Janis Naeve Janis Naeve joined Cota Capital in 2022 as a Partner on the investment team. Prior to Cota, Janis was at Amgen, Inc. since 2005 where she was instrumental in establishing the corporate venture group, Amgen Ventures. During that time she led a team that invested in innovative companies developing drug discovery platforms and therapeutics. More recently Amgen Ventures’ investment portfolio also encompassed companies in digital health, healthcare IT, and advanced data analytics such as AI and machine learning. Janis served on the Caltech Accelerator Fund Committee, the Silicon Valley Bank Healthcare Advisory Committee, the KidneyX Accelerator, and the Advisory Council of Incubator Coalition. Janis was named 2021’s Fiercest Women in Life Sciences by FiercePharma. Janis has an undergraduate degree in Microbiology from Cal Poly Pomona, a Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from University of Southern California, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Neurobiology at Caltech.

Sophia Philip is currently a second year masters student at Carnegie Mellon University, Heinz College of Information Systems and Technology, getting her MS degree in Health Care Policy and Management. Sophia Philip is a 2022-2023 Corporate Startup Lab Fellow at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and a 2023 Presidential Management Fellow Finalist. Prior to returning to graduate school, Sophia worked in qualitative research, public health and education. She is motivated by work at the intersection of systems and people, improving how they work for those they serve. Her work has enabled her to tackle problems such as creating guidelines for NYCDOH on adolescent HIV prevention methodologies, redesigning patient experiences for statewide medical systems resulting in top scores on the Health Equity Index, and supervising clinical experience research to inform multi billion dollar hospital constructions.

Paul Nielsen is a Global Executive with more than 25 years of experience working with early stage technology Companies who design and develop software and hardware solutions for the Telecommunications, Healthcare, Video Gaming and Media Industries. Paul has held Executive leadership roles in Sales, Marketing, Strategic Business Development and Innovation. Through his roles in these companies, Paul has driven advanced technologies into the market that generated operational savings, increased ARPU, competitive advantages and customer retention. During his time in the industry, Paul has built many professional relationships with CEO’s, COO’s, CTO’s and Managing Partners at Venture Capital investment firms.

Orbits offers an automated, customized organoid analysis platform, which allows researchers to extract patient-meaningful data from organoid experiments. Patient-derived organoids are cancer models that will transform healthcare, but current means to analyze these models are rudimentary, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Our mission is to enable the next generation of treatment by giving researchers the power to unlock new treatments exponentially faster than they could before. By combining patient-derived organoids with the Orbits analysis platform, pharma and biotech researchers can accelerate and reduce the cost of drug discovery by 1) decreasing the time to decision, 2) improving the success rate for clinical translation, and 3) removing dependency on animal testing.

Stephen Bollinger has held multiple leadership positions from a Founder, CEO, President and Chief Operations Officer of early-stage companies to a broad spectrum of roles. These roles include global operations, marketing, product management and sales. He is an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business. He has a track record of success in developing new companies from start-up, through M&A. Steve has sold his last four (4) companies in succession. He founded Rinovum Women’s Health in 2010. In 2019, he sold a division of Rinovum named “The Stork® while creating an entirely new entity Ovala, Inc. in 2016 that is currently in the market with Revive® for Light Bladder Leaks. Prior, Bollinger was an active Executive-in-Residence at Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse where he supported building and investing in early-stage life science companies from 2009 to 2010. Bollinger was an Executive-in-Residence at Highland Capital Partners where he supported the healthcare segment of the firm in 2009. From 2005 to 2008 he was President and Chief Operations Officer at Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. From 2000 to 2004, he was a founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Angiolink Corporation, a privately held medical device company. From 1997 to 1999 Mr. Bollinger was the Vice President of Research, Development and Operations for Byron Medical and held overall responsibility for corporate operations. He sold the company to Mentor Corporation in 1999. From 1991 to 1997, Mr. Bollinger has held positions at Mentor Corporation, American Hydro-Surgical Instruments, and Deknatel, in a variety of roles ranging from Sales to Product Development and Marketing Management.

Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, MD is a serial disrupter and entrepreneur in the medical and life science fields. His more than four decades as a practicing urologist with a specialty in oncology, several year tenure as President and CEO of a >500 bed quaternary hospital in a high needs community, and leadership position with one of the largest integrated health networks in the nation, have given him a 360 degree understanding of the economic, clinical, and social issues that impact the American healthcare system. As a physician Dr. Cohen has developed and introduced several technologies and procedures to urology such as laser lithotripsy, fiber optic-based endoscopy, piezoelectric biplanar transrectal ultrasound and cryosurgery that have transformed the field and saved lives. He currently holds over 30 patents in the US for these novel discoveries. As a private practice owner and hospital administrator Dr. Cohen has piloted and scaled approaches to patient management and treatment that create economies of scale and skill. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist he has helped technology and life science start-ups develop and market products that lead to better outcomes and save time and money for the health care system. Dr. Cohen currently serves as CEO of one of those companies, ChemImage, where our patented molecular imaging technology is redefining what is possible in both the biomedical and surgical fields and in threat detection systems. He also leads Innovation and Community Health for Allegheny Health Network where he was the driving force behind a joint venture with Innovation Works to create AlphaLab Health, a biotech and life sciences Accelerator based in Bellevue, PA. That venture is part of a larger program led by Dr. Cohen to breathe new life into closed core community institutions and physical assets to support community needs and drive economic growth. Dr. Cohen understands disruption has uneven consequences and is actively working to make sure that the disruption underway in health care not only creates new value, but also uplifts the communities and individuals left in the wake of that change. His work and passion center around leading the transition from a sickness system to a true health care system to create more opportunity for everyone. This coincides with his family’s deep commitment to the economic and cultural health of his beloved City of Pittsburgh where they participate in several philanthropic organizations to support the continued progress of the region.

Adam Saltman, MD, PhD, Chief Medical and Regulatory Officer at ChemImage. As a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Saltman has more than 25 years’ experience in the management of complex patients with multiple comorbidities. He also worked for 12 years as a medical officer at the US FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, where he gained a deep understanding of the requirements for successful medical device introduction to the market. Before joining ChemImage, Dr. Saltman earned industry experience as Eko Devices’ first chief medical officer. While there he brought three AI-powered devices through R & D, clinical investigation, regulatory approval, and market introduction. Dr. Saltman obtained his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University, his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees alpha omega alpha from Columbia University, and his general and cardiothoracic training on the Harvard/Deaconess surgical service. He also holds a certificate of advanced studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and has board certification in general surgery, thoracic surgery, and clinical informatics. He has served as an Associate Professor of Surgery at Stony Brook University, the University of Massachusetts, and Ohio University, and has conducted extensive research, lectured, and published on such topics as cardiac arrhythmias and wound healing. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the American College of Chest Physicians.

Over the past 15 years with Philips Connected Care, Anthony has served in multiple global product management and general management leadership roles.  He is most passionate about his experiences as a corporate intrapreneur developing and launching multiple Digital Health and Virtual First solutions for more than 2 million individuals with chronic respiratory and comorbid conditions and their caregivers in Out of Hospital settings.

Biosamples are the most valuable byproduct of healthcare, but most go to waste. heny’s decentralized biobank (de-bi) platform connects patients and their biosamples to unlock the potential of precision medicine. We are piloting the de-bi app for breast cancer patients in Pittsburgh, and working with biobanks across North America to implement web3 infrastructure for healthcare.

Courtney Williamson, Ph.D. is a medical technology entrepreneur and inventor of Calibrace+. At a very young age Dr. Williamson established herself as someone who is passionate about taking care of others by taking care of her mom who had Parkinson’s Disease. Eventually, the disease would cause her mom to slouch, which resulted in intense, constant back pain. Dr. Williamson was inspired to design a back brace to help her mom and anyone who had back pain. Her vision expanded to include people with neuromuscular diseases like her mom to people who have been in car accidents, gone through surgery, or just people who want to break the bad habit of slouching forward. Dr. Williamson’s mission is clear---she believes that no one should have to suffer from back pain. After years of research and development with her team at Carnegie Mellon University, she was led to establish the company, AbiliLife, in 2014. The AbiliLife team launched the Calibrace+ back brace that offers unrivaled pain-relief, support, and comfortability, for anyone experiencing back pain.

Amber E. Johnson, MD, MS, MBA, FACC is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Clinical & Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh. She is also a Staff Cardiologist at the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Health System and Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Race and Social Problems, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. She completed her undergraduate degree with honors at the University of Pittsburgh. She then completed her medical degree and masters of business administration at Jefferson Medical College/Widener University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to a year of patient safety and quality improvement training at the Armstrong Institute of Johns Hopkins Hospital, she was an internal medicine resident at Johns Hopkins, Bayview in Baltimore, Maryland. She then returned to Pittsburgh for general cardiology fellowship, a research fellowship, and a masters degree in clinical research from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr Johnson’s research at the interface of health equity, social determinants of health, and mobile health technology has resulted in numerous publications and federal grant funding. She is the recipient of local and national clinical and research awards and was recently named one of the National Minority Quality Forum's 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health and in 2022 was awarded the Women as One Escalator Award for clinical research. Dr. Johnson serves on the Black Equity Coalition-Health Equity Working Group and has been committed to addressing racial inequity in cardiovascular care. She enjoys cooking, running, and spending time with family. She is the mother of two daughters, Leilani and Nia.

Wellbridge Health is a connected health management company offering a unique relationship-based, high-touch high-tech model of care management for health plan members with chronic disease (diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma) and for those with intellectual disabilities. Our program, combining remote daily symptom reporting and weekly video health coaching, significantly lowers healthcare spend by reducing avoidable ER visits and hospitalizations and dramatically improving self-management. Our outcomes are excellent across all indicators, including ROI, clinical outcomes, adherence, retention, and member satisfaction in both urban and rural settings.

Sheryl R. Skolnick, Ph.D. Strategic Advisor to the CEO, UnitedHealth Group As Strategic Advisor to the CEO, Sheryl Skolnick focuses on strategic relationships and long-term strategic planning across the enterprise, advancing the company’s thought leadership in the marketplace. Prior to joining Optum in 2018, Skolnick worked for more than 30 years as a leading financial analyst and thought leader in the health care sector. She most recently served as Managing Director, Director of Research and Senior Health Care Analyst at Mizuho Securities USA LLC, where she covered the fast-growing health services sector, while building their equity research platform. Skolnick also served as co-head of research and head of research administration for CRT Capital Group LLC, as well as in several senior level research and analyst roles at a number of leading investment banking firms. She served as an economist at the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Labor and is a five-time Wall Street Journal All-Star Analyst. In 2019, Sheryl was named one of the ‘Most Powerful Women in Technology’ by the National Diversity Council. Skolnick holds a BA, MA and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was an Olin Fellow.