Our team

Just as Mayo Clinic uses a team of specialists to provide the best care for our patients, the Department of Business Development has employed its own robust group of experts to ensure the successful evaluation and development of ideas, inventions and know-how, along with the analysis of strategic business transactions to include partnerships, strategic collaborations, equity investments, mergers and acquisitions.

Department of Business Development Executive Leadership

Chief Business Development Officer
Andrew J. Danielsen

Medical Director, Business Development
Peter A. Noseworthy, MD, MBA

Associate Chief Business Development Officer
Manu Nair

Chair, Corporate Development - International & Mayo Clinic Labs
Sami Yusuf

Chair - Business Development
Julie A. Henry, MBA

Assistant Medical Director
Waleed Brinjikji, MD

Medical Director for Research Innovation
Janani S. Reisenauer, MD

Associate Medical Director - FL, Business Development
Olayemi Sokumbi, MD

Assistant Medical Director - AZ, Business Development
Rahul Pannala, MD

Chief Business Development Officer

Andrew J. Danielsen

Andrew (Andy) Danielsen serves as chief business development officer for Mayo Clinic’s Department of Business Development (BD) where he oversees the licensing of Mayo Clinic’s intellectual property and the creation of collaborations and partnerships within the industry.

Andy serves on several committees throughout Mayo Clinic, including the Executive Subcommittee of the Medical-Industry Relations Committee. He is also a member of multiple groups responsible for funding innovative new technologies or startup companies to include the Mayo Clinic Venture Fund Investment Committee, the Discovery Translation Program, and the Department of Business Development Investment Committee.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2002, Andy conducted research at Mayo Clinic to identify therapeutic targets in breast and ovarian cancer.

Andy received his BS in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and his MS in molecular biology from Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Medical Director, Business Development

Peter A. Noseworthy, MD, MBA

Peter A. Noseworthy, MD, MBA, is a Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Heart Rhythm Services (Cardiac Electrophysiology), and Medical Director of Business Development.

In his role as Medical Director, Dr. Noseworthy oversees proactive business partnerships and strategic collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, equity investing and the commercialization of Mayo Clinic technologies for the benefit of patients worldwide while generating revenue to support clinical practice, research, and education at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Noseworthy joined the Mayo Clinic faculty in 2013 after completing his internal medicine, cardiology, chief residency and electrophysiology training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. He completed his Master of Business Administration from MIT in 2023.

He has closely partnered with Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery to maintain a federally funded research program that leverages cutting-edge research methods as well as emerging data and technologies. This work has led to a series of high-impact publications that address questions important to patients, clinicians and health systems.

He also helps to lead a multidisciplinary team develop novel ECG software-based analysis tools, many of which have resulted in the filing of intellectual property disclosures and several patents.

Associate Chief Business Development Officer

Manu Nair

Manu Nair is the Associate Chief Business Development Officer. Mr. Nair leads business development efforts that are of the highest strategic importance to Mayo Clinic.

Prior to assuming this role, Mr. Nair served as Vice President of Technology Ventures for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) in Oklahoma City. He was in charge of developing and commercializing OMRF’s technologies, establishing strategic industry collaborations, and managing the innovation fund dedicated to such development efforts. Appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, Mr. Nair served as Vice Chair of the Oklahoma Science and Technology R&D Board. He currently serves on the boards of IBIS Therapeutics, Jupiter Bioventures, Nucleus Radiopharma, USA Healthcare Alliance and Volnay Therapeutics, and is a member of the External Advisory Committee for the NIH-funded SE XLerator Network Hub. In addition, Mr. Nair serves as a business consultant for several U.S. and international entities, including prominent research institutes and technology companies.

Mr. Nair received his MBA from Lamar University in Texas and LL.M from the University of New Hampshire School of Law focusing on intellectual property, commerce and technology laws.

Chair, Corporate Development - International & Mayo Clinic Labs

Sami Yusuf

Sami Yusuf serves as Chair of Corporate Development for International where he is responsible for driving partnerships, strategic collaborations and strategic alliances by coordinating, negotiating, and executing strategic transactions in support of Mayo Clinic and its International business.

Sami has robust experience across leadership positions in research and development, alliance management, portfolio strategy, corporate strategy, and corporate development from small cap privately held companies to fortune 500 public companies. In addition to his extensive experience in the life science and pharmaceutical industry, he has held an adjunct faculty position and has experience in direct health care delivery. Sami has held various board membership positions in health care companies including in industry associations. Sami also serves on venture catalyst advisory boards.

Sami holds a BS in Microbiology and a BS in Molecular Genetics from UCLA, an MS in Biological Chemistry from Purdue University, a Pharm D from Creighton University, and an MBA from University of Michigan.

Chair - Business Development

Julie A. Henry, MBA

Julie is a chair in the Department of Business Development where her responsibilities involve collaborating with internal and external customers as a resource for guidance, oversight, coordination, and execution of unique and complex legal and contract agreement work related to agreements/opportunities emanating from Mayo Clinic Executive leadership and Mayo Clinic’s respective governing boards. Julie has been with Mayo Clinic for more than thirty years and has experience in all facets of the commercialization process including drafting, negotiating and management of agreements.

She received her BA in Biomedical Science from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota and her MBA from University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

CHAIR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Lisa Carmel

Lisa is a Chair in the Department of Business Development and leads strategic partnerships across Mayo Clinic’s global enterprise, encompassing medtech, biopharma, diagnostics, healthcare IT and AI, as well as health services, automation and robotics. In her role, she is focused on developing and expanding transformative partnerships and business deals, with a keen interest in mission critical initiatives, such as Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. Unbound. Hospital of the Future.

Lisa brings over 30 years of experience in healthcare product commercialization and innovation, working with companies across the U.S., Europe, and China. She has advised numerous startups and accelerators, including California Life Sciences’ FAST program and MedTech Innovator. She co-chairs the MedtechWOMEN’s Advisory Board, serves on Marin Health UCSF’s Board, and is an advisor to the Cleveland Clinic MedTech Advisory Board and UCLA Biodesign. Passionate about emerging healthcare innovation trends, Lisa frequently speaks at industry events, authored a blog and podcast, and chairs key healthcare conferences.

Assistant Medical Director

Waleed Brinjikji, MD

Medical Director for Research Innovation

Janani S. Reisenauer, MD

Associate Medical Director - FL, Business Development

Olayemi Sokumbi, MD

Olayemi (Yemi) Sokumbi, MD, serves as Associate Medical Director for the Department of Business Development at Mayo Clinic Florida, as well as an Associate Professor of Dermatology and Laboratory Medicine & Pathology in the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Director of Clinical Practice in the Department of Dermatology, Chair for the Florida Mayo Medical School DEI Council, and Associate Program Director of the Mayo Clinic Florida Dermatology residency program.

Dr. Sokumbi is board-certified in dermatology and dermatopathology. She received her medical degree from Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota, where she also completed her preliminary year in internal medicine, her residency in dermatology and served as chief resident in her final year. Following residency, Dr. Sokumbi completed a fellowship in dermatopathology at the University of Texas Southwestern medical center in Dallas, Texas.

Her clinical and research interests include clinical-pathologic correlation of complex inflammatory skin disorders, quality improvement in dermatopathology, hidradenitis suppurativa, cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders, and the development and assessment of deep neural network algorithms for diagnosis and image classification in dermatology and dermatopathology.

Assistant Medical Director - AZ, Business Development

Rahul Pannala, MD

Dr. Pannala is a Professor of Medicine, and Consultant gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He received his medical training at Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad India. He subsequently did a master’s in public health at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He did his internal medicine residency at Bridgeport hospital/Yale University and Gastroenterology fellowship at Mayo Clinic Rochester followed by a therapeutic endoscopy fellowship at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.

Dr. Pannala has been on staff at Mayo Arizona for the past 13 years. He is the Director of the Pancreas clinic and the endoscopic bariatric therapeutics program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. His research interests include pancreatobiliary diseases and endoscopic bariatric therapies. He also has a strong interest in medical innovation and has several ongoing collaborations in the medical device development space to address unmet clinical needs.

Mayo Venture Partners

CHAIR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Audrey Greenberg

CHAIR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Amy DuRoss

CHAIR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Audrey Greenberg

Audrey Greenberg is a Mayo Venture Partner passionate about building what doesn’t yet exist and scaling it to serve the world. She has spent her career at the intersection of science, business, and bold ideas, helping launch companies that transform how healthcare is delivered. A serial entrepreneur and seasoned operator, Audrey has founded three startups after beginning her career in accounting, investment banking, and private equity.

As a passionate economic development enthusiast and champion of emerging technologies, Audrey serves on the boards of several industry and economic development organizations including the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center, Phacilitate, Women in Advanced Therapies, ISPE, Keystone Life Science Collaborative, and the CEO Access Network. She is also an active member of YPO.

Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Titan 100 Hall of Fame, Most Influential Philadelphian, Philly Power 100, Medicine Maker Power List, Tech Translator of the Year, Deal of the Year, Employer of the Year, Healthcare Power Player, Women of Influence, Female Leader of the Year, Startup of the Year, Power Woman, and Young All-Star.

She is a CPA and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Audrey is known for her ability to commercialize cutting-edge technologies, forge transformational partnerships, and mentor emerging leaders. Most of all, she’s driven by a desire to make things better…for patients, for communities, and for the next generation of leaders.

CHAIR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Brian S. Poger

Brian Poger is an accomplished CEO / CXO / Founder / Investor with a passion for driving innovation in digital health, insuretech & healthcare services and improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare. With a versatile background spanning Fortune 500 companies, management consulting, providers, VC-backed startups, PE-owned companies, and private equity, Brian excels at identifying unmet market needs, assembling exceptional teams, and instilling operational excellence to ensure success.

Brian is currently serving Mayo Clinic as a Mayo Venture Partner, helping to create companies that leverage Mayo technology and expand its patient-centric reach. Prior to Mayo, Brian was an executive in residence at Frazier Healthcare Partners, focused on companies that lowered the cost of employer-sponsored healthcare. Brian joined Frazier after leading the integration and strategic revitalization of Benefitter into UnitedHealthcare, serving as CEO following UHG’s acquisition of HealthMarkets & Benefitter in 2019. At HealthMarkets (Blackstone/Goldman-owned), Brian held the position of COO, where he played a pivotal role in improving profitability and growth at one of the largest FMOs/GAs/Agencies in the individual, Medicare and small group markets, as well as an innovative manufacturer of voluntary and life insurance plans. Brian’s journey to Healthmarkets began with the acquisition of Benefitter, a company he founded.

Brian previously founded the Alight Retiree Exchange (aka Aon Retiree Exchange, Senior Educators), a company that began as a B2C Medicare marketplace, which he sold to Aon. Under Brian’s leadership, the company served esteemed clients such as UPS, 3M, and State Farm.

Brian honed his strategic acumen as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, focusing on the intersection of healthcare and technology. He began his career at Eli Lilly & Company, as a technologist and subsequently transitioned to marketing & sales. He received his MBA with honors from Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and his BS in engineering, Magna Cum Laude, from Washington University in St. Louis.

Technology Licensing

Senior Director, Licensing
Timothy D. Argo, MBA

Technology Licensing Associate
Aslie Asberom

Director Licensing
Jonathon (Jon) H. Behringer

TECHNOLOGY LICENSING ASSOCIATE
Lisa Carlson, PhD

Senior Director, Licensing
Darren S. Carney, PhD

Technology Licensing Associate
Leah M. Corson

Technology Licensing Associate
Heaibert D. Diamond

TECH LICENSING ASSOCIATE
Will Flood, PhD

Technology Licensing Associate
Nolan M. Lawrence

Technology Licensing Associate
Kenneth M. Long

Technology Licensing Associate
Alexandra (Alex) M. Norton

TECH LICENSING ASSOCIATE
Mallory M. Thomas, PhD

TECHNOLOGY LICENSING ASSOCIATE

Nickolas A. Anderson, PhD

Senior Director, Licensing

Timothy D. Argo, MBA

Tim is a senior director of licensing and member of the Mayo Clinic Ventures Executive Committee. He contributes to the oversight and management of the division while staying active in management and licensing of technologies invented at Mayo Clinic. Tim is responsible for ensuring metrics and goals are met across the licensing team and leads through hiring and mentoring licensing staff.

He is a Certified Licensing Professional. He received both his MBA with emphasis in Finance and BS in Microbiology from Kansas State University.

Technology Licensing Associate

Aslie Asberom

Aslie joined Business Development’s Mayo Clinic Ventures division in 2022. In her role as a technology licensing associate, she supports the commercialization of Mayo Clinic intellectual property by identifying commercial collaborators and negotiating license agreements.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Aslie was a practicing attorney for an intellectual property clinic focused on providing IP protection for small business owners across Pennsylvania.

She received her JD from Penn State Law.

Director Licensing

Jonathon (Jon) H. Behringer

Jon joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of Business Development in 2016. In his current role, he focuses on commercialization of diagnostic and orthopedic-based innovations, where he leads the biopharmaceutical and orthopedic licensing teams.

Jon formerly worked in research and development in clinical DNA lab and developmental supervisory experience in food manufacturing.

He received his BS in Biology with a biomedical science concentration and minor in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and his Master of Biotechnology Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Specialist

Heather L. Brown

TECHNOLOGY LICENSING ASSOCIATE

Lisa Carlson, PhD

Lisa joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures team as a technology licensing associate in 2024, where she supports the commercialization efforts of the Mayo Clinic’s biopharma, healthcare IT, and research tools portfolios.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, Lisa spent three years at UNeMed Corporation, the technology transfer and commercialization office for the University of Nebraska. At UNeMed, she managed the patenting, marketing, and licensing activities of a diverse portfolio of life sciences intellectual property assets.

Lisa received a BS in Medical Biology from the University of South Dakota, and a PhD in Immunology, Pathology, & Infectious Diseases from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Senior Director, Licensing

Darren S. Carney, PhD

Darren is a director of licensing in the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of the Department of Business Development where he leads the cardiology licensing team.

Prior to his licensing role, he held the positions of postdoctoral fellow and IP compliance specialist within the office.

He received his BS in Biochemistry and Biology from Trinity University in San Antonio, and his PhD in Biological Chemistry from the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas.

Technology Licensing Associate

Leah M. Corson

Leah joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of the Department of Business Development in 2021 as a technology licensing associate where she supports the licensing efforts of Mayo Clinic’s biopharma, cardiology, and research tools portfolios.

Prior to joining Business Development, Leah worked on patent prosecution, IP litigation and income tax matters through a variety of legal internships with law firms, in-house counsel, and legal service providers. She also has research experience working in a neuroscience laboratory.

Leah received her BA in Chemistry from Smith College. She also holds a JD with a certificate in intellectual property law from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law.

Technology Licensing Associate

Heaibert D. Diamond

Heaibert joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of Business Development in 2021 as a technology licensing associate. He supports commercialization of Mayo Clinic intellectual property by identifying commercial collaborators and negotiating license agreements.

Heaibert received his BA in English Pre-Law with a minor in innovation and entrepreneurship from University of Florida, and his MS in Law with a specialization in IP and patent design, business law and regulatory strategy and analysis from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Licensing Manager II

Ryan K. Downing

Ryan joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of Business Development in 2021. In his current role, he focuses on licensing Mayo Clinic’s healthcare IT and biopharma-related technologies.

Prior to joining Business Development, Ryan spent five years at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation where he licensed technologies to industry and executed an array of contracts to include sponsored research agreements, clinical trial agreements, and confidentiality agreements.

Ryan received his BS in biology with a minor in chemistry from Western Illinois University.

Director, Licensing

Seth T. Eisenman

Seth joined Business Development’s Mayo Clinic Ventures division in 2018. In his current role as a senior licensing manager, he focuses on commercialization of diagnostic and orthopedic-based innovations. He leverages relationships with industry, venture capitalists, and Mayo Clinic researchers and physicians to collaborate on development of next-generation solutions for unmet patient needs.

Seth has been with Mayo Clinic since 2006 and has held roles within the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology performing clinical testing and assay development in the Neuroimmunology Lab. He has also worked in the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering performing research on the pathophysiology of Interstitial cells of Cajal.

Seth received his BS from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN.

TECH LICENSING ASSOCIATE

Will Flood, PhD

Will joined the Mayo Clinic Business Development team in 2025 as a technology licensing associate. He supports commercialization of Mayo Clinic intellectual property by evaluating novel therapeutics and medical devices, identifying commercial collaborators and negotiating license agreements.
Will previously worked as a consultant at a life-science data analytics consulting firm.

He received his BS in health and exercise science with a minor in neuroscience from the Wake Forest University, his Ph.D. from Wake Forest School of Medicine, and his M.B.A. from Wake Forest School of Business.

Specialist

Jodi L. Fritcher

Licensing Manager

Kyle J. Korshavn, PhD

As a technology development associate in Mayo Clinic Ventures, Kyle prioritizes the identification, development, and commercialization of biotherapeutic technologies across the Mayo Clinic enterprise. His focus is on molecular therapeutics, including small molecules, peptides, and antibodies. Kyle is also a registered patent agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic in 2020, he was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and has published 20 peer reviewed research articles.

Kyle received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, and his BS in Biochemistry from Valparaiso University.

Technology Licensing Associate

Nolan M. Lawrence

Nolan’s responsibility with Mayo Clinic Ventures is to identify relevant intellectual property, collaborations and negotiate licenses of Mayo Clinic intellectual property.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, he had eight and a half years of patent preparation and prosecution experience at IBM, with a focus on software and artificial intelligence.

Nolan received his JD from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law.

Licensing Manager II

Kathryn E. Lenn

Katie is a licensing manager II in the Mayo Clinic Ventures division, where she performs license negotiations for Mayo Clinic intellectual property. Since joining Business Development in 2019, she has supported the medical devices, healthcare IT, and research tools portfolios. She is currently managing files in the cardiology and orthopedics portfolios and leads the research tools team.

Before joining Business Development, she held roles in clinical workflow, education coordination, and research management at Mayo Clinic.

Katie earned her BS in Education from Winona State University in Winona, MN, and her MA in Health and Human Services from Saint Mary’s University of MN.

Technology Licensing Associate

Kenneth M. Long

Ken joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2022. He acts as a technology licensing manager and supports the medical devices, research tools, and radiology teams, and he manages commercialization of Mayo Clinic intellectual property. Ken negotiates contracts and acts as a conduit between Mayo Clinic inventors, Business Development staff, and external companies.

Before joining MCV Ken worked as a medical physics assistant. In that role he supported Mayo’s Department of Radiation Oncology across both the photon and proton practices.

He received a B.S. Radiation Health Physics from Oregon State University and recently graduated with an M.A. in Health and Human Services Administration from Saint Mary’s University Minnesota.

Director Licensing

Susan B. Mikell

Susan joined Business Development in 2014 and currently serves as a senior licensing manager, leading the diagnostic and device teams within Mayo Clinic Ventures. She is responsible for the management and execution of high value, complex licensing agreements.

Prior to joining Business Development, Susan held the role of Program Coordinator in Cardiovascular Diseases Research at Mayo Clinic.

She received her BA in English from the University of Texas in Austin.

Technology Licensing Associate

Alexandra (Alex) M. Norton

Alex manages Mayo’s intellectual property portfolio and builds relationships with companies to help deliver technologies to market to further Mayo’s mission of patient care.

Before joining MCV, she worked at NC State’s Technology Transfer Office and Penn State Law’s Intellectual Property Clinic helping innovators manage their technologies, file patents, conducting market searches, and much more.

Alex has her Bachelor in Science in Business Administration from Indian River State College and Juris Doctor from Penn State Law with a specialization in Intellectual Property Law.

TECH LICENSING ASSOCIATE

Mallory M. Thomas, PhD

Mallory joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures team in 2025 as a technology licensing associate, supporting commercialization of Mayo Clinic intellectual property.

Before joining MCV, Mallory worked in the Department of Physiology & Biomedical Engineering at Mayo Clinic where she developed novel droplet microfluidic technologies to study respiratory virus infection. She also has experience licensing technologies for the US Department of Defense through an internship with the company TechLink.

Mallory received her PhD in molecular biology with joint training at Montana State University and Mayo Clinic, and her BS in ecology and evolution from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Business & Technology Development

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR
Roman Alvarado, PhD

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR
Kalpana R. Betageri, PhD

Technology Development Associate
Kyle R. Brandy, MS

Director, Technology Development
Karla S. Frohmader Hilsaca, PhD

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR
Harrison A. Fuchs, PhD

Technology Development Associate - FL campus
Alyssa P. Ghuman, MS

Director, Technology Development
Nir Goldenberg

Technology Development Associate
David A. Hutcheson PhD

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR
Alexandra C. Koziel, PhD

Sr. Director of Business Development
Kelly L. Krajnik, MBA

Technology Development Associate
Jamie Kunnappally

Technology Development Associate II
Yu-Wei (Alex) Lin, MS, PhD

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR
Kevin D. Loutherback, PhD

Technology Development Manager
Stefan I. Madansingh, PhD

Technology Development Associate II
Spencer T. Mocarski

TECHNOLOGY DEVEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Kien T. Nguyen, PhD

Senior Director, Business Development
Gloria R. Olivier, PhD

Technology Development Associate II
Shai Ran Sapir, PhD, MBA

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
Morgan Rea, PhD

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR

Roman Alvarado, PhD

Roman joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2025 as a technology development associate, where he supports the development and commercialization of radiology technologies.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, Roman received his BS in applied physics for industry and engineering with an emphasis in biology and opto-electronics from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls in 2019 and his PhD in biophysics from the University of Michigan -Ann Arbor in 2024.

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR

Kalpana R. Betageri, PhD

Kalpana joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of the Department of Business Development in July 2024. As a technology development associate in the biopharma team, she supports technology development and business development of cell and gene therapies.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, Kalpana received a BSE in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Materials Science from the University of Connecticut, an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in Biomedical Science with a focus in Clinical & Translational Science at Mayo Clinic.

Technology Development Associate

Kyle R. Brandy, MS

Kyle joined the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of the Department of Business Development in 2021 and in his role of technology development associate is responsible for facilitating the development and commercialization of Mayo Clinic technologies by working with Mayo Clinic staff in Arizona and external companies, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Prior to joining Business Development, he worked in the Genomics lab within the Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic.

Kyle received his BS in Biochemistry and MS in Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of Minnesota.

Director, Technology Development

Karla S. Frohmader Hilsaca, PhD

Karla joined Business Development’s Mayo Clinic Ventures division in 2018, and as a senior technology development manager she supports technology development and business development of gene and cell therapies advancing through the Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics and across the Mayo Clinic enterprise.

Prior to joining Business Development, she held a role as Program Research Coordinator for the Women’s Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic.

Karla received her BS and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Western Ontario in Canada followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR

Harrison A. Fuchs, PhD

Harrison joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in the Department of Business Development in September 2024 as a technology development associate. In this role, he supports the development and commercialization of biopharmaceutical technologies across Mayo Clinic.

Before joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, Harrison was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus. There, he continued his graduate research, focusing on the role of nucleosome structure and dynamics in chromatin regulation using NMR spectroscopy.

Harrison earned his BS in Biochemistry from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN, and his PhD in Structural Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus.

Technology Development Associate - FL campus

Alyssa P. Ghuman, MS

Alyssa joined Business Development’s Mayo Clinic Ventures division in 2019 and currently serves as a technology development associate, where she evaluates IP potential, determines commercial viability, and supports early technology development for medical Devices and Digital Health technologies coming out of Mayo Clinic Florida. She is based on the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Florida campus.

Prior to her role as Technology Development Associate, Alyssa was a patent liaison within Mayo Clinic Ventures supporting devices, orthopedic, and cardiology patent portfolios from across the enterprise.

She received both her BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Georgia and is a registered Patent Agent with the USPTO.

Director, Technology Development

Nir Goldenberg

Nir joined Business Development in 2022. He is a member of the Mayo Clinic Ventures Executive Committee and leads the Technology Development function, responsible for facilitating the development and commercialization of Mayo Clinic technologies by collaborating with Mayo Clinic staff, external companies, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Prior to joining Mayo, Nir was CEO of Trendlines Innovation Labs (TIL), which focuses on in-house and collaborative invention and investment opportunities in the life science space. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he served as TIL’s VP Business Development. Before Trendlines, he was Director of Commercial Development for Europe at INSIGHTEC Ltd., a global MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery company.

Nir holds a BSc in engineering from La Sapienza University of Rome.

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR

Alex Hafez, PhD

Alex joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2024 as a technology development associate, where he helps drive the development and commercialization of biopharmaceutical and diagnostic technologies in Arizona.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Alex co-founded and served as CEO of Circular Genomics, where he led the development of the first clinical assay using circular RNA biomarkers to predict patient response to antidepressant therapies. He also served as CEO of EquiSeq Inc and held roles as an investment associate at Techstars and a research scientist at the University of New Mexico’s Cancer Center and Department of Neuroscience. Throughout his career, Alex has mentored numerous early-stage life sciences founders, advising on both technology and business development through his involvement with angel groups and venture capital funds.

Alex holds a BS in Biology, an MBA, and a PhD in Biomedical Science, all from the University of New Mexico.

Technology Development Associate

David A. Hutcheson PhD

David joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2023 as a technology development associate where he is responsible for supporting the development and commercialization of biopharmaceutical technologies created by Mayo Clinic researchers and clinicians. His primary areas of focus are support of both Department of Medicine and Neurodegeneration research.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, David was a Research and Teaching Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. His research focused on unraveling the genetic and molecular mechanisms of cell fate specification in the developing central nervous system. He was also a course director and instructor who taught gross anatomy, neuroscience, embryology, and clinical cases to medical and dental students.

David holds a BA in Biology/Psychology from Middlebury College and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Utah and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany.

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR

Alexandra C. Koziel, PhD

Alexandra joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2024 as a technology development associate on the biopharmaceutical team, where she is responsible for supporting the development of and commercialization of new technologies and innovations.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, she worked as a marketing and growth manager at an early-stage startup, Sniffspot, where she built and managed the influencer and ambassador marketing program to help with startup growth.

Alexandra received her BA in Chemistry with a minor in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University in 2019 and her PhD in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University in 2024.

Sr. Director of Business Development

Kelly L. Krajnik, MBA

Kelly joined Business Development in 2006 and is responsible for facilitating the development and commercialization of Mayo Clinic technologies by working with Mayo Clinic staff, external companies, entrepreneurs, and investors. She is a member of the Mayo Clinic Ventures Executive Committee, leads the technology and business development function, and administers MCV’s seed/angel fund program and chairs its investment committee.

Prior to joining Business Development, Kelly worked as a senior research technologist developing and conducting microarray expression protocols in support of Mayo Clinic research programs and served on a Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board.

Kelly received her BS in Microbiology from University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, and her MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She is also a registered Patent Agent with the USPTO.

Technology Development Associate

Jamie Kunnappally

Jamie joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in January 2024 as a technology development associate where she helps facilitate development and identify new technologies for commercialization in Arizona.

Prior to joining Mayo, she worked at INSIGHTEC as a clinical specialist with a product development focus, facilitating the training of physicians on the commercial platform for VIM ablation for essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. She also conducted user testing, served as a technical lead on UX/UI, and supported QA efforts for new software releases. She has previously worked as a research engineer at UT Southwestern, and has contributed to research at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

Jamie holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Biomedical Engineering, both from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Technology Development Associate II

Yu-Wei (Alex) Lin, MS, PhD

Alex joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2022 as a technology development associate, where he supports the development and commercialization of digital health and healthcare IT technologies.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Alex was a postdoctoral research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working on biomaterials synthesis and high-throughput materials discovery using automated transmission electron microscopy. For his research work, Alex was awarded the Apkarian Memorial Scholarship by the Microscopy Society of America in 2022.

Alex received his BS and MS degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University in 2016 and his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering also from Northwestern University in 2020.

ASSOC TECH IP DEV MGR

Kevin D. Loutherback, PhD

Kevin joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2024 as a technology development associate, where he is responsible for supporting the development and commercialization of new technologies and innovations produced by clinicians and research innovators within Mayo Clinic’s Department of Neurology.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, Kevin led a research group developing microfluidic technology for cell therapy manufacturing as an associate consultant in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology at Mayo Clinic. He holds the academic rank of Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology. Before Mayo Clinic, he was a principal engineer at Berkeley Lights, Inc. (now Bruker Cellular Analysis), a biotechnology company developing automated instruments to perform single cell biology workflows targeting biopharma applications.

Kevin holds BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics from UC Irvine and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University. He completed postdoctoral training at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Technology Development Manager

Stefan I. Madansingh, PhD

Stefan joined Business Development in 2021 and is responsible for facilitating the development and commercialization of technologies developed within the Department of Neurological Surgery across the Mayo Clinic Enterprise. He supports development of new medical devices, diagnostic technologies, digital tools, and pharmacological therapies across the neurosurgical and orthopedic specialties. Stefan serves as the secretary and voting member for Mayo Clinic Ventures (MCV)’s seed/angel fund program and is a voting member on the Office of Translation to Practice’s Innovation Accelerator Award (IAA).

Stefan also serves on the Advisory Board of Launch Minnesota, an startup focused initiative from the Minnesota State Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and as a mentor for gener8tor’s gBeta MedTech Accelerator.

Prior to joining Business Development, Stefan completed his post-doctoral training in Assistive and Restorative Technology development at Mayo Clinic.

He holds a PhD in biomechanics and neuromotor control from the University of Houston and received his B. Eng in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Technology Development Associate II

Spencer T. Mocarski

Spencer joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2022 as a technology development associate, where he is responsible for supporting the development and commercialization of new technologies and innovations produced by clinicians and research innovators within Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic Ventures, he worked as a Product Manager at a Nashville-based start-up, Greenlight Medical, where he helped develop and pilot new software products to help health system formularies evaluate drug procurement decisions.

Spencer received his BS in Biomedical Biology from Saint Norbert College in 2018 and his PharmD from Lipscomb University in 2022.

TECHNOLOGY DEVEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Kien T. Nguyen, PhD

Kien joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2023, where he is responsible for facilitating the development and commercialization of technologies from Mayo Clinic’s Department of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Prior to Mayo Clinic, Kien was the CEO of AireHealth, Inc., a digital health company focusing on respiratory remote patient care. He has over 20 years of global medical device experiences, working for Ethicon, Inc. (J&J), Stryker Orthopedics, and Kinetic Concepts, Inc., in a variety of leadership roles.

Kien holds a BSc in Genetics & Cell Biology of the University of MN, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado, and an M.B.A from Columbia Business School.

Senior Director, Business Development

Gloria R. Olivier, PhD

Gloria Olivier, PhD, serves on the executive team of Mayo Clinic Ventures in the Department of Business Development at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Olivier leads the Biopharma team with High-Value Opportunities of the highest strategic value for the Mayo Clinic. Dedicated to identifying and guiding new business partnerships and collaborations to commercialize emerging technologies, Dr. Olivier’s work supports the future of medicine at Mayo Clinic worldwide. She also currently serves as a board member to several start-up companies and leads the equity, inclusion, and diversity efforts for the Department of Business Development.

Before joining Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2017, Dr. Olivier conducted research at Mayo Clinic where she worked on the molecular and cellular biology of prostate cancer.
She also served on the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistance of Olmsted County.

Dr. Olivier was born in Chile and is the first in her family to pursue college and a post-graduate degree. She holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Medical College of Georgia, an MS in Biochemistry from the University of Concepcion, and is also a registered Patent Agent with the USPTO.

Technology Development Associate II

Shai Ran Sapir, PhD, MBA

Shai Ran Sapir, PhD, MBA, is a technology development associate II with the Mayo Clinic Ventures division of Business Development. In his role, Shai supports technology development and manages intellectual property within the cardiovascular division.

He has extensive experience in research and technology commercialization and previously worked as a business analyst at the tech transfer office of Tel Aviv University.

Shai holds a PhD in molecular biology and an MBA.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Morgan Rea, PhD

Morgan joined Mayo Clinic Ventures in 2023 as a technology development associate, where she helps advance Mayo’s IP and identify new technologies for commercialization.

Prior to joining Mayo, she worked as an engineer in the Etch division at Intel.

Morgan received her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Patent Prosecution

Senior Patent Liaison
Sebastien Founta, PhD

Senior Patent Liaison
Eva C. Kathmann, PhD

Supervisor, Patent Liaisons
Chelsea M. Lassiter, PhD

Senior Patent Liaison

Sebastien Founta, PhD

Sebastien evaluates the patentability of Mayo Clinic inventions and facilitates the filing, prosecution, and maintenance of patents in the radiology and healthcare IT fields. He has been working in this role since 2019 and is a registered patent agent.

In addition to the experience in intellectual property he has gained at Mayo Clinic Ventures, Sebastien has research experience as a physics post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as teaching experience as a high school science teacher.

Sebastien holds a PhD in physics from Université Grenoble Alpes, France.

Patent Liaison

Lena Haidous

PATENT LIAISON

Grant Johnson, JD

Senior Patent Liaison

Eva C. Kathmann, PhD

Eva evaluates invention disclosures to identify potentially patentable material, evaluates patent correspondence, performs right to use searches, analyzes patent threats related to Mayo tests/products and helps identify freedom to operate solutions. She supports the Devices, Diagnostics and Orthopedics teams as well as DLMP.

Eva is a registered patent agent. She received a BA in chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Morris and a PhD from Mayo Graduate School in the biomedical sciences specializing in pharmacology.

Supervisor, Patent Liaisons

Chelsea M. Lassiter, PhD

Chelsea’s role is to review patentability of technologies and helping to navigate the process of filing patent application with the Department of Business Development’s external counsel.

Chelsea trained as a laboratory research scientist studying in the fields of stem cell biology, immunology, cancer biology, and molecular cell biology for 10 years. This experience helps her discuss advancing and safeguarding technologies with innovators through the patent process.

Chelsea has a PhD from Wesleyan University and did postdoctoral training at the University of Minnesota. She has two undergraduate degrees from Wichita State University: a B.S in Biochemistry and a B.A in Psychology.

Patent Liaison

Anna A. Song

Anna Song joined Business Development in 2022 and is responsible for evaluating invention disclosures coming from Mayo’s research and clinical activities, identifying new potentially patentable inventions, and working with outside law firms and attorneys to process these disclosures and any resulting patent applications. She also manages Mayo’s patent portfolio and implements strategies to maximize the value of Mayo’s intellectual property.

Prior to her role in Business Development, Anna was a patent attorney for You Me Patent Law Firm and Lex IP Meister PLLC.

Anna has been admitted to the bar as an attorney in Minnesota and California and is a registered patent attorney. She earned a B.S. in Genetic Engineering and a M.S. in Molecular Biology from Korea University, and a J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis.

Corporate Development

Director - Business Partnerships
Patrick (Pat) P. Bezenek, MBA, FACHE

Director - Business Partnership
Dustin E. Bilton, MBA, FACHE

Director, Corporate Development Operations
Michael (Mike) J. Boguszewski

Senior Corporate Development Associate
Elizabeth (Beth) A. Determan, MBA

Corporate Development Manager
Mary S. Fan

Corporate Development Manager
Andrew (Andy) T. Farmer, MBA

Director, Corporate Development (International)
Joshua E. Francis, MBA

Senior Director, Corporate Development
Michael (Mike) J. Harris

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Valerie Ho, MBA

Corporate Development Manager
Jennifer (Jen) L. LaNasa, MBA

Director, Corporate Development
Muddassir Laique, CFA

Senior Manager - Corporate Development
George (Chris) C. Lawrence

Corporate Development Manager
John N. Maragos, MBA

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Paola Mita

Senior Director, Corporate Development
Melissa M. Noel, MS, MBA

CORPORATE DEV ASSOCIATE
Rich W. Pelzel, MBA

Director, Corporate Development
Craig W. Pike, MBA

SENIOR MANAGER - CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT - Platform
Nadia A. Poluhina, MBA, CFA

ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR-FLORIDA
Caroline S. Russell, FACHE

Director, Corporate Development
Anantha V. Santhanam, PhD, MBA

Corporate Dev Associate
Lauren A. Seidenschmidt, MHA

Senior Director, Corporate Development
Prathib Skandakumaran, MBA

Corporate Development Manager
Paul (Matthew) M. Steinmetz, MBA

SENIOR DIRECTOR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Emily J. Wampfler

Director - Business Partnerships

Patrick (Pat) P. Bezenek, MBA, FACHE

In his role as director of business partnerships within the Corporate Development division of Business Development, Pat is responsible for identifying and developing non-traditional opportunities to expand the clinical and geographic reach for Mayo Collaborative Services.

Prior to this role, Pat served as the regional director for Mayo Clinical Laboratories Sales and Service. Before joining Mayo Clinic, Pat has held leadership positions in sales, marketing, and clinical operations.

Pat is an ASCP-certified clinical laboratory scientist who holds an MBA from National American University and a Bachelor of Business Management from University of Mary. Pat earned his Fellowship credential from the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Director - Business Partnership

Dustin E. Bilton, MBA, FACHE

Dustin has been with Mayo Clinic since 2011, starting as a regional manager for MCL and promoted twice to regional sales director and international director of global business partnerships. In early 2022, he joined the Corporate Development team as the leader of Laboratory Partnerships.

By collaborating across the areas of clinical practice, medical education, and research, their team sources and develops new business opportunities for the benefit of Mayo Clinic and patients everywhere. In his role, he is responsible for driving acquisitions, joint ventures, and other strategic transactions for Mayo Clinic’s diagnostics arm across the world.

In terms of achievements, he led a 7-member team as a regional director of sales, successfully earning five consecutive years of revenue and territory growth awards within the Mayo Clinic Laboratories organization – a feat never before accomplished in the 52 years that MCL had been in existence.

Dustin received his Bachelor of Science at California State Polytechnic University and his Master of Business Administration from University of Southern California (USC). In 2018, he received a Fellowship of American College of Healthcare Executives to earn his FACHE credential.

Director, Corporate Development Operations

Michael (Mike) J. Boguszewski

Mike’s role with operations includes heading up recruitment and staff development, managing staff project allocation, overseeing tracking and reporting on our key performance indicators, and supporting memberships and subscriptions with external companies whose services contribute to our ‘toolkit”. Mike also serves as the liaison for Corporate Development with Mayo Clinic’s Education Shield.

Managing staff, hiring new team members, and working with staff on professional development is an ongoing role. Corp Dev staff has increased over 50% over the past several years under his stewardship, and they have a successful track record of team member growth and advancement. In his work as a Corp Dev professional, he is engaged currently on several projects with external companies.

He has his MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Evanston, IL, with a triple Major in Management, Finance and Marketing, with an additional concentration in International Management.

Senior Corporate Development Associate

Elizabeth (Beth) A. Determan, MBA

Beth joined the Corporate Development division of Business Development in 2022. In her current role as a senior corporate development associate, Beth assists in the evaluation, analysis, and development of new business opportunities for Mayo Clinic.

Prior to joining Business Development, she served as a Financial Analyst at Mayo Clinic in Research. She previously worked at IBM as a Financial Analyst in Federal Contracts.

Beth received her BS from Winona State University with an emphasis in accounting, business administration and human resource management and her MBA from Upper Iowa University.

Corporate Development Manager

Mary S. Fan

Mary serves Mayo Clinic’s three shields by driving the evaluation, analysis, and execution of mission-aligned business ventures and strategic transactions, with a focus on high value and international opportunities.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic and Corporate Development, Mary spent seven years in telemedicine strategy and transaction advisory serving some of the largest health systems in the country. Recent initiatives at Mayo Clinic include digital primary care, digital chronic care management, GPT integration, and international cancer care collaborations.

Mary earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University summa cum laude, and Master of Public Health from Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

Corporate Development Manager

Andrew (Andy) T. Farmer, MBA

Andy performs investment due diligence and handles the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) Fund administration.

Prior to joining the Corporate Development team, Andy worked in patent law, Financial Planning and Analysis FP&A, and treasury.

Andy earned his JD and MBA degrees from Arizona State University.

Director, Corporate Development (International)

Joshua E. Francis, MBA

Joshua joined the Corporate Development team in August of 2017 and is responsible for driving strategic activity internationally, with specific focus on the European and Asia Pacific regions.

Prior to Corporate Development, Joshua worked as a consultant doing financial planning and analysis, strategic cost reduction, and post-merger integration.

Joshua has his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Florida, and an MBA with a concentration in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Senior Director, Corporate Development

Michael (Mike) J. Harris

Mike is focused on creating strategic value and revenue opportunities for Mayo Clinic through investments and partnerships. He is a member of many investment committees and several boards. Mike is a managing partner of the Mayo-ASU MedTech Accelerator.

He has led over fifty buy-side transactions, served on over forty boards, and has also been a managing partner in five venture capital funds.

Mike has a Bachelor of Arts, English and Physics from St. John’s University in Minnesota, and a Master of Arts, Economics and Public Policy from the University of Minnesota.

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Valerie Ho, MBA

Valerie is currently a senior associate in Mayo Clinic’s Corporate Development team, where she supports the evaluation, analysis, and development of new business opportunities, including equity investments, new ventures, strategic partnerships, and M&A.

Prior to Mayo Clinic, Valerie worked in early-stage deep tech and B2B investments at Cocoon Capital, a venture capital firm based in Singapore. She previously worked at Temasek, a state-owned investment fund, in a team focused on developing new platforms in emerging industries strategic to Singapore’s future. Before her MBA, Valerie worked in EY’s consulting department, helping clients with their data analytics and digital transformation journeys.

Valerie graduated from Columbia Business School with an MBA in 2021 and holds a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College in California.

Corporate Development Manager

Jennifer (Jen) L. LaNasa, MBA

As a manager in the Corporate Development department, Jen assists with the evaluation, analysis, and development of new business opportunities for Mayo Clinic.

Prior to coming to Mayo Clinic, she spent several years working at a Twin-Cities based investment bank in a variety of roles.

Jen has an MBA with a finance concentration from the University of St. Thomas and a BA from the College of St. Scholastica in lovely Duluth MN.

Director, Corporate Development

Muddassir Laique, CFA

Muddassir [mu-thus-sir] is a business development professional with a proven track record of sourcing and identifying international investment opportunities that meet the strategic vision of Mayo Clinic. Muddassir has experience in M&A, direct investment, co-investment, joint ventures, and consulting partnerships.

Most recent transactions include the enhanced strategic relationship with Medica Sur, the joint-venture and acquisition of Medically Home, Series A equity investment in National Resilience Industries, and Series B investment in R-Zero.

Muddassir has a Master of Arts in Economics from Ryerson University, a Post-baccalaureate Finance Certificate from Northwestern University, and currently holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Senior Manager - Corporate Development

George (Chris) C. Lawrence

Chris leads and supports initiatives to drive strategic and financial value for both the Practice and for Mayo Collaborative Services (MCS). Based in Jacksonville, he also supports growth opportunities for the Florida campus.

Chris has 20+ years of health care experience developing transformational opportunities across both payer and provider sectors. Most recently, he helped lead and develop a Proactive Business Development process for the Practice. Working directly with Practice teams, this effort has led to the identification and development of transformational opportunities for Transplant and Cancer to achieve 2030 strategies.

While at Mayo Clinic, Chris led the finance efforts for an $80M upscale hotel project on the Mayo campus. He also led the financial valuation and synergy model creation for three multi-million-dollar acquisition opportunities for Mayo Clinic Labs. At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Chris led the market launch of a disruptive freestanding high acuity urgent care company from concept to execution. In addition, he managed a $260M investment portfolio of joint ventures and subsidiaries.

Chris has an MBA and undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Florida.

Corporate Development Manager

John N. Maragos, MBA

John provides evaluation, analysis, and development of new business opportunities for Mayo Clinic. He joined Mayo Clinic in 2015, supporting the Biorepositories Program within the Center for Individualized Medicine. He served as program manager of the All of Us Research Program, partnering administratively with two principal investigators while overseeing nearly $400 million in research grant allocations.

Prior to Mayo Clinic, John worked in both the private and non-profit sectors for more than fifteen years. He served in roles within finance, management, and business consulting.

John earned his MBA and a Master of Project Management from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. He holds bachelor degrees in Business & Administration and Acoustical Engineering, graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and he is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Paola Mita

Senior Director, Corporate Development

Melissa M. Noel, MS, MBA

Melissa Noel is a Senior Director on the Corporate Development team dedicated to supporting the Practice. She and her team assist Practice leaders in meeting their strategic objectives and solving wide-scale challenges through external partnerships.

Prior to Mayo, Melissa worked in Management Consulting with Fortune 50 companies in the life sciences industry on strategic growth and operations transformation initiatives.

Melissa earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an MBA in the Executive program at the University of St. Thomas.

CORPORATE DEV ASSOCIATE

Rich W. Pelzel, MBA

Rich joined Mayo Clinic’s Corporate Development team in 2024 as an associate. He focuses on evaluating, analyzing, and developing new business opportunities.

Before joining Mayo Clinic, Rich worked in business management and corporate development at Zinpro Corporation, a leading-edge agricultural chemical company that offers sustainable nutraceutical trace minerals. He has worked with organizations worldwide in developing strategy, growth, and operational transformations.

Rich earned his Bachelor of Science in Communications from Saint Cloud State University, Saint Cloud, Minnesota, and his Master of Business Administration from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Director, Corporate Development

Craig W. Pike, MBA

Craig is currently a director in Corporate Development, leading institution-wide strategic partnership, and M&A initiatives. He began his career at Mayo Clinic in 2007, serving in an array of finance roles before joining Mayo Clinic’s Strategic Planning group. Craig then joined Business Development in 2015, transitioned to Mayo Clinic International upon its’ inception in 2020 where he helped establish finance and data analytics functions for the new business. Craig rejoined Corporate Development in late 2022.

Prior to his tenure at Mayo Clinic, Craig worked in a variety of finance roles at several regional and national organizations.

He holds BA degrees in Accounting and Finance and received his MBA from Augsburg University.

SENIOR MANAGER - CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT - Platform

Nadia A. Poluhina, MBA, CFA

ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR-FLORIDA

Caroline S. Russell, FACHE

Director, Corporate Development

Anantha V. Santhanam, PhD, MBA

In his role as senior manager in Corporate Development, Anantha develops new business opportunities for Mayo Clinic to meet the organization’s strategic priorities and goals. He collaborates with leadership teams across the enterprise to structure partnerships and create new ventures and spin-offs, with emphasis in the radiology and radiation oncology space.

Anantha received his PhD in Pharmacology from Birla Institute of Technology & Science in India and his MBA from Carlson School of Management – University of Minnesota.

Corporate Dev Associate

Lauren A. Seidenschmidt, MHA

Lauren joined the Corporate Development team as an associate in March 2023.

She has more than ten years of experience working in health care primarily coming from her tenure at the Medical University of South Carolina which included the roles of Palliative Care Program Manager and Senior Internal Consultant. A career highlight for Lauren was receiving $1.26 million in funding to start the first, non-federally funded Palliative Telemedicine service in South Carolina.

In May 2020, Lauren received her MHA degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and obtained her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2022.

Senior Director, Corporate Development

Prathib Skandakumaran, MBA

Prathib is a Senior Director in Corporate Development where he leads deal flow, investments, and partnerships for Mayo Clinic Platform. Since joining Business Development in 2019, he has led transactions with Medically Home, Lucem Health, TripleBlind, Diagnostic Robotics and Becton Dickinson.

Prathib previously worked in health tech product management at Surescripts and in management consulting at Booz Allen. He holds a BS in Bioengineering from University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business

Corporate Development Manager

Paul (Matthew) M. Steinmetz, MBA

SENIOR DIRECTOR-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Emily J. Wampfler

Emily is a senior director of business development, focusing on supporting relationships that enable the growth of Mayo Collaborative Services.

She began her career at Mayo as a research technologist studying molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s. This led to further involvement in the genomics and personalized medicine space spanning across patent prosecution, technology development, and corporate development. She supported the creation of Mayo Clinic Platform and later served as a product manager within that business unit.

Outside of her Mayo experience, Emily worked at GRAIL managing strategic partnerships aimed at advancing multi-cancer early detection.

Emily earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a Master’s in Cell Biology and Genetics from the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management.