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Dean, ASU College of Health Solutions

Michael Yudell is dean and a professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. As a public health scientist and experienced leader in higher education, Yudell is passionate about improving health and health care in Arizona and beyond and preparing health professionals who make a difference in people’s lives.

Yudell previously served as vice dean, and then interim dean, of the College of Health Solutions, guiding the college’s academic mission and helping to develop the student experience and grow the enrollment and retention of its more than 7,300 students. Before joining ASU, from 2014-2021, Yudell was Chair of the Department of Community Health and Prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. Until April 2021, he was the Chair of the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health’s Newborn Screening and Follow-up Technical Advisory Board.

As a leading public health scholar and award-winning writer, Yudell’s work focuses on the ethics and history of public health and medicine with an eye towards public health policy in the areas of genomic research, health disparities and autism.

Co-founder | FemtechAZ

Sidnee is a company builder and has served as a co-founder or founder with multiple startups in healthcare, community development, and sustainability. She is currently a co-founder of FemTechAZ, an initiative to advance women's health innovation, and founder of Heirloom Collective, an affordable housing nonprofit. She serves on multiple boards and supports multiple companies in fractional executive leadership roles, including the Future Framework, a holistic solution for communities.

Sidnee built the Center for Entrepreneurship at the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU where she taught entrepreneurship for nearly a decade.

She has been honored as a PBJ 40 under 40 during her time as CEO of a dementia therapy company, an Athena Young Professional finalist, and an Arizona Innovation Challenge awardee during that same time. She is passionate about equity and access and has devoted her career to making real impact for real people.

City of Phoenix

Since her early days serving Phoenix on the City Council, Kate has been focused on creating the Phoenix of the future: a welcoming, thriving city with ample high-wage jobs and opportunities for all. 

As mayor, Kate spends every day focused on getting things done for Phoenix families. The results speak for themselves: Kate brought a historic $165 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant to Phoenix that’s creating thousands of great-paying career paths; she built coalitions to deliver critical improvements to parks, public safety, and city infrastructure; and she is partnering with ASU to build a brand-new medical school in downtown Phoenix. 

Kate is the second elected woman mayor in Phoenix history and one of the youngest big city mayors in the nation. She graduated from Harvard and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Though serving Phoenicians keeps her days busy and her heart full, her favorite job is being Michael’s mom.

Co-founder and Chief Regulatory Officer, AOA Dx

Anna Jeter is a biotechnology entrepreneur and strategic leader focused on advancing the future of diagnostics in women’s health. As Chief Regulatory Officer and Co-Founder of AOA Dx, she helps lead the development of next-generation diagnostic technologies that integrate multi-omic lipid and protein signatures with artificial intelligence to enable earlier detection of ovarian cancer—one of the most challenging diseases to diagnose in medicine. Anna is recognized for her ability to translate complex scientific innovation into scalable healthcare solutions. At AOA Dx, she plays a key role in shaping the company’s clinical, regulatory, and commercialization strategy as it advances new approaches to cancer detection. She was named to Inc. Magazine’s 2022 Female Founders 100 List and has built a global track record of bringing innovative diagnostics to market. Over the course of her career, she has led teams launching women’s health diagnostics across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, and has helped drive the inclusion of new technologies into national and pan-European clinical guidelines. Anna is also the author of “Follow the Exits,” a report analyzing exit trends in healthcare and biotechnology and their implications for the future of innovation.

Co-founder | FemtechAZ

Mitzi Krockover, MD is Founder and CEO of Woman Centered, LLC, a women's health consultancy. She serves as a managing director at Golden Seeds, which invests in early-stage women-led companies, where she co-chairs the Health Sector Group and co-founded the Arizona chapter. Dr. Krockover co-founded FemTechAZ to establish Arizona as a hub of women’s health innovation, and is a Professor of Practice at ASU College of Health Solutions, developing coursework on women’s health innovation. She also produces the podcast, “Beyond the Paper Gown”.  

Dr. Krockover serves on advisory bodies including the Milken Women’s Health Network, Women's Health Innovation Council of Springboard, the Gates Foundation’s Innovation Equity Forum and Women’s Health Advocates and is a board member of the Black Women’s Health Imperative. Her previous positions include Founding Medical Director of the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center, a DHHS designated Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, and Vice President of Women's Health at Humana Inc.

DeepLook Medical | CEO, Author

Marissa Fayer is a 25-year medtech executive, innovator, entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. She is the CEO and founder of non-profit HERhealthEQ, CEO of DeepLook Medical, Investment Committee member of GGVentures, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Graybella Capital, and an active founding member of both the Milken Institute’s Women’s Health Committee and the Innovation Equity Forum (Gates Foundation led). Marissa is the author of upcoming book Undervalued to Unavoidable: Women’s Heath as Infrastructure. Her mission is to move innovation and the health of women forward throughout the world. Through her work with DeepLook Medical, Marissa has commercialized the FDA-cleared technology with 6 commercial sales partnerships, launched the company in the US, Canada, and the UK, raised $5M+ in Seed & Series A capital, has increased publicity of the company by being featured in Forbes, Crunchbase, and Fortune and has spoken at some of the largest healthcare conferences in the world including HLTH. Marissa is a TEDx Speaker (2019 at TEDxLugano), a UCSC Miller Center Social Entrepreneur Fellow, has been listed as one of the Top 100 Women in Medtech, and has appeared in several publications such as Forbes, Fortune, and Crunchbase.

Xcellerant Ventures | MD, Managing Director

John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, is a seasoned healthcare leader, entrepreneur, and educator with over 35 years of experience driving innovation and developing high-performing teams. He earned his BA from Drake University, MD from Chicago Medical School, and completed his Emergency Medicine residency as Chief Resident at Christ Hospital. He later earned an MBA and a JD from Arizona State University, where he now serves as an adjunct professor in the College of Law and as a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering. Board-certified in Emergency Medicine and a licensed attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, Shufeldt has founded multiple healthcare ventures, including NextCare, Empower Emergency Physicians, MeMD, Tribal Health, Xcellerant Ventures, and VivaMed BioPharma. A published author and speaker, he has worked across clinical leadership, law, entrepreneurship, and mental health, and has held editorial roles at top medical publications. He has also served as Medical Director for the Phoenix Police SWAT team and holds an Airline Transport Pilot Rating with over 6,000 flight hours.

Emmeline Ventures | Founding GP

Azin is a co-founder and general partner at Emmeline Ventures, an early stage fund investing in women’s health, wealth, and sustainability, specifically where technology and innovation are helping women live and thrive. With over 30 years of experience as an executive and board-level advisor, she leverages her strategic planning and coaching skills to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses, achieve their goals, and create returns for investors. Azin is passionate about empowering women to be financially sovereign and to make a positive impact in the world. She volunteers regularly to mentor other women on financial literacy, angel investing, and playing big. She draws on her out-of-the-box thinking, compassion, bravery, and candor to inspire and challenge others to reach their full potential.

Flinn Foundation | President & CEO

A broadly accomplished private-sector executive and community leader, Tammy McLeod joined the Flinn Foundation in October 2017 as President and CEO. In this role, she is responsible for all grants, programs, and operations of the Foundation.

Tammy served nearly 23 years at Arizona Public Service, Arizona’s largest electric utility, in several executive positions that culminated with the role of vice president for energy resource management. Previously, as the firm’s chief customer officer, she created a new company model for engaging in economic development, deployed new strategic community-relations plans, and reimagined the scope of the APS Foundation.

Tammy’s commitment to Arizona nonprofit organizations has included numerous board appointments, currently including the Arizona Community Foundation and The Nature Conservancy Arizona (treasurer). Prior to joining the Flinn Foundation, she served as a member of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee.

Tammy holds a doctorate in sustainability studies from Prescott College. A certified economic developer, she earned her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Among many honors for her work to foster strong organizational cultures and a vibrant broader community, Tammy has earned the Athena Award from the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, the Most Influential Women in Business award from AZ Business, two American Business Awards, and Mom of the Year from Valle del Sol.

ASU’s Edson College of Nursing & Health Innovation | MS CRM, Director of the DPP in Regulatory & Clinical Research Management

Barbara Marusiak, DHsc MS CRM, is the Director of the DPP in Regulatory and Clinical Research Management at ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, where she has guided more than 500 students in significant projects in clinical research and regulatory science. She is the co-director of the Mayo/ASU Health Care Accelerator, a member of the ASU Graduate Education Leadership, the ASU Space Strategy Council, and the Consortium of Academic Programs in Clinical Research (CoAPCR) (Chair of Bylaws). She is currently a Graduate College Dean’s Fellow. In 2023, Dr. Marusiak received the Arizona Bioscience Educator of the Year award. 

Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health | Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Women’s Health Internal Medicine, Assistant Director

Dr. Jewel Kling is a Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Women’s Health Internal Medicine, Assistant Director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health, and Suzanne Hanson Poole Dean of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine Arizona campus in Scottsdale, Arizona. She completed medical school and a Master of Public Health at the University of Arizona, followed by Internal Medicine residency and a Chief Resident year at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Her clinical and research interests include menopause, sexual health, LGBTQ+ care, and advancing sex- and gender-based medicine. Dr. Kling is an internationally recognized leader in menopause and women’s health, with extensive peer-reviewed publications and invited presentations at national and international meetings. She is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner and a Master of the American College of Physicians (MACP), and holds leadership roles in multiple professional organizations, including the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and The Menopause Society.

ASU John Shufeldt School of Medicine & Medical Engineering | Founding Dean

Dr. Sarah “Holly” Hollingsworth Lisanby is Founding Dean of the Arizona State University John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering—one of only two programs in the nation to offer a fully integrated MD and MS in engineering within four years. An internationally recognized leader in brain stimulation and translational neuroscience, her work has helped advance FDA-cleared therapies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), expanding treatment options for people with neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Lisanby previously served as Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and as Director of the Division of Translational Research at the National Institute of Mental Health, where she oversaw a $400 million research portfolio and co-led the NIH BRAIN Initiative’s work in neural recording and modulation technologies. She pioneered Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) and founded brain stimulation programs at Columbia, Duke, and NIMH—helping bridge scientific discovery and patient care. An elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), she also serves on the FDA Neurological Devices Advisory Panel and is advancing a new model of physician-engineer-entrepreneur collaboration to redefine health.

State Forty Eight Foundation | Executive Director

As Executive Director of State Forty Eight Foundation, she leads Arizona's premier nonprofit supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners. They provide grants, education, and community connections to help Arizona's innovators launch, grow, and thrive.

A dynamic leader, Priscella has also served as Vice President with Pearson, and Chief Strategy Officer at the Arizona Science Center

Honor Health | Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer

Kim Post has been with HonorHealth since 1991. In her long tenure, she has served in many roles including staff nurse, service line leader, CNO, Chief Clinical Officer, and CEO of Thompson Peak and Osborn medical centers. For the past seven years she has served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, where she leads system operations that include the hospital division, ambulatory services, joint ventures, and the clinical operations of the HonorHealth Medical Group. Her ultimate professional goal is in her current leadership role where she is charged with developing and deploying strategic initiatives, optimizing day-to-day operations, and ensuring that all systems, resources, and people are in place to achieve the goals and mission of the organization.  

Kim has a bachelor’s in nursing, a master’s in business administration, and a doctorate in nursing practice with an emphasis in leadership from Case Western Reserve University, where she was awarded the Outstanding DNP Graduate award. She also completed an executive fellowship at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She was recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in Arizona in 2018 by the Phoenix Business Journal and the 2023 Women of Impact award from the Off the Field NFL Wives Association.

Kim enjoys traveling with her husband of 42 years, reading, and spending time with her 3 children, 4 grandchildren, and 1 spoiled dog.

AzBio | President & CEO

Joan Koerber-Walker leads by following a simple equation: (Leadership + Innovation + Execution) * Partnerships = Growth

Her past experience includes 2 years as the CEO of ASBA (the Arizona Small Business Association), service as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Small Business Association in Washington D.C., President of the National Speakers Association – Arizona, Chair of the Board of Advisors to Parenting Arizona, the state’s largest child abuse prevention organization, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Industry Advisory Board for the Thomas and Joan Read Center at Texas A&M University, on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Technology Council and as Treasurer and Board Member for Ribomed Biotechnologies, Inc. in Carlsbad, California, and as an executive at Avnet, Inc, where over a 20 year span she held a wide variety of roles in sales, marketing, technology, public policy direction, and risk management solutions to business along the growth path.  In 2004, she was recognized by the Stevie Awards, the “Oscar” for women entrepreneurs as one of the leading entrepreneurial women in the United States and again in 2007 as one of the nation’s leading small business executives.

Prior to founding CorePurpose, Joan’s career includes 2 decades of experience in technology distribution where she held a wide range of positions in Management, Marketing, Sales, and Operations.  She was instumental in the development of Avnet’s ASIC/FPGA business and the launch of Avnet’s first Telesales operation.  While directing the Global Supplier Contracts process for Avnet’s 3 operating groups (Electronics Marketing, Applied Computing and Computer Marketing), Joan worked closely with over 700 technology partners worldwide and is experienced in the challenges and the joys of working in the global business arena from cultural, operational and legal perspectives. 

JP Morgan | ED Life Sciences & Healthcare Services

Banking professional with over 17 years of experience and a proven expertise in financial analysis, sponsor and venture capital transactions, capital debt structuring, prospecting, and managing client relationships. Provides financial product knowledge, structuring expertise, and proactively shares ideas and solutions that address credit, cash management, and capital market needs.