who We Are
We are a network of experienced healthcare professionals who are passionate about sharing their insight with investors and entrepreneurs.
Our Goal
Our goal is to help you to make healthcare better for our patients (and for us!), and that can only happen when there is free flow of information between the providers who care for our patients, the entrepreneurs who offer innovative solutions, and investors funding this work.
Our Team (Advisors and Hoplites) are listed below, alphabetically:
Bret Alvis, M.D
Dr. Alvis is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Alvis is an NIH-funded investigator and directs the Venous Waveform Analysis Group, known for its pioneering work in volume assessment through the NIVA (non-invasive venous waveform analysis) technology. He is the Chief Medical Officer of VoluMetrix, LLC, a Nashville-based company driving innovation in vital monitoring with the NIVA technology and also serves as the Chief Anesthesia Officer at Goldfinch Health, LLC.
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Taison Bell, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Bell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia, where he practices both critical care medicine and infectious diseases and serves as the Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs. Prior to UVA he trained at the National Institutes of Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Columbia University. Dr. Bell completed his M.B.A. at Darden (UVA), during which he co-founded Owl Peak Labs, a bio-tech startup working to revolutionize colorectal cancer screening, for which he now serves as the chief medical officer.
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Jason Bernd, B.S., M.B.A.
A chemical engineer by training, Jason is now President of South Carolina for Novant Health. After graduating from the University of Virginia Jason moved to NY to work in healthcare consulting at McKinsey & Co., followed by NY Presbyterian Hospital. After these experiences Jason completed his MBA at Stanford, including an internship at Intermountain Health. He then returned East where he began his healthcare executive career at Novant Health. He has held a multitude of operational roles in the Novant system, culminating in his current position based in Charleston, SC.
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Lance Black, M.D., M.B.I.D.
A biomedical engineer by training, Dr. Black is the Chief Clinical Strategy Officer at Prana Thoracic, focused on early intervention in lung cancer. Prior to Prana, Dr. Black managed the TMCi Biodesign and Accelerator programs, played a key part in establishing the Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics (ACT) program, co-founded XN Health, a MedTech company focused on phrenic nerve stimulation, and helped develop the world’s first Renal Assist Device (RAD). Dr. Black also served as a Family and Flight Medicine physician in the United States Air Force and completed two deployments in Kyrgyzstan and Okinawa.
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Paul Bryson, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Bryson is an otolaryngologist who completed his laryngology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to practicing as a surgeon, he is also the Director of the Voice Center at the Cleveland Clinic. He completed his business training in 2021 and now also functions as the Director of Clinical Innovation at the Cleveland Clinic Head and Neck Institute. He has a particular interest in the voice AI, ambient scribe, and surgical safety spaces, as well as devices, imaging, and drug repurposing.
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Keith Chan, M.D.
Dr. Chan is a Stanford-trained engineer-turned physician, who initially started his career in industry (Corazon, ALZA/J&J, Abiomed [total artificial heart], Abbott), before training in interventional radiology and joining the faculty at the University of Washington. In addition to working as an interventional radiologist (including teaching a biodesign course at UW), Dr. Chan works as an independent medical device consultant, with particular expertise in needleless continuous glucose monitoring.
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Nick Dalesio, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Dalesio is a Yale and Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania-trained pediatric anesthesiologist now on the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He also received his MPH from the Bloomberg School of Health. In addition to expertise in airway management, Dr. Dalesio is the founder of MD Air Support, which provides immediate clinical expert (nurse/physician) telepresence to clinical areas both within and outside hospitals using two-way, hands-free video & audio.
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Jim Daniero, M.D., M.S.
Dr. Daniero is an otolaryngologist (ENT surgeon) at the University of Virginia. He is an NIH (R-21, R-01) funded investigator focused on the development of injectable BioGel implants that can restore laryngeal function. Dr. Daniero is also the co-founder of RefluxRaft, which uses alginate therapy to relieve gastric reflux through a mechanical approach. He is also on the Board of the Cville BioHub and manages the healthcare portfolio of CAV Angels, a UVA-affiliated angel investment group.
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Stephen Esper, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Esper is a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He attended the University of Pittsburgh for his undergraduate, medical and business degrees, as well as his anesthesia residency. He completed his cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship at Duke University. At UPMC, Dr. Esper leads the Center for Perioperative Care. He also serves as Chief Medical Officer of BUOY, a hydration drop company, and serves as a consultant as well as Clinical Advisory Board member of Pip, a company founded to help guide patients through their perioperative journeys with the use of both digital perioperative pathways and human health coach.
Dr. Justin Gatewood, M.D.
Dr. Gatewood is a board-certified emergency physician practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Chicago. He then practiced in Washington, D.C., where he served on the faculty of Georgetown University Medical School and collaborated with engineers and designers at Microsoft to research and develop patient- and provider-facing clinical tools using machine learning techniques applied to large patient data sets. After bidding farewell to academia, he moved to Silicon Valley to build digital health startups and consult for large software companies while serving as chief executive officer of his physician group.
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Steven Goudy, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Goudy is an ENT surgeon, startup founder (Dr. Noze Best), NIH-sponsored researcher, and academic leader at Emory University. Currently he is the vice-chairman of research and division director of pediatric otolaryngology in his Department. Dr. Goudy’s NIH-sponsored lab focuses on oral tissue and bone regenerative therapies that are in various stages of de-risking and commercialization. Dr. Noze Best was founded by Dr. Goudy where he raised a seed round and has commercialized this through Amazon, Shopify, and Target.
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Matt Hulse, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Hulse is the Division Chief of Critical Care Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. Previously, he served as the Medical Director of the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit at the University of Virginia, where he researched right ventricular failure. During his time in Virginia, Dr. Hulse was also a member of the Charlottesville Angel Network, assisting angel investors with medical diligence. Now based in Charleston, Dr. Hulse supports the startup community as part of MUSC's Innovation Center and the Charleston Angel Partners. He is currently exploring the use of novel data-visualization software and predictive analytics to improve outcomes in critical care.
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James “Jay” Isbell, M.D., M.S.C.I.
Dr. Isbell is a thoracic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he specializes in the resection of thoracic tumors, including the use of robotic techniques. At MSKCC, Dr. Isbell serves as the Director of Quality and Outcomes for the Thoracic Surgery Service. He is an active clinical trialist and has particular expertise in liquid biopsies, circulating tumor DNA, and immune-oncology. Prior to MSKCC, Dr. Isbell completed two fellowships at the University of Virginia (thoracic surgery, critical care medicine) in addition to joining the faculty there as a lung transplant surgeon and director of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
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Ashish Khanna, M.D., M.S.
Dr. Khanna is a critical care anesthesiologist at Wake Forest University. He is also a member of the Wake Center for Biomedical Informatics, a core faculty for the Center for Healthcare Innovation. His is an internationally recognized clinical trialist (ATHOS3 Trial) and his research interests include predictive monitoring, use of large datasets for outcomes research, and vasopressors, the latter of which lead to FDA approval of Angiotensin-II (GIAPREZA®). Total extramural funding of over $10 MM, founding member of BrainX Group.
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Adam Klein, M.D.
Dr. Klein is an ENT surgeon at Emory University, where he focuses on laryngeal disorders and professional voice. He is an experienced medical device consultant and co-director of the Emory Innovation Certificate Program through the Dean’s Office of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation. In that role he is also an affiliate at the Georgia Institute of Technology, serving as a clinical project mentor for the Master of Biomedical Innovation and Development Program and at the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. He holds several patents and is involved in the development of various medical devices.
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Stuart Kozlick, P.Eng., MASc.
Originally trained as an engineer, Stuart took his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Concordia University, and obtained a graduate certificate in engineering from MIT. His entire career has been focused on helping MedTech companies bring products to the marketplace, ranging from small startups to large publicly traded entities (e.g. Medtronic), and everything in between. He now serves as Fractional Executive and CEO of emerging MedTech companies, as a Strategic Advisor and Board member for several ecosystem initiatives, and is Faculty at McGill University in Medicine and Engineering in Montreal.
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Michael McCurdy, M.D.
Dr. McCurdy is trained as both an emergency medicine and critical care physician. He trained at the University of Maryland (including critical care at Shock Trauma Center) and has particular expertise in austere environments (including provision of medical support for National Geographic trips). He has deep knowledge in sepsis, has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts (including Nature, NEJM, and JAMA), and currently serves as CMO of Miraki Innovation as well as BOA Biomedical and Nereus Medical Solutions. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Sepsis Alliance.
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Christoph G. S. Nabzdyk, M.D.
Dr. Nabzdyk obtained his MD and research doctorate (Dr. med.) from Charité University Medicine Berlin, completed postdoctoral research in cardiovascular diseases and biomaterials at UCSF and Harvard, completed Anesthesiology Residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Critical Care and Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Nabzdyk recently joined BWH from Mayo Clinic Rochester where he was recognized as Mayo Clinic Distinguished Clinician. At BWH Dr. Nabzdyk is the Director of Biomedical Innovation and Translation and Director of the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Nabzdyk is an Associate Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School and an R01 funded principal investigator who works closely with Dr. Xuanhe Zhao’s group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on hydrogel platform technologies relevant for the medical field. He co-founded SanaHeal, Inc., a venture capital-backed biomedical device startup company that won the Nature Spinoff Award.
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Abigail Papé, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Papé is a hospitalist (internal medicine) and Associate Professor at the University of Utah. She completed medical school at Oregon Health & Science University, after which she completed her medicine training at the University of Virginia. Early in her career she developed a keen interest in the intersection of healthcare and business, leading to an MBA from the Darden School of Business (University of Virginia). During this time she joined her first startup, Owl Peak Technologies (near infrared technology to replace colonoscopy), where she serves as Chief Science Officer.
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Barrett W. R. Peters, D.D.S., M.S.D.
Dr. Peters is a fellowship-trained pediatric dentist, who followed his dentistry training with a year-long fellowship focused on research and policy. He has also completed certificate programs in Leadership at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. After selling a multi-location dental practice, he has pivoted toward healthcare innovation, entering the Masters of Product Innovation program at VCU and consulting for early-stage healthcare companies.
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Billy Petersen, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Petersen is an Associate Professor of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the University of Virginia, with ten years’ experience in subspecialty clinical care, clinical trial leadership, and program building. He also serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer at UVA Health, overseeing children’s hospital operations, quality, and strategy in this leadership role. He earned his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia in 2023, completing focus areas in leadership, finance, entrepreneurship, and strategy. He is a member of the Healthcare Advisory Council for CAV Angels, where he helps perform due diligence for early-stage biotech and medtech startups. He also serves as an advisor to multiple healthcare startup companies.
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Neil Ray, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Ray originally trained as a biomedical engineer at the University of Michigan and is now a Stanford-trained anesthesiologist and pain management physician at Duke University. He serves as the Chief Innovation & Technology Officer at Duke’s Private Diagnostic Clinic (physician group), co-founded Med School Coach during medical school (University of Chicago), and holds a certificate in Machine Learning in Business from MIT.
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Preetham Suresh, M.D.
A chemical engineer by training, Dr. Suresh is a practicing anesthesiologist with a clinical focus on ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blocks. He started his professional career in private practice before joining the faculty at UC San Diego, where he has developed a niche at the intersection of technology and medicine through his role as Associate Dean of Simulation Education and Vice Chair of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Through his engineering background, Dr. Suresh has collaborated on innovative medical device and pharmaceutical development projects as well as organized educational programs that promote innovation in healthcare.
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Angela Taylor, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Taylor originally trained in biology and mathematics in Charleston, South Carolina, where she competed in cross country and track and played classical piano. She attended medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina where she completed her internal medicine residency and then completed a cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of Virginia where she is currently on faculty as a tenured Professor. Her clinical practice focuses on complex percutaneous coronary intervention, critical care, and shock. She is currently the medical director for Quality and Strategy for the Heart and Vascular Service Line at UVA Health. As a nationally-known expert in complex coronary disease, she is on the Medical Advisory Board for companies such as Boston Scientific and speaks nationally and internationally in her areas of expertise. Her translational research laboratory is funded by the NIH, LeDuq International Foundation grants, and endowments and focuses on novel immune mechanisms of coronary artery disease and precision immunomedicine. Dr. Taylor completed business school at Boston University from 2021-2023.
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Robert Thiele, M.D., M.B.A.
A chemical engineer by training, Dr. Thiele is a cardiac anesthesiologist and intensivist at the University of Virginia. His research is focused on the development of advanced monitoring technology and he is the recipient of an NIH “Trailblazer” award for this work. More recent work is focused on the use of UV light to combat hospital-acquired infections. He is Division Chief of Critical Care Anesthesiology and spent six years on the Board of Directors for University Physicians Group, serving on Finance, VBC, and Investment Committees. Co-founder of Random Row Brewing Co., a 10 BBL microbrewery.
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Adam Tibble, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Tibble is a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist who works in private practice in the Bay Area (North Bay Health). He attended residency and completed his fellowship at U.C. San Diego. After his training, Dr. Tibble served in the U.S. Air Force for four years as part of the Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT), including serving as the theatre director in Operation Enduring Freedom. Upon returning to California, Dr. Tibble completed his M.B.A. at California (Berkley). Dr. Tibble has started two companies, ActMD, which designs novel airway equipment, and CIT Clinics, which utilizes ketamine as a novel treatment agent for patients with chronic pain.
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Kevin Ward, M.D.
Dr. Ward is an Emergency Medicine physician at University of Michigan. He is Executive Director of the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan. Founder and architect of the University of Michigan’s biomedical innovation program Fast Forward Medical Innovation (FFMI) which is credited with significantly increasing the University’s biomedical innovation portfolio including inventions, patents, startups, industry funding and licensing. Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, deployed to Afghanistan in support of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
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Linda Wu, D.O., M.B.A.
Dr. Wu originally trained as a systems design and human factors engineer before pivoting to healthcare. She is a pediatric hospitalist who completed her pediatrics training at Emory University and her M.B.A. at Olin (Washington University) and now serves on the faculty as an Assistant Professor at Washington University / St. Louis Children’s Hospital. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Wu is co-founder and CEO of MiDoc Inc., a medical device that taps into the third dimension of telehealth - the physical exam.
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