Paul is the founder and CEO of MedTech Innovator. He created and managed MedTech Innovator as a program within RCT Ventures from 2013 – 2016. In 2016, with the financial support of RCT and other sponsors, Paul left to run MedTech Innovator as a stand-alone company. He spent 11 years as Director and Managing Director at RCT Ventures, the investment arm of Research Corporation Technologies, Inc. Prior to RCT, Paul was co-founder and CEO of startups in the medtech, pharma, and tech sectors.

Kathryn Zavala is COO and BioTools Innovator Managing Director at MedTech Innovator. She earned her PhD in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology from UCLA. Kathryn has been with MedTech Innovator since 2015. She was a Technology Fellow at the UCLA Office of Intellectual Property, where she assisted with the commercialization of university technologies.

Brian Benson is the VP of Strategic Alliances at MedTech Innovator. Prior to joining MedTech Innovator, Brian was the director of entrepreneurship and commercialization at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) where he was responsible for all aspects of the Magnify incubator and driving strategic initiatives for the Institute. He received his B.B.A. in Entrepreneurship from Loyola Marymount University. Brian brings over 10 years of experience accelerating the growth and success of transformative life science startups to the team.

Fredrik is the Managing Director Asia Pacific at MedTech Innovator, based in Singapore. He was most recently the Founding CEO of Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed). Fredrik brings over 30 years of healthcare industry experience, 25 of which were spent in Asia-Pacific. He has held senior sales/ marketing, general management and strategic consulting positions. Fredrik serves as Board Member and advisor to several healthcare startup ventures and is a frequent speaker on the healthcare industry in Asia-Pacific. He holds a BSc from Gothenburg University, Sweden, and an MBA from Henley Management College, UK.

Daphne Radfar is Chief of Staff at MedTech Innovator. She brings more than 20 years of experience in executive leadership, risk management, and operations in health, education, and startups to this position. Prior to joining MedTech, Daphne served as Chief Operating Officer at Speak UP, working to increase access to quality public education across California. Prior to this role, as Chief Operating Officer of Insure the Uninsured Project, Daphne was instrumental in the organization’s efforts to achieve healthcare reform in California. Daphne received her Bachelor’s in Education, Sociology with an emphasis in Business Administration from UCLA.

Sakeena is the Program Director for Asia Pacific at MedTech Innovator, based in Singapore. She holds leadership and consulting experiences from past roles as Regional Head of Program for Slush SEA, and as a Life Sciences & Healthcare M&A Senior Consultant in Deloitte APAC. As an ex-Founder, Sakeena has built communities in global startup ecosystems across SEA and the Nordics over the past decade. Passionate about bridging the translational gap between research science and entrepreneurship, Sakeena was an entrepreneurial scientist active in the startups ecosystem while donning a lab coat in the R&D industry specializing in Nutraceutical Research.

Ayelet Marom is the Program Director for BioTools Innovator at MedTech Innovator. She earned her Ph.D. in Cancer Immunology from The Weizmann Institute in Israel, and a Postdoctoral Professional Masters in Bioscience Management from KGI, Claremont alongside her post-doctoral research at City Of Hope. Ayelet is experienced in the innovation ecosystem; prior to MedTech Innovator, she was a senior program manager at Larta Institute, where she managed commercialization programs for science-based Innovations, as well as co-founded and led the product development in a digital health Startup. She is passionate about bringing technology and healthcare closer together to make a real impact on human health.

Diane is the Program Director for MedTech Innovator. She has extensive experience designing and running innovation programs through her previous roles as the Innovation Manager at the University of Michigan’s Innovation Partnerships Startup Incubator and as an innovation consultant with The Inovo Group, Diane co-designed and -ran the HealthSpark Accelerator program at 20Fathoms in Traverse City, MI. She has lived and worked on three continents, speaks six languages, holds a PhD in Oncology from the University of Groningen, Netherlands and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan and enjoys being the designated Eastern Time zone person for the team.

Jerry Ciolino is a Marketing & Events Associate at MedTech Innovator. He has experience working in multiple accelerator programs with different verticals. He was the Program Manager at Startup UCLA, which caters to undergraduates, graduate students, and recent alumni on the UCLA campus. More recently, he was the Lead Operations Associate for the Techstars Music Accelerator. He received his degree in Sociology from UCLA.

Eve Jimenez is Marketing & Data Specialist at MedTech Innovator. Prior to joining MedTech Innovator, Eve supported Speak UP’s technology and communications work helping to improve kids’ access to quality education. She received her B.A from Dartmouth College and M.S. from UC Davis

Nataliia is an MBA candidate at UCLA Anderson. She previously worked on various engineering and business roles in the Data and AI space, most recently at Microsoft, where she helped enterprise customers in multiple industries to utilize the power of cloud technologies to achieve significant business outcomes. She is passionate about personalized and preventative healthcare and improving healthcare access and care delivery processes.

Aliya is a PhD candidate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. Before graduate school, she held positions as a Research Associate at UCSF and a Co-Op participant at AstraZeneca. Aliya received her BS and MS from Johns Hopkins University.

Yuling is a double Bruin, currently an MBA candidate at UCLA Anderson. She previously worked in medical device at a sales and marketing capacity with a focus on the voice of customer, where she has worked on product launches, educational strategy and support, and the digital transformation. She is passionate about healthcare equity and innovation. On her free time, she enjoys cooking, baking, reading with plethora of tea, and hiking with friends!

Jonathan is a double Bruin and currently an MBA candidate UCLA Anderson. Previously, he has worked in various engineering roles in the medical device industry. Currently, he works in new product development as an engineering program manager focused on product launches and global commercialization. He is passionate about the convergence of medical devices and technology.

Arnold is a first year MBA student at UCLA Anderson. He previously worked as a senior scientist at Eli Lilly and Company, primarily focusing on the development of oral peptide therapeutics to treat type II diabetes and other disease indications. Arnold received BS in biochemistry at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and MS in biological sciences at Northwestern University.

Scott Whitaker is President and CEO of AdvaMed, the world’s largest medical technology association. He is widely recognized as a top health care advocate and policy expert with experience across multiple health policy sectors, having worked successfully with diverse stakeholder groups – including hospital, patient and physician groups, regulators, public and private payers, and global trade organizations – to advance medical technology innovation and timely patient access to next-generation treatments and cures.

Chris Martin is the President of RCT Ventures, the investment arm of Research Corporation Technologies, which is focused on investing in early-stage biomedical companies.

Biren Mehta is the Vice President, Venture Investments – MedTech at Johnson & Johnson Innovation. He is responsible for existing and new MedTech investments on the West Coast, ensuring targeted strategic options are shaped for success. Biren plays a critical role in building and maintaining networks in the venture capital community, entrepreneurs, startups, incubators and accelerators and other venture organizations that fit the strategic interests of the MedTech sector, sourcing new opportunities for the sector and positioning JJDC as the partner of choice.

Casey McGlynn is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. In 1990, Casey McGlynn formed the life sciences practice at the firm, and today, it has one of the largest practices focused on medtech, healthtech, and biotech companies in the country.