Kirk Bresniker 

Chief Architect of HPE Labs and HPE Fellow/VP

Kirk Bresniker is Chief Architect of HPE Labs and an HPE Fellow/VP.  He joined Labs in 2014 to drive The Machine Research program, leading disruptive development teams across Labs, HPE business units and with academic and industrial partners. Prior to joining Labs, Kirk was Chief Technologist and Fellow/VP in the HP Servers GBU, the culmination of 25 years product delivery engineering. Kirk current holds 33 US patents and graduated in 1989 Cum Laude from Santa Clara University Humanities Honors program with a BSEE. IEEE Senior member, chair IEEE IRDS Systems and Architectures chapter, IEEE Industrial Advisory Board founding member,  Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Technical Ethics Advisory Board founding member,  Past member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Councils on The Future of Compute, Quantum Computing, Agile Governance, and Technology policy and is currently a member of the Global Future Council on Novel Compute.

 

Alexandria Cogdill, Ph.D., M.Eng.

Head, Strategic Initiatives, Global Business Development, Daiichi Sankyo

Alexandria Cogdill, Ph.D., M.Eng., is a biopharma executive and corporate strategist with nearly 20 years of experience spanning drug development, global portfolio strategy, and business development. Working across oncology, immunology, and advanced therapeutics, she operates at the intersection of science, capital, and enterprise decision-making, translating breakthrough biology into partnerships, platforms, and pipelines that drive long-term growth. Her career spans leadership roles across academia, biotech, VC, and global pharma, including experience at the NIH, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Gustave Roussy, Flagship Pioneering, and MD Anderson. Trained in immunology under Nobel Laureate Jim Allison and part of the team that work on CD19-directed CAR-T with Carl June, Dr. Cogdill brings deep scientific credibility and enterprise-level strategic judgment to innovation leadership. She has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications with over 25,000 citations, including papers in Nature, Science, and Cell.

 

Ben Dibling

Associate Vice Provost for Research & Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania

Ben Dibling is Associate Vice Provost for Research & Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania. Ben leads the PCI team in advancing discoveries and ideas resulting from Penn’s research towards new products, services, and businesses to provide benefits back to Penn, its inventors, and society. The PCI team actively facilitates a broad range of technology development connections between Penn and the commercial sector, including technology licenses, R&D alliances, sponsored research, and the formation of new ventures. Ben holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Medicine from the University of Leeds and a B.Med.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Birmingham. He is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP).

 

Gunnar Esiason

Vice President, Patient Strategy & Innovation, Raven

Gunnar Esiason is Vice President, Patient Strategy and Innovation at Raven, RA Capital's healthcare incubator. Gunnar is a cystic fibrosis patient and an accomplished patient advocate who is passionate about early-stage drug development, patient empowerment, and health policy. Prior to joining RA Capital, Gunnar worked at both venture firms and startup companies, focusing on new company creation, early-stage growth, and patient adoption of novel healthcare technologies. He has also been the face of fundraising for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which has raised close to $200 million in the fight against cystic fibrosis. He was a founding member of No Patient Left Behind, where he still serves on the board today, and has advised on patient engagement tactics at companies ranging from small startups to large multinationals in the life science space. Gunnar holds an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was a Wilson Scholar and received the Julia Stell Award, an M.P.H. from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, and a B.A. from Boston College. His health policy opinions have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill, and STAT News.

 

Drew Field

Principal, Bain Capital

Drew Field joined Bain Capital Life Sciences (BCLS) in 2020. He is a principal on the team and has helped lead several different investments in biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Prior to joining BCLS, Drew was a management consultant at Bain & Company in New York, where he advised a range of clients in both the healthcare and private equity industries. In between those two experiences, he worked in a corporate development role at a biotech company. Drew graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with a BA in biology and economics.

 

Brian Garsson

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GeneSilico

Brian Garsson is Co-Founder and CEO of GeneSilico, a precision oncology company building AI systems that help oncologists make more informed, personalized treatment decisions at the point of care. With nearly 30 years of experience in technology, he has built and scaled multiple companies to successful exits across enterprise software, data platforms, and applied AI, operating as a hands on C suite leader focused on turning complex technology into durable businesses. Before GeneSilico, Brian combined operating and investing roles, serving as a venture fund manager with significant experience backing high growth AI software and services companies. 
His experience in evaluating hundreds of teams, business models, and AI products shapes his approach to GeneSilico: build defensible, evidence driven AI that can scale in real clinical environments. At GeneSilico, he is now bringing together his background in technology, company building, and capital allocation to turn fragmented cancer data into workflow integrated continuous intelligence that helps improve outcomes and expands access to precision cancer care.

 

Dr. Peter Ghoroghchian

President & CEO, Board Member, Latus Bio

Dr. Peter Ghoroghchian is the President and CEO of Latus Bio. He previously co-founded Ceptur Therapeutics and was its President and Chief Executive Officer (2020-2023). Dr. Ghoroghchian has served as Senior Vice President and Head of Therapeutic Development at Repertoire Immune Medicines (2019-2020), Chief Technology Officer at Poseida Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PSTX; 2016-2019), and Chief Scientific Officer at Vindico NanoBioTechnology (acquired by Poseida; 2009-2016). Earlier in his career, he was an attending physician in the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as the Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. Dr. Ghoroghchian earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from MIT followed by his Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. After medical school, he completed residency training in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital as well as fellowship training in hematology and adult medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

 

Vikas Goyal

Partner, Longwood Fund

Vikas Goyal has been working in the biotech industry for 20 years, with a particular focus on corporate strategy, capital formation, corporate partnerships, and M&A for early stage therapeutics companies. Vikas is a Partner at Longwood Fund where he focuses on growth stage investments in late preclinical and clinical stage biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Longwood Fund, Vikas was a Managing Partner at Trekk Venture Partners, where he led investments in biotechnology companies developing life-changing medicines. Previously, Vikas was Senior Vice President of Business Development for Pandion Therapeutics. 

 

Thomas Han

CEO, Peroxitech Inc.

Thomas Han is a biotech founder and pharmaceutical executive with more than 30 years of experience turning clinical assets into scalable commercial businesses. He has built, relaunched, and grown brands from early-stage development to billion-dollar franchises, combining disciplined deal evaluation with hands-on execution. Over his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Merck, Biovail, and Bausch Health, Thomas led product launches and relaunches, managed portfolios exceeding $1 billion in annual revenue, and built commercial and strategic marketing teams across North America and Europe. He directed commercial diligence and deal modeling for more than ten acquisitions and licensing transactions totaling over $2.5 billion, helping shape portfolio strategy and capital allocation decisions. At Bausch Health, he helped drive the expansion of the dermatology business from $250 million to $1 billion, while leading brand, forecasting, and lifecycle strategy across multiple assets. His experience spans Phase 1 through launch and lifecycle management, with a consistent focus on aligning clinical development with commercial value creation. In 2017, Thomas co-founded Peroxitech, a University of Pennsylvania spin-out developing a novel therapy for acute lung injury. As CEO, he has built the company from inception, raised seed and Series A capital of $25 million, structured early development strategy, and advanced its lead program through preclinical development.

 

Larry Holden

President and CEO, Global Liver Institute 

Larry R. Holden has spent most of his personal and professional life acting as a public servant in a variety of capacities. He has a special connection to liver health, as several of his family members are affected by it and continue to face ongoing struggles. A tireless advocate for the patient's voice, he now uses his years of political experience and his vast network of congressional contacts to serve the public good. Mr. Holden served for over a decade in politics and policy positions in Washington, D.C. In that time, he worked for U.S. Senator Hank Brown (CO), helped negotiate international security agreements with foreign governments, started a political Internet company, served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Shays (CT), and was President of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association.

 

Stephen Holland

Senior Counsel, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

With more than a decade of senior service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Stephen Holland brings expertise in health care policy strategy. He advises clients on matters related to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), health care innovation, public health infrastructure, prescription drug pricing, health care coverage, and reimbursement. Stephen leverages his experience to help clients navigate the legislative process, shape health policy, and respond to congressional oversight. Stephen served as senior counsel on the House Energy and Commerce Committee under current Ranking Member and former Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), where he led legislative efforts involving the FDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the 340B drug pricing program. He was the lead negotiator on the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (FDORA), a sweeping package of more than 50 policies to accelerate medical innovation and strengthen regulatory oversight. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen played a central role in securing billions of dollars for vaccine development, testing and treatment through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the FY2021 Omnibus bill and the American Rescue Plan Act. Earlier in his career, as counsel to Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR), he led the creation of the Competitive Generic Therapy pathway at FDA, which expanded access to affordable medicines by promoting generic drug competition.

 

Tim Hunt

Chief Executive Officer, ARM

Tim joined ARM as CEO in 2022 with more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. A company-builder with a focus on corporate culture, he has helped early-stage organizations create internal cohesion and advance strategic initiatives. As chief executive, Tim divides his time between managing ARM and its global staff of nearly 30 employees and serving as an external advocate on behalf of ARM’s membership and the broader cell and gene therapy sector. Tim was most recently the Chief Culture and Corporate Affairs Officer at Xilio Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing tumor-selective immuno-oncology therapies for patients with cancer. Prior to that, he was the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at CRISPR gene-editing pioneer Editas Medicine, where he led the company’s global policy and government affairs, bioethics, communications, market development and human resources initiatives. He also served in executive public affairs roles at Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Biogen. Tim was an Advisory Group member of the Value-Based Payments for Medical Products consortium at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization Life Science Cares and has chaired the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT).

 

Marta Helena Lesko

VP and Head of Immunology and Neurology Business Development team at Merck KGaA

Marta Helena Lesko, VP and Head of Immunology and Neurology Business Development team at Merck KGaA. Marta has over 10 years of experience in business development in various roles including Oncology as well as heading Technologies and Externalizations team. Prior to joining Merck, Marta was part of a translational academic team of Prof Sergio Quezada at UCL Cancer Institute developing a novel immunotherapeutic agent that was later licensed to Roche. Marta holds a PhD in Genetics from University of Cambridge and BSc in Biochemistry from UCL. 

 

Francisco Leon, MD, PHD

Founder and CEO of Tolerance Bio, Co-Founder and Chairman of Paulex Bio

Francisco Leon is the Founder and CEO of Tolerance Bio. He is also the Co-founder and Chairman of Paulex Bio, focused on prevention and treatment of diabetes. Francisco is a clinical and basic immunologist with a long career in academia (NIH), biopharma (BMS, MedImmune/AZ, Janssen/JNJ) and as an entrepreneur – as CEO, CMO and CSO of several companies. He has led or participated in the development of 6 drugs which reached the market, most recently teplizumab (TZIELD®) for the delay or prevention of the onset of clinical type 1 diabetes, and has co-founded two biotech companies acquired by Pharma: Celimmune, acquired by Amgen in 2017, and Provention Bio, acquired by Sanofi in 2023.

 

Brian P. McVeigh, MBA, CPA, CMA, CLP

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder, Code Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Brian McVeigh is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder of Code Bio. He is also a Venture Partner with 4BIO Capital and the Chairman of the Board of Genisphere. Prior to founding Code Bio Brian has held leadership roles in both private and public biotechs, and he enjoyed a 25-year career with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals where he most recently served as the Vice President of Worldwide Business Development Transactions and Investment Management. In that capacity he oversaw the assessment, negotiation, and execution of over 100 business development transactions and managed GSK R&D’s $500+ million portfolio of equity investments in biotech collaboration partners and venture capital funds.

 

Dean Miller

President & CEO of PACT

Dean Miller has been a venture capitalist for over 20 years, with particular interest in the healthcare technology and innovations space. Brought up in upstate New York, his early experiences shaped him for independence and entrepreneurship. Dean served as Managing Director at Novitas Capital, where he focused on venture capital investments across healthcare and technology. He went on to become Managing Director of the PCOM Primary Care Innovation Fund, a role he describes as not just making money for the institution but to really broaden the institution's mind around healthcare and innovation. Dean's passion project is ultimately running Philadelphia Alliance for Capital & Technologies (PACT) as President and CEO.

 

Kenneth Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM, Rear Admiral, USPHS, (Retired)

Chairman of the Board of Children with Diabetes, is a retired Rear Admiral with the U.S. Public Health Service

Kenneth Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM, Rear Admiral, USPHS (Retired), Chairman of the Board of Children with Diabetes, is a retired Rear Admiral with the U.S. Public Health Service, who has twice been the Surgeon General of the United States. After a 37 year career in public service in uniform, he was the Vice President of Global Strategic Affairs for Diabetes at Johnson & Johnson; and WorldWide Chairman of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institutes, a global network of educational facilities focused on providing health providers the knowledge, skills, and tools to help them better serve people with diabetes. He retired from Johnson and Johnson in 2013, and has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of First Samurai Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in health policy and programs, bridging the public and private sectors, “putting the patient at the center of everything we do.”

 

Nick Moro

Senior Commercial and Strategy Executive at Medtronic

Nick Moro is a senior commercial and strategy executive at Medtronic, the global leader in health technology, where he serves as Senior Director of Marketing Business Optimization and Chief of Staff for the $1.3B Neurovascular business. He partners directly with executive leadership on P&L strategy, commercial transformation, and enterprise execution and serves as the business unit's AI Champion leading AI-driven transformation from the inside. Nick's work sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and emerging technology with a core mandate that goes beyond the obvious: proving that AI drives real business value through pathways that don't always show up directly on a revenue line. That means convincing leadership to see the full picture — how AI can unlock growth through indirect levers like organizational capability, culture shift, process efficiency, commercial optimization, and long-term innovation readiness. He is currently leading five agentic AI use cases designed to reshape how Medtronic's commercial organization operates with measurable impact defined before a single line of code is written. His approach: build the business case first, then build the future around it. Known for bringing structure to what doesn't yet exist, Nick has led organizations through growth, restructure, and strategic inflection always with an owner's mindset and a bias toward outcomes that endure. He joins this panel to cut through the noise on what AI transformation actually requires: clear problems, accountable metrics, and new workflows to create operating systems built to scale. Not just pilots but platforms for how work gets done.

 

Adair Newhall

Partner, StepStone Group

Adair is a Partner at StepStone Group; a $700B AUM private market specialist firm.  He is responsible for sourcing and due diligence efforts on fund, direct and secondary opportunities. He is also actively leads the Firm’s healthcare investment practice and Portfolio Impact Program, which is focused on maximizing Greenspring’s human and enterprise capital contributions to General Partners and portfolio companies through strategic introductions to potential customers, executive talent, corporate partners, investors, acquirers and service providers, support in fundraising and capital management, operational and strategic guidance, the evaluation of product-market fit, and more. Adair currently serves on the Crown Labs board and sits as an observer on the boards for Aetion, Entrada (TRDA), and Everside Health.  Formerly, he served on the NeueHealth Board (NEUE).  In addition, Adair advises five different Venture Advisory Boards for venture capital firms and eight passive direct healthcare investments (A2 Bio, Alice, Eikon Therapeutics, HilleVax (HLVX), Imago Biosciences (IMGO), Kallyope, NGM Bio (NGM), Phathom Pharma (PHAT), PowerVision (acquired), ScoutBio, and Tenaya Therapeutics (TNYA)).

 

Tom Olenzak

Managing Director, The Cigna Group

Tom leads all aspects of the investment process from deal sourcing through board management and is responsible for identifying, investing in and partnering with entrepreneurs who are unlocking new growth possibilities in health care to further accelerate The Cigna Group’s mission. He brings over 20 years of digital health experience, including roles as Digital Health Venture Partner at Safeguard Scientifics and Managing Director of Innovation and Strategic Investing at Independence Blue Cross. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. Tom enjoys travel, fly fishing and other outdoor activities. 

 

Chris Otey

Managing Director, Banc of California

Chris Otey is Managing Director at Banc of California on the life science teams where he is responsible for business development and venture lending. Prior to Banc of California. Chris led R&D and Corporate Development at Oerth Bio and Commercial Strategy and Operations at Indigo Ag. Chris was a Senior Vice President at Alexandria Real Estate where he led venture investing, business development and other strategic initiatives on the east coast. While at Alexandria, he led over 100 investments in Biopharma, AgTech, and FoodTech companies. He was part of the launch of the Alexandria’s early-stage incubator, ARE Launch Labs. He also worked at MIT in the Technology Licensing Office. Chris earned a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the California Institute of Technology, an MBA from the University of Massachusetts, and a BS from UCSB in Biochemistry. Chris is originally from California, spent nearly 15 years in Boston, MA and now lives in Memphis, TN.

 

Daniel Parisotto, PhD

Co-Head of U.S. Healthcare Investment Banking, Société Générale

Daniel co-heads the U.S. Healthcare Investment Banking team at Société Générale, focusing on biopharma and life sciences. He joined the firm’s New York office in the fall of 2025. He brings more than a decade of experience across the healthcare sector, spanning academic research, corporate strategy, equity research, and investment banking. Daniel has executed numerous transactions for biotechnology companies across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas and treatment modalities. Before joining Société Générale, Daniel was at Oppenheimer & Co., where he built coverage of private biotech companies and venture capital firms. Earlier in his career, he served on the corporate strategy team at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and covered large-cap pharma and biotech companies as part of Guggenheim’s equity research team. Daniel holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Heidelberg in Germany and completed postdoctoral research at Weill Cornell.

 

Bob Pearson

Chair, Pearson Advisory Group 

Bob is an author, advisor and consultant to firms focused on C-Suite topics with a focus in healthcare and technology. He has played a key role in building two media firms that are ranked in the top 50 worldwide (GCI Health and Real Chemistry), he led the creation of the Fortune 500’s first global social media function at Dell and he has served as a global leader in communications at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi) and Novartis, as well as Dell. Bob has worked directly with leading CEOs throughout his career. He has written five books based on his experience in the public and private sectors.  He is currently working on his next book, The Compass, which discusses how to navigate an AI-driven world (2026). He is a regular contributor to the Forbes Communications Council related to the future of marketing and communications.

 

Surya Pisapati 

Director of Portfolio Analytics and Strategy, PFM Asset Management

Surya Pisapati serves as Director of Portfolio Analytics and Strategy, within the OCIO Investment team. She leads a team of analysts providing capital market research, asset allocation studies, portfolio and market commentary and portfolio analysis to support client portfolios as well as Investment Committee decision-making. In her role, Surya works on portfolio strategy and implementation across a broad range of institutional clients and assists with providing analysis and recommendations to the Investment Committee on asset allocation decisions. She also plays an integral role in communicating the investment process and portfolio decisions internally and externally. Surya is a voting member of the Investment Committee and the Manager Review and Portfolio Construction working groups and she works closely with manager research team on portfolio construction and implementation. Prior to joining PFM Asset Management in 2016, Surya served as director of investment at a local family office with experience including manager due-diligence, strategic and tactical allocation modeling and developing proprietary portfolio allocation and manager selection tools. She started her career working at Macquarie Group in Australia, as an investment analyst within a publicly listed real estate investment trust (REIT) fund.

 

Amanda Placone

Associate VP of External Innovation & Strategy, Genetic Medicines, Eli Lilly

Amanda Placone is the Associate VP of External Innovation & Strategy, Genetic Medicines, at Eli Lilly. Amanda joined Lilly through a role at Prevail Therapeutics and has since expanded her role to cover external innovation for gene therapy, gene editing, and oligonucleotide therapeutics. Prior to Lilly, Amanda worked in life science strategy consulting. Amanda earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in materials science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD for Johns Hopkins University, also in materials science and engineering.

 

Ronak Savla

Ronak Savla, PharmD, PhD, MBA, was Senior Director of Strategic Ventures at Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he oversaw the company's strategic partnerships with life science venture capital firms, biotech incubators, and academic technology transfer offices, and managed a $120M fund-of-funds portfolio. Previously, he led Medical Affairs and New Product Planning at Innate Pharma, supporting the commercial launch of a novel rare leukemia therapy. Ronak serves on the boards of several university spinouts and as a scientific reviewer for CPRIT and ASHP. He holds a PharmD and PhD from Rutgers University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University – Carey Business School.

 

Dr. Nicholas Siciliano

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Vittoria Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Nicholas Siciliano is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vittoria Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage cell therapy company developing next-generation treatments for difficult-to-treat diseases. He brings over twenty years of C-suite leadership experience in biotechnology. Previously, he was CEO and Co-Founder of Invisible Sentinel, a global molecular diagnostics company, where he oversaw the development, manufacturing, and commercial expansion of its proprietary diagnostics, culminating in the company’s acquisition by bioMérieux, Inc. in 2019. Following the acquisition, he served as Vice President at bioMérieux, leading U.S. Sales and Marketing while continuing as CEO of Invisible Sentinel. Dr. Siciliano has also played a pivotal role in launching and funding multiple biotechnology ventures in the Greater Philadelphia region. He currently serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Agent Capital and as an investment advisor to Tellus BioVentures and Valley Forge Investment Corporation. Dr. Siciliano currently serves on the Boards of Vittoria Biotherapeutics and NexEOS Bio, and as a Scientific Advisor to Tolerance Bio. He is the Past President of the College of Sciences Alumni Board at Thomas Jefferson University. He holds multiple utility and design patents and has published peer-reviewed work in bacteriology, virology, immunology, molecular biology, and cancer immunotherapy.

 

Owen Smith

Partner, 4BIO Capital

Owen is a Partner at 4BIO Capital, an international venture capital firm investing in advanced therapies and other emerging technologies to unlock the treatments of the future. Since joining 4BIO Capital in 2018, Owen has been instrumental in supporting the fund in seeding companies as well as finding and growing potentially transformative innovations. Owen began his investment career at life science venture capital firms Arthurian Life Sciences and Arix Bioscience plc, giving him significant experience working with early-stage biotechnology companies. Owen holds an MSc in Experimental and Translational Therapeutics from the University of Oxford and is also qualified as an accountant, having spent several years working in assurance and advisory roles at Grant Thornton with public and private clients.

 

Ipsita Smolinski

Founder and Managing Director at Capitol Street

Ipsita Smolinski, MBA & MPH, Founder and Managing Director of Capitol Street, will be joining us from Washington, D.C. Capitol Street works with institutional investors,  PE and VC funds, Pharma and Biotech, as well as other entities that have a stake in understanding how investments,  portfolio companies, and/or pipeline assets and programs may be impacted by state- and federal policy changes. Given the turnover in agency leadership in 2025, as well as the ongoing turbulence post the passage of One Big Beautoful Bill, at FDA, CMS, HHS, CDC and NIH, there is healthcare policy risk ahead as we head into the mid-term election.  Ipsita is on the faculty at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.  She is a frequent speaker at national conferences and appears on CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg and other outlets. She has been quoted in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Nature, LA Times, Biocentury and Reuters..

 

Dr. Monet Stanford

Senior Vice President of Healthcare, Washington Analysis

Dr. Monet Stanford serves as Senior Vice President of Healthcare at Washington Analysis, where she quantifies federal healthcare policy into actionable investment strategies for institutional investors, mutual funds, private equity firms, hedge funds, and family offices. Previously, she led access and reimbursement policy at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, representing the cell and gene therapy sector. She has also directed the policy narrative for the Association for Accessible Medicines, advancing generic and biosimilar access nationwide. Earlier in her career, she managed government relations and regulatory strategy for pharmaceuticals at Kaiser Permanente. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Maryland and was trained through a pharmacy practice residency at Purdue University. She spent time working in Congress through her fellowship training with the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. She is a Fellow of the Nashville Healthcare Council and the National Association of Investment Companies. She has completed executive training at Wharton, UC Berkeley, and the London School of Economics. Dr. Stanford has served on the board of the Society for Health Policy Young Professionals, received the 40 under 40 award from the National Minority Qualify Forum, and is an active member of Women in Financial Markets. She is frequently quoted in Politico, Health Affairs, and BioSpace.

 

Brad Watts

CAR-T Recipient & Patient Advocate and VP, Conner Strong & Buckelew

Brad Watts is a Vice President at Conner Strong & Buckelew and a cancer survivor who underwent CAR-T therapy following a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He speaks from both professional and lived experience on the impact of advanced cell and gene therapies and the patient perspective behind their development and delivery. He works with companies ranging from early-stage, pre-clinical organizations to global commercial operations, helping design and implement effective insurance and risk management strategies. Brad is also an active patient advocate with organizations including The Emily Whitehead Foundation and Blood Cancer United. He brings a uniquely personal perspective to his work and is grateful to be building life beyond cancer with his wife, Shea, and their sons, Owen and Will.