Member Directory

Aaron is a medical informatics expert and entrepreneur with 35 years of experience focused on healthcare and medical research. 

After his mother suffered for 10 years before being diagnosed with Sjögren’s disease, he decided to build a registry for all autoimmune diseases to improve diagnosis by researching statistics on all autoimmune diseases.

In 2025, along with a distinguished team of 26 doctors and data scientists, published the landmark 2025 paper, “Estimation of prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the United States” showing prevalence of 15.5 million individuals in the US with autoimmune disease.

Aaron is a member of the Yale School of Medicine Institutional Review Board and he serves on the Advisory Panel for the NIH All of Us program.  Aaron earned a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from Columbia University and studied biomedical informatics at Stanford University. 

C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, MACC, FAHA, FESC holds the Women's Guild Endowed Chair in Women's Health, and is Director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center, the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Health Program, and the Preventive Cardiac Center at the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, where she is also a Professor of Medicine. Dr. Bairey Merz received her bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and her medical degree from Harvard University, with subsequent training at University of California San Francisco and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. An internationally-recognized pioneer and leader in cardiovascular research, advocacy, and education, Dr. Bairey Merz has been at the forefront of many women’s heart health research initiatives and has been educating women on how to recognize female-pattern heart disease symptoms. Her research interests include women and heart disease, mental stress and heart disease, the role of exercise, nutrition, cholesterol, and stress management in reversing heart disease, and adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular disease. Currently, she is chair and principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored WISE (Women's Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation) initiative, which is investigating potential methods for more effective diagnosis and evaluation of ischemic heart disease in women.

Shay Beider is the founder and CEO of Integrative Touch (InTouch), a non-profit organization that operates an international healing center for individuals experiencing high impact trauma and illness. She pioneered the “Health-caring” wellness model and Integrative Touch™ therapy, a comprehensive mind, body, spirit approach that has been shown to significantly improve pain management and psycho-social outcomes. Shay hosts the Conversations on Healing podcast with listeners in over 100 countries, holds a master’s degree in public health from UCLA, and has been recognized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a Pioneer for Children’s Wellbeing. She is a sought-after speaker on health and wellness topics and was awarded the Women’s Studies Achievement Award from UCLA and the Civic Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Christine has over 20 years in the life-science industry including business development, corporate strategy, and venture investment. She has spent the last 10 years in ventures investing, currently as a Managing Director at Vertex Ventures HC (VVHC), an independent venture fund investing in preclinical to clinical stage biotechnology companies and late clinical or early commercialization stage medical technology companies. Prior to venture investing, she held positions in business development and marketing at small biopharmaceutical and large pharmaceutical companies. Christine received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Dartmouth Medical School and was a post-doctoral fellow in developmental neurobiology at the National Institutes of Health.

As President of the Catalytic Impact Foundation since 2018, Rachel has guided the growth of the organization to become a philanthropic leader in deploying catalytic capital to accelerate innovation in underfunded areas of healthcare, where there are significant unmet medical needs. These areas of focus include women’s health, children’s health, and brain/mental health. She has lead the team managing the investment analysis and processes, building a portfolio of more than 50 companies (52% led by women).

Previously, Rachel served as Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Asthma Magazine, a patient education publication for asthma and allergy. The magazine was used by Merck to launch its first-in-class asthma drug, Singulair; and by the American Lung Association, the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, the National Association of School Nurses, and private practitioners throughout the country, to educate their patients about the condition. Subsequently, she guided the company through its acquisition by Elsevier Health Sciences, a leading publisher of medical journals, where she continued as Editor-in-Chief.

Sarah-Almaza Cox is currently the co-founder of Joeyband, a globally patented, FDA-registered medical device that is transforming maternal and newborn health outcomes in hospitals around the world. 

Having helped build three successful companies from the ground-up, Sarah's work experience has spanned across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific healthcare markets over twelve years, in both start-up and corporate (via acquisition) environments. Her work champions health equity, scalable innovation, and evidence-based design, particularly for underserved and high-risk populations.

With a vision for available, accessible and affordable healthcare for all women in Asia, Lindsay Davis founded FemTech Association Asia, the region’s first and largest specialist advisory and industry network. Focused on improving women’s health through technology solutions, this award-winning organisation represents 80+ startups across 10 countries in Asia.

As an authority on Asia’s femtech industry, Davis has been featured in media outlets including NASDAQ, CNA, The Straits Times, The Business Times, Rice Media, South China Morning Post, Tatler, MediaCorp News 8 and more. Davis was commissioned by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific as a thought leader to define the requirements for transformational and catalytic change in a report on femtech in Southeast Asia and is a Milken Institute contributor. She serves on the Advisory Boards for Women in Global Health – Singapore, Ovy Health and Deep South FemTech Association.

Meeghan De Cagna, MSc, CAE, DES, is the Chief Program Officer at the American Physiological Society where she provides executive leadership, management, and oversight of the Society’s program offerings to ensure alignment with the organization’s mission. Leading marketing, communications, policy and advocacy, meetings and events teams, De Cagna drives organization-wide collaboration and stakeholder engagement in service to APS members and the field of physiology.  De Cagna has more than 30 years of experience leading scientific and medical education and partnership programs both here in the US and across the globe. She holds a Certified Association Executive designation and a Master of Science in Health Communication from Boston University. She has completed additional training at Villanova, Stanford, Georgetown and Thunderbird Universities.

Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton leads the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona, where she is Regents Professor of Pharmacology, Neuroscience, and Neurology. She earned her Ph.D. as an NIH Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Arizona and completed her NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rockefeller University. 

Internationally recognized for her research on Alzheimer’s disease, her NIH- and philanthropy-funded work spans discovery, translational, and clinical science. She has authored over 300 publications with an H-index of 96, holds multiple patents, and founded two biotech startups, including NeuTherapeutics. Dr. Brinton is pioneering regenerative therapeutics for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and received the Presidential Citizen’s Medal and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Goodes Prize for her contributions to science and medicine.

DeChane L. Dorsey is the Executive Director of AdvaMed Accel, a division within the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) representing small and mid-sized companies. She also leads AdvaMed’s health access and women’s health workstreams. Prior to assuming her current role Ms. Dorsey was a Vice President in the Payment and Health Care Delivery Department at AdvaMed where her responsibilities included policy development and analysis of regulatory issues affecting the medical technology industry. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Syracuse University and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

As Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Medicines360, Autumn leads corporate engagement activities to bridge the gaps in innovation and access for women’s health products. She was part of the original founding team at Medicines360 in 2009.  As the original program leader for the organization’s first product, the hormonal IUD, Autumn drew on her 15 years of experience bringing new drugs to market to assemble a team and launch the product development plan. Since then, she has dedicated her career to making innovative drugs, devices and combination products more affordable and accessible for women.

Founder and Director of How at Zest OF: You

Social Enterprise: Women's Health Equity Strategist, Creative Health Facilitator and Researcher. Member of the British Menopause Society. Providing culturally-responsive menstruation and post-menopause support to underserved and marginalised individuals so they can age and live well on their terms.

Marissa Fayer is a 25-year medtech executive, innovator, entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. She is the CEO of DeepLook Medical, CEO and founder of non-profit HERhealthEQ, Investment Committee member of GGVentures, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Graybella Capital, sits on the board of IMD Medical and on the advisory board of Welwaze Medical, Impact.51, 51&, and the Breast Cancer Early Detection Coalition... all focused on women's health globally.  Marissa is a TEDx speaker and speaks globally about investing in women's health innovation.  Her mission is to move innovation and the health of women forward throughout the world.   

Marlena Fejzo is a women’s health scientist who has published studies on many diseases of women including ovarian and breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, and discovered the first genes for uterine fibroids, nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). Fejzo is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, Chief Scientific Officer of The Morning Sickness and HG Clinic, Research Director and Board Member of the HER Foundation, Board Member of the Foundation for Women’s Health, Member of the Women’s Health Network, and an advisor for NGM Bio. Fejzo is a 2024 Time Woman of the Year and Time 100 Health Honoree, received the National Organization of Women Victoria Mastrobuono Award in Women’s Health, Forbes 50-Over-50 award in Innovation, is a Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year Finalist, and the inaugural BII & Science Translational Medicine Prize for Innovations in Women's Health grand prize winner.

Angelika Fretzen, PhD, MBA, serves as Chief Operating Officer and Technology Translation Director at the Wyss Institute, where she is responsible for effective product development and technology translation from the most innovative ideas into industry-sponsored research, licensing deals and start-up formations (https://wyss.harvard.edu/). In 2022, she founded the Women’s Health Catalyst to innovate approaches for advancing the healthcare for women, and in 2024, she received the Joseph B. Martin Dean’s Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women’s Careers at Harvard Medical School.  Before joining the Wyss Institute, Angelika spent two decades in entrepreneurial biotechnology companies, including enabling the pharmaceutical development of Linzess™ at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and advancing Edasalonexent to Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, at Catabasis Pharmaceuticals. A chemist by training, Angelika completed her undergraduate studies at the Julius-Maximilian’s University in Würzburg, Germany, earned her PhD at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, and conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University as Roche and then Alexander-von-Humboldt Fellow. She holds an MBA from Suffolk University in Boston.

Maya Friedman is a Design Director who designs solutions for unmet needs in the health tech and femtech spaces. She currently leads Tidepool’s user experience and design teams. She is also the founder and co-lead of The Tidepool Period Project, which supports the creation of an ecosystem of software solutions, research initiatives, and education to address the unmet needs of women+ with diabetes, through the different phases of a woman’s life cycle including menstruation and pregnancy. Maya has her MFA in Media Design practices with a focus on women’s health tech design from ArtCenter College of Design. 

Joanne Gan is an impact investing leader and social justice champion, with two decades experience spanning the US and emerging markets. She is currently an investor at Soros Economic Development Fund where she leads its investments in women’s health and rights. Prior to SEDF, Joanne was the Head of Impact Investing & ESG, Treasury at PayPal where she led a $500M investment portfolio to advance economic opportunity.  Throughout her career, she has held finance and investment roles at Deutsche Bank, Bridges Fund Management, Kiva, and Barclays Capital.  Joanne serves on the Board of Aeris Insight, the leading data organization for the U.S. CDFI industry, and is an advisor for the Turner MIINT (MBA Impact Investing Network & Training) program.  She holds a MS in Management Science & Engineering and BA in Economics and International Relations from Stanford University.

Elizabeth Garner is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with a career-long focus on addressing unmet medical needs for women. She is currently CEO of Sena Therapeutics, a start-up company focused on precision medicines for endocrine diseases; Sena's first indication is in PCOS, a prevalent condition with no approved products. Dr. Garner is also Past President of the American Medical Women’s Association, a professional organization for women doctors, a Founder and Steering Committee member of Women’s Health Advocates, an organization dedicated to improving the health of women, and is a strategic advisor for Women's Health Access Matters (WHAM).  She received joint M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from Harvard Medical and Public Health Schools, trained in obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women’s (BWH)/Massachusetts General Hospitals, and completed a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at BWH/Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Pamela D. Garzone is a respected pharmaceutical executive with a significant record of achievement in drug development and leadership, ascending to the C-suite and as an Independent Director. Pamela is a member and co-chair of the selection committee of AIM-HI Women’s Venture Competition of the National Foundation for Cancer Research. She is on the leadership committee of Women's Health Advocates and is an active angel investor in women’s health companies. Pamela serves on 1 public and 2 private companies' board of directors, serving as chairwoman of a private company developing technologies that address women’s health issues.  Pamela has achieved the prestigious Qualified Risk Director designation.

Jason is responsible for venture building activities, operations and finance. He is the board member for SGTx, Re-AIM and Mesenbio, each of which is delivering strong performance and exceeding milestones.

He led the early investment strategy for NG Bio, including the investment in Cellesce which exited to Danaher within 18 months.

Jason has worked with life science companies across both venture creation and multinational listed companies for nearly 10 years, but found love for early-stage ventures supporting technical founders with business strategy and fundraising. These companies have gone on to build multiple franchises and raise substantial capital.

Jason started his career at Ernst & Young, where he worked in London and Tokyo, advising on transactions for multinational corporations. 

He received an MBA from London Business School,  is a Certified Chartered Accountant and holds a first class degree in mechanical engineering.

Dr. Golomb is a Partner and Founder of InnovaHealth Partners, LP, a leading firm in medical device private equity.  In this role she manages private equity investments and the investing process of the firm.  Dr. Golomb is Chair of the Women's Health company, Materna Medical, where she has led the last two rounds of financing.  She is also the Chair of Radiaction Medical Ltd. Board of Directors and a member of the Board of Directors of Route 92 Medical, Koelis, SAS, the Executive Council of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Trustees Council of Penn Women. 

Dr. Tamar Gur is the Inaugural Endowed Director of the Soter Women’s Health Research Program, initiated by a pledge of $15 Million to the Ohio State University College of Medicine. She leads innovative research efforts focused on women’s health across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on the impact of stress and the microbiome.  Her translational research investigates how prenatal stress, microbiota, and inflammation influence brain development and long term health, utilizing both rodent models and clinical cohorts. Supported by major organizations such as NIH, Dr. Gur’s work bridges clinical care and scientific discovery to advance understanding and treatment of women's  health.

Dr. Rodney C. Haring is the inaugural Chair of the Department of Indigenous Cancer Health at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, an NCI-designated institution. A citizen of the Seneca Nation (Beaver Clan), he lives between the Allegany and Cattaraugus Territories. With over 20 years of experience, his work advances resiliency, data sovereignty, health behavior interventions, and translational science while mentoring future cancer scientists. He co-leads Roswell Park’s health communications team, producing documentary-style films that support clinical trials and public health. Recognized with national honors—including the National Indian Health Board Impact Award, the National Federation of Just Heroes Award, and a TED Ignite Fellowship—he is also among the few traditional Haudenosaunee wooden lacrosse stick makers with works exhibited worldwide.

Responsible for manufacturing and regulatory affairs for Impli.

We build implantables that measure hormones in real-time.

Alessandra Henderson is an entrepreneur, thought leader and investor on a mission to transform women’s healthcare. Alessandra is Co-founder & former CEO of Elektra Health, a virtual care platform closing the menopause care gap via evidence-based telemedicine, education and community. Under her tenure as Elektra CEO, Alessandra raised $7M+ from leading investors including University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Flare Partners and Seven Seven Six, built a membership across 50 states, and led Elektra’s go-to-market strategy, including launching the first commercial menopause-payer partnership in the US with Mass General Brigham Health Plan. Prior to Elektra Health, Alessandra spent 10+ years building early-stage consumer businesses as a leader on the founding teams at Artsy, the MIT NYC Startup Studio, and Human Ventures. She holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from MIT Sloan, and her work has been covered by The NY Times, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Techcrunch, Fortune, Forbes, and more. Alessandra currently advises and consults with high growth digital health companies in the pursuit of improving outcomes & redefining a new standard of care. 

Dr. Howard received her MD, MPH from Johns Hopkins, completed residency at UPMC-Magee Women's hospital and fellowship at the University of Michigan. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a Certified Physician Executive, and a Fellow of the American Association for Physician Leadership. She has served in leadership roles in academic, private and international settings. Dr. Howard's work involve multidiscipline collaboration to leverage technology and innovation to deliver equitable care, reduce physician burnout and improve operational efficiency. 

Christina Isacson is a Partner of Lightstone Ventures and focuses on investments in the biopharmaceutical sector. Christina has spent over 20 years in the biotech industry across operational roles and in venture capital. She brings experience in creating, launching, building and operating early stage biotechnology companies including Magenta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MGTA) and Decibel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DBTX). Prior to being part of the founding teams of Magenta and Decibel, Christina held operational roles at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) in corporate development. Originally trained as a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, leading the integration of science and medicine with business is a fundamental objective in her career.

Emily Jacobs is a Professor of Neuroscience at UC Santa Barbara and Director of the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative, an endowed research consortium headquartered at UC Santa Barbara and spanning 10 institutions. Her body of research is redefining our understanding of the brain’s capacity to undergo dynamic neuroanatomical changes and plasticity well into adulthood. In 2024 her team published the first detailed map of the human brain across pregnancy and she leads several multi-center studies on neurological changes tied to menopause. Prior to UCSB, she held a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Medicine/Division of Women's Health at Brigham & Women's Hospital. Dr. Jacobs' serves on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Women’s Brain Health, the Foundation for Women’s Health, and the WHAM Research Collaborative to drive the national and international agenda on women’s health research. You can find her work in The New York Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, NPR, BBC, TED, Netflix, and MasterClass. She is a graduate of Smith College and UC Berkeley. 

Alyssa Jaffee is a Partner at 7wire Ventures where she invests in companies that empower everyone to be better stewards of their health. She currently holds board roles at NOCD, MedArrive, Brightline, Zerigo Health, Jasper Health, Summer Health, Transcarent, and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Beyond her investment work, Alyssa is actively involved in the broader healthcare and business communities—she is a member of the Business Leadership Council at WBEZ Chicago, the Oliver Wyman Leaders Alliance, the Economic Club of Chicago, and serves as a venture board member of Health Tech 4 Medicaid. 

Previously, Alyssa was an investor at Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Hyde Park Angels. Alyssa is also a cofounder of TransparentCareer, a NVC winning company helping people make more data-driven career decisions. Alyssa spent time at the Advisory Board Company where she launched new technologies and consulted hundreds of hospital executives to understand their needs and recommend solutions.

Priyanka is the co-founder & CEO of Evvy, a precision medicine company leveraging the vaginal microbiome to improve women’s health outcomes. Evvy serves over 75,000 patients and has built the world’s largest dataset on the vaginal microbiome — designed to unlock novel solutions across infertility, preterm birth, gynecological cancers, and more. 

Priyanka serves on advisory boards for the XPRIZE Foundation and the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up campaign. She received her B.S. from Stanford University and has been recognized as Forbes 30 under 30, Inc’s Top Female Founders, and Goldman Sachs’ Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs.

Anna is an accomplished diagnostics leader and co-founder of AOA Dx, recognized for her passion for advancing healthcare through innovative diagnostic solutions. Named to Inc. Magazine’s 2022 Female Founders 100 List, she brings extensive global and regulatory expertise, having guided multiple products into U.S. and European guidelines and led FDA submissions for 510(k), PMA, and CLIA LTD pathways. With experience launching transformative women’s health diagnostics across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, Anna offers a truly international perspective on driving innovation in healthcare.

Dr. Kamphaus serves in the dual role of leading FNIH Patient Engagement efforts and providing oversight to the several programs within FNIH’s Metabolic Disorders, Women’s Health and Inflammation and Immunity portfolios. In her role as FNIH’s Patient Engagement lead, she is responsible for establishing best practices for engaging patient voices for meaningful, end-to-end patient involvement in FNIH programs. Within Science Partnerships, she is responsible for developing multi-stakeholder public-private partnerships that include stakeholders from NIH, FDA, non-profits and life sciences companies. Dr. Kamphaus oversees three target validation programs within Accelerating Medicines Partnerships (AMP) programs in areas of Common Metabolic Diseases, Heart Failure, and Immune and Autoimmune Diseases. She also oversees projects including biomarker qualification efforts in liver diseases, preeclampsia, osteoporosis, and emerging programs in reproductive health. Dr. Kamphaus is a preeclampsia survivor and brings her lived experience to her leadership of FNIH's Patient Engagement activities. She is trained in molecular genetics and cell biology and skilled in strategic planning and collaborative program development across basic, translational and patient-centric clinical research. Dr. Kamphaus conducted her postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. She has a PhD in Molecular Genetics from The Ohio State University.

Coyote Ventures invests in tech-enabled solutions that drive access to healthcare for overlooked populations, including in women's health. Founded by scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors, Coyote takes an integrative view of health that spans physical, financial, and emotional health. General Partner Jessica Karr was a Biochemist at Impossible Foods and has hands-on experience building and launching novel products.

Mohammad serves as a member of the investment committee for a family office. He established and leads all life sciences investment activity for the family office. 

His notable investments and directorial roles include an early-stage bioprocessing company, which he transformed into the largest of its kind, as well as a medicine contract manufacturing organisation.

He also has a diverse personal life sciences portfolio, ranging from innovative therapeutics to cutting-edge drug discovery.

Spending over a decade investing in more than 30 companies, board membership, and exit experiences ranging from an IPO to a sale to a fortune 500 company, Mohammad brings all-round entrepreneurship and investment experience to NG Bio and leads women's health investments.

He has an MSc in Risk Management and diploma in corporate law and governance from the London School of Economics.

AccendoWave, a Pain Data Company with machine learning pain measurement & management technology. AccendoWave, a Top 4 Global Best in Class Health Equity Solution and Top 15 Global Best in Class Remote Monitoring Company, benchmarks pain data (specialty, gender, age) with machine learning technology to eliminate bias, improve outcomes and reduce health care costs. Incubated by HCA (188 Hospitals & 6-7% of US Inpatient Care) - Samsung and AT&T are our partners. 

Jasmine Lim is a Program Operations Officer with the Soros Economic Development Fund, the impact investing arm of the Open Society Foundations. Prior to joining SEDF, Jasmine worked at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she supported the Deputy Executive Director, Strategy and Culture and the Chief People Officer as a Special Assistant. At the ACLU, she played a pivotal role in outlining strategic initiatives, developing internal communications procedures, and fostering organizational culture. Jasmine has also held previous roles at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Future of Privacy Forum, and the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. She speaks Korean and Spanish and is an avid traveler, artist, and yoga practitioner. 

Dr. McGinty did her medical training in Ireland at the University of Galway and then came to the USA for residency at the University of Pittsburgh where she was Chief Resident. Her fellowship was in Women's Imaging at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2000, she completed an MBA at Columbia University. She is an internationally recognized expert in imaging economics.  In May 2018 she was elected as the Chair of the American College of Radiology's (ACR) Board of Chancellors, the first woman to hold this office. She received the ACR’s highest honor, its Gold Medal, in 2024. In 2014 she joined the faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and in 2021 she was appointed as Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. Since 2017 she has taught in the combined Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell SC Johnson School of Business EMBAMS in Healthcare Leadership. She was appointed as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty in 2024. She is a member of the board of 4D Medical (4DX) as well of her alma mater.  

Her published work has focused on payment models for imaging, most recently a bundled payment for breast cancer screening. Recently she has focused on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Medical Imaging and has spoken at the Turing Institute and to the WHO Focus Group on AI in Healthcare on this topic.

Lindsey Miltenberger, MA, serves as Chief Advocacy Officer of the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR), where she provides oversight of the Society's government relations, communications, and advocacy functions. A member of SWHR's senior team, she is responsible for helping to drive SWHR's policy agenda, build relationships with key stakeholders and policymakers, and guide activities to improve women's health through science, policy, and education. Miltenberger's previous roles include being the assistant director of government affairs for the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and a senior manager for advocacy at AcademyHealth.

Rebecca Osthus, Ph.D. serves as the Director for Government Relations and Science Policy at the American Physiological Society (APS). In this capacity, she represents physiology within the broader biomedical research advocacy community, seeks opportunities to involve physiologists as advocates for science, and ensures that members have access to relevant and timely information about government funding and policies for research. Dr. Osthus earned her doctorate in Human Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before pursuing a career in science policy.   

Oriana Papin-Zoghbi is the CEO and co-founder of AOA Dx and a visionary leader in women’s health and diagnostics. Under her leadership, AOA Dx has raised $27 million in funding. Oriana has built and scaled a high-performing, mission-driven team, guiding AOA Dx through early development and rapid organizational growth. Recognized in Inc.’s Top 100 Female Founders for her groundbreaking work in ovarian cancer diagnostics, she brings deep experience launching products globally, from HPV screening programs in East Africa to innovations in oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, and infectious diseases. Oriana holds a degree in Economics and International Relations from Boston University and brings a global perspective to her work.

Karen Patti is a fearless healthcare innovator whose career spans clinical practice, nonprofit administration, and executive leadership at the intersection of women’s health and equity. She earned her Bachelor of Arts with honors in English Literature and Spanish from Denison University and a Master of Science from Columbia University. Beginning as a clinician, she quickly advanced into hospital administration before stepping into a transformative leadership role as Chief Operating Officer of the Promise Fund. At the Promise Fund, she has spearheaded multi-million-dollar fundraising campaigns, forged groundbreaking public–private partnerships, and embedded comprehensive cancer prevention and treatment programs into Federally Qualified Health Centers. Known for her vision, grit, and results, Karen is driving a national blueprint to eliminate barriers and deliver dignity in women’s healthcare.

Dr. Christine Perez holds a Ph.D. in Public Health, specializing in Community Health and Education, and is a Registered Nurse with 30 years of experience working in Maternal and Child Health. Dr. Perez serves as the National Maternal Health Clinical Lead for the maternal health venture at Philips. In this role, she offers public health and clinical insights and collaborates with interprofessional teams and organizations to develop innovative technology solutions, quality improvement initiatives, and health policies aimed at increasing access to high-quality perinatal care and health literacy to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. Dr. Perez has presented internationally and nationally on various topics in maternal-child health, published neonatal and public health research, and serves as a member of the Perinatal Equity Advisory Council for the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC). She is passionate about improving Maternal and Child Health through promoting preventive health, innovations, quality initiatives, public health policies, and strategic partnerships.

Nikki Philip leads Operations and Growth at Comma, an integrated period care company bringing autonomy and clinical science to menstruation. Previously, she was the Special Advisor to the Assistant Director at the FBI where she was responsible for the bureau's Intelligence Strategy. Nikki graduated from Harvard Business School in 2023 and has held previous roles in social impact venture capital, holistics wellness at the NFL, and global health in Migori County, Kenya.

Since co-founding Spark in 2018, Daniel has led the company’s development of wearable neurostimulation solutions designed to address major unmet medical needs in neurological health, hemostasis & bleeding disorders, and women’s health. Under his leadership, Spark developed and commercialized the first transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation (tAN®) device to relieve acute opioid withdrawal, The Sparrow Ascent. Followed by the launch of OhmBody, the first ever menstrual wellness product addressing the needs over 1/3 of the women who struggle with heavy menstrual bleeding and painful periods. Spark continues the scientific discovery with over a dozen additional clinical trials underway.

Ana Maria Ramirez (she/her) is the Co-Executive Director of Euki, a nonprofit tech startup that co-creates digital tools with and for communities facing the greatest barriers to sexual and reproductive health care. At Euki she leads the co-design and product development of Euki app, one of the first-ever privacy-focused period tracking apps on the market. Before co-founding Euki, she worked as a social science researcher focused on abortion, menstruation, and HIV and AIDS. She has published her work in academic journals and presented at both academic and tech conferences around the globe. Ana is committed to helping build a world where everyone has private, secure access to resources that empower them to live safe, healthy, pleasurable lives. 

Amanda Rice is an entrepreneur and the founder of ARC Consulting, while also serving as a leading voice in the fight for women’s health equity. Her advocacy began from personal experience — after being diagnosed with cancer three times and denied insurance coverage for fertility preservation prior to chemotherapy and radiation. Amanda self-funded a preservation cycle, but was struck by how many women would be forced to forgo that choice purely due to cost.

From that injustice came The Chick Mission, a national nonprofit she launched to ensure no patient has to decide between their future family and life-saving treatment. Under Amanda’s strategic leadership, the organization has provided financial assistance to hundreds of women seeking to preserve their fertility before cancer treatment — changing policy, shifting culture, and expanding access along the way.

Ellen Rudolph is the Co-Founder and CEO of WellTheory, a first-of-its-kind platform on a mission to reverse the autoimmune epidemic. Launched in 2022, WellTheory was born out of Ellen and her co-founders’ personal health journeys and built to empower the 50 million Americans navigating autoimmune disease with evidence-based care, education, and community.

Under Ellen’s leadership, WellTheory has raised over $26.2M in funding from leading investors including General Catalyst, Accel, and 7wire Ventures. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, and Inc. Magazine, and she has been recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc.’s Female Founders 250 lists.

Eric is the Senior Director of Portfolio Strategy & Investment for the Innovation Fund at March of Dimes. In this role he directs a venture capital fund investing in maternal and infant health startups. Prior to March of Dimes, he served as the Vice President of Healthcare Innovation at Coplex, where he led partnerships and assessed the viability of venture concepts. Eric also worked at UnitedHealth Group as part of the Venture Development team, developing new business concepts and partnerships for the company. Eric has also held roles at North Memorial Health as the Director of Strategy & Business Development and at Allina Hospitals and Clinics as the Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development. Earlier in his career, Eric worked as a consultant at Vizient, Inc., Arthur Andersen, and ZS Associates.

Kathryn "Katie" Schubert has led the Society for Women's Health Research as President & CEO since 2020, driving groundbreaking advocacy for women's health equity—including landmark work on including pregnant and lactating populations in research. A consensus builder named among healthcare's most influential policy shapers by Washingtonian magazine, she began her career on Capitol Hill and is an expert in translating scientific research on women and sex differences for patients, clinicians, and policymakers. When not championing women's health, she's with her husband, three kids, and dog George.

Dr. Sema Sgaier is the CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health. Sema, who has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, previously co-founded and led Surgo Foundation and Surgo Ventures, where she pioneered the development of analytic products that solve health problems with greater precision. She was Initiative Lead at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she brought innovations in data, consumer insights, and product introduction into large-scale health programs globally. She has over 60 publications and is a frequent op-ed contributor to The New York Times and prestigious media outlets. She is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Washington. She completed her fellowship in Genomics at Harvard University, Ph.D. in Neuroscience from New York University, and M.A. in Neuroscience from Brown University. Sema is a member of the Board of Directors of the United States of Care and was selected as a rising talent by the Women's Forum for Economy and Society.

With a career spanning three decades across health inequities, HR change & transformation, government, academia, and the private sector, Diana has led equity-centred change in some of the UK’s most influential institutions including the BBC and Amazon. She is the founder of MenoAssess, a digital screening/assessment tool and advisory service, designed to help employers and healthcare providers implement evidence-based, intersectional, inclusive menopause solutions.

I'm taking everything I learned over more than 40 years of health policy communications in DC & combining that with my personal experiences of caring for my husband who recently passed away from Lewy Body Dementia.  I founded Health Dame as a platform to share what I learned & to learn from others. Previously, I ran my own agency, created the award-winning Disruptive Women in Health Care blog, served as the director of health policy for the National Consumers League, the National Health Policy Forum in GW University, worked in HHS and on the Hill. I served on the boards of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function with Dr. Oliver Sacks, AcademyHealth's Translation and Dissemination Institute Advisory Committee, and Kaiser Permanente's Institute for Health Policy.  I was a contributor to The Hill newspaper, served as strategic advisor for the Foundation of Art and Healing, & in 2015 was named a Woman of Impact.  I currently serve on the following boards: Chamber Music Maryland, the Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center, and Physician-Parent Caregivers.  I owned an art gallery in Georgetown where I hosted salons--I am a self-described ambassador for the health benefits of music and the arts.

Liz Swenson is a board-certified OB/GYN who has been providing care to women for more than 20 years. She has learned that women are genuinely interested in their own health and want to understand the science behind their medical conditions. Originally from Iowa, she completed her medical training in Northern California where she still lives with her husband and two daughters. She has worked in a busy multispecialty practice in Palo Alto and has taught OBGYN residents as an Adjunct Clinical Faculty Member of Stanford University. Now, with a focus on helping all women have choices and access to the gynecological care they need, she is excited to use her clinical experience to help improve the lives and longevity of all Teal patients.

Samantha Sulzer is the Corporate Partnerships Officer at Action Against Hunger, where she leads the organization’s work with the private sector to build partnerships that drive both funding and awareness on a global scale. She manages a diverse portfolio of collaborations from multi-year, seven-figure commitments to creative cause marketing campaigns that connect business goals to humanitarian impact. With a background spanning events and partnerships across nonprofit and corporate sectors, Sam brings a mix of strategy, creativity, and relationship-building to her work. She is passionate about developing innovative collaborations that not only fight hunger but inspire lasting change.

Wendy is an "investo-preneur" who has traversed being both an investor and founder. As a Venture Capital Partner at AlleyCorp, she supported founders in raising $300M. At Branch Care, she founded the first collaborative care modeled on increasing fertility care access, where she serves as the co-founder and board partner of Branch Care. At AlleyCorp, she was the first Partner focused on early stage consumer companies investing in a dozen startups and at Branch Care, she was the founding CEO, starting the business from a personal pain point she experienced in her own fertility journey building the organization through its first 15 employees and $7M in venture funding. 

Engineer from the University of British Columbia and former member of the Chartered Management Accountants of British Columbia, Moisés Uribe has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, sustainability, and executive management, including his tenure as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte. He has advised governments, Fortune 500 companies, and multilateral organizations across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe, leading valuation processes, portfolio structuring, and the implementation of sustainable financial strategies. During his career at Deloitte, he participated in projects with Grupo EPM, Grupo Bancolombia, Grupo Orbis, Fondo Ashmore, Grupo Argos, and the Ministry of Finance of Colombia.

He has also been an active panelist and facilitator in APEC meetings in recent years, contributing to discussions on sustainable finance and innovative investment mechanisms for public health and development.

Misti Ushio is a Managing Partner at Digitalis Ventures.  Prior to Digitalis Ventures, Misti was the founder and CEO of TARA Biosystems which was acquired by ValoHealth in 2022.  Earlier in her career, Misti has served as Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director of Harris & Harris Group, a publicly traded venture capital firm, and held management roles at Merck & Company and Columbia University.  She was graduated from Johns Hopkins University (B.S., Chemical Engineering), Lehigh University (M.S., Chemical Engineering) and University College London (Ph.D., Biochemical Engineering).  

Renee D. Wegrzyn, PhD, is the Co-Founder of Transfyr, an AIxBio company focused on making science more interpretable, robust, and transferable by reducing “science friction” - the bottlenecks that get in the way of breakthroughs. Previously, she served as the inaugural director of ARPA-H (2022–2025), where she built the agency from the ground up, led a $4B portfolio advancing health innovation, and launched the catalytic ARPA-H Sprint for Women's Health. Her career spans leadership roles at Ginkgo Bioworks and DARPA, with recognition including the Superior Public Service Medal and TIME’s Top 100 Innovators list.

Kelly Watson is the Vice President of Product & User Experience at Tidepool, a digital health nonprofit developing solutions for people with diabetes. Guided by the belief that patients should help design the tools that shape their health, she has helped Tidepool grow to serve more than 850,000 patients and clinicians and has built partnerships across the medical device and technology landscape. She also helped bring Tidepool Loop– a first-of-its-kind, interoperable automated insulin delivery app– to landmark FDA clearance, marking a milestone for patient-led innovation.

Kelly began her career in bench research at the FDA and NIH before moving into product development. A strong advocate for patient data ownership, interoperability, and women’s health, she works to ensure technology reflects the lived experiences of the people it serves.
Kelly is based in Berkeley, California.

Flory has spent her career activating the business community to be great stewards for all their stakeholders.  In 2022, she launched Reproductive & Maternal Health Compass (RMH  Compass), a non-profit focused on expanding the reproductive and maternal health (RMH) benefits available to U.S. workers.  Their goal is for all U.S. employers to provide comprehensive RMH benefits to their whole workforce. 

Flory is a respected expert on a range of maternal and reproductive health topics – from medical travel reimbursements, the value of doula services and the rapid evolution of menopause benefits – and her thought-leadership pieces have been published in a variety of business publications.

Prior to launching RMH Compass, Flory spent 10 years at B Lab, the organization behind the B Corp movement.  She started her career as a Senior International Economist at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in Washington, D.C.  

Dr. Jocelyn R. Wittstein is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University, specializing in sports medicine. Her clinical and research interests span the shoulder, elbow, and knee in both pediatric and adult populations​ with focus on the female athlete across the lifespan, post traumatic arthritis after knee injuries, and the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause and its repercussions. She is an NIH funded researcher in the field of post traumatic arthritis, co-author of The Complete Bone and Joint Health Plan, and a leader in the Duke Female Athlete Program as well as co-PI on several studies with Dr. Anne Ford of Duke Women’s Health looking at joint health, frozen shoulder, and musculoskeletal benefits of hormone therapy in menopausal women. She is also president of the Forum: Women in Sports Medicine, a national organization of female orthopaedic surgeons subspecialized in sports medicine.

Dr. Summia Zaher is CEO of Women and Children's Care at M42 and also serves as CEO of M42’s Danat Al Emarat Hospital.

Prior to this, Dr. Summia served as Lead of Obstetric services and Consultant Obstetrician at the University Hospital of Wales and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University, Wales, receiving the Wales NHS Time Award.

Dr. Summia graduated from the University of Dundee with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, receiving the Margaret Fairlie prize in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She furthered her specialization in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Health Education and Improvement Wales, and completed a Doctor of Medicine from Imperial College London, a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education from Cardiff University, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Leadership from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Dr. Summia is a Diplomate of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and a Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.