We’re proud to have strong, inspirational alumni representing the WBL Fellows! Learn about them and their companies below.
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CEO, ALIGNMT AI
Andreea Bodnari is an AI technology entrepreneur and executive. She is the founder and CEO of ALIGNMT AI, a pioneering Healthcare AI risk monitoring and compliance startup that enables healthcare companies to evolve with trustworthy AI that meets US and EU regulatory standards.
Before her current role, Andreea was a product executive leading Healthcare AI at UnitedHealth Group and Google Cloud, where she spearheaded AI products and evaluation platforms focused on healthcare workforce augmentation. Andreea previously launched and exited several technology startups driving workforce optimization through AI in healthcare and financial services. She sits on the Executive Advisory Board for Data Science and AI at WPI.
Andreea was awarded a Chateaubriand fellowship to strengthen collaborations in healthcare AI between French and American research teams and she graduated with a Ph.D. in Machine Learning from MIT and a B.S. from WPI.
ALIGNMT AI is building the foundational infrastructure that enables healthcare organizations to safely deploy and scale AI solutions. We address the critical blockers preventing widespread AI adoption in healthcare: patient safety, regulatory compliance, data security, and financial integrity. Our comprehensive AI assessment and monitoring platform provides continuous oversight of deployed AI systems, helping healthcare enterprises understand performance, mitigate risks, and maintain compliance across their entire AI portfolio. We serve as the essential control plane for healthcare AI—enabling trust, accelerating adoption, and unlocking the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in care delivery.
CEO and Founder, Flourish Care
Melissa Bowley is the Founder and CEO of Flourish Care, a tech-enabled healthcare company reshaping how maternal care is delivered by integrating reimbursed doula support into clinical systems. With a background in biomedical engineering and a career leading product development and commercial strategy in medical device and digital health, she has launched over 10 products and driven $200M+ in revenue‚ building teams, scaling operations, and forging lasting partnerships with payers and providers.
Flourish grew out of Melissa’s firsthand experience with a fragmented system during her own pregnancies, where vital support was missing in the moments it was needed most. Melissa leads with a patient-first, family-centered mindset‚ designing systems that integrate with clinical workflows while meeting families where they are. She is a national voice in the maternal health movement, collaborating with policymakers and payers to scale sustainable reimbursement models that bring this care to more families.
A mom of two and advocate for women-led innovation, Melissa also leads New England Female Founders, a nonprofit supporting the next generation of female entrepreneurs. Her mission is simple: ensure that every family has the support they need before, during, and after birth.
Flourish Care is a tech-enabled doula company addressing the U.S. maternal health crisis by delivering high-impact, reimbursed support at scale. We provide comprehensive, doula-led care from early pregnancy through birth and up to 12 months postpartum‚ ensuring families receive trusted, continuous support during one of the most critical periods in healthcare. Our programs are fully reimbursed by both Medicaid and commercial insurance and are aligned with growing state-level mandates for doula coverage, now active in 46 states.
By integrating into OB practices, hospitals, and care teams, we bridge the gap between clinical care and non-clinical support‚ offering evidence-based services that improve outcomes and reduce costs. Our tech platform enables seamless onboarding, provider matching, communication, and outcome tracking, helping doulas stay connected to families and care teams throughout the perinatal journey.
Founder and CEO, SNT Biotech
Shital Daftari is the Founder and CEO of SNT Biotech, a high-growth healthcare company redefining how health plans address gaps in care through scalable at-home diagnostic screening solutions. Known for her strategic leadership and operational execution, Shital built SNT Biotech to deliver measurable value to health plans by improving quality scores, increasing member engagement, and reducing costs through early detection.
In 2021, she launched a CLIA- and COLA-accredited laboratory and built a fully integrated platform that supports end-to-end program delivery—including custom test kit creation, multilingual outreach, lab processing, and real-time analytics. Today, SNT Biotech enables health plans to screen for chronic and preventive conditions such as colorectal cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, and cervical cancer with precision, speed, and cultural sensitivity.
Shital is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Owner/President Management (OPM) program and is an active member of YPO and the Women Presidents Organization. Her business acumen has earned national recognition: Inc. 5000, Crain’s Chicago Fast 50, and inclusion for three consecutive years among the Top 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies in America by the Women Presidents Organization and JP Morgan Chase.
SNT Biotech delivers comprehensive at-home diagnostic screening solutions that help health plans close care gaps, improve HEDIS and Star Ratings, and engage hard-to-reach populations with culturally responsive care. We own and operate a CLIA- and COLA-accredited laboratory and offer a fully integrated platform—handling everything from customized kit creation and fulfillment to multilingual member outreach, lab processing, real-time dashboards, and detailed reporting. Our turnkey solution is designed to scale quickly, optimize test return rates, and deliver measurable results aligned with value-based care goals.
Co-Founder and CEO, Partum Health
Meghan Doyle is the CEO and Co-Founder of Partum Health, where she combines her experience in healthcare and strategy with her passion for supporting women and families.
Meghan started Partum after cobbling together (and doing without) essential care before and after the birth of her two children. She experienced these gaps firsthand while working as a health care consultant with Boston Consulting Group. In that role, she supported leading payer, provider, and health services clients with growth and strategy efforts, which helped to illuminate the gap between the exciting innovation happening in other areas vs. the lag in women’s health. At BCG, Meghan’s work included classic strategy work, value-based care program design, patient insights and experience work, and mergers and integration.
Meghan also served as an early team member at pediatric Cognitive Behavioral Therapy startup Doctor Lullaby and started her career with a focus on consumer marketing. She has deep respect for patients as consumers and brings the lens of consumer insights and needs to her work at Partum Health every day.
Meghan has an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill. She is proud to be building Partum Health in her home city of Chicago, where she lives with her husband and two kids.
Partum Health is a hybrid maternal and family healthcare provider delivering comprehensive, insurance-covered care from fertility through postpartum. We bring together the essential services parents need—including mental health, lactation, nutrition, pelvic floor physical therapy, and labor and postpartum doula care—into one seamless, coordinated experience. Families can access care virtually, in-person, or both, with personalized care plans and dedicated support every step of the way.
Partum partners with health systems and health insurance plans to make high-quality perinatal care more accessible and equitable. We are investing in building, training, and growing the doula workforce to further expand access to care while creating rewarding careers in the field. At Partum Health, we believe that every family deserves compassionate, comprehensive care—and we are building the company that can make that a reality.
Founder and CEO, Triplemoon
Lauren Gage is the Founder and CEO of Triplemoon and also a DONA International trained Birth Doula and Post-Partum Doula. In addition to her “day job” Lauren is a proud mom to her daughter, Vivienne, who was born in 2022. Her family’s lived experience with the joys and difficulties of parenthood was the inspiration behind Triplemoon.
Prior to starting Triplemoon, Lauren worked for 15+ years in professional services between McKinsey & Company, where she specialized in growth transformations, and Goldman Sachs, where she held roles across several divisions of the bank, including operations and alternative investments. She has her M.B.A. from Duke University and her B.B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Meet Triplemoon—we help families add years to their life and life to their years. Triplemoon partners with primary care doctors to give every family access to the behavioral health resources they deserve, at every age and stage. Our integrated behavioral health model improves patient outcomes, improves provider capacity, and adds additional sources of income to every practice.
Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Blueberry Pediatrics
Lyndsey Garbi, MD, is double board-certified in neonatology and pediatrics and serves as the Chief Medical Officer and cofounder at Blueberry Pediatrics, a leading pediatric telehealth company dedicated to providing high-quality, accessible care for children nationwide. A passionate advocate for equitable, evidence-based medicine, Dr. Garbi helped found Blueberry Pediatrics to reimagine how families access pediatric care—making it easier, more affordable, and always available.
In addition to her role at Blueberry, Dr. Garbi is an assistant professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. She is also an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and brings a clinician’s insight and a parent’s empathy to her work, drawing on her experience as a mother of three.
Dr. Garbi earned her undergraduate degree from Emory University and completed medical school at the Sackler School of Medicine, New York State/American Program of Tel Aviv University. She went on to complete her pediatric residency at Cohen Children’s Hospital and her neonatology fellowship at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center. In 2016, she also earned a certificate in pediatric bioethics from the Children’s Mercy Center for Bioethics, where she trained under nationally recognized leaders in ethics and pediatric care.
At Blueberry Pediatrics, our mission is to make exceptional pediatric care accessible to every family from the comfort of their home via telehealth, 24/7/365. We combine the compassion of dedicated pediatricians with the speed and precision of cutting-edge AI to reimagine healthcare with heart and purpose. By removing the friction of traditional care, we offer affordable access to immediate real-time visits, transparent pricing, and proactive wellness support. Our AI-enhanced platform empowers clinicians to make smarter, faster decisions so they can focus more on what matters most: building trusted relationships and keeping kids healthy. We’re not just delivering care, we’re transforming it.
CEO, Syntax Health (a Lightbeam company)
Rachael Jones is the CEO and Co-Founder of Syntax Health, a company transforming value-based care through transparent collaboration and actuarial intelligence. With over 25 years in healthcare, Rachael has led teams at national health plans and vendors—including Anthem, Healthfirst, Trizetto, and Cotiviti—driving network strategy, quality, and risk adjustment operations. Her work over the past 15 years has centered on making value-based care work for both providers and payers.
As a first-generation Jamaican founder, Rachael brings a deep personal commitment to equity and sustainability in healthcare. She founded Syntax to bridge the operational and analytical gaps that make VBC inaccessible for too many providers—particularly community health centers and mission-driven organizations. In just over a year since launching its platform, Syntax has already helped provider organizations secure millions in potential incentive revenue through smarter contracting and performance monitoring.
Rachael was recently recognized by Rock Health as one of the Top 50 in Digital Health in the “System Disruptors” category. She is passionate about helping others navigate the founder journey and regularly speaks on topics including women’s leadership, equity in innovation, and the future of value-based care.
Syntax Health is a women-led company transforming how providers succeed in value-based care (VBC). We combine actuarial intelligence, performance insights, and negotiation support to help mission-driven organizations earn more from VBC arrangements and reduce friction with health plans.
Syntax was built to solve a persistent pain point in healthcare: value-based care is full of promise but hard to execute—especially for providers serving complex populations with limited resources. Our platform equips Community Health Centers (CHCs), ACOs, and other provider groups with powerful modeling and contract evaluation tools, enabling them to confidently negotiate and monitor VBC contracts across Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial payers. We’re on a mission to usher in a new era of trustworthy, transparent value-based care—one where providers have the data, tools, and support to win.
CEO, vopemed
Amy Lorincz is the CEO and Co-Founder of vopemed, launched in 2021 to develop AI-driven software that enhances vision in minimally invasive surgeries. With a background in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s in Experimental Surgery, Amy is passionate about optimizing healthcare systems to improve surgical outcomes. She secured pre-seed funding to bring her vision of empowering surgeons for safer, more efficient surgeries to life.
Her career includes R&D on surgical robotics and leading 50+ clinical validation projects for medical software, where she combines her drive for innovation with a commitment to advancing healthcare.
vopemed is a Montreal-based startup empowering surgical teams with next-generation vision-enhancing tools for safer, more efficient procedures. Its flagship product, Claris, is an AI-powered software that improves real-time visualization during minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Founder and CEO, adyn
Elizabeth K. Ruzzo, PhD, completed her graduate work at Duke University and her postdoc at UCLA. She has authored 35+ peer-reviewed publications, garnering over 5,300 citations (including publications in Nature and Cell). Throughout her 10+ year academic career in human genomics and medical genetics, she discovered nearly 40 genetic causes for various human diseases. She has dedicated her expertise in precision medicine to closing gaps caused by historic inequity in medical research and demanding a new standard of care.
She founded adyn with the mission of making scientific discovery more inclusive. Dr. Ruzzo took adyn through Y Combinator and has received the Charles J. Epstein Trainee Awardee for Excellence in Human Genetics Research, the Jo Rae Wright Fellowship for Outstanding Women in Science, the Neurobehavioral Genetics Fellowship, and the Ray J. Tysor Graduate Fellowship. Her work has also been recognized by CB Insights, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, and Rock Health.
adyn has created the first and only test designed to prevent adverse birth control side effects. Adverse side effects are the #1 reason for contraceptive non-use, substantially contributing to a 50% unintended pregnancy rate, costing $21B annually in the US. Our platform integrates genetic risk, blood serum hormone levels, and medical history to help patient and provider select the best birth control, avoiding harmful trial and error.
Our award-winning precision medicine platform is poised to help 76M women of reproductive age in the US choose, fulfill, and adhere to their most commonly prescribed medication. In addition to this category-creating product, adyn’s novel endogenomics approach and unparalleled dataset fuel R&D and product expansion to provide medically actionable insight for hundreds of conditions. Our mission is to make scientific discovery more inclusive.
CEO, NXgenPort Inc.
Cathy Skinner is a former collegiate volleyball coach turned serial entrepreneur. Cathy has 20+ years of successful healthcare experience building businesses, differentiated products, and services that manage healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes.
Cathy’s passion originated with her father’s cancer diagnosis and led her to launch three different oncology startups providing products and services for cancer patients and their loved ones. She is driven to move companies from ideation to commercialization by bringing together top talent and subject matter experts to build differentiated patient experiences.
Previously, Cathy coached 400+ cancer patients, empowering them through physical activity and nutrition. Now, Cathy is the CEO of NXgenPort.com, which harnesses the power of machine learning and remote patient monitoring with an implanted Smart Port that detects infection.
NXgenPort is addressing an unmet need in cancer care by remotely monitoring patients between chemotherapy treatments with a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and an implanted Smart Port with intravascular cytometry sensors. By using machine learning to measure blood cell counts, vitals, and heart function in vivo, NXgenPort will alert physicians to early signs of infection, determine readiness for next treatment, and improve health equity and access.
With the acceleration of Hospital at Home, care providers, cancer researchers, and pharma stakeholders find value in monitoring a patient’s biological response to interventions with a robust data package to improve outcomes.
Founder and CEO, Juniver
As a patient-founder, Emilie Faure is deeply committed to Juniver’s mission to improve outcomes in and access to eating disorder care. She has 12 years of sales experience and a track record of successful partnerships. She has worked in operational roles at auction houses and foundations, building teams and organizational structures from the ground up. She received her B.A. from Harvard University and her M.A. from Sciences-Po, Paris.
Juniver is a health company transforming the $66 billion eating disorder market, offering the first-of-its-kind digital solution with an AI-powered Assistant for on-demand help through urges, evidence-based education, personalized insights from health data, and peer support. Led by a team of ex-Capsule, Modern Fertility, and Mount Sinai experts with deep insight into the problem from lived experience, Juniver is designed to adapt to care models by covering the full continuum, from self-guided digital experiences proven to drive symptom reduction, to a 1:1 virtual clinic. A recent pilot showed Juniver to be 92% effective.
Founder and CEO, SimpliFed
Andrea Ippolito currently serves as the CEO and Founder of SimpliFed. Prior to joining SimpliFed, Andrea was a Senior Lecturer at Cornell University in the College of Engineering, served as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regarding Electronic Health Record Modernization, and was the Director of the Department of the VA Innovators Network. Andrea was also a Presidential Innovation Fellow based out of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and co-founded an innovative application that improves access to care called Smart Scheduling (acquired by athenahealth in 2016).
Andrea completed her MS in Engineering and Management at MIT. She obtained both her BS in Biological Engineering in 2006 and a Master of Engineering degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2007 from Cornell University.
SimpliFed is the leader in virtual-first maternal care at home, providing support for new parents in all 50 states. Powered by their Maternal Operating System (mOS), this unique care experience pathway connects each patient with SimpliFed’s medical providers (IBCLCs, NPs, and RNs), who meet with them to discuss baby feeding, high-risk monitoring, perinatal mood disorder screenings, and social determinant screenings.
This high touchpoint pathway enhances in-person care, as SimpliFed’s providers become an extension of a typical brick-and-mortar clinic. SimpliFed partners with health systems, health plans, and large strategic partners. SimpliFed’s patients are easily referred within their actual medical record, while communication between SimpliFed and a family’s women’s health provider, primary care physician, or pediatrician is seamless. This strong engagement model drives positive clinical outcomes and HEDIS metric compliance for their clients.
CEO, LunaJoy Health
Dr. Sipra Laddha is a pioneering leader in the mental health industry, serving as the CEO of LunaJoy Health. With a profound dedication to improving mental wellness, Dr. Laddha has led LunaJoy to become a premier provider of innovative mental health solutions. Under her leadership, Lunajoy has transformed the landscape of mental health care, ensuring comprehensive and accessible services for patients across diverse communities.
She holds an MD in Psychiatry from a prestigious institution, where she developed a deep understanding of the complexities of mental health. Her career is marked by significant milestones, including the implementation of cutting-edge mental health programs and the development of strategic partnerships with leading healthcare providers. Her expertise in integrating technology with mental health care has positioned LunaJoy at the forefront of digital health innovation.
LunaJoy Health is a leading holistic women’s mental health platform dedicated to providing specialized care for women during critical life stages such as perinatal, maternal, and perimenopausal phases. LunaJoy believes in the importance of personalized, empathetic psychiatric care that supports women’s mental well-being regardless of their life stage. Trusted by payors and provider groups like Sunshine Health, Caresource, Femwell, and Unified Women’s, LunaJoy boasts a team of over 50 therapists, psychiatrists, physician assistants, and coaches who are committed to offering comprehensive support from pregnancy through menopause.
Co-Founder and CEO, Armor Medical
Kelsey Mayo, Ph. D. is the Co-Founder and CEO of Armor Medical Inc., a biomedical device company dedicated to safeguarding maternal health. Dr. Mayo is a multidisciplinary engineer and empathetic leader with a passion for translational science. She previously led the development and launch of one of the world’s largest and most diverse biomedical research datasets. In her current role as CEO of Armor Medical, Dr. Mayo is using her deep technical expertise and lived experience as a hemorrhage survivor to bring to market the first commercial product to address the urgent demand for an objective, real-time early warning system for maternal hemorrhage.
Founded in June 2022, Armor Medical Inc. emerged from the shared frustration of women engineers with the stagnant state of women’s health innovation. Driven by the need for change, Armor Medical Inc. decided to be the catalyst for a healthcare revolution. Armor Medical Inc. is bringing to market the first commercial product to address the urgent demand for an objective, real-time early warning system for the global leading cause of maternal death: obstetric hemorrhage. This innovative solution is the first in a pipeline of technologies that protect and empower women’s health.
CEO, Navigate Maternity
Ariana McGee is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Navigate Maternity. As a Black mother of 4 young children, the maternal mortality and morbidity crisis has been a personal experience for Ariana. Women are dying and specifically, Black women are dying 3-4x the national average during childbirth and postpartum. After becoming pregnant with her third child during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing the gaps in perinatal care, she decided to create an equitable solution to impact the maternal health crisis. Navigate Maternity was created for underserved mamas by an underserved mama. As a healthcare leader in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries for the last 10 years, Ariana brings a wealth of knowledge to the commercialization and accessibility of their solution.
As a native of Gary, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois, Ariana has a vested interest in addressing women’s health and racial disparities in healthcare. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, AJ, and their four little ones – Jade (4), Trey (2), Naomi (1), and Aliya (newborn).
Navigate Maternity enhances the coordination of maternal care by remotely monitoring patients and collecting and sharing data to support clinical decision-making. The system captures important biometric, mood disorder, and socioeconomic information from the first prenatal appointment until twelve months after childbirth via the patient’s mobile app and Bluetooth-connected devices. Additionally, it facilitates seamless communication and collaboration between healthcare providers, ensuring that the patient receives timely and coordinated care throughout the perinatal period through enhanced surveillance, early intervention, and support for expectant mothers.
Founder and CEO, MedHaul
Erica Plybeah combines over a decade of expertise in clinical informatics and patient care with her role as a pioneering technology entrepreneur. As the Founder of MedHaul, she has transformed access to medical transportation through an innovative end-to-end platform, earning recognition from Forbes, Essence, Google, and NPR.
Originally from humble beginnings in Greenwood, Mississippi, Erica is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her career spans influential roles with healthcare and digital health giants including Epic, Flatiron Health, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, impacting environments from 1-doctor clinics to major health systems.
It is incredibly inefficient for healthcare staff to find and book transportation for high-need patients due to antiquated workflows. MedHaul is a digital health and mobility platform that provides seamless transportation to medical appointments for vulnerable patients across all acuity levels, including door-through-door, wheelchair, and stretcher services. The platform leverages advanced technology for real-time trip scheduling, tracking, advanced insights, and flexible booking options tailored to specific use cases and therapeutic areas.
By ensuring treatment adherence and visit completion, MedHaul breaks down transportation barriers to non-emergent and preventive medical services, offering reliable and equitable transport for healthcare appointments and essential travel.
MedHaul powers basic, assisted, wheelchair, and stretcher medical transportation services for chronically ill adults and children across 15 states and Washington DC. MedHaul is backed by renowned funders, including Morgan Stanley, BCBSMA, Citi, Google, Merck, and Unseen Capital.
Co-Founder and VP of Sales and Marketing,
Ash Wellness
Emma Rayner is the Co-Founder and VP of Sales and Marketing at Ash Wellness, a nationwide at-home diagnostic testing platform. Ash works with payors, digital health companies, public health, and other healthcare organizations to enable white-label at-home testing programs for clinically necessary tests such as HIV, colorectal cancer screening, diabetes, PrEP, heart health, hormone therapy, weight management, and more.
Emma was born in South Africa and has a background in last-mile delivery having worked at Uber and JustEat. She is passionate about using her company and skillset to make a meaningful impact on healthcare in the US. She lives with her husband in NYC and is a new mom.
Ash is a tech-enabled platform that powers health testing with at-home results for a range of client needs including gap closure, condition management, and infectious disease prevention. Ash tailors solutions for a diverse range of clients – including health plans, digital health organizations, and public sector entities – to meet the unique needs of the populations they serve.
CEO, Health Care Originals
Sharon Samjitsingh, a lifelong asthma sufferer, leads a dedicated team at Health Care Originals (HCO) to empower people with chronic respiratory diseases, ensuring they live freely and affordably. With over 25 years of experience, Sharon has successfully commercialized innovative technologies across manufacturing, sustainability, and healthcare. An inventor with 12 patents, she has deployed three groundbreaking technologies in three countries.
Sharon holds an MS from the University of Rochester and a B.Sc. from the University of The West Indies. Named TechRochester’s Technology Woman of the Year in 2020 and one of the Top 100 in Fem Tech and Health Tech by Women of Wearables in 2019, she is also honored in the Names Dress, a 3D-printed art piece celebrating women in STEAM, alongside notable luminaries like Jane Goodall.
Sharon has chaired the World Conference Forum’s Population Health Management Conference and spoken at Wearable Technologies Conferences.
Health Care Originals (HCO) is a pioneering company dedicated to improving the lives of people with chronic respiratory diseases. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions, HCO empowers individuals to live healthier, more unencumbered lives. Their mission is to provide peace of mind to patients and their loved ones while reducing healthcare costs. With a commitment to excellence and a focus on impactful results, HCO is transforming respiratory healthcare for a better future.
CEO, SpectrumAi
Ling Shao is the Founder and CEO of SpectrumAi, a digital health company that develops innovative solutions for life-changing therapies. As a mom of boys on the autism spectrum, her passion is to improve access to high-quality care for families like hers. Ling’s extensive experience commercializing healthcare services and software includes a decade at UnitedHealth Group in leadership roles managing national account managements and business development for the dual-eligibles. Ling also held leadership roles at two high-growth digital health start-ups as Chief Commercial Officer of Buoy Health and SVP Strategic Solutions of AmWell.
Ling started her career as a senior consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and as a research nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to finishing college, Ling served in the U.S. Army as a sergeant and a nurse. She holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BS in Nuclear Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering from MIT.
SpectrumAI emerged to address a critical issue in autism therapy: the absence of transparent quality data, hindering the identification and pursuit of effective, top-tier treatment for children with autism. SpectrumAI aims to remedy these foundational challenges by leveraging a session-tracking software platform (EHR) enhanced by artificial intelligence. Its objective is to gather comprehensive data on autism treatment, envisioning a future where care providers are compensated based on the quality of their service rather than the quantity, thus fostering the adoption of best practices.
Co-Founder and CEO, Frame
Jessica Bell van der Wal is reframing family planning as the Co-Founder and CEO of Frame, a venture she launched with her husband in 2020 following their own fertility crisis. Prior to Frame, she led teams in marketing, customer success, operations, and strategy at various early- and late-stage companies including Castlight Health, Nike, Deloitte Consulting, and Genentech.
She currently sits on the advisory boards of two digital health companies as well as multiple educational institutions, nonprofits, and women’s empowerment organizations. Jessica’s foundational training in public health and international volunteer experience colors her passion for health solutions on a broad scale. Jessica holds a BA in Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Frame is the first collaborative care platform for fertility and family building. Frame partners with healthcare providers and payers to provide holistic care, coaching, and 1:1 support for patients at any stage of their family-building journey, leading to better outcomes and lower costs for everyone involved.
Founder and CEO, Wave Therapeutics
Jessica Bussert is an emergency room nurse, a lifelong technologist, and the founder of Wave Therapeutics. As a child, Jessica taught herself basic electronics at age 10 and how to program computers at 12. She was a published software author at 15 and was programming custom robotics by the time she was 17. She later led European business consulting for one of the largest tech companies in the world before losing that career to discrimination when she transitioned genders in her early 40s. Jessica moved back to the US and became a volunteer firefighter and an EMT before making the decision to go back to school and earn her nursing degree.
Years later, she was working in a small town ER when an ambulance arrived with a disabled vet who was septic and suffering from the worst bedsores she had ever seen. At that moment, Jessica decided to use her tech skills and healthcare experience to found Wave Therapeutics and create a more effective solution to the problem of bedsores that would be affordable to anyone who needed it.
In addition to her work at Wave, Jessica is a professional photographer with her own art gallery, an avid world traveler, and a disaster recovery volunteer. Jessica has been married to her amazing spouse, Sharon, for 30 years. Together they raised five wonderful children.
Wave Therapeutics, a Techstars company, has developed disruptive smart cushioning technology designed to prevent bedsores, save lives, and reduce a huge cost center for long-term and acute care facilities. Their devices help reduce the risks of bedsores and blood clots through a unique combination of tested medical therapies combined with powerful analytics capabilities. Using their technology, healthcare facilities can reduce hospitalization stays and treatment costs, increase reimbursements, and eliminate crippling legal liabilities.
Co-Founder, Twentyeight Health
Amy Fan is the Co-Founder and President of Twentyeight Health, a mission-driven digital health platform increasing women’s health access for underserved communities. Twentyeight Health provides telemedicine, medication delivery, and care coordination, and is one of the only telehealth platforms to accept Medicaid. Previously, Amy was the General Manager of Onomie Beauty, a direct-to-consumer beauty startup, and a consultant at Bain & Company. She was recognized as Rock Health’s Top 50 in Digital Health in 2021 and Inc’s Female Founder 100 in 2022. Amy holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and an MBA & MPH from UC Berkeley.
Twentyeight Health is a mission-driven women’s health platform providing accessible reproductive and sexual health services to underserved communities through telemedicine, medication delivery, and ongoing care. Twentyeight Health offers affordable access through Medicaid and provides culturally competent care with a clinician network experienced in serving low-income individuals and BIPOC patients. Founded in 2018, Twentyeight Health is active in 34 states and Washington, DC, and is available to 85% of US women of reproductive age.
Founder and CEO, Flourish Labs
Obi Felten is the Founder and CEO of Flourish Labs, a startup on a mission to scale professional mental health peer support with tech to address the mental health crisis. Flourish Labs trains young adults to become certified peer supporters and offers telehealth peer support for young adults and teenagers. Previously, Obi was Head of Getting Moonshots Ready for Contact with the Real World at Google X, Director of Consumer Marketing for Google in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and set up e-commerce businesses in Europe.
Obi serves on the boards of Springer Nature, an academic and educational publisher, and Marathon Health, a primary and behavioral health care company for employers. She is also an advisor for the UK NHS Best For You youth mental health initiative. She is an advocate for women and other underrepresented groups in tech. Obi grew up in Berlin, has a BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Oxford University, and lives in California with her husband, children, cats, and dog.
Flourish Labs is on a mission to scale professional mental health peer support with tech to address the mental health crisis. They expand the mental health workforce by hiring and training young adults with diverse backgrounds to become certified mental health Peer Support Specialists.
On peers.net, Flourish Labs’ telehealth platform, young adults and teenagers can book a 1-on-1 session with a peer supporter of their choice on demand, usually within 24 hours. Their peer supporters provide emotional support, teach skills, and share their knowledge of and personal experiences with mental health. Flourish Labs’ proprietary training curriculum was developed to state and national certification standards, in partnership with online learning design experts, peers, and young adults.
CEO, Grapevine Health
Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick is the Founder and CEO of Grapevine Health, a digital health media and patient engagement organization working to improve access to trusted health information in Black and brown communities. Dr. Fitzpatrick is an infectious diseases physician and CDC-trained medical epidemiologist. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Roundtable on Health Literacy and a professorial lecturer for the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Previously, Lisa served as Chief Medical Officer for DC Medicaid. At CDC, she held several leadership positions, including U.S. diplomat for the Caribbean region. She is also a Co-Founder of the Community Wellness Collective, a local non-profit organization that provides health education and exercise programs for underserved residents of Washington, DC. Lisa earned a BA/MD at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, an MPH from the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Lisa is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow.
Grapevine Health is a data-driven patient engagement company that creates and delivers culturally appropriate health education content digitally to help close care gaps for underserved communities. Their mission is to create relatable, compelling health content that increases health literacy, promotes trust between patients and medical professionals, and improves health outcomes for underserved communities.
Grapevine Health knows that health literacy is a powerful social driver of health. With roots in healthcare, technology, and community organizing, their team leverages technical expertise, trusted messengers, and empathetic storytelling to democratize health information, empower patients, and drive sustainable healthy behaviors.
Co-Founder and CCO, Blooming Health, Inc.
Kavitha Gnanasambandan, PhD is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Blooming Health. She received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Florida and conducted postdoctoral cancer research at the NYU School of Medicine. Her work in cancer research, healthcare consulting, and digital health helped to bring new treatments and support tools to cancer patients. At Varian Medical Systems, Kavitha led the commercialization of Noona, a remote symptom monitoring platform for cancer patients, through pharmaceutical and payer partnerships.
Her experience as a caregiver to her grandmother and as a volunteer with the NYC Department of Aging inspired her to start Blooming Health with her co-founders. Blooming Health is powering healthy aging in place via an inclusive technology solution that connects all older adults and caregivers with community-based supportive services, regardless of their circumstances.
Blooming Health powers healthy aging in place by enabling all aging service providers to proactively engage underserved older adults and caregivers, and address their health and social needs in a personalized manner. Their age-friendly technology solution is used by a growing network of aging care providers across the US to engage and navigate thousands of older adults and caregivers in one click via automated text, phone calls, or emails in 26+ languages. Further, they enable healthcare organizations to proactively reach members and address their health-related social needs through their community-based, remote engagement solution.
Founder and CEO, Rosy Wellness
Dr. Lyndsey Harper is a Board Certified Ob/Gyn, Associate Professor of Ob/Gyn for Texas A&M COM, a Fellow of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. Dr. Harper is the founder and CEO of Rosy, an award-winning women’s health technology company that connects women who have sexual health concerns with hope, community, and research-backed solutions. She has been named Forbes Top 53 Women Disrupting Healthcare, People Newspapers’ 20 Under 40, a Top Innovator in North Texas for 2020 and a DBJ Top Woman in Tech.
Rosy Wellness is the first and only physician-founded women’s sexual health platform designed for the 43% of women with sexual health concerns. Now recommended by more than 11% of US ob/gyns, Rosy provides evidence-based patient-centered support including therapeutic education, CBT-based exercises, community, research-backed erotica, and coaching.
Rosy is the 2022 recipient of a Webby Design Award, a recipient of the UCSF Digital Health Award, and is the only app recommended by Cedars Sinai for patients with sexual problems. Rosy is proud to be the doctor-recommended lifetime partner for women’s sexual health concerns including low desire, sexual pain, sexual concerns related to infertility, pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, cancer, and more.
Co-Founder and CEO, Origin Healthcare
Christine Lum Lung MD, MBA is a physician entrepreneur committed to improving the health of patients and the future of healthcare. Christine received her B.A. from Stanford University and her MBA from the Yale School of Management. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Colorado and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of California, San Diego, where she also served as Chief Resident.
Christine is a board-certified physician specializing in hospital medicine and has been practicing for over twenty years. She was the solo founder and CEO of a successful, independent hospital medicine company that she ran for sixteen years. She was a 2021 Poets & Quants “Best and Brightest EMBA” and an inaugural Rock Health Innovation Fellow. Christine is currently the Co-Founder and CEO of Origin Healthcare.
Origin Healthcare is a tech-enabled company partnering with organizations so patients can receive advanced medical care at home, instead of the hospital. Origin’s value-based approach improves access and outcomes while lowering the cost of care by thousands of dollars compared to a facility-based admission. Origin Healthcare won the 2022 Colorado Prime Health Innovation Challenge, receiving a grant to partner with safety net organizations to improve health equity, quality, and cost. Origin believes the home is the future center of healthcare.
Co-Founder and CEO, Prana Thoracic
Joanna Nathan is an investor turned entrepreneur on a mission to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients as the CEO of Prana Thoracic. Prana’s technology is the first minimally invasive medical device to enable early diagnosis and intervention in lung cancer.
At the start of Joanna’s career, she received the gift of entrepreneurship, an unexpected pivot that changed her path from research to innovation. Joanna’s work at Mercury Fund, followed by her role as New Ventures Manager at Johnson & Johnson MedTech Center for Device Innovation, expanded her perspective on innovation to include the investor mindset and ultimately led her to step back into an entrepreneurial role with Prana Thoracic. Joanna is invested in growing and supporting Houston’s life science community. She has mentored countless founders and continues to advocate for students and aspiring entrepreneurs as Co-Founder of Enventure and as President of the Board for Rice University Engineering Alumni.
Houston-based medical device startup Prana Thoracic, Inc. is dedicated to developing solutions for early intervention in lung cancer. Prana Thoracic is developing the first minimally invasive, lung-sparing device for early intervention of suspicious pulmonary nodules.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., making up almost 25% of all cancer deaths. Most lung cancers are diagnosed late after the disease has spread, limiting survival. While over 14 million patients in the U.S. each year are eligible for lung cancer screening, less than 5% are currently getting screened. With Prana Thoracic’s ThoraCore System – which is minimally invasive and lung-sparing – physicians will be able to target lung nodules that are challenging to reach and accurately sample, facilitating definitive diagnosis to dramatically improve outcomes.
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Evvy
Pita Navarro is a molecular biologist by training with a deep passion for driving the translation of scientific discoveries into technologies that can improve outcomes and empower women to live healthier lives. As an entrepreneur-scientist, her biotech start-up experience spans research, development, and commercialization of novel diagnostics and digital health tools. Prior to starting Evvy, Pita was a founding team member at Athelas where she led the development of AI-based devices to monitor key biomarkers of inflammation for chronically ill patients.
Evvy is on a mission to close the gender health gap by discovering and leveraging overlooked female biomarkers, starting with the vaginal microbiome. In 2021, Evvy launched the first at-home vaginal microbiome test to use metagenomic sequencing to tell you what’s up down there, why it matters, and what you can do about it. Insights from their test led to the expansion of Evvy’s innovative vaginal health platform, which is the first and only vaginal healthcare service to bring together state-of-the-art testing, precision clinical care and prescription treatment, and 1:1 coaching to give women and people with vaginas the care they deserve.
Through this platform, Evvy is building the real-world datasets necessary to transform their understanding of complex health conditions in the female body. That means building holistic definitions of what disease and health look like in diverse people, in addition to developing personalized care pathways that are grounded in data — not guesswork.
Co-Founder and CEO, ZiphyCare, Inc.
Dr. Rada Sumareva is a healthcare innovator and notable advocate for inclusion, diversity, and humanitarian causes that benefit at-risk populations. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ziphycare, a digital health company with a mission to provide access to quality healthcare for all.
Dr. Sumareva has been a healthcare provider for over two decades, servicing patients with multiple chronic conditions, many of whom come from the most vulnerable communities – the elderly, people with disabilities, people living in care deserts, and the economically disadvantaged. She’s also been involved in a number of health initiatives helping at-risk patients get better access to care, providing health education, raising awareness, and improving compliance through her professional and non-profit affiliations (community boards, Henry Schein Cares Foundation projects, United Healthcare initiatives, JCRC, Alpha Omega, Tel Aviv University, and others). Dr. Sumareva is also a member of the UJA Healthcare Executive Committee and HealthCare Disparities coalition.
ZiphyCare technology helps bridge the gap between telemedicine and in-person exams and enables effective, accessible care and socially responsive health services to chronically ill, vulnerable, and underserved patients while lowering payor costs and improving outcomes through value-based care.
ZiphyCare’s technology and model help bring high-quality care to every home, connect payer and large physicians organizations with their most complex patients, and enable true continuity of care via data sharing between all the medical team members, including clinical data flow through the EMR interface to any clinic, hospital or health system that needs the patient EHR.