2025 Co-Chair Biographies

Jessica J. Federer, Managing Partner, Supernode Ventures
Jessica Federer is a recognized leader in the global life sciences industry. She was the first Chief Digital Officer for the Bayer AG group, as well as the first woman to hold that role in the industry. She led Bayer’s digital transformation across the pharmaceutical, consumer care, crop science, material science and animal health businesses during record setting years for both sales and EBITDA. Reporting into the Bayer AG Group Management Board, Federer united the company’s digital strategy and investments across divisions to accelerate growth across the 118,00 employees. During her tenure, the company acquired and integrated Merck’s consumer care business and Monsanto, becoming, respectively, the second largest consumer health and the leading agriculture businesses on the planet, and floated their material science division into Covestro. With a focus on scalable digital enablers to business integrations and success, Federer streamlined investments, modernized capabilities, and upskilled the workforce. Prior to leading digital for the group business, Federer established a track record inside Bayer for delivery across regulatory affairs, market access, product launches, and business turnarounds. This includes the launch team for the record holding biologic EYLEA ®, an overhaul in the animal health business, and establishing the market access function globally. Federer regularly contributes to publications and events for the FT, Reuters Health, Bloomberg, and leading consultancies. Ms. Federer joined BMP as a Venture Affiliate in 2018, and is a Partner for the Opportunity Fund. She is a graduate of George Washington University and received an MPH from the Yale School of Public Health.

Sunny Kumar: Partner, GSR Ventures
Sunny Kumar is a Partner at GSR Ventures, where he primarily invests in early-stage companies deploying emerging technologies to transform healthcare delivery, including lead investments in Medable, Deep 6 AI, and Osso VR. Sunny is a physician as well as a published medical researcher with a focus on applying informatics and artificial intelligence to translational medicine in the fields of neurosurgery and gene therapy. He is a serial entrepreneur and most recently founded a company to reduce readmissions for high-risk patients with chronic diseases using voice-enabled natural language processing technology. Sunny received a BS in Molecular Biology from Yale University, an MD from Stanford University School of Medicine, and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Rana Lonnen, Managing Director, dRx Capital, Novartis
Rana Lonnen is a healthcare technology investor, entrepreneur, and molecular biologist. At Novartis, she leads strategic investments in technology companies, on a mission to transform the healthcare ecosystem and make positive impact on people’s lives. Previously, Rana was Head of Preclinical Development at a UK biotech, Auspherix; investment consultant to IP Group in London; Founder and CSO of a UK based Biotech, Axendos therapeutics. Prior to this she was a Wellcome Trust backed principal investigator in drug discovery in the field of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, author and inventor on high impact peer-reviewed publications and patents; before this, Rana worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb, in sales and marketing. Rana holds a PhD in molecular biology and an MBA from Imperial College London. She personally cares about equitable healthcare, social justice, sustainability and the future of antimicrobial resistance. In her down time Rana likes to make culinary experiments, be in nature and read. Rana is a board observer at Aktana, Cota Healthcare, H1 Insights, Koneksa, Mekonos, NuvoAir, and Dopavision. She is based out of Basel, Switzerland.

2025 Advisory Board Biographies

Jodi Akin: Founder and CEO, Hawthorne Effect, Inc.
Jodi is a healthcare executive, leader, innovator, advisor and serial entrepreneur. She has more than 20 years experience in clinical development, scientific and regulatory strategy, management and medtech market development from start-ups to S&P 500 companies. Prior to founding Hawthorne Effect, Inc., Jodi was Global VP Clinical Affairs at Edwards Lifesciences, LLC- where she led the seminal clinical trials and regulatory approvals for transcatheter heart valve therapy. Also a humanitarian, Jodi led international healthcare initiatives including Heart To Heart International Children's Medical Alliance, The Nahapetov Friendship Foundation and the China Heart Group, a joint venture with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. She holds an undergraduate degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, Masters in Physiology and Nursing from Pace University, New York and 8 patents with a few more pending.

Jeremy P. Goldberg, Operating Partner, Healthcare, Arsenal Capital Partners
Mr. Goldberg is an Operating Partner of Arsenal where he focuses on networking and sourcing transactions for the healthcare team. Prior to joining Arsenal in 2014, Mr. Goldberg was a Managing Director, Corporate Development of Endo Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he was a founding Partner of ProQuest Investments and the founding CEO or founder of three biotechnology companies that were acquired or taken public. In addition, he also held executive positions at Becton Dickinson and at GSK. He serves on Dana Farber Cancer Institute Visiting Committee and board of NIH/Cambridge/Oxford Scholars program.

Shwen Gwee, Digital Health and Corporate Innovation Executive
Shwen is a recognized pioneer in digital health and corporate innovation, as well as a respected biopharma industry thought leader who was named a Top 40 “Healthcare Transformer” by MM&M, a PR Week "Health Influencer 50", listed on the Constellation Research "Business Transformation 150" and has been recognized in Medika's list of "Fifty of the Most Influential Voices in Healthcare". Over the last 20 years, he has held leading roles in digital strategy and innovation within the biopharma industry. Most recently, he was the VP/Head of Global Digital Strategy at BMS, where he led innovation across the enterprise. Prior to that, he was the Co-Founder and Global Head of Open Innovation for the Novartis BIOME—a global network of innovation hubs. Currently, he is an independent consultant, investor, advisor, and mentor to various digital health start-ups.

Andrew Hedin, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Andrew Hedin is a partner in Bessemer’s Cambridge office where he focuses on investments broadly across the healthcare ecosystem, including new biotech therapeutics as well as software and services sold to healthcare verticals. Prior to joining Bessemer in 2015, Andrew worked at F-Prime Capital, Fidelity’s healthcare-focused venture capital fund where he invested in early-stage biotech and digital health technologies, as well as Leerink Partners as an advisor to the biopharma industry. He earned an MBA with honors from The Wharton School, where he majored in health care management and finance, as well as a degree in biological basis of behavior from the University of Pennsylvania.

Laura Hilty, Principal, HealthX Ventures
Laura Hilty is a health tech operator turned venture capital investor. After nearly two decades working to improve the healthcare ecosystem, including 14 years in clinical research, she is investing in early-stage health tech companies and helping portfolio companies grow through strategy and board work. Prior to HealthX, she held leadership roles spanning corporate strategy, M&A, product strategy, product management, and partnerships across stages from company start-up to scale, through Forte / Advarra and Epic. Through that time, she launched 7 new software products, helped the company exit, developed corporate strategy, and acquired 6 companies within 18 months, all contributing to the company's $5B valuation. With clinical research domain expertise combined with experience in Electronic Healthcare Records (EHRs) at Epic, she is passionate about creating new paradigms in healthcare that create impactful and sustainable change. Laura holds a Bachelor’s in Molecular / Cell Biology from Vanderbilt University, is a mentor to start-up entrepreneurs, active in helping improve healthcare in Africa, and spends her free time negotiating with her young daughter or outdoors hiking or kayaking.

Brian Matesic, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners
Brian is an experienced life sciences investor who focuses on early to mid-stage companies. Prior to joining Norwest, Brian worked at Blackstone Life Sciences, where he helped lead over $1.5B of investments across biotech, medical devices, and diagnostics. He was a Board Observer or Alliance Committee Member at 5 companies, working closely with management teams on clinical trials, FDA approval process, and commercial strategy. Brian was previously an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, where he advised companies across the healthcare industry. Brian has a medical degree from Stanford and MBA from Harvard. His research on prostate cancer, diabetic macular edema, and patient safety has been published in multiple peer-review journals.

John R. Pavletic, Executive Director, Lilly Ventures
John Pavletic leads Lilly Ventures’ Tech investing strategy globally. This strategy focuses on next generation technologies and business models that can advance drug discovery and development as well as healthcare delivery. Prior to joining the Lilly Ventures team, he led early-stage product strategy for Lilly’s Digital Health group. Prior to Lilly, he held sales, marketing, and finance roles at Abbott across its Animal Health, Molecular Diagnostics, and Health IT business units.

Mitesh Rao, Founder & CEO, OMNY Health
Dr. Mitesh B. Rao, MD, MHS is the Founder and CEO of OMNY Health, a venture-backed company revolutionizing how healthcare organizations collaborate and advance science through the common language of data. Encompassing timely and comprehensive real-world data from direct partnerships with IDNs, AMCs, specialty networks, and other providers across the US, OMNY Health's proprietary platform provides the foundation for stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to compliantly and efficiently share data and insights, as well as pursue broader data-driven partnerships. Prior to founding OMNY Health, Dr. Rao developed a national reputation as a leader in healthcare safety. A Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Physician and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Stanford, he most recently served as the Chief Patient Safety Officer for Stanford Healthcare where he led Patient Safety, Quality, and System Redesign for the Enterprise. Dr. Rao also served as Director of the Center for Advancing Patient Safety at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which focused on implementing new innovations in the fields of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement. Dr. Rao began his career as a Fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at Yale University.

David Stevenson, COO & Managing Director, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund
Dave Stevenson is COO & Managing Director and a founding partner of GHI Fund since inception in 2010. Dave is responsible for identifying opportunities broadly across digital health and also manages the GHI portfolio and operations. Dave brings more than 25 years of healthcare strategy and operations expertise to the GHI team. Prior to Merck GHI, Dave was Head of U.S. Strategy at Sanofi responsible for development of the company’s new commercial models. Dave started his career with Novartis where he built their first clinical trial management system. He holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from Washington University.

Zach Taft, CEO, IgniteData
Healthcare Executive with a record of accomplishment leading business development and growth at Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial success through three acquisitions, including M*Modal by 3M for $1.1B, and academic medical center thought leadership shown through the co-founding of MSK’s Clinical Research Innovation Center. Visionary Innovator motivated by developing strategies and delivering industry-first products that enable clinical efficiencies and improve patient care within the healthcare arena. Product Expert with recognized ability in creating and maintaining partnerships with large tech companies, and healthcare systems across every market. Driven Leader known for developing and empowering high-performing, autonomous teams that consistently exceed objectives and expectations.

Carrie Williams, Vice President & Partner, McKesson Ventures
Carrie Williams brings 20 years of experience in healthcare from several vantage points within the industry. Prior to joining McKesson Ventures in 2017, Williams served as vice president of strategy and business development for digital health provider Omada Health, having held roles within McKesson’s strategy and business development team previously, working to advance strategies aimed at innovation within hospital pharmacy and clinical trial patient recruitment. She began her career in drug development, where she managed oncology clinical trials in both large pharmaceutical and biotech settings. Williams holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.