Anne Hoverson serves as Vice President, Digital Transformation, at Florida Blue and GuideWell, the parent company. In this role, which she assumed in March 2019, she is responsible for leading digital strategy development and the implementation of digital capabilities for customers, providers, brokers, benefit administrators and GuideWell employees. Hoverson has held a series of progressively responsible roles within the health solutions enterprise prior to assuming her current role, including Senior Director, Digital Channels;IT Manager;Senior Manager, Retail Program Development;and Retail Marketing Communications Manager. Prior to joining GuideWell, Hoverson served as Northeast Florida Regional Marketing Manager and later, Corporate Marketing Services Manager at LandMar Group, LLC/Crescent Resources, LLC, where she created marketing plans and strategies for master-planned communities across Florida and Georgia. Hoverson attended the University of Houston where she studied biology and business administration, and holds certifications in paralegal studies, pragmatic marketing, and agile development.

Arundhati Parmar is vice president and editor-in-chief of MedCity News. In this role, she is in charge of all editorial content as well as the live programming at MedCity’s healthcare events. Arundhati enjoys reporting herself and writes on a variety of healthcare topics, in addition to editing contributed content. She welcomes any tips and scoops you may want to send her way.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in English Honors, Jadavpur University, a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Sydney and a Master’s degree in Journalism, from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

I have formal training in epidemiology and board certification in gastroenterology, clinical informatics and internal medicine. Over the last twenty years, I have led many informatics and digital health initiatives at Cleveland Clinic, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and UC Davis Health including developing online education modules, leading EHR implementation in an integrated delivery network, developing registries, secondary use of healthcare data and developing patient and provider facing apps (applications). I have been involved in patient centered research through Clinical and Translational Scientific Awards (Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai), served on dissemination advisory board of PCORI and supported PRO workgroup in NYC- Chronic Disease Research Network (CDRN). I serve as founder and chair of NODE Health, a 501c3 foundation of 32 health systems that aims to build evidence to digital medicine technologies. I also serve on the Innovation Advisory Board for American College of Cardiology and as executive member of FHIR at Scale committee with Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in HHS, which allows me to collaborate nationally with ongoing efforts in interoperability and unlocking data for real-world evidence. In my prior role as Chief Innovation Officer in the Department of Medicine, I have led a scientific core for digital medicine and directed a full-stack technical team with clinical informaticists, UX designers, programmers, directors, app developers and data scientists. The core developed infrastructure for digital engagement and electronic patient reported outcomes (ePRO) that supported over 25 funded projects and over 100 investigators.

In my current role as CIO and Chief Digital Health Officer at UC Davis Health, I lead the “Digital Davis vision” through an IT team of over 600 personnel that oversee Epic, IT and research applications, Data, AI, Security, clinical informatics and chief research information office who support the health system, CTSA and medical school. This proposal will leverage and build upon our prior work in AI, mobile apps, electronic informed consent, decision aids, e-PRO, virtual clinical trials and digital participant engagement.

Becca LaFond is a healthcare industry executive with more than 20 years of experience working within the healthcare system implementing technology and optimizing operations. As an executive leader, she has a successful track record of building and scaling teams, pioneering data-driven decision making, and delivering value for customers.

She joined Healthy.io as US General Manager in February 2024 to scale commercialization efforts with payers, health systems, and pharmaceutical companies across the US.

Prior to joining Healthy, Becca helped scale Empiric Health as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Service Officer, where she worked to improve clinical decision making using technology. Becca oversaw Empiric’s acquisition by Olive AI— where she leveraged AI to enhance operating performance for a diverse customer portfolio of healthcare providers and payers, working to reduce administrative burden.

Becca is also a leader in non-profit governance, serving as Chair of the Board for Mountain Health Co-Op since 2023, and was previously a Board Member since 2021. Mountain Health Co-Op offers non-profit member-governed health insurance that promotes member engagement
and provides access to high quality medical care across Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Becca is passionate about and eager to share insights on topics including operational process improvement, change management, analytical problem solving, interdisciplinary team building, and scaling and operating in healthcare.

Becca holds a BA in International Studies and Health Policy from Duke and an MBA and MHA from the University of Washington.

Chris Carruthers is the Chief Innovation Officer at DexCare, where he spearheads the creation of cutting-edge products that drive the company’s mission and elevate its service to customers. With deep expertise in leveraging technology to develop scalable, innovative solutions that address complex challenges, Chris is committed to improving patient access and delivering exceptional experiences for both patients and providers.

Before DexCare’s successful spin-out from the Providence Digital Innovation Group (DIG), Chris led technology teams and drove DexCare’s commercialization efforts at DIG. His contributions laid the foundation for what DexCare is today, accelerating its adoption by leading health systems such as Kaiser Permanente, SSM Health, Texas Health Resources, Community Health Network, and Piedmont Health, among many others. His career also includes leadership roles at Slalom Consulting and his own firm, Carhea Technologies, where he delivered IT solutions across healthcare and various other industries.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Chris is a devoted father to his two daughters. He enjoys coaching youth sports, sharing meals with family and friends, and recharging in the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest’s mountains, waterways, and sea.

Dan Easton is a principal at Unorthodox Ventures, the Austin-based investment firm by Big Ass Fans Founder Carey Smith. Dan has led hiring initiatives for portfolio companies, reading countless resumes (seriously … he stopped counting) and interviewing hundreds of candidates. He also helps develop strategies and, on occasion, even serves as an interim executive for portfolio companies to allow founders to focus on what matters most.

Dan joined Unorthodox Ventures following leadership positions in software development, newspaper publishing, and real estate and marketing communications. He began his career as an engineer, building simulation, optimization and economic modeling software for chemical plants and refineries. Dan also owns Austin’s largest art gallery, home to one of the world’s most extensive collections of “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss,” works produced primarily for adults by the famed artist.

David Latshaw, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized artificial intelligence and machine learning expert who has spoken publicly on the use of AI in life sciences regularly over the past 10 years. Dave currently serves as the CEO of BioPhy, a venture-backed artificial intelligence company that he founded in 2019. Preceding his role at BioPhy, Dave spent the first six years of his career as a Senior Scientist at Johnson & Johnson, where he worked to find innovative ways for J&J to incorporate AI technology. In this capacity, both National Academy of Engineering and the World Economic Forum highlighted the efforts that Dave conceived of and deployed on a global scale. Dave’s work was eventually utilized by J&J to aid in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

David Stein is the CEO of Ash Wellness, a B2B at-home diagnostic company launching remote care services for healthcare organizations and D2C businesses. Ash Wellness offers white-lable operations management, testing via a CLIA/CAP certified lab network, kitting and fulfillment, and modern technology infrastructure. In his role, David is responsible for mission vision, strategy oversight, fundraising, and corporate development. He is a graduate of the Cornell Tech MBA program. David lives in New York City and is passionate about healthcare access.

Dr. Brigham Hyde is CEO and co-founder of Atropos Health since August 2022. He provided funding and support for Atropos Health’s official launch in late 2020. Hyde has a significant track record of building businesses in the health tech and real-world data (RWD) space and most recently served as President of Data & Analytics at Eversana. Prior to that role, Mr. Hyde served as a healthcare partner at the AI venture fund Symphony AI, where he led the investment in, co-founded, and operated Concert AI, an oncology RWD company – most recently valued at $1.9B. Hyde held previous roles as Chief Data Officer at Decision Resources Group, which was acquired by Clarivate for $900M in 2020. He has also served on the Global Data Science Advisory Board for Janssen, as a research faculty at MIT Media Lab, and served as adjunct faculty at Tufts Medical School.

Dr. Lyndsey Harper is a Board Certified Ob/Gyn, Associate Professor of Ob/Gyn for Texas A&M COM, a Fellow of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. Dr. Harper is the founder and CEO of Rosy, an award-winning women’s health technology company that connects women who have sexual health concerns with hope, community, and research-backed solutions. She has been named Forbes Top 53 Women Disrupting Healthcare, People Newspapers’ 20 Under 40, a Top Innovator in North Texas for 2020 and a DBJ Top Woman in Tech.

Dr. Jain leads the health-tech investment practice at Tarsadia Investments, an investment firm managing over $2B in assets. With her experience as a Physician and her passion for leveraging technology in healthcare, she loves working with founders building businesses to enable and build a more equitable, affordable and effective healthcare ecosystem.

Dr. Jain is a Primary Care Physician by background. She also has her M.S. in Engineering from Stanford School of Engineering and her MBA from The Wharton School.

Dr. Tom Hawes joined Sandbox in 2008 and is a Partner of Sandbox Clinical Ventures and the Blue Venture Funds. He currently serves on the board of directors of Humata Health, First Dollar, Octave Bioscience, and Upward Health. Dr. Hawes previously served as a board member of AbleTo (acquired by Optum), Healthify (acquired by Wellsky), HeartFlow, InVivoLink (acquired by HCA), PatientCo (acquired by WayStar), Nexidia (acquired by NICE), OncoHealth (acquired by Arsenal Capital Partners and McKesson), Phreesia (NYSE: PHR), and Verata Health (acquired by Olive.Ai), and as a board observer of Thrive Earlier Detection (NASDAQ: EXAS).

Prior to Sandbox, Dr. Hawes matched at Yale School of Medicine for residency. During his medical training, he worked on clinical studies at the ISK Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine and on outcomes research at the National Cancer Institute and New York Medical College’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Department.
Dr. Hawes holds an MD from New York Medical College, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BA from Brigham Young University. He is also a Kauffman Fellow.

Erica Murdock is the Managing Director of Unseen (powered by Seae Ventures), a pre-seed/early seed stage investment firm specializing in tech-enabled healthcare solutions. Erica began her career at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan before transitioning into digital health, having most recently held the role of Chief Operating Officer with Hurdle Health. A former founder and seasoned digital health operator with over two decades of experience, Erica has excelled at early-stage healthcare start-ups, specializing in culture and leadership development, operations, customer success, relationship management, and GTM strategy. Erica is an alumna of the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology.

Janet is a Senior Principal at Distributed Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm located in Chicago, IL that invests in the Insurtech, Fintech and Employer Solutions (including Health & Benefits) spaces. Active investments include Posterity Health, Tuned, Rx Save Card, Cylinder Health and Kindbody. Recently, her focus has been on employee benefit cost containment solutions.

Prior to this, Janet spent seven years in early-stage companies, including 3 years as the COO of a bootstrapped startup, and was a management consultant for Fortune 100 corporations at Bain & Company. She specializes in strategy and analytics, process optimization, people & talent operations, and negotiations. Janet has a BA in Political Science from Yale University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.

Josh Sturm joined Color Health as Chief Revenue Officer in 2024, where he will focus on expanding Color’s partnerships with employers, unions, health plans, and the public sector to provide equitable, accessible healthcare services. An accomplished leader in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, Josh previously was a Vice President at Hinge Health, where he focused on new markets and business development, and played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s reach into new territories and complex healthcare ecosystems. Josh’s career includes tenure as a Vice President at Surescripts and at Express Scripts, where he provided strategic oversight and managed significant national accounts. He began his career in sales roles with Allergan and Medicine Shoppe International. Josh earned a B.S. and B.B.A. from Viterbo University, and an M.B.A from Webster University.

Josh Sturm joined Color Health as Chief Revenue Officer in 2024, where he will focus on expanding Color’s partnerships with employers, unions, health plans, and the public sector to provide equitable, accessible healthcare services. An accomplished leader in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, Josh previously was a Vice President at Hinge Health, where he focused on new markets and business development, and played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s reach into new territories and complex healthcare ecosystems. Josh’s career includes tenure as a Vice President at Surescripts and at Express Scripts, where he provided strategic oversight and managed significant national accounts. He began his career in sales roles with Allergan and Medicine Shoppe International. Josh earned a B.S. and B.B.A. from Viterbo University, and an M.B.A from Webster University.

Katie Adams is a senior reporter at MedCity News. Her area of coverage focuses on the challenges that healthcare providers face today and the technology they’re using to solve those problems. Previously, she worked as a healthcare technology editor at Becker’s Hospital Review. Her journalism degree is from DePaul University in Chicago, where she is still based.

Liana Douillet Guzmán is the CEO of FOLX Health, a groundbreaking digital healthcare provider designed by and for the LGBTQIA+ community. Under her leadership, FOLX has brought its affirming and expert healthcare to members of the LGBTQIA+ community across all 50 states and has been recognized for its innovation and impact by TIME and Fast Company, among others. Liana previously served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Skillshare, the leading online learning community for creatives. As CMO, she played a key role in the company’s explosive growth, responsible for brand marketing, acquisition, communications, partnerships, and sales. Prior to joining Skillshare, Liana served as COO of Blockchain, helping grow the company’s usership from 4 million to 40 million within two years. She serves on the Board of Directors at GLAAD, the Elizabeth Park Conservancy, and FOLX. She’s been recognized as one of Fast Company’s Queer 50 for the last three years and as one of NY Observer’s Top 50 Philanthropists. Liana earned her BA in psychology and international studies in 2005 from Connecticut College. She is a member of the 2024 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. When not working, she is often found spending time with her family or playing tennis poorly.

Marissa Plescia is a reporter for MedCity News covering payers, employers and health tech. She previously worked at Becker’s Hospital Review as a finance reporter. Before that, she was a data journalism intern at Kansas City PBS for the Dow Jones News Fund. She received her Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Mary Beth Navarra-Sirio, MBA, RN is an innovator and health tech executive who has led the development and go-to-market strategies of digital solutions and medical devices in companies from start-up to Fortune 500. She started her career as a nurse and hospital administrator at UPMC, where she saw firsthand the many challenges of healthcare and how innovation could solve them by improving the work of clinicians and saving the lives of patients. She went on to lead the development and launch of a new-to-world medication safety technology at an early-stage company which was acquired by McKesson. During her tenure at McKesson, she focused on understanding opportunities in the areas of medication management, patient safety, clinical decision support and analytics, leading teams that developed and commercialized solutions to meet those needs. At Philips, she led an innovation team which developed novel partnerships with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh among others, as well as startups to innovate and launch solutions in the hospital and consumer health tech spaces.

Mary Beth has been a champion for public-private collaboration to improve healthcare, having served on numerous industry committees and boards including the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Workgroup, ONC Meaningful Use Workgroup, Organization of Nursing Leadership’s Patient Safety Task Force, and as a long time Board member and Chair of the National Patient Safety Foundation. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and on the Boards of UPMC Enterprises portfolio companies Infectious Disease Connect and Arrive Health.

Naomi Fried PhD, a national thought leader on healthcare innovation, is the founder and CEO of PharmStars, the pharma-focused accelerator for digital health startups. She is also a co-founder and Managing Partner of Ambit Health Ventures, an early-stage venture fund focused on digital health investing.

Previously, Naomi was founder and CEO of Health Innovation Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in innovation and digital health. She advised pharma companies, providers, and payers on innovation-program design, optimization and activities and on digital health strategy.

Naomi was previously Biogen’s first VP of Innovation and External Partnerships. She developed Biogen’s “innovation beyond the molecule” strategy to deliver non-pharmacological value to patients and providers.

Prior to Biogen, Naomi was the first Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). At BCH, Naomi built and led the Innovation Acceleration Program, which focused on enhancing the innovation culture, improving care quality, and assisting the hospital in shaping the future of health care. The Innovation Acceleration program supported strategic innovation initiatives, resourced grass roots innovation, and identified unmet innovation opportunities. Naomi oversaw the creation and administration of the Innovestment seed grant program which supported 37 projects and the FastTrack Innovation (FIT) in Technology Program which developed 9 novel clinical software solutions and mobile apps. She also initiated and led the development of BCH’s telehealth strategy.

Before moving to the Boston area, Naomi was the VP of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente (KP) in Oakland, California, where she led an effort to identify and assess emerging health care technologies and chaired the board of its internal Innovation Fund for Technology. She formed KP’s Telehealth Working Group and was involved in the start-up and governance of KP’s Innovation lab, the Sidney R. Garfield Center for Health Care Innovation. She was the Managing Director of the Archimedes Project.

Naomi has served on the advisory boards of the HealthCare Business Women’s Association, MedCity News, Digital Collaboration Solutions, the Journal of Clinical Innovation & Technology, as well as a Director of the American Telemedicine Association. She was also appointed a member of the Governor of Massachusetts’ Innovation Council. Her awards include being named one of WEST’s “Notable Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology” in 2013 and one of Healthcare IT News’ “2013 Health Information Technology (HIT) Men and Women of the Year Award, Innovators.” Naomi was named “The Emerging Executive of the Year” in 2014 by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council and was named one of 40 “Healthcare Transformers of 2016” by MM&M. In 2023 she was recognized by the Women’s Edge as one of the “Extraordinary Women Advancing Healthcare.” Naomi is on the board of directors of WavelyDx and Head Diagnostics. She also has served on the advisory boards of ResApp (aquired by Pfizer) and Remepy. She writes and speaks nationally and internationally on innovation and digital health. Naomi received her Ph.D. in Materials Science from MIT and her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

Pranitha Patil is the co-founder and COO of Function Health on a mission to help people live 100 healthy years. Pranitha left Harvard University Graduate school early to build Function Health in 2021. Drawing from her experience as a former manager at Accenture Health Strategy, where she collaborated with both US-based hospital systems and health insurance providers, and global health systems, Patil recognized the need for scalable technology to empower everyone to own their health. Pranitha’s personal health journey helped shape her mission. As a first generation Indian American woman managing her own chronic conditions, including PCOS, pre-diabetes, and genetically high cholesterol, Patil has transformed. She’s improved her insulin and HbA1c levels, gotten a deeper understanding of her lipid particle sizes, and realized she needed to actively manage stress to lower cortisol levels. Determined to empower others, Pranitha believes in giving everyone, especially women, minorities, and BIPOC communities, the power to take control of their health.

Robert Weigle has been CEO of NOWDiagnostics since April 2023. From October 2020 to March 2023, he was the CEO of AeenaDX, a saliva-based diagnostics company utilizing Genomics.

Mr. Weigle is also currently an executive in residence with DigitalDX, a venture capital firm. Mr. Weigle was CEO and a director of Benvenue Medical from May 2009 until August 2020. Benvenue was a Silicon Valley based medical device company, which raised over $200 million in funding. At Benvenue Mr. Weigle led the growth from pre-clinical to successful clinical trials to the commercial launch of first-generation devices in two distinct markets, one for the treatment of compression fractures in the spine and the second for the treatment of degenerative disc disease, resulting in the first full year run rate exceeding $1 million per month. Mr. Weigle oversaw all early aspects of corporate strategy, including defining, communicating, and executing the company’s overall business model;and represented Benvenue to the investment community.

Mr. Weigle was also a senior executive at numerous healthcare/medical device companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Baxter Healthcare, TherOx, Inc., (Zoll), Cardiac Pathways (Boston Scientific), and Camino Labs (Integra) Corp. Mr. Weigle was a member of the Board at Zyga (acquired by RTI) and currently is a Board member at Tenon, TNON NASDAQ. Mr. Weigle holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Scott Ogden is the Head of AI at Genmab, a global oncology and rare disease biopharma powerhouse. In this role, he leads the advancement of AI-driven change to how work is done- both in research and operations.

Scott has a rich background in leading data science and innovation teams in healthcare, having previously worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Healthfirst, a payor organization in NYC. His expertise lies in leveraging data to drive impactful health outcomes and operational efficiencies.

He holds a graduate degree in Applied Mathematics and is pursuing an executive MBA at Wharton. Outside of his professional achievements, Scott is passionate about music and enjoys starting choirs and a cappella groups. He also has the best 5-year-old son.

Sean is a Principal Investor at Rock Health Capital, an early-stage digital health venture fund. He previously led the market research team at Rock Health Advisory. Previously, Sean worked on the ambulatory and population health products at Epic. Sean graduated from Union College with a B.S. in bioengineering and later received his master’s in technology policy from the University of Cambridge. Sean was Watson Fellowship awardee, during which he spent one year researching the intersection of technology and culture through the perceptions of physical disabilities in Ethiopia, India, Japan, and Argentina.

Stephen Hays is the founder of What If Ventures, a venture firm investing in mental health and disruptive healthcare startups.‍

After decades struggling with addiction, and a mood disorder, Stephen was able to experience a trans-formative change in his life with the help of his loving wife and children, his father, and close friends. This change inspired Stephen to combine his personal recovery experience, with his investing background to help entrepreneurs bring life changing solutions to market.

Since launching What If Ventures in January 2020, Stephen has invested over $85,000,000 in 73 Disruptive Healthcare startups via a syndicate of over 4,100 investors. To date, the firm has seen 3 portfolio companies exit via IPO and 1 company exit via acquisition.

Prior to his career in venture capital, Stephen was an investment banker on Wall Street for 6+ years. He primarily focused on helping large companies raise capital, and execute Mergers & Acquisitions with an industry focus on the multi-industrial, aerospace & defense, and healthcare industries.

Stephen received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at West Point, and received his MBA from Vanderbilt.

Stephen lives in Frisco, TX with his loving wife Christine, three beautiful children (ages 9, 8 and 1) and their pet bunny rabbit, named Mr. Snuffleupagus.

Theresa Lanowitz is the Chief Cybersecurity Evangelist at LevelBlue, a
strategic alliance between AT&T and WillJam Ventures focused on simplifying
cybersecurity for businesses that fuel our global economy.

With a distinguished career in the technology industry, she has held
influential roles at companies including Gartner, Borland, Taligent, and Sun
Microsystems, significantly impacting application security and emerging
technologies.

Theresa is a globally respected leader known for her deep and diverse
experience in cybersecurity. She frequently speaks at major industry
conferences, including RSA, sharing her insights on high-tech trends, AI
integration, and the evolving threat landscape.

Theresa holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.