One of the most incredible aspects of any MedStartr campaign or challenge are the amazing people who step up and get involved in your idea. In a sponsored Challenge, getting in front of the Judges of the challenge is often among the best aspects for a new idea. Here are the judges for the 2014 American Heart Association of New York Health Innovation and Investment Forum Challenge.
Amanda Parsons, MD, MBA is the Deputy Commissioner of the Health Care Access and Improvement at the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). She oversees the Primary Care Information Project, Correctional Health Services, Primary Care Access and Planning bureaus for the agency. Prior to that, Dr. Parsons served as PCIP’s Assistant Commissioner after serving as the Director of Medical Quality, where she was responsible for creating and leading the Quality Improvement, Billing Consulting and EMR Consulting teams deployed to PCIP’s small physician practices. Prior to joining DOHMH, Dr. Parsons worked for McKinsey & Company as an Engagement Manager serving clients in the Pharmaceutical & Medical Products and Global Public Health sectors. She earned her M.D. and M.B.A from Columbia University and completed medical post-graduate training at Beth Israel Medical Center in Internal Medicine. Dr. Parsons is a frequent presenter and panelist, focusing on Quality Improvement, Electronic Medical Record adoption, Patient-Centered Medical Home, and Meaningful Use.
Amanda serves on the Board of Directors for VIP Community Service and the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC); she is also the DOHMH representative on the Board of Directors for Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), and Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA).
Cheryl Pegus, MD, MPH is EVP of HealthFleet, Inc. an e-health prevention company. She is also the President of the American Heart Association (AHA) Founder’s Affiliate and a Director of Glytec and HealthFleet, both privately held and Independent Lead Director of Vision Sciences, Inc. (VSCI: NASDAQ). Dr. Pegus is a cardiologist, a member of the Dean’s Circle of Weill Cornell Medical College and previously was the Chief Medical Officer of Walgreens and GM of Symcare Personalized Health Solutions, Inc. a J&J diabetes company.
Bert Navarrete is an experienced investor and Co-Founder of Tigerlabs. Prior to Tigerlabs, Bert was a Co-Founder at a startup that built interactive sports applications for Connected TVs and second screen devices. Previously, Bert was responsible for M&A and venture investments at Internet Capital Group (ICG). Bert has made investments in early stage companies across a variety of technology sectors and has had broad operational and investment management responsibilities.
Prior to ICG, Bert was an Investment Partner at Mitsui & Co., where he led Mitsui’s New York Technology Investment Group. While at Mitsui, Bert was responsible for managing and executing venture and private equity investments and oversaw the group’s overall investment strategy. Previously, Bert was VP of Technology Strategy and Business Development at Merrill Lynch Technology and also managed a strategic venture fund consisting of investments in the internet, media, and mobile sectors.
Bert has served on the board and was an advisor on several notable investments, including CapitalIQ (NYSE: MHP), The Wedding Channel (NASDAQ: KNOT), MyFamily.com (ancestry.com), and Synacor (NASDAQ: SYNC). Bert was also a founding member of Merrill Lynch’s first seed-stage venture fund.