Daniela is a passionate engineer and advocate for inclusive innovation in the health tech space. Originally from Colombia, she has built her career in California, where she’s been committed to personal and professional growth since 2019. As an R&D Engineer at Zuno Medical, Daniela plays a key role in developing the company’s Smart Sterilization Container, leading inspection, testing, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure the product meets the highest standards of safety and performance. Beyond the lab, Daniela serves on the Advisory Board of DxD HealthTech, where she supports initiatives that empower students and early-career professionals, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, to thrive in the healthcare innovation ecosystem. Known for her resilience, strategic mindset, and heart for community, Daniela is driven by the belief that every challenge is a chance to grow, and that meaningful impact begins with purposeful action.

Nena was the director of the MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement at Butte College among other leadership roles in higher education. For 33+ years, Nena has helped students and professionals move in the direction of their dreams. She has extensive experience designing, coordinating and implementing best practices in all things student success, professional development, problem solving, communication skills, team building and strategic planning. This includes working with students, staff, faculty, community, and corporate professionals both in one-on-one and group settings, retreats and professional conferences.

Nicolle Cannon, Founder and CEO of Cannon Quality Group, empowers engineers, innovators, founders and organization leaders to align their organization’s device compliance activities with their organizations milestones and patient priorities, through the three critical processes: original design and product development, distribution, and clinical outcomes. Ms. Cannon, a mechanical engineer with a B.S. degree from California Polytechnic University, was formerly a Quality Team Member at companies such as Stryker, AVE, Medtronic and Foxhollow Technologies before founding Cannon Quality Group over 16 years ago. Cannon Quality Group clients include numerous startups and established companies in the Medtech and Pharmaceutical industries including Arsenal, Arrinex, Gauss, AcelRx, Stryker, Verily, Roche, and more. 

Ciara is a mechanical engineer and aspiring entrepreneur passionate about advancing patient-first design in minimally invasive medical devices. She has contributed to Class II and III device development across early-stage R&D, manufacturing, and product development. Ciara is currently gaining hands-on problem solving skills as a Quality Engineer at Apreo Health, a Foundry portfolio company.  While earning her Master’s in Engineering, Science & Technology Entrepreneurship at the University of Notre Dame, she led consulting projects focused on go-to-market and fundraising strategies for both a medical device company (Atmo Biosciences Inc.) and a digital health platform. At Notre Dame, she co-founded a Class II medical device company, called Visilocate. These experiences sharpened her business acumen and fueled her entrepreneurial drive. She’s passionate about bridging technical innovation with real-world clinical and commercial impact.

Rebecca is a strategy and commercial executive with over 20 years of experience in medical and health technology companies, ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 200 corporations. As a dynamic strategic operator specializing in go-to-market, commercialization, and innovative business strategies, she has consistently driven double-digit growth and scaled new businesses with global impact. With a strong background in devices, diagnostics, and the digital transformation of healthcare, Rebecca has a proven track record of pioneering disruptive solutions across the continuum of care. Most recently, she was VP of Corporate Development and Strategy at iRhythm Technologies (NASDAQ:IRTC), a digital healthcare provider of cardiac monitoring services. She began her career at Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), where she held progressive global leadership roles in sales and marketing. Rebecca is recognized for her ability to navigate complexity and her data-driven, customer-centric approach to creating value and delivering cutting-edge products and services to patients worldwide. She holds a BSE and MSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the advisory board for Diversity by Doing Healthtech.

Joanna is an organizational development and leadership development consultant with expertise in learning strategy,
workforce development, and executive coaching. With a background spanning nonprofits, higher education, and government, she specializes in designing engaging learning experiences, leadership programs, and strategic organizational initiatives that drive measurable impact. Joanna is a doctoral candidate for a degree in organizational change & leadership at the University of Southern California. She obtained her master’s in organizational leadership from the University of San Francisco, and her bachelor’s in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Passionate about people growth and development, innovation and strategic solutions, Joanna helps organizations align their development efforts with their strategic goals.

Karun is a serial entrepreneur and executive in the medical device industry. As a Partner at The Foundry, a leading medical technology incubator, Karun has led the formation and incubation of several new ventures, including Foundry Therapeutics, Allay Therapeutics, and Apreo Health, where he currently serves as CEO alongside his Foundry duties.  Prior to joining The Foundry, Karun was part of the executive team at Altura Medical, a venture funded startup that developed a breakthrough endograft for treating abdominal aortic aneurysm and was acquired by Lombard Medical. Prior to joining Altura Medical, Karun was Director of Corporate Development at Medtronic, where he had roles in business development, strategic partnering and corporate investment across Medtronic’s cardiovascular portfolio. Karun joined Medtronic via its acquisition of Ardian, a Foundry portfolio company, where he served on its executive management team. In a previous stint with The Foundry, Karun served on the founding team of Miramar Labs. He also previously worked at Mentor Corporation, as its first in-house intellectual property counsel, and Jones Day, a leading international law firm. Karun serves on the boards of directors of Foundry Therapeutics, Allay Therapeutics (observer), Apreo Health and Mavericks Endo and is also a patent attorney registered with the US Patent Office. Karun holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University, a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and an MBA from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.

Sang’ona brings breadth and depth of marketing leadership experience across a range of healthcare verticals. She spent 9 years at Johnson and Johnson, where she led global and regional marketing teams to build a category-leading mega brand. She led marketing communications, agency and media management, consumer and healthcare professional marketing, global brand equity programs, demand generation, and sales enablement. During her tenure there, she also led global pipeline and portfolio strategy, new product development, and new product launch and commercialization programs. Following that, Sang’ona served as the Vice President of Marketing at iRhythm technologies, where she helped establish the brand as the undisputed category leader in the Cardiac-AI space. She built the function from the ground up, attracting top talent to the team, built key infrastructure, and launched and scaled paid media programs. During her tenure there, she was a pivotal cross-functional partner to sales, R&D, regulatory, and Medical Affairs to shape evidence generation strategy, through which she launched a stream of differentiated and superior product claims, messaging, and campaigns. Sang’ona is presently the Vice President of Marketing and Global Brand at Cynosure Lutronic, a global leader in Medical Aesthetics and Energy-Based Devices.

Roma is a biomedical engineer by trade, with a passion for creative problem-solving, cross-functional collaboration, and patient advocacy. Roma has spent the past two years at Edwards Lifesciences exploring the company through its Technical Development Program (TDP), gaining hands-on experience in R&D, corporate quality (complaint management system), clinical affairs, and now upstream marketing. Roma also serves on MedtechWOMEN’s Mentorship Committee, where she is helping introduce and build their first University Mentorship Program. She has been recognized by the Irvine Standardas “Next-Gen Tech Talent,” is an active member in OC Fellows, and has co-founded an internal art organization at Edwards. In the past, Roma has worked for several research labs, co-authored a published review paper on machine learning in 3D bioprinting, and helped develop a white paper and AAMI Technical Information Report (TIR) on SaMD and cloud computing for medical devices. Today, Roma continues to be motivated by work that challenges convention, values diverse perspectives, and drives meaningful impact.

Mike has 40 years of industry experience spanning a broad range of positions in general management, product development, operations, sales and marketing, clinical, regulatory, and engineering. Previously, he served as chief operating officer at Minerva Surgical, a medical technology company focused on women’s healthcare. Prior to that, he was vice president of operations at Emphasys Medical (now Pulmonx), a company that develops therapeutic solutions for patients with emphysema. He was also chief operating officer of Cardeon and worked in interventional cardiology and cardiac rhythm management at Guidant, after his previous company, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, was purchased. Mike started his career as an engineer at American Medical Optics (AMO). He holds a BS in industrial engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Maria is a successful CEO with 30 years of experience in commercial and leadership positions in the medical technology industry. Previously, she served as president and CEO of AEGEA Medical, president and CEO of Cardiokinetix, and president and CEO of Concentric Medical, Inc. She earned an MA in languages from Complutense University of Madrid and a master’s in international management from the Thunderbird School of International Management.

Fred has been practicing cardiology at El Camino Health for over 30 years. Throughout his career he has engaged in the development of the various cardiovascular diagnostic and therapeutic innovations. He is particularly well known as a leader in the structural heart valve space, having pioneered the catheter-based approach to repairing mitral regurgitation, the MitraClip. More recently he has taken an interest in mentoring innovation in the obstetrical and women’s health space. Fred is committed to supporting health equity and innovative therapeutics for low resource settings and the developing world. He is an adjunct teaching professor at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. He also advises the Village Health Works obstetrical hospital in Burundi and has been instrumental in setting up the Stanford East African Biodesign Program. Fred serves as medical director of El Camino Hospital’s Norma Melchor Heart and Vascular Institute and is vice chair of the board of Fogarty Innovation.

Tammy is a dynamic biotech leader, passionately innovating at the forefront of medical device development to transform biologics and cell-based therapeutics for retinal diseases. She was a key technical force behind the BLA submission and approval of the revolutionary Port Delivery System, a first-of-its-kind surgical ocular implant. With over 20 years of experience, Tammy has demonstrated leadership in advancing disruptive technology programs, from R&D to global regulatory approval. She continuously pushed boundaries in medical innovation at start-ups such as Altura Medical (acquired by Lombard Medical) and Guided Delivery Systems, as well as her foundational work at Medtronic Vascular. With a keen eye for integrating clinical insights and user experience, Tammy’s expertise spans the entire lifecycle of implantable and disposable devices and combination products, consistently bringing novel solutions to complex challenges. She excels at empowering cross-functional teams to develop patient-centric solutions and always looks ahead for future breakthroughs.

Susan is a pioneering leader with a proven career in global brand strategy, marketing and market development for market leaders such as Edwards Lifesciences, Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, and Gateway computer.  Susan is passionate and committed to achieving health access equity and increasing representation of women throughout healthcare. Susan’s entire career led to the launch of TrueNorth, a brand strategy firm helping growth-minded companies know where to focus their time, money and resources for maximum growth and impact.  Susan is a curious lifelong learner and is currently pursuing a master’s in behavioral economics to complement her MBA. Simple joy for Susan is filling her home with the energy of friends and family, including her 5 siblings and 13 nieces and nephews. Susan also satiates her curiosity through travel and art. A highlight of her career was living and working in Switzerland for Edwards Lifesciences.