CAPSULE

Thought Leaders and Innovators came Together To Share Their Knowledge, Experience, Research, and Insights about Women's Health.

Capsule has launched its beloved free, same-day prescription delivery service in Austin. 

The company is serving Austin’s 1.5 million residents from it's downtown pharmacy. For more information go to capsule.com or contact Jordan Meyer at jmeyer@capsule.com.

Capsule is hiring in Austin.

See the open positions here.

summit recap

moderators

Alex Cantwell began her career at an NBC affiliate station in McAllen, TX where several of her stories covering the 2013 immigration crisis were picked up nationwide. From there, Alex joined the Spectrum News team in Austin. During her time in Austin, Alex covered several stories on the nation's oldest World War II veteran, whose joy, wit, and love of life still inspires her to this day.

Alex is a passionate San Antonio Spurs fan and, of course, cheers hard for all Longhorn sports. Alex is also a fan of the Houston Texans (sorry, Cowboy Nation) and roots for the Houston Astros baseball team. When she's not delivering the morning news, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, eating as much queso as she can, and exploring the outdoors with her dog, Molly.

Alana Rocha joined The Texas Tribune staff as the multimedia reporter after working eight years in television and radio news. She's covered politics for stations in Florida, Kansas and most recently Austin as YNN's lead political reporter.

Her work at the cable news outlet took her around the country reporting from the presidential campaign trail.

A native of Tampa, Florida, Alana received bachelor's degrees in journalism and Spanish from the University of Florida.

Deborah R. Duncan is a licensed master social worker with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.  Ms. Duncan has more than 30 years of experience in health and human services, including public health, community mobilization and planning, and gerontology.  She currently serves as program coordinator for the City of Austin/Austin Public Health Department. 

In her role with Austin Public Health, Ms. Duncan helps to expand community outreach efforts by providing technical assistance to community and faith-based organizations.  She assists underserved populations with health promotion/ education and prevention services to improve their quality of life.  She directs the Health and Wellness Ministry at Saint James Missionary Baptist Church and serves the Austin/Travis County community in many capacities.

She is a member of the Anderson Community Development Corporation, 2006 Leadership Austin graduate, 2008 Seton Cove-Leadership graduate, 2016 National Women’s Achievement, Inc., Austin Metroplex, Inc., “Caregiver Honoree” African American Women’s Profiles of Prominence inductee, 2021 African-American Heritage Network Essential and Frontline COVID-19 Public Health Employee recognition awardee and a certified suicide prevention gatekeeper. Ms. Duncan enjoys music, gardening, cooking, reading, quilting, world travel and spending time with family  and friends.

Deborah hosts “Health Talk” on KAZI-FM, Tuesday’s from 8am - 9am

Mansi Patel is the Head of Product at Capsule. Mansi has been with Capsule since 2016 and has been instrumental in building a pharmacy that works for everyone and is beloved by so many.

Prior to Capsule, Mansi spent her career in investment banking, management consulting, and operations covering a range of industries including media, insurance, industrials, and food tech.

Mansi received her B.A in Economics from New York University. She also received her M.B.A. from New York University - Stern School of Business

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Professionally, Diane Land has a business background in commercial real estate for 40 years. She is a licensed real estate broker in Texas and a Certified Public Accountant. Previously she was a Certified Property Manager. She had her own property management company, DT Land Group, Inc., for 25 years in Austin, Texas, specializing in retail shopping centers.

In addition to her business experience, she has served on many nonprofit boards: The Contemporary Austin, Austin Region of the Anti-Defamation League, GENaustin (Girls Empowerment Network), Literacy Austin. Currently she is a Ballet Austin Foundation Trustee, a Safe board member and a Trustee at Huston Tillotson University.

Diane is married to Mayor Steve Adler

Eric Kinariwala is the founder and CEO of Capsule, a technology business rebuilding the pharmacy industry from the inside out with an emotionally resonant brand, and technology that enables customized outcomes for doctors, hospitals, insurers, and manufacturers.

Capsule has raised so far $270 million from Thrive Capital, Glade Brook, the Virgin Group, and Sound Ventures.

Prior to founding Capsule, Eric invested in global healthcare, technology, and retail companies as part of the investment teams at Bain Capital and Perry Capital.

He received his undergraduate degree as a University Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he held the position of Chief Investment Officer of GSB Endowment Student Investment Trust.

Debbie Garza joined the Texas Pharmacy Association as Chief Executive Officer in August 2017. A business-savvy executive with keen strategic vision and a passion for pharmacy, Debbie is a skilled communicator who explains complex policy issues clearly and concisely with the prowess to change mindsets and build positive public sentiment for the pharmacy profession. She is a top-performing leader with a proven aptitude for securing results to contribute to the growth and success of an organization. In addition, she possesses the inherent ability to proactively identify and assess public policy trends in health care and bridge those to pharmacy.

Debbie has significant accomplishments in government relations, public policy, and operations in pharmacy, health care, and retail. She collaborates to get things done and prides herself in coalition building and ally development. Debbie possesses hands-on knowledge of legislative, regulatory, and political processes and is well-versed in Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and pharmacist scope of practice. She has been intimately involved with drug payment policy, delivery system reform and a broader role for pharmacists. She has served as a trusted advisor to several company CEOs and navigated an organization through landmark health legislation of Medicare Part D and the Affordable Care Act.

Debbie spent more than three decades with Walgreens, advancing through the company while taking on higher roles with increased responsibilities. She started in the cosmetics department in 1984, worked as a pharmacy technician, became a pharmacist, supervised pharmacy operations in the Austin district, and rose to Divisional Vice President of Government and Community Relations in 2007. In that role she built the Government and Community Relations department and led federal, state, and local government affairs, public policy, pharmacy affairs working with state boards of pharmacy, and community relations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She opened and ran Walgreens’ Washington, D.C. office and served as chief lobbyist for the organization. In 2016 Debbie began utilizing her vast experience and expertise as an independent consultant providing consulting and advisory services in the pharmacy and health care industries.

In 2014 Debbie was recognized as one of the leading women in retail pharmacy by Drug Store News Women Leaders Report. Debbie is a member of the American Pharmacists Association and The University of Texas College of Pharmacy Dean’s Advisory Council. She previously served on the board of directors of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation and the Coalition for Community Pharmacy Action, an alliance between the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association. Her leadership roles in Texas include president of the Texas Federation of Drug Stores from 2003 to 2005, a member of the Texas Pharmacy Association, and task forces convened by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.

Debbie received a B.S. in pharmacy from The University of Texas at Austin. She and her husband, José, enjoy traveling, gardening, and raising African cichlids. Having been a mentor throughout her career, Debbie enjoys mentoring pharmacists and helping to shape the next generation of pharmacy leaders.

Dr. Kathleen Casey currently serves as the Director of Clinical Innovation and Development at Integral Care and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School.

In her prior position as Division Director of Adult Behavioral Health Systems at Integral Care, she led the administrative and clinical oversight of 4 large scale integrated healthcare clinics, homeless services, supportive housing, and veteran services. She is a former Co-Chair for the Austin Central Texas Suicide Prevention Coalition and Coordinator for the disaster mental health response initiative for the City of Austin.

Dr. Casey’s background also includes serving as a Doctoral Fellow with the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and as a Program Officer for United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Central America. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on mental health issues and provides presentations and trainings at the local, state, and national level.

Dr. James Anderson grew up in St. Louis, MO, where he played ice hockey, and is an avid St. Louis Blues and Cardinals fan. He and his wife lived for 20 years in North Carolina, where he practiced at Cornerstone Health Care, now Wake Forest Baptist Health. Dr. Anderson and his wife have three grown children. In his free time, he can be found with his wife on their boat, visiting family in Horseshoe Bay, being active outside, playing ice hockey, or walking their dog, Kirby, named after the University of Georgia Bulldogs football coach!

During the past 23 years of pediatric practice in North Carolina prior to joining ARC, I sub-specialized in the treatment of pediatric mental health and behavioral medicine, specifically in the area of ADHD, anxiety, depression, and medication management of autism.

Each of these children and families have their own unique story and challenges, and I am blessed when I have the opportunity to help them along this journey to overcome their individual challenges and discover their own unique gifts and talents.

I believe that active listening and involving both parents and children are the key to a successful relationship with my patients. I look forward to providing enhanced pediatric mental and behavioral health care to my ARC patients.

Dr. Natalie Crawford is board certified in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and is Director of Patient Experience and Outreach and co-founder of Fora Fertility, a boutique fertility practice in Austin, Texas. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Women’s Health at the University of Texas Dell Medical School.

Dr. Crawford completed her undergraduate education at Auburn University obtaining a degree in Nutrition Science, Medical School at University of Texas Medical Branch, Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Texas Southwestern, and her Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of North Carolina while concurrently obtaining a Master of Science in Clinical Research. She is passionate about educating and empowering women and promotes preventive care, plant based medicine, and fertility awareness through her multiple social media platforms.

You can find Dr. Crawford on Instagram @nataliecrawfordmd TikTok @nataliecrawfordmd, twitter @ncrawfordmd, her blog nataliecrawfordmd.com, her You Tube channel “Natalie Crawford, MD”, and she is the host of the “As a Woman” podcast.

Dr. Crawford has been name to the “Top Doctors” and “Top Doctors for Women” lists in 2020 by Austin Monthly. She won “Best Fertility Specialist in Austin” by the 2019 Austin Birth awards and was the recipient of the Hope Award for Social Influence by Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She was named one of Austin’s top 40 under 40 in 2020 for her work empowering women. She is married to Austin native Jason Crawford, and they have 2 young children.

Dr. John Thoppil leads River Place OB/GYN and provides state of the art care to women from in and around Austin, Texas. Patients of all ages have access to a wide variety of services including annual wellness visits, obstetrics, prenatal care, 3D and 4D ultrasounds, gynecology, birth control, hormone management including bio-identical hormone replacement, and weight management services.

River Place OB/GYN is dedicated to providing the best care at every stage in a woman’s life. We practice evidence-based medicine but have the experience to know that no two patients are the same. We individualize our treatment plan for each patient’s unique circumstances. You will find that our practice will truly be your medical home.

Dr. Thoppil completed his undergraduate degree at Texas A&M University and his medical degree at the Baylor College of Medicine, one of the premier medical schools in the country. He did his OB/GYN training at the Air Force’s flagship medical center, Wilford Hall, at Lackland AFB. Dr. Thoppil served his country as a physician in the Air Force prior to returning to his home state of Texas in 2008.

He is a 6-time Austin Monthly Top Doctor and also a Texas Monthly Super Doctor. He is the current president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Karen Ranus has served as the Executive Director of NAMI Central Texas since 2014. She sits on the county's Behavioral Health & Criminal Justice Advisory Committee and Psychiatric Stakeholder’s Group as well as the Steering Committee for the Austin State Hospital System Redesign.

Karen has developed and implemented mental health programs to address the needs of faith communities, law enforcement, workplaces, and parents of teens. She has been recognized by the Austin Young Chamber as a ChangeMaker and recently received national recognition as a "Local Hero" from the Charles Schwab Corporation.

Karen believes in the power of storytelling to engage people in important conversations on mental health. She is a frequent speaker on a variety of mental health topics where her passion for NAMI Austin’s mission and work stems from her own family’s mental health journey, having almost lost a daughter to suicide in 2011.

Encountering families like her own through NAMI, she recognized the powerful role of no-cost education and support programming for families and individuals living with mental illness as well as the schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities where they live, work, play and learn.

Adrianna Cantu is the Founder and CEO of Revealix, a digital health company developing mobile imaging and remote patient monitoring solutions to prevent diabetic foot wounds and amputations.

She is an experienced healthcare executive, with deep clinical and industry expertise, board certified in wound care. At Revealix, Adrianna aims to solve one of the most pressing healthcare challenges she’s confronted in the management of diabetic foot disease -- preventing the preventable. Her vision is to leverage technology to operationalize and scale evidence based practices for preserving diabetic foot health.

Revealix is focused on health equity and the right for every person with diabetes to avoid these complications. Prior to starting Revealix, Adrianna was an early member of a wound care startup where she was the chief architect of the company's clinical operations and corporate training programs. Over her 10 year tenure, Adrianna led the development and deployment of the company’s operational infrastructure for driving best practices in the field. At the time of her departure the company was servicing over 40 states, with 200+ clinical specialists throughout the country and generating > $100M in annual revenue.

Adrianna holds a technical patent in the field of sensor fusion and detection of skin pathology. She is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialist and Diplomate of the American Professional Wound Care Association.

Jerold McDonald is the Co-Founder + CEO of Omaiven Health, an intelligent automation company humanizing care based in Austin, TX.  He’s a tenured healthcare administrator with leadership experience at many of America's preeminent health systems, consulting services, and technology leaders (Houston Methodist, Veterans Affairs, Huron Consulting, and athenahealth).

With a lens for community health and inclusive innovation, Omaiven was founded in 2018 with a shared goal of leveraging leading technology to scale health equity. He received a master’s degree from Trinity University’s Health Care Administration program and bachelors degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.

Jerold is an active community member, speaking at local schools and global conferences. He serves as an Advisory Council Member for his alma mater and a Board Member where he brings a lens as an innovator to drive greater access for all.

Thought Leaders and Innovators came Together To Share Their Knowledge, Experience, Research and Insights about the Future of Health.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

STARTUP SHOWCASE

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Garheng Kong founded HealthQuest Capital in 2012 to improve people’s lives through improving healthcare on a significant scale.  His vision was to build a best-in-class team of the highest talent and integrity to work with outstanding entrepreneurs to transform healthcare through high growth companies while generating outsized risk adjusted returns for investors.

A physician, scientist, and engineer by training, Garheng has over two decades of experience investing in innovative healthcare companies with a long list of successes (25 IPO/M&A exits). He has represented HealthQuest on the boards of Ajax I, Ajax II, Ajax III, Alcresta, Avedro, Avizia, BardyDx, Castle Biosciences, CleanSlate, Etairos, ENT Specialty Partners, Everlywell, HealthChannels, Magnolia Medical, Perspectum, Pulmonx, Spirox, TigerConnect, Trice Medical, Venus Concept, and CareMetx/VirMedica.

Some of his notable past successes include IPO’s with Avedro (AVDR), Castle Biosciences (CSTL), Cempra (CEMP), Alimera (ALIM), Applied Genetic Technology Corp. (AGTC), AmWell (AMWL), Proteon (PRTO), Pulmonx (LUNG), Histogenics (HSGX), TransEnterix (TRXC) and Venus Concept (VERO). His investments going on to successful M&A transactions include: Ajax I (Medtronic), Avedro (Glaukos), Avizia (AmWell), Calibra Medical (J&J), Cellective (AstraZeneca), Serenex (Pfizer), Athenix (Bayer), NovaMin (GSK), Aldagen (Cytomedix), Salveo Specialty Pharmacy (United Health), SARCode (Shire), Spirox (Stryker), and Virmedica (CareMetx).

Garheng’s interests and industry footprint are broad as he also serves on boards of LabCorp (LH), Alimera Sciences (ALIM), StrongBridge (SBBP), Be The Match, Duke University Medical Center, and has served as Chairman on nine boards. He is an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow, Kauffman Fellows Mentor, and member of YPO.

Garheng received undergraduate degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences from Stanford, while on an athletic scholarship. He then earned a MD, PhD and MBA from Duke University, graduating at the top of his class in each instance. His early career included stints at GlaxoSmithKline, McKinsey and a medical device start-up, TherOx, before joining Intersouth Partners and then Sofinnova Investments. He is married to his physician wife (a board certified cardiac electrophysiologist), has 3 children, and was a nationally ranked volleyball player (and avid “foodie”)

Kristen Valdes, founder and CEO of b.well Connected Health, has dedicated her career to empowering consumers with the data and tools to take control of their health care journey. An award-winning leader and acknowledged visionary, Valdes has pioneered inventive solutions that are pushing the industry forward into the consumer-directed future of digital health. She is driven in that quest by her experience as the mother of a child with an autoimmune disorder who nearly died due to a lack of health data interoperability. 

Prior to founding b.well in 2015, Valdes was an executive at UnitedHealthcare running Medicare Advantage plans across 12 states. She started her healthcare career working with CMS on the first national payment integrity programs for Medicare and Medicaid. She then helped to build XLHealth, one of the pioneering Medicare Advantage plans for the chronically ill.  Valdes was responsible for maintaining and growing the profitability of the plan and was instrumental in its acquisition by UnitedHealthcare in late 2012 for $2.4 billion.

Valdes has won numerous awards for her leadership. Named one of “Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs,” she was recognized in 2020 as one of four "Women Transforming Industries" by Accenture and Springboard Enterprises for re-imagining how we can more efficiently and wisely leverage technology to access healthcare. Under her leadership, b.well has been recognized by Business Insider as “one of 35 healthcare startups VCs say will take off in 2021”; by BuiltIn Austin as a 2020 Best Place to Work; by the Digital Health Awards as the 2020 winner of the "consumer directed digital health" category; and as a “Top Innovator” at the 2019 Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge.

Valdes is a board member of the CARIN Alliance, a non-partisan multi-stakeholder collaborative that aims to enable consumers to access their health information with less friction. Her personal profile is shaped by strong family values, a superior work ethic, and an integrity-driven competitive nature.  She is actively involved in her community, serves on various boards as an Advisor and has been a featured speaker at numerous healthcare industry conferences.

Chris Moose is a Partner in IBM's Healthcare and Life Sciences practice leading IBM's COVID-19 credentialing and vaccine distribution strategies with Federal, State and commercial entities.  This involves convening an ecosystem across Government and Private entities and deploying technology to address visibility, coordination and security challenges as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

His most recent project drove IBM's interaction with the State of New York and deployed the Nation's first state-issued digital COVID credential. With over 19 million eligible users this is a new model for entities to represent facts, establish trust and has far reaching implications beyond COVID and healthcare. He achieved this by combining cryptography and blockchain to form new business networks and ecosystems. Currently he is scaling this platform, IBM's Healthpass, globally and presenting IBM's blockchain and ecosystem point of view to congressional, federal agencies, states and national media.

Mr. Moose's COVID activities align with his belief in the power of technology, the importance of business platforms and the need for industries to rethink where they cooperate versus compete.  The increase in connectivity, compute and bandwidth when merged with decentralized technologies and a shifting regulatory landscape enables organizations to focus at higher levels in the value chain and will drive dramatic innovation.

Outside IBM Mr. Moose is an advisor at Capital Factory, a Startup investor, Advisor to Global Healthcare Crisis Center (GHC3) and advisor to the Global Self Care Federation.

Startup showcase

Zachary Ballard received his Ph.D. from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at University of California, Los Angeles in 2019, working with Professor Aydogan Ozcan. He has co-authored 11 peer-reviewed journal articles and a book chapter in the field of biophotonics and computational sensing. During his education, Dr. Ballard received the Dr. Ursula Mandel Scholarship for graduate students in scientific fields allied to medicine, the 2018 SPIE Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship, and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Dr. Ballard is a co-founder of Hana Diagnostics, Inc. a start-up focused on commercializing computational point-of-care sensor technology.

Hana Diagnostics was launched in spring of 2020 with the immediate goal of commercializing an innovative diagnostic test from UCLA that provides novel functionalities to improve the accuracy of rapid testing. Our rapid testing platform uniquely supports up to 100 independent simultaneous assay reactions within a plastic cassette, and leverages a compact reader working with AI-based calibration algorithms to accurately report measurement results of key clinical panels. Co-founders: Profs. Aydogan Ozcan, Dino Di Carlo, Omai Garner, Drs. Hyou-Arm Joung (CTO) and Zach Ballard (CEO) have worked together for nearly 5 years on this platform technology and bring synergistic expertise in translating technologies from the lab into the clinical space. Together our team’s mission is to democratize next-generation diagnostic technologies through rapid testing innovations and a computational sensing approach to sensing.

Wei Escala is the founder and CEO of Eggschain. She proudly operates at the intersection of technology, blockchain, reproductive medicine, scientific research and marketing. She successfully identified, captured the imagination of, onboarded and continued to learn from/collaborate with a stellar team of technology experts, business experts, esteemed physicians and scientists. Before founding Eggschain, she has held executive positions at Valvoline, Evenflo, Procter & Gamble, Frito Lay and Kraft Foods and has run P&L of up to $300 million in the US. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Computer Science, and a MBA from Emory University. She is passionate about women’s health, family building, enabling better education and better decision-making for men, women, families, partners and organizations.

Eggschain is a digital health company that is a thought leader in the fertility, female-Healthtech, family-building and cryogenic preservation industries. We are patent-allowed and cloud-based. We provide an intermediary that facilities IVF procedures, egg-freezing, sperm-freezing, and donor process. We lead the thinking on chain of custody tracking of bio specimens, including sperm, eggs, embryos, genome, stem cell, and other genetic material. Also, we provide fertility doctor approved information and educate women, men, family and partners on how best to have a baby, and how to make decisions. On the B2B side, we make inventory-managing bio specimens and equipment more accurate, faster and easier. We help prevent mistakes and help labs run more efficiently. Hospitals, physician’s labs, high complexity labs, prenatal screen labs and newborn screening labs, toxicology, chemistry labs, and other labs benefit from our service.

Asma Mirza has a graduate degree in Global Health from Duke University's Global Health Institute. She has a background leading healthcare interventions and implementations in the U.S., Middle East, South Asia, and the Caribbean, and analyzing the market assessment accordingly. She assisted in the delivery of a healthcare technology that was delivered during the onset of the Syrian Civil War, which included surveys, user interviews, and a technological analysis. Asma is trained in qualitative and quantitative analysis of communicable diseases and their large-scale global impact in transforming into an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic.

Steradian Technologies is developing The RUMI, a hand-held, no-lab diagnostic device, that uses photonics for rapid amplification and direct detection of pathogens in breath under 30 seconds. The device can be used for both communicable and non-communicable disease detection. Currently, the device is being developed for respiratory viral and bacterial diseases and early-stage, non-small lung cancer detection. The device is portable, and can be used anywhere without the need of a lab. Testing can run about a tenth of the cost of PCR, or the price of latte ($5), increasing testing accessibility across all communities! The device has demonstrated 99% sensitivity and is being tested currently at JLABS and the Center for Device Innovation. Steradian Technologies was one of the Grand Prize winners of XPRIZE's $6m Covid-19 Rapid Testing Challenge!

Logan Jacobs is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 8 years experience building teams and developing innovative products. A former financial advisor at Raymond James Financial, Logan has spent the past 5 years launching new medical devices. Logan holds a BS degree in finance from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from the University of Washington.

TourniTek is the first pre-hospital treatment for limb threatening injuries. Using therapeutic cooling, TourniTek preserves injured limbs in the field until patients can be transported to definitive surgical care. By treating these injuries prior to surgical care, TourniTek can prevent amputation and permanent disability.

IMPACTIVO, LLC is an impact-driven health technology and consulting firm committed to transforming health systems. We achieve our mission by empowering leaders to take informed action that makes health and wellbeing accessible to individuals, families, and communities.

Our cutting-edge work at the intersection of data-driven decision making and learning has been conducted with the support of organizations including the HRSA Region 2 Public Health Training Center, the National Science Foundation and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. IMPACTIVO specializes in methods for assessing community health needs, strategic planning, provider readiness, workforce development, and implementation of evidence-based practices.

Our leadership development programs, training and technical assistance resources are followed by over 4,500 health leaders.

Bonn Macy is a management consultant and business strategist and has helped some of the largest and some of the smallest companies around the world develop and implement strategies, assess markets and competitors, evaluate new technologies, and develop new businesses. Bonn has been a management consultant with both McKinsey & Co. and Booz Allen Hamilton and a corporate and financial planner with BP. He co-founded and directed the Startup Santa Fe and Startup New Mexico organizations to support and facilitate the growth and needs of startups and the expanding entrepreneurial communities in the State of New Mexico and the City of Santa Fe. As a Presidential appointee in the second Clinton Administration, he created and developed one of the largest Federal businesses, producing billions of dollars in annual revenue, as well as worked with industry and the western States on policy issues. Over the past few years, he has been pursuing startups in the health and wellness and pharmaceutical sectors. Bonn earned Bachelors and Master’s degrees from Columbia University in Materials Science and Resource Economics, a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics in Economics and Finance, and additional graduate studies at London Business School and the Universities of Stockholm and Vienna.

Phyteau is developing an innovative, new class of therapeutics for diabetes, obesity, related conditions like NAFLD & NASH, and weight-loss. Our approach activates the body’s natural metabolic system by activating enteroendocrine cells in the lining of the intestines to release therapeutic levels of key incretin and metabolic hormones, including GLP-1, PYY & CCK. These boosted hormones:
1) signal insulin release,
2) reduce blood sugar levels & peaks and HbA1c,
3) reduce appetite, food intake & weight, increase satiety,
4) slows gastric emptying & intestinal motility,
5) improve metabolism and fat thermogenesis,
6) reduce liver fat & fibrosis,
7) protect against many age-related functional declines and conditions,
8) are cardio- & neuro-protective

The result is safe, affordable first-line treatments that provide a powerful tool for blood sugar control, weight-loss, metabolism and aging. We address growing global unmet needs in pharmaceutical markets and in consumer health & nutrition with a variety of technologically advantaged products.

Thought Leaders and Innovators came Together To Share Their Knowledge, Experience, Research, and Insights about Aging & Innovation.

Presented by 

SUMMIT RECAP

Why Aging Tech Lures Investors

Healthy Aging & The Elusive Alzheimer's Drug

The Caregiver Solution

startup spotlight

Ann Al-Bahish, JD, PhD is a partner at Haynes Boone. She has litigated environmental, health claims and other commercial matters across the country. Her clients have included railroads, energy companies, manufacturers, healthcare entities, technology companies, state governments, and nonprofit organizations, among others.

With a focus on environmental law, Ann has assisted clients with environmental solutions, implementation of cleanup agreements/programs and public health communications related to environmental human health issues. Dr. Al-Bahish has also advised clients on emerging legal issues related to environmental, medical technology and consumer products.

Dr. Al-Bahish has researched, spoken, and written on laws and technologies related to residential indoor air quality, with a special emphasis on impacts to those aging in place. Her latest research on these topics will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Dr. Al-Bahish is a member of the Law, Environment, and Aging and Public Health Sections of the APHA. She also serves on the boards of several health-related nonprofit boards.

Dr. Al-Bahish earned a BA from Trinity University, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a PhD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Rep. Senfronia Thompson's legacy is one built from a strong principle of faith, an unwavering defense of freedom, and a staunch belief in fairness. She exemplifies the American ideal that one person can make a difference.

Texas native Senfronia Thompson was born in Booth, Texas and raised in Houston. She represents District 141, which includes Northeast Houston and Humble.

Rep. Thompson has the distinct honor of being the longest-serving woman and African-American in Texas history. She is Dean of the Texas House of Representatives and is currently serving her 25th term.

She received her high school diploma from Booker T. Washington High School in Houston. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Texas Southern University; a Master of Education from Prairie View A&M University; a JD degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law and a Master of Law in International Law from the University of Houston.

Rep. Thompson is a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

A Houston attorney and award-winning legislator, Rep. Thompson, affectionately known by her colleagues as "Ms. T", was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame on May 6, 2014.  

Rep. Thompson currently chairs the Texas House Committee on Licensing & Administrative Procedures and is the Vice-Chair of the Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies.  She is a member of the House Committee on Business & Industry and the House Committee on Redistricting.

Throughout her illustrious career, Rep. Thompson has proven her commitment to those less fortunate with her tireless fight for justice, equality and opportunity for all. Rep. Thompson has led the fight against human trafficking long before people even recognized what human trafficking was and how these traumatic experiences damage people's lives. She has put Texas first in having some of the best anti-human trafficking laws compared to other states.

She worked passionately for the passage of Texas' Equal Pay Act in both the house and senate. Although the bill was vetoed, Rep. Thompson remains committed to ensuring Texans receive equal pay for equal work.

Rep. Thompson is the author of the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act; the Sexual Assault Program Fund; the Model School Records Flagging Act to assist in the location of abducted children; the state's current minimum wage law; Texas' first and only alimony law; laws creating drug courts; laws providing insurance coverage for anti-cancer oral medication, 3D mammograms; HPV & cervical cancer screening tests and contraceptives, like the IUD and diaphragms. She has also passed laws protecting unpaid interns from sexual harassment; allow Medicaid nursing home residents to keep more of their retirement or social security money for their personal use; allow homeowners over the age of 65 to make quarterly property tax payments without penalty; law allowing parents to request a camera in the classroom of special need students, and scores of other reforms benefitting women, children and the elderly.

She sponsored laws banning racial profiling, secured state funding to install video cameras and audio equipment in every police car to be used at all stops; ended "debtor's prison" to prevent people from ending in a cycle of debt, jail time and license suspension simply because they can not afford to pay their traffic tickets or other fine-only offenses.

She also authored the Chief Justice Jack Pope Act which increases funding for legal aid to help low-income Texans with their civil cases and the Michael Morton Act, to create a fairer criminal justice system in Texas.

She has passed legislation aimed at protecting women and children against domestic violence, extending protective orders to last longer and enforceable within the entire state of Texas, increasing the penalty of sex offenders, giving rape victims a voice in the processing of their rape kits and fought to end sexual discrimination in the work place.

Her commitment to social, economic and criminal justice reform has earned her the respect and admiration of many people from Texas and beyond. She is a true Texas Treasure and has become one of the best symbols of all that is possible.

Rep. Thompson is the only recipient of the Rosa Parks Award from the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, and has been named one of Texas Monthly's Top Ten Best Legislators.

MODERATORS

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Max Zamkow is the Founding Partner of Third Act Ventures, a seed-stage Venture Capital firm investing specifically in Agetech. Since 2016 he's made more than 22 investments across the spectrum of Agetech - from technology that helps people age-in-place, apps that help home care aides, devices that improve the quality of life in senior living, and platforms that help families deal with the loss of a loved one.

Max received a BS & MS in Bioinformatics from Stanford University and before moving to the other side of the table was an integral part of Mobclix (acquired by Velti), NoiseToys (acquired by Jawbone), and Fav.tv (acquired by TVGuide.com).

Max is known for his AgeTech deals newsletters, co-leading Aging2.0 New York, and for successfully pitching DCM during a blackout.

Mike Marcantonio is a Principal at LiveOak Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Austin. He has been investing in high growth businesses for more than a decade.

Prior to joining LiveOak, Mike was a Principal with Blue Heron Capital, where he invested in early & growth-stage companies in the tech-enabled business services and healthcare industries. Earlier in his career Mike was with American Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, where he focused on pre-investment due diligence, valuation, and portfolio company management. He also spent time with the Healthcare group at Harris Williams, a sell-side M&A advisory firm. Mike started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mike received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He also has a BS in Finance and Accounting from James Madison University. Mike lives in Austin with his wife, Cara, and three boys.

Barry Greenberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Director of a nascent Alzheimer’s Disease Translational Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Dr. Greenberg has been involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and drug discovery since 1985, holding a series of positions internationally in the US, Sweden and Canada.  He was the leader of a drug discovery team at AstraZeneca that ultimately involved over 50 individuals from eight departments.  He later led the preclinical biology research program at Neurochem, Inc. in Québec as Senior Director of Pharmacology, where he also interacted closely with its medical research department, participating in retrospective analyses of the phase 3 clinical trial of the investigative drug tramiprosate (homotaurine; Alzhemed®). 

Dr. Greenberg subsequently moved to academia in 2008 at the University Health Network in Toronto as Director, Neuroscience Drug Discovery and Development, where he was responsible for the conceptualization and leadership as Strategy Director of the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance, a collaborative alliance across five research institutes focused on observational and interventional clinical studies embedding research in clinical care. 

He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the province-wide Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) under the auspices of the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI).  Prior to moving back to the U.S from Canada, he served as Chair of the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA’s) international committee that was charged with strategizing the future structure of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) network to augment its capacity to contribute towards the development of effective prevention and treatment modalities for individuals with AD and related disorders by 2025, a primary goal of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) in the US. 

Dr. Greenberg joined the faculty in the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins in July 2018 to lead the development of an Alzheimer’s Disease Translational Center, with the objective of integrating basic and clinical research to enable the development of effective therapies that will delay or prevent AD at its earliest stages.  He has been involved with the Johns Hopkins ADRC since that time, as a member of its Executive Committee and Co-Leader of its Research Education Component (REC).  He serves on several committees and advisory boards for NIA-funded initiatives focused on genetics, model development and clinical trials in AD, and has recently been selected as the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions.”  Dr. Greenberg brings a multi-faceted perspective on AD, and an international reputation drawn from hands-on experience ranging from basic research through human studies.  

Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH, is Regents and Distinguished Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M School of Public Health (SPH) in College Station, Texas. Additionally, Dr. Ory serves as Founding Director of the Texas A&M Center for Population Health and Aging established in 2016. Working with interdisciplinary teams, her primary goal is to reframe healthy aging as the new normal through innovative research, education, and service.

Dr. Ory is an international leader in the translation of research to practice through investigations of behavioral, social, environmental, policy, and/or technological solutions to enhance health and quality of life for all. With broad research expertise, she has been a primary investigator on multiple local, state, and federally funded grants to implement and evaluate evidence-based interventions for promoting healthy lifestyle changes in midlife and older ages. As the National Program Director for Active for Life®, she documented the success of behaviorally-based exercise programs to increase physical activity in Americans 50 and older.

She has overseen the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services adaptation and evaluation of the Texercise Select program to help Texans engage in healthier lifestyle behaviors. She has also served as the national evaluator for the National Study of Chronic Disease Self-Management Program and has directed prevention and management research programs for persons with specific conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes, and mobility problems) providing evidence for the effectiveness of how these programs can result in better health, better healthcare, and better value. Drawing upon a life-course perspective, she has also been a primary investigator on several research studies exploring policy and environmental interventions for reducing obesity in younger populations. In these roles, she is examining how evidence-based programs for individuals at different life transitions can be translated to clinical, community, or workplace settings through transformational partnerships. Instrumental in the roll-out of Healthy South Texas, she has addressed the most pressing public health issues in Texas, with an emphasis on underserved populations. Currently, she is leading a Rural Health Care Moonshot initiative to examine innovative diabetes education programs that can be scaled up and sustained over time to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. Another recent activity is leading public health efforts to advance research and practice about emergent public health crises such as the opioid overdose epidemic or the COVID-19 pandemic. Before coming to Texas A&M University in 2001,

Dr. Ory spent twenty years in federal service as Chief of Social Science Research on Aging in the Behavioral and Social Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health. She holds a doctorate from Purdue University and a Masters of Public Health and Post-Doctoral Fellowship from The Johns Hopkins University. She has been the author of more than 500 publications on a variety of topics including lifestyle behaviors and social determinants of health, falls and injury prevention; doctor-patient interactions; chronic disease management; dementia care; opioid crisis and COVID-19 pandemic; and translational research. Dr. Ory is a distinguished alumna of Purdue University, Fellow of several professional organizations (e.g., American Academy of Behavioral Research, American Academy of Health Behavior, Society for Behavioral Medicine, and Gerontological Society of America), and a recipient of numerous state and national awards.

At thirty-two, Grace followed in the footsteps of National Alliance for Caregiving Founder Gail Gibson Hunt to helm one of the nation’s leading public policy and advocacy organizations for friend and family caregivers. With previous experience as COO and the Director of Strategic Partnerships, Grace has doubled the budget of the organization in her tenure to date and created the Hunt Research Program.

Grace led the nation’s first national policy study of 1,400+ rare disease caregivers with Global Genes. She has led other original NAC research including Sandwich Generation in the U.S. with Caring Across Generations; A National Study of Caregivers of Individuals with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and ImproveCareNow; Cancer Caregiving in the U.S. with the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Support Community; and Dementia Caregiving in the U.S. with the Alzheimer’s Association, among others.

Grace has spoken on caregiving at national and international conferences, including the 7th International Carers Conference in Adelaide, Australia, and at multiple national summits at the National Institutes of Health. Grace has also served as a resource to major media on the topic of caregiving and aging, including C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Oprah Magazine, Women’s Health Magazine, and Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. Grace was chosen as one of twenty PBS Next Avenue 2020 Influencers in Aging.

A licensed attorney with the D.C. Bar, Grace was named an “Outstanding Law Student” by the National Association of Women Lawyers after earning her law degree from the University of Memphis. She is a proud graduate of the Louisiana State University Honors College in communication studies and philosophy. Grace lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, writer Geoffrey Whiting, and their distinguished pug, Chief Justice.

Dr. Wendy Whittington has spent 30+ years in healthcare in clinical, administrative, and consulting roles. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about changing healthcare for the better. That desire to make a difference led her to Cariloop as a board member in 2018 and now as their first Chief Care Officer.

Cariloop is a caregiver support platform and service with a mission to relieve the stress and anxiety felt by all caregivers. Dr. Whittington is a board-certified pediatrician and practiced in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. She began the transition into the information technology and business sides of healthcare as a physician champion for EHR adoption in the 1990’s and has held various positions in the acute care and industry settings including CMIO, CIO and CMO.

She brings her broad healthcare, information technology and teaching background to Cariloop knowing that family caregivers are integral to the health and wellbeing of their loved ones and deserve our recognition and support. A long-time student of healthcare policy and process, she is thrilled to help articulate how supporting family caregivers is not only the right thing to do but solves some of our healthcare system’s biggest problems, particularly over-spending while seeing suboptimal outcomes.

Dr. Whittington completed the Masters of Medical Management degree program at Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. She received her MD degree in 1990 from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Having experience in healthcare delivery, administration, revenue cycle, consulting and academia, she brings a diverse point of view to the national discussion around how we best support caregivers. Recent roles include telehealth strategy, clinical effectiveness, healthcare process optimization and clinical decision support consulting.

presented by thoughtbot

Fundraising Strategies That Make Investors Love You

moderator/sponsor

featured speaker

SC Moatti is the Founding Managing Partner of Mighty Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm; the Founding CEO of Products That Count, the most influential product acceleration platform (reaching >300,000 product managers); and a lecturer at Stanford and Columbia Universities.

Prior, SC built products that billions of people use at Facebook, Nokia and Electronic Arts.  Andrew Chen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, called SC “a genius at making products people love.”

SC serves on the boards of public and private companies, earned a master’s in electrical engineering and a Stanford MBA, and is a Kauffman Fellow.

thoughtbot is your expert design and development partner.

We bring digital products from validation to success.

Thought Leaders and Innovators came Together To Share Their Knowledge, Experience, Research, and Insights about Disrupting Diabetes.

SUMMIT RECAP

INNOVATIONS IN DIABETES CARE

DIABETES’ TOLL ON MINORITY COMMUNITIES

Mr. Chris Finberg is the Innovation Director for the National Science Foundation sponsored Engineering Research Center called PATHS-UP (Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations) The Center is a collaborative effort with Texas A & M, UCLA, Rice, and Florida International Universities.

The goal is to create new & innovative technologies and health systems for point-of-care use to address Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in the underserved populations. The Center is taking a development approach quite unconventional to academia by engaging with stakeholders from all sectors - investors, healthcare providers, physicians, patients, communities, and industry- throughout the R&D process.

Mr. Finberg is originally from the Minneapolis area where he received his Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota.   He spent his entire career in industry with the last decade working in the medical device industry with contract manufacturing companies. Specifically with Class III long term implantable devices for Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM’s) and Neuromodulation. Working with companies like Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott/St. Jude, Biotronik, LivaNova and others.

Today Mr. Finberg’s role is to create an Innovation Ecosystem to insure the technologies created and develop at the Center continue on to scalability and commercialization. That is being done by fostering entrepreneurship with students and faculty, working with start-up companies, building an Industry Consortium where large, medium, and small companies across the entire value chain, and build on those relationships to further innovation - with the ultimate goal of helping those underserved populations have a healthier life.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Anton Kittelberger is Co-Founder, and Co-CEO of 9am.health, the first direct-to-consumer virtual diabetes clinic. Today it already combines prescriptions, medication delivery, labs, and required specialists, making healthcare for people with (pre-)diabetes and related diseases incredibly convenient and affordable.

Before 9am.health Anton and his team built mySugr - a digital therapy management platform focused on people with diabetes injecting insulin that was acquired by Roche in 2017 and is now serving over 4 million users and employs a team of over 200.

Besides, Anton is an active startup advisor and Investor.

Michael Maniscalco is a recognized speaker, visionary and expert in the digital health, diabetes, smart-home, networking, and IoT spaces. Mr. Maniscalco is the recipient of numerous industry accolades for his technical and product training and contributions to the smart-home industry.

He holds a degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has been involved with software and network engineering for Fortune 1000 companies in the custom installation, financial, telecommunications, and healthcare industries for over 20 years.

As a founder of Ihiji, Michael most recently served as Vice President of Product and Marketing for the company’s award-winning cloud-based remote network management and service solutions. In late 2017, Ihiji was acquired by Control4, a worldwide leader in the home automation space. Michael has also successfully founded and sold a high-end home automation services and installation company that was heavily focused on engineering and service contract programs.

In 2018, Mr. Maniscalco launched a digital health software monitoring platform and participated in the TechStars and Capital Factory Accelerators. He also serves as a mentor for 1909, FAU Tech Runway, Lynn University Watson Insitute, and Mass Challenge Austin. Michael also chairs the CEDIA Technology Advisory Council and the Tech Hub South Florida Founders Peer Group.

Ms. Venus Ginés, a 29-year breast cancer survivor, who in 2017 after 25 years of survivorship suffered a recurrence. In 2018, Venus retired as a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, teaching cultural competence and health literacy, as well as conducting research on Latino medical mistrust.

From her personal experience with breast cancer and her sister’s untimely death to cervical cancer, Venus founded Día de la Mujer Latina, Inc., (DML), in 1997 as a national non-profit organization, celebrating its signature health fiesta in 40 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, providing the medically underserved Latina community with culturally and linguistically proficient health education, early detection screening for cancer and other chronic diseases, culturally-tailored preventive programs for Latino teens and patient-centered navigation.

In 2020, she trained 4512 Promotores/Community Health Workers (P/CHWs) in Texas alone related to COVID Disparities. Venus is a State Certified Instructor of P/CHWs with DML being the first approved bilingual Texas State-Sponsored Certification Training Program. She developed a bilingual training curriculum on the subject matters that affect Latinas disproportionately such as Dispelling Myths and Rumors about Women’s Cancers, STDs, Patient-Centered Care, Mental Health, and more recently on COVID -19, Clinical Trials and Vaccines.

On April 9, 2020, she launched the Telehealth Community Navigation Program, Behavioral Health Community Navigator, and in December 2020, the Clinical Trial Community Navigation training, preparing Promotores/CHWs to debunk Misinformation on COVID 19, Vaccines & Clinical Trials. She recently launched the bilingual Telehealth Community Navigation Center to debunk misinformation.

Venus has a Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences and Latin American Studies from California State University San Marcos, and a Master's Degree in Women Studies from Georgia State University.

Dr. Feyi Obamehinti was born in Phoenix, AZ and grew up most of her formative school years in Nigeria. Dr. Obamehinti has over 20 years of experience in the educational field. Her career began as a homeschool mom, later as an elementary, middle school and high school math and science teacher in inner city public schools where she excelled in working with underprivileged students and their families.

Her passion for student achievement expanded to empowering and equipping educators at all stages of their practice. As a result of her impact, Feyi was nominated for the 2007 Teacher of the Year Award in Irving ISD and DFW Teacher of the Year at Texas Virtual Academy. A dynamic international trainer and speaker, Feyi utilizes her expertise in providing leadership and promoting best practices in teaching and learning. Her excellent track record in the educational field, led to her appointment in 2010, on the Texas Education Agency State Review Panel for English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS), for the review of the Teacher Edition for Proclamation 2010. In 2013, she was appointed to the review panel for the Texas 2013 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

In 2017, she was appointed to the Texas Education Agency State Review Panel for Special Topics for Proclamation 2018. In 2019, she was nominated by two Texas State Board Members from districts 11 and 12 as a Content Advisor to review the state health education curriculum.

Furthermore, Dr. Feyi Obamehinti is a 2011 Barbara Bush fellowship Award recipient, a research award that promotes literacy among disadvantaged populations. In 2016, she was named to the National Small Business Association Leadership Council- a nonpartisan small business advocacy organization that works with policymakers in Washington, D.C.

In 2017, she was appointed by Governor Abbott as a Council Member to the Texas Diabetes Council (TDC) and in 2021 the Governor appointed her as the Chair of TDC. A regular consultant for state and federal agencies in areas of grant reviews and program evaluations, Dr. Feyi Obamehinti is highly sought after for strategic partnerships at the local, state, and national levels. Through Ravir LLC, an educational consulting and technical firm that specializes in professional training, coaching and mentoring services in public and charter schools across the nation, she and her team have trained over 4200 educators in best practices. She is the author of The Cooperative Teacher Handbook, Incorporating Science Apps in Grades 6- 12, and The Values of Immigrant Students on Citizenship as a Trait of Character Education. She is the co-author of The Minority Homeschooler’s Guide and Texas Refugee Student Framework.

She obtained a B.S. in Microbiology from University of Texas at Arlington, a M.S. in Education from Peru State College and a doctorate in Education from Texas A & M University at College Station. She is married to Dr. Johnson Obamehinti and they are blessed with three beautiful adult daughters ages, 30, 28 and 27. Dr. Feyi Obamehinti, is an active community volunteer and advocate of under-served communities.