Meet the Experts
Margaret Cartiera
Director, Yale School of Medicine | LinkedIn ↗
Dr. Cartiera holds over 20 years of healthcare and biomedical experience in roles across research, development, operations, regulatory affairs, and investments. She's built and managed teams working on early stage solutions in the digital health and biotech sectors. Prior to joining Yale, she led Connecticut’s $200M Bioscience Innovation Fund and the Regenerative Medicine Research Fund. More >
Alastair Erskine, MD
CIDO and Physician, Highmark Health | LinkedIn ↗
Alistair Erskine is a nationally recognized digital health leader and triple-board-certified physician, Dr. Erskine brings more than 25 years of clinical and informatics experience and a track record of creating sustainable, technology-enabled health systems. He joins Highmark Health from Emory Healthcare and Emory University, where he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Digital Officer. There, he led a 1,100-member digital team, managed a $350 million annual budget, and was responsible for a portfolio of over 900 applications spanning clinical, academic, and research domains. More >
Josh Flum
Managing Partner, LRVHealth | LinkedIn ↗
Josh Flum joined LRVHealth in 2022 as a Managing Partner after nearly two decades of experience driving growth and innovation at CVS Health. Before joining LRV, Josh served as Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer at CVS Health where he was responsible for assessing dynamic market forces and driving organizational responses in a rapidly evolving healthcare and consumer landscape. In this role, Josh led a broad set of transformational activities ranging from the integration of CVS Health and Aetna to the founding of CVS Health Ventures, a venture capital fund that advances CVS Health’s strategy through investment and partnership with innovative digital health companies. Josh earned his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and is a graduate of the Yale Law School. More >
Rishabh Jain
Co-Counder and CEO, Latent Health | LinkedIn ↗
Rishabh Jain is a repeat founder and the Co-Founder of Latent Health, a healthcare AI company building medical language models to automate complex clinical and operational workflows across health systems. Founded in 2022 and backed by Y Combinator (Winter 2023), Latent focuses on streamlining high-friction processes such as medication authorization by analyzing electronic health record data and surfacing the most relevant clinical information. The company has signed enterprise contracts with leading U.S. health systems and is headquartered in San Francisco. More >
Sari Kaganoff
Founder and CEO, Aytza | LinkedIn ↗
Sari has over a decade of experience advising healthcare leaders on commercial, GTM, and growth strategy. She built and led Rock Health’s consulting team and co-led McKinsey’s Health Tech Network. She served as an advisor to Rock Health’s venture fund and is an angel investor. Her approach is pragmatic, data-driven, and grounded in real-world insight. Sari owns (and wears!) over a hundred hats! More >
Rohan Khera, MD
Clinical Director, Center for Health Informatics and Analytics, YNHH/Yale CORE; Director, Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab, Yale School of Medicine | LinkedIn ↗
Dr. Khera is a Cardiologist and Data Scientist and the Director of the Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab, which is a multidisciplinary group focusing on data-driven discovery in cardiovascular disease. He is the Clinical Director of the Center for Health Informatics and Analytics at the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation. He is also an Associate Editor for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health at JAMA. More >
Adam Landman, MD
Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer, Brown Health | LinkedIn ↗
Adam Landman, MD, MS, MIS, MHS, is senior vice president and chief digital information officer (CDIO) at Brown Health. Dr. Landman joined Brown University Health following an extensive career in the Boston area, including as chief information officer (CIO) and senior vice president for digital at Mass General Brigham, where he led efforts to improve the care team experience and optimize clinical and operational systems through strategic use of digital and AI technologies. He was also actively involved in teaching and research as an associate professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School. More >
Alexi Nazem, MD
General Partner, AlleyCorp | LinkedIn ↗
Alexi Nazem, MD, MBA, is a General Partner leading the Healthcare team at AlleyCorp, where he oversees investments and incubations across healthcare technologies and services. Prior to AlleyCorp, Alexi co-founded Nomad Health, a digital marketplace for clinical talent, where he served as the company’s CEO for nine years. More >
Christopher O’Connor
Chief Executive Officer, Yale New Haven Health, LinkedIn ↗
Christopher M. O’Connor is chief executive officer of Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS), the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut and one that is recognized nationally for advanced clinical care. With more than 7,500 medical staff, 30,200 employees, and 2,600 hospital beds – and in partnership with the Yale School of Medicine – the academic health system provides comprehensive, integrated and family-focused care in 100+ medical specialties. More >
Sandhya Rao, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts | LinkedIn ↗
Dr. Sandhya Rao is chief medical officer and senior vice president for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the largest private health plan in Massachusetts and one of the largest independent, not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country. Sandhya is responsible for the strategic direction and ongoing operation of our health and medical management and pharmacy divisions, focused on improving the quality, outcomes and affordability of health care provided to our members. More >
Lee H. Schwamm, MD
Sr Vice President and Chief Digital Health Officer, Yale New Haven Health Associate Dean, Digital Strategy & Transformation, Professor of Neurology and of Biomedical Informatics and Data Sciences, Yale School of Medicine | LinkedIn ↗
Lee H. Schwamm, MD, is Associate Dean for Digital Strategy and Transformation for Yale School of Medicine, and Senior Vice President + Chief Digital Health Officer for Yale New Haven Health. In this role, he is leading the development of a new digital health strategy for the school and the health system, and serves as an influential physician leader and an agent of change to catalyze the equitable adoption of virtual care and digital enablement throughout the enterprise. More >
Richa Sharma, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Richa Sharma is a vascular neurologist who specializes in prevention and treatment of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. She trained in neurology as a resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital and in vascular neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital as a fellow. She was also selected as the StrokeNet Research Fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research interests revolve around applying novel computational techniques to identify the underlying causes of stroke in individual patients. She is also interested in cardioembolic sources of stroke. More >
Pamela Sutton-Wallace
President, Yale New Haven Health | LinkedIn ↗
As a health care leader with more than 30 years of experience in various sectors of the health care industry, Pam serves as the President for Yale New Haven Health. Prior to joining Yale, she served as Group Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at New York-Presbyterian (NYP) for the Weill Cornell Division providing strategic and operational oversight for the Weill Cornell, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens campuses, totaling more than 1500 inpatient beds and a robust ambulatory network.. More >
Murray Brozinsky
Partner, Aegis Ventures | LinkedIn ↗
Murray is a Partner at Aegis Ventures overseeing new company creation in partnership with the Aegis Digital Consortium. Murray also advises the portfolio company CEOs and helps to shape firm-wide strategy. Murray has co-founded, grown, and successfully exited several leading health technology companies, including Healthline (health education for consumers), Talix (risk and quality solutions for value-based care), and most recently, Conversa Health (automated care for patients) – where he served as CEO prior to selling the company to Amwell. Murray was named one of the Top 50 Healthcare Technology CEOs by Technology Innovators Magazine in 2022 and 2021. More >
Gwen Cheni
Director (Investments), Connecticut Innovations | LinkedIn ↗
As director of the AI/Q Fund at Connecticut Innovations, Gwen is responsible for the strategic direction of the fund and the deployment of capital of the $50M fund.
Gwen, the cofounder of a stealth startup, was previously a partner on the investment team at Khosla Ventures and a partner at IndieBio/SOSV covering bio and AI. Prior to IndieBio, she was the founder and managing partner of Galapagos Ventures, an early-stage venture fund focused on the intersection of biology and AI/ML. She was also a director at StudioX (machine learning venture studio funded by Shell and Boston Consulting Group) and a venture partner at Fusion Fund (an early-stage fund focused on AI/ML, robotics and devices). Gwen was on the board of advisors at Singularity University Ventures, an impact-focused accelerator, and helped launch their first batch of startups in the Nordics. More >
Charisse Hunter
Chief Nursing Officer, Cityblock Health, LinkedIn ↗
Charisse Hunter is the Chief Nursing Officer of Cityblock Health. She is an influential, data-driven clinical leader committed to health equity, social justice, and elevating the nursing workforce in care management and community-based settings. Hunter brings more than 20 years of healthcare experience, with a focus on clinical design and operations within tech-enabled, value-based care startups. More >
Adam Landman, MD
Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer, Brown Health | LinkedIn ↗
Adam Landman, MD, MS, MIS, MHS, is senior vice president and chief digital information officer (CDIO) at Brown Health. Dr. Landman joined Brown University Health following an extensive career in the Boston area, including as chief information officer (CIO) and senior vice president for digital at Mass General Brigham, where he led efforts to improve the care team experience and optimize clinical and operational systems through strategic use of digital and AI technologies. He was also actively involved in teaching and research as an associate professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School. More >
CONNECTICUT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Christine Finck, MD, FACS
Christine Finck, MD, FACS, is Connecticut Children’s first woman surgeon-in-chief and one of six women surgeon-in-chiefs at 45 children’s hospitals across the country. She is the Peter J. Deckers Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery. Her clinical interests include neonatal surgery, diseases of premature newborns, lung abnormalities, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), bariatric surgery for adolescents, and minimally invasive surgery. More >
GAYLORD SPECIALTY HEALTHCARE
Pete Grevelding, MSPT, MBA
Pete Grevelding, MSPT, MBA is the Chief Operating Officer for Gaylord Specialty Healthcare and the Executive Director of the Milne Institution for Healthcare Innovation. He is responsible for the oversight of the clinical and operations areas. As Executive Director of the Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation, he has spearheaded the growth of Gaylord’s existing research and product development program. Pete is a Board-Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist Emeritus. More >
UCONN
Amit Kumar
Amit is responsible for evaluating the marketing potential of life science technologies and supporting them on the path towards commercialization. He serves as an advisor on business plans and startup strategy for companies with UConn IP, and he establishes and fosters productive collaborations with industry. More >
HARTFORD HEALTHCARE
Barry Stein, MD
Barry Stein, MD, MBA, FSIR, FACR, RPVI, Barry is the Chief Clinical Innovation Officer and Chief Medical Informatics Officer for Hartford HealthCare (HHC) as well as leader of “HHC’s Center for AI Innovation in Healthcare,” where he also practices as a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. More >
YALE
Lee H. Schwamm, MD
Lee H. Schwamm, MD, is Associate Dean for Digital Strategy and Transformation for Yale School of Medicine, and Senior Vice President + Chief Digital Health Officer for Yale New Haven Health. In this role, he is leading the development of a new digital health strategy for the school and the health system, and serves as an influential physician leader and an agent of change to catalyze the equitable adoption of virtual care and digital enablement throughout the enterprise. More >
NUVANCE HEALTH
Jasper Edwin Tolarba, RN
Jasper Edwin Tolarba, RN, CGNC, CNE, FACHE, FFNMRCSI, FAAN, is a United Nations Liaison, Endowed Chair, Global Health Practitioner, Fulbright Research Scholar and international nursing expert and consultant. He received his Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Yale, where he concentrated in Systems Policy, Management, and Executive Leadership. Dr. Tolarba is pursuing a second doctorate in Nursing Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.