the Company in 2007. Previously, Sam served as the Executive Vice President, Finance and Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer at Zimmer Holdings, Inc., a position to which he was appointed in December 2005. From October 2003 to December 2005, he served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance and Operations, and Chief Financial Officer of Zimmer. From July 2001 to October 2003, Sam served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Zimmer. Prior to joining Zimmer, Sam served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Arrow Electronics, Inc. from March 1999 until he joined Zimmer. Between 1971 and March 1999, he held various chief financial officer and other financial positions with several U.S. based companies. He previously served as a U.S. Naval Officer. Sam earned a B.S. in Accounting from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Roosevelt University.

Kevin G. Connors
General Partner
Spray Venture Partners

Kevin Connors is an accomplished entrepreneur and venture investor. He has co-founded seven healthcare technology companies, and has had interim CEO roles in nine. These companies have focused on developing proprietary technology to address large un-met medical needs, such as emphysema, low back pain, cerebral aneurysm, and bladder dysfunction.

Prior to founding Spray Venture Partners in 1996, Kevin was the founding CEO of Vesica Medical, a company focused on the surgical treatment of female urinary incontinence. Under this leadership, Vesica realized product sales within 18 months of formation and was acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation in 1995. Prior to Vesica, Kevin led medical device investment activity at DSV Partners in Newport Beach, California. Kevin is on the Board of Directors of the New England Venture Capital Association and MassMEDIC, the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council. He has served on the Board of Directors of Vesica Medical, Inc. (acquired by Boston Scientific), Masimo Corp., Pilot Cardiovascular (acquired by CR Bard), Circe Biomedical (acquired by ICN Pharmaceuticals), Gamera Bioscience (acquired by Tecan AG), and Endonetics (acquired by Medtronic).

He currently serves on the board of Intrinsic Orthopedics, Facet Solutions, Leptos Biomedical, Solace Therapeutics, Highgate Orthopedics, and Cascade Ophthalmics. Kevin received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Dayton, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

John E. McDonough, DrPH, MPA
Senior Advisor, National Health Reform
Senator Edward M. Kennedy

John E. McDonough, DrPH, MPA is Senior Advisor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on National Health Reform. Between 2003 and 2008, he served as Executive Director of Health Care For All, Massachusetts' leading consumer health advocacy organization. From 1998 through 2003, he was an Associate Professor at the Heller School at Brandeis University. From 1985 to 1997, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he co-chaired the Joint Committee on Health Care.

He is an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health. His articles have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs and other journals. He has written two books, Experiencing Politics: A Legislator's Stories of Government and Health Care by the University of California Press and the Milbank Fund in 2000, and Interests, Ideas, and Deregulation: The Fate of Hospital Rate Setting by the University of Michigan Press in 1998.

He received a doctorate in public health from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan in 1996 and a master's in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1990. He lives in Brookline with his wife, Janice Furlong.

John D. Halamka, MD, MS
Chief Information Officer
CareGroup Health System

John D. Halamka, MD, MS, is Chief Information Officer of the CareGroup Health System, Chief Information Officer and Dean for Technology at Harvard Medical School, Chairman of the New England Health Electronic Data Interchange Network (NEHEN), CEO of MA-SHARE (the Regional Health Information Organization), Chair of the US Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), and a practicing Emergency Physician.

As Chief Information Officer at CareGroup, he is responsible for all clinical, financial, administrative and academic information technology serving 3000 doctors, 14000 employees and two million patients. As Chief Information Officer and Dean for Technology at Harvard Medical School, he oversees all educational, research and administrative computing for 18000 faculty and 3000 students. As Chairman of NEHEN he oversees the administrative data exchange in Massachusetts. As CEO of MA-SHARE he oversees the clinical data exchange efforts in Massachusetts. As Chair of HITSP he coordinates the process of electronic standards harmonization among stakeholders nationwide.

Todd McCracken
President
National Small Business Association

Todd McCracken currently serves as president of National Small Business Association (NSBA), directing all activities of the advocacy-oriented association. Mr. McCracken became president of NSBA in 1997. Mr. McCracken started with the association in 1988, previously serving as vice president of government affairs.

Mr. McCracken is a registered lobbyist before the U.S. Congress, representing the organization in myriad settings. As director of its government affairs arm, Mr. McCracken plays a key role in developing NSBA's policies on issues and the strategic implementation of them. Since coming to the association, Mr. McCracken has testified before Congress numerous times about issues ranging from fundamental health care reform to tax code restructuring.

Mr. McCracken also is a frequent commentator in the media, having appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and NBC Nightly News as well as in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and myriad other publications.

As a non-partisan organization, NSBA works proactively with elected and administration officials to promote policies that support small business growth and development. NSBA is the nation’s oldest small business organization. It was founded in 1937.

A native of New Mexico, Mr. McCracken is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a B.A. in Economics.

François de Brantes, MS, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Bridges To Excellence

François de Brantes is the CEO for Bridges To Excellence (BTE), a national program focused on rewarding physicians for better quality care. In that capacity, Mr. de Brantes is responsible for setting and implementing BTE’s strategy. He is also the National Coordinator for PROMETHEUS Payment®, responsible for coordinating the implementation of the program, from data modeling of the Evidence-informed Case Rates® to the operationalization of pilot sites. Prior to that, Mr. de Brantes was the Program Leader for various healthcare initiatives at GE Corporate Health Care Programs, responsible for developing the conceptual framework and the implementation of GE's Active Consumer strategy.

Mr. de Brantes is a member of the NQF’s Committee on Efficiency Measurement, the NCQA’s Committee on Physician Performance, and AHRQ’s HCUP Steering Committee. He lectures at the University of Connecticut, Wharton, and Harvard.

Mr. de Brantes attended the University of Paris IX - Dauphine where he earned a MS in Economics and Finance. After completing his military service as a platoon leader in a Light Cavalry Regiment, he attended the Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with an MBA.