Our International Judges

Our judges are recognized as international leaders in health and commercialization. Five of our seven judges are United States based.

Dr John Halamka

John D. Halamka, MD, MS, is Chief Information Officer of the CareGroup Health System, Chief Information Officer and Dean for Technology at Harvard Medical School, Chairman of the New England Health Electronic Data Interchange Network (NEHEN), CEO of MA-SHARE (the Regional Health Information Organization), Chair of the US Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), and a practicing Emergency Physician. He authored three books on technology related issues and formed a software development firm, Ibis Research Labs, Inc. Additionally, he served as a columnist for Infoworld, technical editor of Computer Language Magazine and technology consultant to several startup companies.

Jay Srini

Jay Srini is currently the Chief Innovation Officer for UPMC Insurance Services Division and is responsible for developing the methods, tools and strategies that result in innovative health care solutions and positive consumer experiences. For the past four years, Jay has held the position of Vice President of Emerging Technologies for UPMC providing strategic direction and input regarding emerging technologies and solutions to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Prior to that Jay was Managing Director for e-Health Initiatives at Internet Venture Works where she led technology and industry assessments of opportunities presented by strategic partners, investors and external sources and served in interim executive management roles for its' portfolio companies. Jay was a managing director for e-Health Initiatives at Internet Venture Works. She has formed a niche consulting firm, Strategic Consulting Solutions, focusing on the integration of technology and business operations for established institutions and startup ventures. She serves on the board of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in addition to serving on the advisory board of select technology firms in Pittsburgh.

G. Steven Burrill

G. Steven Burrill is Chief Executive Officer of Burrill & Company, a San Francisco based life sciences firm focused exclusively on companies involved in human healthcare (biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, devices, medical technologies, healthcare delivery, nutraceuticals and wellness) and BioGreenTech (agricultural biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, and biofuels). Burrill & Company's business revolves around four core activities: Venture Capital (with over $950 million under management), Private Equity, Merchant Banking and Media. Steve currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Pharmasset, BioImagene and NewBridge, and is a member of the Boards of Directors of several lifescience firms. In 2008, Steve received the BayBio Pantheon 2008 DiNA lifetime achievement award for his worldwide biotech leadership and the Alan Cranston Living Legend Award by the Alliance for Aging Research. In 2002, he was recognized as the biotech investment visionary by Scientific American magazine, identifying the top 50 scientists and technologists worldwide. Prior to founding Burrill & Company in 1994, Mr. Burrill spent 28 years with Ernst & Young as the International Chairman of the Life Sciences/Biotechnology and Manufacturing/High Technology practices.

Assisting G. Steven Burrill with the Focus on Health Challenge judging process is Dr Veronica Descotte, an Associate at Burrill & Company. Dr. Descotte was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and received her Ph.D. in molecular genetics at the University of Minnesota, where she has been awarded numerous fellowships and awards. She joined Burrill & Company in 2008 to focus on Latin America where she has been leading fund-raising activities as well as establishing strategic partnerships with the healthcare and pharmaceutical communities. In addition to Latin America, Dr. Descotte is also responsible for overseeing deal flow analysis as well as being involved with several of our portfolio companies. Dr. Descotte is an observer to several boards, including Ikano, Proventys, Proteogenix and WellPartner. She also holds a BA in Biology and in Chemistry from Macalester College.

Dion Madsen

Dion Madsen has 15 years of experience in developing technology companies and is currently Managing Director at Physic Ventures. He previously served as Managing Director and leader of the investment practice of Unilever Technology Ventures Advisory Company LLC. From 1998 to 2003 he served as a Partner of RBC Capital Partners ("RBC") where he led RBC's investments in early-stage North American healthcare companies. Mr. Madsen also served as Chief Financial Officer of Cytovax Biotechnologies Inc., raising a private placement and taking Cytovax to its IPO in 2001. Prior to joining RBC, Mr. Madsen was Chief Financial Officer of Cyberion Networking Inc. In addition, Mr. Madsen has served as a director of Biostar Inc., Idun Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. and has been a board observer on numerous biotechnology companies.

Guy Scalzi

Guy Scalzi is a Principal with Aspen Advisors, a professional services firm that works with healthcare organizations to optimize the value of their information technology. He was previously Executive Vice President of Veloz Global Solutions. From 1999-2006, he was Senior Vice President and Managing Director of FCG's Group Management Services business. He has held the position of CIO at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York/Cornell Medical Center and the Hospital for Joint Diseases, a division of New York University Medical Center. In 1985, he became one of the founders of a software development company DataEase International. Guy Scalzi was also a hospital administrator in New York City at St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital and Montefiore/Einstein Medical Center for 14 years.

David J Clarke

David Clarke has significant experience, at Chair and CEO level, in many industries and has a successful track record with companies in the areas of Biotechnology, IT, Health, Food and related sectors. Currently, David is Director at Cranleigh Merchant Bankers providing investment advice and corporate finance services to a range of sectors and industries. David comes from a background in engineering, finance, marketing and sales with experience in capital markets including IPO's and capital market transactions, raising over $250M in debt and equity. As well as successfully growing companies David has experience in the large company environment having previously been CEO of a 4000 person, $750M company. David is also currently Chair of several privately held, high-growth IT & diagnostic companies. David is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management, a member of the Royal Society and member of the NZ Institute of Directors.

Alan Spinks

Alan Spinks is the National Program Manager for the Quality, Improvement and Innovation Team within the Ministry of Health, New Zealand. He has extensive experience in health service transformation, having completed the acclaimed "Osprey" Program in 2004. Alan has a nursing background, working in the NHS for 20 years where he developed a passion for service transformation in healthcare and this is now his focus at the Ministry of Health. Alan and his team are exclusively involved in service transformation, quality and Innovations in healthcare that will have a positive impact on the New Zealand health care system. Prior to immigrating with his family to New Zealand in 2007, Alan worked for the Department of Health, UK as a Workforce Designer and was instrumental in a number of national programs that increased quality of care for patients at the same time developing career pathways for healthcare professionals. Alan then worked with the NHS South West Strategic Health Authority as a Clinical System Engineer, working on a number of health service transformation programs focused on innovative ways of working.