George Li, Managing Partner, Proxima Ventures

George has over 12 years’ experience of management, start-up consulting and investment in high technology sector. He has been selected as advisory member of innovation and entrepreneurship committee of Oversea Chinese Affairs Office of The State Council, innovation talent program of Ministry of Science and Technology, Chair Judge of Chunhui competition organized by Ministry of Education. George is the founder of Biohub International (formerly known as Bridgebio International). Biohub is one of the leading medical incubators in China and currently has set up innovation bases focusing on innovative medical treatment in Wuhan, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Wuxi and Chengdu. Biohub provides professional carriers for innovative start-ups, has built professional laboratories and CFDA certificated clean workshop, and set up a professional team to provide one-stop service for enterprises from start-up counseling, production system construction to registration declaration. Since the establishment of the innovation incubators, hundreds of innovative medical projects have been introduced, incubated and transferred covering biomedicine, medical devices, diagnostic reagents and medical services. Before founding Biohub, George co-founded Bioherms and grew it into a leading IVD company in China. Before Bioherms venture, he served as project manager and deputy department manager role of D&P wireless department of Huawei and led the R&D and pilot production of Huawei’s wireless switcher. George got his MBA with excellence honor from Hult International Business School and bachelor degree from Zhejiang University. 

Rachel Rea, Director, Strategy & Portfolio Management, Surgical Innovations, Medtronic

Rachel is a Director of Business Development and Licensing at Medtronic. She has been with Medtronic for almost 9 years serving both its Respiratory, Gastrointestinal & Informatics division and more recently its Surgical Innovations division. As a Director of Business Development and Licensing, Rachel is focused on opportunities to bring additional innovation to Medtronic and its patients. These opportunities could consist of licensing, distribution, investment, acquisition, etc. Rachel has a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami in Miami, FL, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Gary Gershony, Medical Device Committee, Life Science Angels

Dr. Gershony grew up in Toronto, Canada and attended the University of Toronto where he graduated from medical school at age 23. He continued his training in internal medicine and general cardiology at the University of Toronto where he also served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Gershony continued his training in interventional cardiology, serving a fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta under the auspices of Dr. Andreas Grüntzig, the inventor of coronary and peripheral angioplasty. From 1993-1997, Dr. Gershony was Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories and Interventional Cardiology at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center. For the past 20 years he has practiced interventional cardiology at John Muir Cardiovascular Institute in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is currently the Director of Cardiovascular Research, Education and Technology, and has established a successful Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) program. Dr. Gershony’s research interests include novel devices for complex coronary and peripheral angioplasty, percutaneous valve therapies and local drug-delivery to prevent restenosis. He has participated in numerous multi-center clinical trials as a Principal Investigator. Dr. Gershony is board certified in general cardiology and interventional cardiology and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Royal College of Physicians, the American Heart Association and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Dr. Gershony has authored over 100 manuscripts and abstracts in the field of cardiology and is a regularly invited faculty lecturer to the preeminent U.S. and international interventional cardiology meetings.

Mishael Zohar, Associate, OrbiMed Advisors LLC

Mishael Zohar, MD MBA, is an Associate at Orbimed Israel a leading healthcare investment firm, with $13 billion in assets under management, covering venture capital investments in biotech, medical devices, and diagnostic companies. Prior to joining OrbiMed he Co-founded and managed Orion.ID – a startup company that developed and designed medical applications for mental health early prevention and management. Before establishing Orion.ID Mishael was Co-partner & Head of the Training Division at M-TACS – a company that provides tactical medical solutions services worldwide. Mishael received his BMedSc and MD from Ben-Gurion University, Faculty of Health Sciences, as well as an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Harrison School of Business. Dr. Zohar is a researcher at the Julis-Rabinowitz Data Science institute at IDC, Herzliya focusing on medical big data.

Flora Yao, Founding Partner, Ivy Elite Capital

Flora is the Founding Partner of Ivy Elite Capital. IEC is a venture capital firm investing in biotech and life science. Flora is mainly responsible for post-investment management, and the Government and investor relation management. She has an extensive global business experience in China, Canada and US. She took leadership roles in global leading marketing and consulting groups and provided business break-in and business strategies for biotech clients such as Johnson and Johnson , and LG Healthcare Solutions. Flora also has rich experiences in go-to-market strategies and investment consulting, and has a wide range of social resources and connections. Flora obtained her MBA degree from McCombs School of Business, the University of Texas at Austin.