Panels & Workshops
9:00 am
Beyond Big Pharma
Partnering Early to Foster Innovation
Therapeutics companies often see Big Pharma as the ultimate co-development or exit partner. However, many clinical-stage, mid-sized pharmaceutical companies are actively seeking strategic partnerships to expand their pipelines, with many also establishing corporate venture funds to invest in areas that complement or go beyond their existing pipelines.
This panel will explore key questions, including:
- What are the advantages of partnering beyond big pharma?
- How does collaboration with a mid-stage company differ from working with Big Pharma?
- What makes a therapeutics company an attractive partner?
With numerous pathways available to advance novel therapies, it’s essential for companies to consider all partnership opportunities. Panelists will share insights on what these collaborations look like—and how they can deliver mutual value for both the innovator and the pharma partner.

Marc Appel
Managing Partner
Pacific Bridge NY
(Moderator)

Salma Al-Zu’bi
Investment Principal
Hikma Ventures

Dirk, Büscher
Sr Director Grifols Innovation and New Technologies
Grifols

Chloé Lepretre
Head of Global R&D Search and Evaluation
Servier

Nicolas Stalder
Senior Investment Manager
Debiopharm Innovation Fund
10:00 am
Aging and Longevity
Investing for Healthier Lifespans
This panel will feature investors that focus on longevity. Learn about their investment preferences and how they evaluate and manage their relationships with their early-stage portfolio and prospects in this specific market. Hear from active age-tech experts on their predictions for the future of this sector.

Fiona Miller
Managing Partner
quadraScope Venture Fund
(Moderator)

Caleb Bell
Advisor
Beyond Next Ventures

Bettina Ernst
Director
BERNINA BioInvest

Ravi Mistry
Venture Partner / Officer & Founding Team Member
3i Partners

Alex Strasser
Senior Associate
Apollo Health Ventures

Jeremy Sohn
Managing Partner
P74 Ventures
11:00 am
Health System Partners
Novel Partnering Approaches to Improve Quality of Care
Healthcare organizations are embracing innovations and becoming a key training ground to test the medical benefits, technical feasibility, and business viability of new technology breakthroughs. From innovation centers to investment vehicles, healthcare organizations have become critical partners for entrepreneurs. This panel will reveal the changing role healthcare organizations are playing in fostering innovation. Topics may include:
- What are hospitals and health networks doing to engage with new technology companies?
- How can a startup get the most out of conducting pilot studies with a healthcare system partner?
- How do early stage companies work with healthcare systems to generate user experience for their new technologies?
- How can healthcare organizations share their technical expertise with startups?
This RESI panel will help entrepreneurs navigate complex healthcare systems and bring their companies to the next milestone.

Eileen Flowers, PhD
Director – Technology Development and Licensing
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Jeff Stinson
Director
HealthTech Arkansas

Thomas Thornton
Vice President, Innovation, Jefferson Ventures
Jefferson Health
1:00 pm
Family Offices Panel
Perspectives on Early-Stage Investments
This panel focuses on understanding how family offices view direct investments in early-stage healthcare opportunities (seed – series A) and how they differ from and compare to VCs. Topics may include:
- Primary differences between institutional VCs and family office investors
- How family offices source investments / how to get on their radar
- Trends in the early-stage healthcare investment space
The primary goal of this panel is to help entrepreneurs understand how family offices view early-stage investments in the healthcare space and best practices for approaching, pitching, and working with these groups as well as debunking some common misconceptions about family offices.

Andrew Merken
Shareholder
Polsinelli PC
(Moderator)

John Abeles
General Partner
Northlea Partners

Ethan Berg
Managing Partner
G4 Investments, LLC

Michael Langer
Founder & Managing Partner
T.Rx Capital

John Leader
Partner
Green Park & Golf Ventures

John Parker
Founder and Managing Director
Springhood Ventures
1:00 pm
AI in Healthcare
Investing in the Intersection of Life Sciences and Technology
This panel focuses on the many applications of AI in healthcare, from pathology applications to diagnostics to personalized medicine.
Topics may include:
- What are investors looking for when evaluating companies in this space
- Where is AI in healthcare now and where is it going
- What are the current challenges facing AI, including regulatory challenges
In recent years, numerous technologies integrating AI have come up in the life sciences & healthcare industry. From drug discovery platforms to remote patient monitoring, AI plays a big role in a lot of the up and coming startups in this space. In this panel, we hope to uncover areas that pique investors’ interests at this current time. In addition, panelists can discuss the associated risks, such as regulatory or ethical complexities, data quality, among others.

Leo Cui
Partner
FoundersX

Ser-Chen Fu
Partner
Pacific 8 Ventures

Sally Wang Liang
Managing Partner
Xpanse Venture

Adam Steinert
CTO
Yahara Ventures

Robert E. “Bob” Sweeney, DA, MS, MBA
Principal & Co-Founder
Global Health Impact Network & Fund
2:00 pm
Alternative Funding Sources
Funding Opportunities for Early-Stage Companies
Venture capital gets a lot of attention, but it is not the only source of funding. This panel explores a diverse range of alternative funding sources for early-stage companies such as angel investors, family offices, grants, and more. Hear about the overlooked channels of capital and learn what these funders are looking for and how to access them.
Topics may incldue:
- How does your approach to funding differ from traditional sources like banks or venture capital?
- What factors do you consider when evaluating funding opportunities?
- How do you see the landscape of alternative funding evolving in the next few years?
- What advice would you give to those seeking funding from organizations like yours?
This panel will open up new possibilities for an entrepreneur’s funding journey. Because early-stage capital is not one-size-fits-all, thinking beyond traditional venture capital could be the key to unlocking a startup’s next big move.

John Pennett
Angel Investor
Mid Atlantic Bio Angels
(Moderator)

John Abeles
General Partner
Northlea Partners

Nicolas Cindric
Partner
Yahara Ventures

Marc Estigarribia
Senior Partner/ Managing Director
MSQ Ventures

Prashant Shah
Partner
O2h Ventures
3:00 pm
CNS Diseases Panel
Latest Innovations and Investment Trends
CNS Diseases can affect anyone, from children suffering from genetic disorders to elderly suffering from neurological diseases such as dementia in all its forms, as well as mental and behavioral disorders, that can appear at any age. Investing in technologies relating to CNS disorders remains high, among the most well-funded indications. Panel topics may include:
- What areas of CNS are saturated and what areas need more attention?
- What are common red flags seen when investing?
- What makes a company stand out in CNS?
As much as treating CNS diseases has been in the forefront for decades, investors are still seeking innovation, whether new and more complex therapeutics that can cross the blood-brain barrier, new treatments and preventions for neurodegenerative diseases, better diagnostic tests and treatments for mental and behavioral health, or devices that can restore function, among others. The more researchers learn, the greater the mystery of the central nervous system; panelists will discuss what are the newest and most exciting innovations in the CNS landscape.

John Boyce
Managing Director & Co-Founder
28 Capital

Danny Carbonero
Investor
PsyMed Ventures

Zizi Imatorbhebhe
CEO & Executive Partner
Bios Health Group

Cheryl Kuai
Managing Director
Sixty Degree Capital
4:00 pm
Medical Devices
Latest Trends in Medtech Investments
The medical device industry continues to experience rapid growth, driven by technological innovation, regulatory advancements, and increasing global healthcare demand. This panel brings together active investors to discuss the latest trends, opportunities, and challenges in the medical device industry.
Topics addressed may include:
- Emerging technologies and current trends that excite investors
- Investment strategies and due diligence process on medical device opportunities
- Navigating regulatory hurdles and barriers to market entry
- Case studies of successful medical device investments
This panel will be an insightful discussion on how investors capitalize on this dynamic sector while driving advancements in patient care and medical technology.

Ralph Morales III
Venture Partner / Executive-in-Residence
Aquillius Ventures
(Moderator)

Ayah Hamdan
Director & Ventures, Health
Plug and Play

Daniel O’Mahony
Partner
Seroba Life Sciences

John Tremblay
Investor
Launchpad Venture Group

Mark Vreeke
Co-Founder
Chemical Angel Network

Don Zinn
US Vice President US Business
Crossject