Healthcare & Transformation Expertise

Craig Samitt is the Managing Director of ITO Advisors, a healthcare advisory and investment firm. Previously, Dr. Samitt served as EVP, Chief Clinical Officer, and President of Anthem's Diversified Business Group, and most recently as President & CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Dr. Samitt has led sequential health systems transformations as President & CEO of HealthCare Partners and President & CEO of Dean Health System. He received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University, his Doctorate in Medicine from Columbia University, and his Masters in Business Administration from The Wharton School. He is a nationally recognized expert and thought leader on healthcare transformation, care delivery re-design, and value-based payment reform. His record of forging collaborations across the health care system to deliver better care at a lower cost led to him being named as one of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders” by Modern Healthcare in 2018.

Sylvia Romm, MD, MPH, is Chief Health Officer of Virtual Care at Cityblock Health. Dr. Romm works with Cityblock’s team members and physicians to find new ways to improve access to high-quality, affordable care. She was formerly Chief Innovation officer Atlantic Health system and is an avid author and speaker in the areas of health care, technology and health information technology policy. Before Atlantic Health System, she was Vice President of Clinical Transformation for American Well, the largest video-based telemedicine company in the United States. In addition, she was the founder of Sonder Health (formerly MilkOnTap), the nation’s first telehealth company focused on the needs of nursing mothers and lactation support. Dr. Romm earned her Master of Public Health in Global Health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She holds a medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and completed her residency in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dena Bravata is a health care entrepreneur and executive who advises health care technology and services companies. Dr. Bravata is the co-founder of Lyra Health where she also served as the Chief Medical Officer from 2015 to 2016. She was the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Products at Castlight Health from 2009 through 2014. Dr. Bravata was a practicing internist for 16 years in her own private practice and an attending physician at Stanford University and the Palo Alto VA. She has served on the Governing Council of the Stanford-UCSF Evidence-based Practice Center, the board of trustees of the Society for Medical Decision Making, and was an assistant public health officer for Santa Clara County. She is a founding member of the Aspen Institute Healthcare Strategy Group. Dr. Bravata has an undergraduate degree from Yale University, an M.D. from Columbia University, and a master’s degree in health policy from Stanford University. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency and Ambulatory Care Fellowship at Stanford University.

Robert Gentleman is a statistician and bioinformatician who is the founding executive director of the Center for Computational Biomedicine at Harvard Medical School. Recognized as one of the originators of the R programming language and the Bioconductor project, Gentleman has previously served as VP of computational biology at 23andMe and senior director in bioinformatics and computational biology at Genentech. He was recognized for his work in the R programming language with the 2008 Benjamin Franklin Award and was made a Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology in 2014 and of the American Statistical Association in 2017. He has a Bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Washington.

David Kulick is the founder and Managing Director of The Focus Group – a management consulting firm focusing on high-impact growth, transformation, and policy within health care. He concentrates on a strategy to inform advanced delivery models, risk payment structures, and population health primarily for medical device/life science companies, providers, payors, and private equity. In addition, David is co-founder of Adaptation Health, a health care accelerator focusing on driving Medicaid innovation and improving the commercialization of socially impactful models of care and value-based delivery. David earned his MPH from Tulane University, Bachelors in Chemistry from the University at Buffalo, and a Bachelor of Comparative Global Politics from Oxford University.

Beth Bierbower is an experienced health care executive and thought leader who currently hosts the B-Time Podcast. She was formerly a Segment President for Humana, where she was responsible for creating a new operating model and member experience that reduces friction in the system and helps members engage in and manage their health. In her prior role, Beth led Humana’s Group and Specialty Business segment, with responsibility for Humana’s Employer Group products including medical, specialty, and individual specialty offerings, and Humana’s Government Business. As Product Innovation Leader, she drove the consumer strategy that included the development of new products and services that helped position Humana as a leader in consumerism. Beth has published a book titled “Engage! A Guide to Involving Your Consumers in their Health.” She earned a master’s in public management, graduating with the highest honors, from Carnegie Mellon University.

Michael L. Penn, Jr., MD, Ph.D. is the founding partner of Health Equity Ventures–an emerging investment fund investing in diverse entrepreneurs and disruptive companies focused on addressing the enormous unmet needs of underserved populations. Through his advisory firm, Penn Consulting Partners, he offers a suite of strategy, innovation, and DEI services for health care organizations, technology companies, and startups. Dr. Penn began his career at Genentech working in Marketing and Business Development before becoming a Vice President at the Gladstone Institutes. He co-authored the book “Finding Your North” and was co-founder of the non-profit Building Diversity in Science. He was also appointed by former Mayor Willie Brown to serve as one of seven Commissioners responsible for governing San Francisco’s Department of Public Health. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees at St. Francis Memorial Hospital and is a Board Member-elect at the women’s health-focused Tara Health Foundation. He holds a B.S. in Biology from HBCU Morehouse College, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. At UCSF, he received his MD and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences and received, among other honors, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award.

Mohan Nair is Chief Executive of Emerge Inc., an advisory firm based on the principle that business transformation accelerates when companies and individuals are motivated by a cause greater than themselves. For 10 years prior, Mohan served as Chief Innovation Officer, Senior VP of Cambia Health Solutions, a $9.8 Billion US parent company of 25 businesses all focused on a

common cause to transform healthcare. Nair also served as Chief Marketing Executive and Executive VP for Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, leading all front-end functions for the multi-billion dollar firm. Apart from emerging businesses, Nair has held marketing and engineering leadership roles in high-functioning organizations, including Mentor Graphics Corporation and Intel. Nair has authored three books and has co-taught executive courses as an adjunct professor of business at JL Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern and lectured on business transformation at the University of Oregon. He is a former TEDx speaker, Edmund Hillary Fellow, and has served on Oregon’s Committee on Performance and Accountability and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ AHIC Chronic Care Workgroup. Nair is also a former talk show host in Singapore, a musician with 20 copyrighted songs, and the first health care executive to have auditioned on America’s Got Talent.