
2021 Speakers
Leaders, executives and trailblazers who spoke at last year’s MedTech Innovation Forum.

Richard Afable, MD, MPH, FACP
President & Board Chair, BeWellOC

Bruce Albala, PhD
Associate Dean, Innovation & Clinical Trials, UCI School of Medicine Director, UCI Center for Clinical Research

Barry Arbuckle
President & CEO, Memorial Care

Suzzette Arnal
Director, Product Management, Hematopathology and Coagulation, Quest Diagnostics

Rema Awad
Partner K&L Gates

Joseph Boyd
Global Head of Sales & Marketing, Avellino Labs

Matt Bresnahan
Partner, Patents and Innovations, Wilson Sonsini

Milo Bissin
Director, Silicon Valley Bank

Len Brandt
Brandt Ventures

Chris Brennan
Performance Specialist, Insperity

David Byram
Managing Director, Value, Access & Medical, Syneos Health Consulting

Bill Carpou
CEO, Octane

Anthony Chang, MD, MBA, MPH, MS
Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer, The Sharon Disney Lund Medical Intelligence and Innovation Institute, Medical Director, CHOC Children’s Heart Failure Program

Ruey-Kang Chang, MD, MPH
Founder & CEO, QT Medical

Daniel Chow, MD, MBA
Co-Director, Center for Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine, UCI School of Medicine

Brad Conlan
CEO, Bimini Health

Tom Cowan
Partner, Knobbe Martens

Mary Edwards
Vice President, Regulatory and Clinical Affairs, Surgical Structural Heart, Edwards Lifesciences

I. Obi Emeruwa, MD, MBA
Clinical Instructor, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA & Translational Director, UCLA Biodesign

Nathan Eskstein
Senior Account Executive, Greenlight Guru

Malvina B. Eydelman, MD
Expert Medical Officer, Senior Medical Advisor and Director, Office of Ophthalmic, Anesthesia, Respiratory, ENT, & Dental Devices, FDA

Dave Ferrera
CEO, RC Medical

Kiarash Golshani, MD
Vice Chair of Administrative Affairs, UCI Department of Neurological Surgery

Maneesh Goyal
Chief Operating Officer, Mayo Clinic Platform, Mayo Clinic

Ajay Gupta, PhD
Co-Founder, President, Chairman & CEO, Celestial Therapeutics

Claire Henchcliffe, MD, DPhil
Chair & Stanley van den Noort Professor of Neurology, University of California, Irvine

Cherie Henket
Sr. Vice President, Global Human Resources, MicroVention

Michael Howell
Chief Scientific Officer, DermTech

Krasi Hristov
Head of Research & Development, Mentor Worldwide LLC

Chris Huff
Chief Strategy Officer, Kofax

Omar Ishrak
Former CEO & Chairman of the Board, Medtronic

Vineet Johnson
Founder & CEO, IRegained Inc.

Naveen Jonathan, PhD, LMFT
Clinical Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Marriage & Family Therapy, Crean College of Health & Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University

Edward S. Kim, MBA, MD, FACP, FASCO
Physician-in-Chief, City of Hope Orange County, Vice Physician-in-Chief, City of Hope National Medical Center

Ryan Keefer
Partner, PwC

Heidi Kershaw
Founder & CEO, Square In The Eye

Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, FANA, NBPS
Providence Southern California

Karin Koch
Managing Director, University Lab Partners

Karla Kraft
Shareholder, Stradling

John Laschinger, MD
VP of Medical Affairs, Advanced Technology, Edwards Lifesciences

Mark Leahey
President & CEO, Medical Device Manufacturers Association

Sabing Lee
Partner, Knobbe Martens

Evan Levine
CEO & Chairman, PsyBio Therapeutics

Dr. Andrew Lyon
Founding Dean of the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler School of Engineering, Chapman University

Josh Makower, MD, MBA
Boston Scientific Applied Biomedical Engineering Professor of Medicine and of Bioengineering, Stanford University School of Medicine and Engineering & Director and Co-Founder, Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign

Stephanie Manson Brown, MD, MBBS, MRCS, MFPM
Vice President, Head of Clinical Development, Aesthetic Medicine, Allergan Aesthetics at AbbVie

Phil Martie
Founder & CEO, Nicolette Inc.

James V. (Jim) Mazzo
Executive Chairman, Neurotech, Chief Executive Officer, Avellino Labs, Advisor, Zeiss, Advisor, Bain Consulting, Board Member, Centricity Vision Inc.

Jennifer McCaney, PhD
Executive Director, UCLA Biodesign

Tiffany McDowell
Principal, People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP

Jonathan Menkes
Partner, Knobbe Martens

Henry Miller
Global Managing Partner, Life Sciences, Diversified Executive Search

Tom Mitro
President & CEO, Aerie Pharmaceuticals

Ramin Mousavi
CEO, Cathworks

Joseph Muldoon
CEO & Chairman of the Board, Fast Biomedical

Azadeh Nasibi, MBA
Vice President, Business Development, Strategy, & Integration | Neurovascular, Medtornic

Hideo Nawata
Senior Manager, Teijin Pharma

Danny Nguyen, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research,

Davis Nordell
Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Senior Analyst and Tax Senior Manager, RSM

Delilah Panio
Vice President, US Capital Formation, TMX Group

John Parker
Founder & CEO, Springhood Ventures

Georgette Pascale
Executive Vice President, PR & Social at PRECISIONeffect

Tim Pratt
Executive Director, Clinical Development, Syneos Health

Susanna Rustad
Chief Procurement Officer, Executive Director, Virtual Care, UCI Health

Terence Sanger, MD, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, CHOC

Brent Saunders
Executive Chairman, The Beauty Health Company and Former Chairman & CEO, Allergan

Alyssa Scholz, IIDA, NCIDQ
Principal, Co-Global Healthcare Practice Area Leader, Gensler

Yona Shtern
CEO, Hapbee

Nikki Sidi
Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing, Surgical, Johnson & Johnson Vision

Earl Slee
Vice President, Technology, Strategy and Business Development, Medtronic Brain Therapies, Irvine, CA (Retired, Oct 2020)

Brian Slizgi
Partner, Pharmaceutical R&D Advisory, PwC

Nia Stefani
CEO, Xnergy Financial LLC

Jeffrey Steinfeld
Securities Litigation Attorney, Winston & Strawn LLP

Sharief Taraman, MD, DABPN, DABPM, FAAP
Chief Medical Officer, Cognoa, Chief of Neurology, CHOC Children’s

Frantz Tiffeau Jr.
Senior Director, Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Edwards Lifesciences

Linnette Torres
Vice President of Quality, Edwards Lifesciences

Erik van der Burg
Co-Founder & CEO, Venova Medical

Joris van der Heijden, PhD
Bio Services Program Manager, StarFish Medical

Shant Vartanian, MD
Co-Founder & CMO, Venova Medical

Jeffry Weinhuff
Managing Partner, Visionary Venture Fund

Mitch Wexler
Managing Partner, Irvine, Los Angeles, & San Diego, Fragomen Worldwide

Thierry Weissenburger
Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner, Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles

Scott Whitcup, MD
Founder & CEO, Akrivista and Whitecap Biosciences

Clay Wilemon
President & COO, APATICS

David Winter, PhD
Catalyst Project Officer, BARDA

Jane Zhang
Co-Founder & CEO, Remmie Health