Other Advisors
Rashid Bashir, PhD
Academic Co-Founder and Advisor
Rashid Bashir is Professor of Bioengineering, the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, and is currently the Dean of Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a member of the core founding team for the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. He was a faculty member at Purdue University, where he started his academic career. Prior to that he spent 6 years at National Semiconductor Corporation commercializing analog and RF chip manufacturing technologies. In 2018, he received the Pritzker Distinguished Lectureship Award from BMES. He is a member of the Executive Committee on the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago. He has authored or co-authored over 300 journal papers and has been granted over 60 patents. He is a fellow of IEEE, BMES, AIMBE, APS, IAMBE, NAI, RSC, and AAAS. He is academic co-founder of Prenosis, Inc. and VedaBio, Inc. In 2023, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. He received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University and his M.S and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.
Nam Nguyen
Informatics Executive Consultant
Nam Nguyen is a passionate Medical Informatics Professional, Data Product Manager, and Data Science VP with a mission to transform health data into actionable insights that improve patient outcomes. With over 15 years of experience in health data management, including Administrative Claims Data, Real World Data, and HIPAA de-identification, Nam has led initiatives in clinical decision support, quality measure R&D, NLP, data science, and the transformation of dirty health data into research-ready resources. As a former Chair of the HIMSS EHRA Privacy & Security Workgroup and a HITRUST Certified De-Identification Professional, Nam’s expertise in the compliant secondary use of health data has driven successful Real World Evidence and Life Science initiatives. Throughout his tenures at IMS Health, Practice Fusion, Allscripts, and Veradigm, Nam has overseen the iterative releases of Health Analytics Platforms, Custom Provider Directory Solutions for major health plans, and the creation of one of the largest claims-linked ambulatory EHR datasets on the market today. Nam holds an eMBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology, as well as multiple Master of Science degrees from the University of San Francisco and the University of California at Davis.
Suzanne A. Lebold, PhD
Former Vice President, Abbvie
Currently advising biopharma clients in business development, strategy, and licensing and acquisition matters, Suzy’s corporate career spanned almost three decades at Abbott and AbbVie before retiring from her position as Vice President, Business Development & Acquisitions focused on Immunology. She held that role since the pharmaceutical division of Abbott was spun off to create AbbVie in January 2013. Prior to that time, Suzy was Divisional Vice President in the Pharmaceutical Licensing & Acquisitions team at Abbott and Divisional Vice President leading the Licensing & Acquisitions team for Abbott Nutrition. She held roles of increasing responsibility in Abbott’s Pharmaceutical Division’s Technology Licensing Group, in its Hospital Products Division, initially as Director, Licensing & Acquisitions, then leading the Acute Care Hospital Pharmaceutical Marketing team, and returning to the Pharmaceutical Group in 2001 to head the Scientific Assessment / Technology Licensing team. She received her A.B. in chemistry with honors from Wellesley College, her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from Northwestern University.
Mark Wagner
Serial Medtech Operator
Mark has more than 30 years of global experience in the medical device industry. He most recently served as the President and CEO of Celleration until its acquisition by Alliqua in May 2015. Prior to this, he served as the CEO for Reshape Medical, ProVation Medical, and Survivalink, all of which resulted in successful exits. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Minnetronix, Zipnosis, Alliqua, and Miromatrix. Mark began his career at GE Healthcare, where he worked in various roles in marketing, business development, and finance. He holds a degree in Business from the University of Southern California.
Maria Siambekos (Board Observer)
Healthcare Technology Executive
Maria Siambekos is a healthcare technology executive with more than 25 years of diverse business experience in Fortune 10 and VC/PE backed organizations. She has served as CEO, President, and COO of multiple growth stage Healthcare IT enterprise SaaS-based companies resulting in multiple successful exits. She has also held numerous leadership roles at GE Healthcare and Hospira in commercial, product, strategy, integration, and M&A. Maria began her career as clinical scientist at The University of Chicago and as a consultant, where she delivered a breadth of strategic, operational, and clinical technology consulting engagements for hospitals, health systems, and payers. Maria has a B.S. in Biology from Yale University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.