Pinkert Healthcare Accelerator

Mr. Pinkert founded MHM Services, Inc. in 1981, and in 1997, he established the concept of direct mental health contracting with correctional agencies. Through his leadership, MHM has enjoyed solid financial stability in addition to maintaining its position as the national leader in mental health staffing and management for correctional agencies. Mr. Pinkert directs MHM’s strategic planning, and is involved in finance, marketing, recruiting, shareholder and Board of Director matters, client relations, quality assurance, and corporate integrity. He chairs MHM’s Board of Directors, confers daily with MHM’s executive team, and is actively engaged in MHM’s weekly operations team meetings.

Prior to founding MHM, Mr. Pinkert was responsible for developing a management consulting division at Psychiatric Institute of America to assist general hospitals with mental health services. Eventually this led to managing psychiatric units in hospitals that became the genesis for the formation of Mental Health Management, Inc. as a subsidiary, which was then purchased in 1981 and is now MHM Services. Mr. Pinkert has been involved in founding Centurion, a joint-venture between MHM with Centene Corporation, a fortune 500 Medicaid managed care company. He currently sits on the Board of Managers for the company. He also sits on the Board of Melody Healthcare, a start-up health insurance company.

Mr. Pinkert has over 40 years of experience as a health care executive in general hospital, mental health, and health care management both nationally and internationally in addition to correctional health care. Mr. Pinkert holds an MBA and BSEE from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Sameer Berry is a practicing gastroenterologist and physician-entrepreneur dedicated to using evidence-based, whole-person care to improve the lives of patients with digestive disorders. Dr. Berry practices on both sides of hybrid care delivery, holding leadership roles as the Director of Healthcare Economics Research and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and as Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer at Oshi Health, a venture-backed virtual-first specialty care clinic for digestive health. Oshi Health has risk-bearing contracts with national health plans and self-insured employers across 20 states. Dr. Berry led the development of the first true value-based contracts in gastroenterology with national health plans. He serves as a principal investigator on randomized-controlled trials and conducts grant-funded research focusing on the validation of digital health technologies, integrated care delivery, and alternative payment models in complex subspecialty care. Dr. Berry finished his residency and fellowship training at Cedars-Sinai and the University of Michigan and holds an MBA in health sector management from Duke University.

Christine Gibbons is a serial entrepreneur whose passion is partnering with inventors of transformative technology to drive innovation to the marketplace. She brings over twenty-seven years of operating and fundraising experience to early-stage opportunities, both as an investor and part of entrepreneurial management teams. Together with other founders, Chris has launched fourteen new ventures and raised over $85 million in start-up and early-stage capital.

Chris currently operates as an independent consultant, serving as a senior advisor to early-stage company leadership teams to support growth and value enhancement by providing strategic planning, fundraising support and operational/financial systems development and execution. Prior to her senior advisory role, Chris served as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of HistoSonics, Inc., a medical device company developing a non-invasive, sonic beam therapy platform capable of destroying tissue at a sub-cellular level. She served the company in various roles including President, COO and Interim CEO. Prior to HistoSonics, she held various leadership roles in entrepreneurial ventures including Executive in Residence (EIR) for Venture Investors, LLC, CFO for Sensicore, a company with lab-on-a-chip sensor products (acquired by a division of GE), VP of Finance for Ardesta, an investor in “small-tech” opportunities, and Partner and CFO of Seaflower Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage biomedical opportunities.

Chris is a member of the Capital Community Angels, is on the advisory board of Michigan State University’s Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity and Entrepreneurial Finance, and guest lectures at MSU’s Business School. She served on the Board of ONL Therapeutics from 2017-2020, was a member of the Technical Oversight Committee for the Coulter Program at the University of Michigan from 2008 to 2016 and was on the inaugural advisory board for MSU’s Masters in Healthcare Management program. Chris holds an MBA from Wayne State University and a BA from Michigan State University.

Adrienne Harris is a Product Development Manager at in2being, LLC. Prior to joining in2being, Adrienne was co-founder of Tangent Medical Technologies, Inc. As co-inventor of the company’s lead technology, the NovaCath Peripheral IV Catheter System, she was involved in the entire product development lifecycle from unmet needs through design, manufacturing, commercialization, and post-market support. The Tangent Medical Technologies team achieved two FDA 510(k) clearances, received multiple US and OUS patents, earned ISO 13845 and CE mark for European sales as well as numerous other country-specific clearances. Tangent was acquired in April of 2016, and the NovaCath remains on the market to this day.

In her role as a Product Developer at in2being, Adrienne has brought her real-world experience to various client projects driving toward a range of market and regulatory goals. Adrienne holds a Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC).

Reda Jaber, MD, MBA, currently serves as the Director of Innovation at Emergent Holdings, which is dedicated to health and safety in the insurance industry. Prior, Reda was the Senior Director of Operations and Clinical Development at Ocuphire Pharma, a venture-backed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on drugs to treat ophthalmic disorders. From 2016 to 2019, Reda was the Director of Business Development at Gemphire Therapeutics, a publicly traded clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, a position he held through the merger of the company with NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals. From 2014 to 2016, Reda was a Partner and the Medical Sector Lead at IncWell, an early-stage venture capital firm that made 40 seed and series A investments across two funds. In 2013, he gained investment experience as an analyst at Stage 2 Innovations, a $100M investment fund and invention shop.

Reda has founded and launched several ventures, including Tubular Ventures (impact-driven startup advisory focused on advancing innovations in kidney health), xR Therapeutics (digital health startup building augmented reality software for phobias and anxiety), MD Cases (medical case study platform), MI Happy App (depression symptom tracker), Visionary Kids (children’s book series about entrepreneurship), and Hostodo (virtual private server provider). Reda currently serves as a member of the University of Michigan Department of Surgery Surgical Innovation Development Accelerator Course (SIDAC) Oversight Committee, the Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA) Talent Committee, and the ACCESS Community Advisory Board. In 2014, he was selected as a Venture Fellow by the MVCA and as a Davidson Digital Health Fellow by the Henry Ford Innovation Institute. In 2015, he was named to Crain’s Detroit Business 20 in their 20’s list. In 2016, Reda made the cover of Forbes Middle East magazine after being recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare.

Reda is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Science with Highest Distinction (BS, 2008), a Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR, 2012), a Master of Business Administration (MBA, 2014), and a Doctor of Medicine with Distinctions in Research, Service, and Medical Education (MD, 2014). He has authored over 15 academic publications and scientific research posters, and he has presented his research at major scientific conferences internationally. Reda was named a University of Michigan Hero in 2013 and Student of the Year in 2014.

As the Associate Director for Ventures for Life Sciences, Sarah oversees the creation of
new life science startups based on technologies invented and developed at U-M. In this
role, she manages resources to build, launch, and grow new ventures, including U-M’s
mentor-in-residence program, the MTRAC and Kickstart Life Science Innovation grant
hubs, and the Accelerate Blue Fund.

Before joining Innovation Partnerships, Sarah spent 3.5 years as a Senior Associate on
the investment team at Arboretum Ventures, an Ann Arbor-based healthcare venture
capital firm. Prior to Arboretum, Sarah spent 8 years as a field clinical specialist and
field clinical engineer supporting cardiac medical devices at Boston Scientific, Sorin,
and Biosense Webster (J&J).

Sarah holds a BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology and an MSE in Biomedical
Engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as an MBA from the Ross School
of Business at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Niki Kennedy is a vascular surgeon with a background in both engineering and business. She began her career as an electrical engineer, graduating from Lawrence Technological University in 1995 with her BS. She then went on to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for graduate work where she obtained Masters degrees in both electrical and biomedical engineering. Dr. Kennedy then made the jump into the clinical world, completing her MD at Wayne State University in 2003. From there, she went on to complete her general surgery residency as well as her vascular surgery fellowship.

Dr. Kennedy obtained her MBA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2019. Since her undergraduate days, Dr. Kennedy has worked as a consultant for startups in the healthcare field. She has experience in device development, regulatory affairs and quality assurance. She routinely mentors with several tech accelerators in the Midwest. Currently, she is working on the ArborHive Innovation Network, a national program designed to engage physicians with the biomedical innovation community.

Don is a results-oriented executive with more than 30 years of experience spanning the healthcare sector, most specifically in medical technology. Don has developed deep expertise in global P&L management, strategy, M&A, talent, innovation, robotics, implants, consumables, and capital equipment. His experiences span diverse healthcare markets and geographies within the hospital, pre-hospital emergency care, ambulatory outpatient settings.

Don’s most recent role was the President of the +$4B Stryker Joint Replacement business and is now acting as Advisor to the Group President along with his recent appointment to the Board of Directors of Tecomet Corporation, a leading orthopedic manufacturer. Prior to his current position, Don served in escalating roles within Stryker’s Medical and was an integral driver in multiple acquisitions including the $1.3B purchase of Physio Control and $2.8B purchase Sage.

Don holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from The State University of New York College at Geneseo. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Donna and has two adult children Ryan and Eric.

Outside of work he enjoys being active with cycling, snow skiing, platform tennis, spending time with family and finding opportunities to engage in service.