Join us: Panel Discussion at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
The Bay Area Global Health Alliance is hosting a panel discussion, Reimagining Healthcare in Emerging Markets: The Future of Healthcare Innovation and Investment, at the renowned J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, January 10 from 5:15-6:00 PM in San Francisco.
If you are already an official attendee of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, access to the panel discussion is first come first serve and no registration is required. For external guests, we are at capacity and are no longer accepting registrations. To receive a link to the live webcast, please sign up here.
Emerging markets are home to the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world. An expanding middle-class and groundbreaking innovation are fueling an unprecedented potential and growth in demand for healthcare. Whether it's expanding clinical trial networks and development efficiency, developing local drug and diagnostic manufacturing, or fostering the growth of healthtech entrepreneurs across India and Africa, there’s no shortage of investment opportunities to consider.
Our expert panelists (see below) will discuss how innovation and technology are reshaping the healthcare landscape in emerging economies, creating opportunities for investors to support groundbreaking solutions that tackle healthcare disparities, improving access to care, and enhancing patient outcomes. The panel discussion will also examine collaborative partnerships between investors, healthcare startups, governments and NGOs, while highlighting the opportunities for ecosystem building by supporting not only startups, but also educational institutions, research initiatives, and multi-sector collaborations.
Join us in exploring how forward-thinking companies and investors are strategically positioning themselves amidst demographic shifts and evolving markets - navigating through strategic investments and cultivating novel partnerships to build value for their organizations and diverse stakeholders.
PANELISTS
Ken Gustavsen, Executive Director, Social Business Innovation, Merck.
Ken Gustavsen is the Executive Director of Social Business Innovation at Merck, where he manages the company’s venture capital impact investing portfolio and coordinates the Social Business Innovation global engagement team. He has been at Merck since 2000 in a variety of roles, with a focus on innovative approaches to expanding access to healthcare in the developing world and emerging markets. Before joining Merck, Ken led a post-war relief and development program in Kosovo for the non-profit organization World Relief, involving microfinance banking and housing reconstruction. Prior to World Relief, Ken served for 6 years in the United States Navy in a variety of assignments. Ken received a BS in oceanography from the United States Naval Academy, holds an MBA in finance and global business from Rutgers University, and completed the Advanced Finance Program at the Wharton School.
Nafisa Jiwani, Managing Director, Health Initiatives, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
Nafisa Jiwani is Managing Director for Health Initiatives at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), America’s development bank. As a Managing Director, Jiwani serves as a senior adviser to the agency’s Chief Executive Officer, providing guidance and leadership on policy and transactional matters focused on Global Health. Additionally, Jiwani is spearheading DFC’s Health and Prosperity Initiative, which seeks to mobilize capital to strengthen health systems and improve resiliency in developing countries. Prior to joining the agency, Jiwani served as the Deputy Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on Value-Based Care where she led strategic department-wide priorities on maternal morbidity and mortality, sepsis and kidney care, social determinants of health and artificial intelligence/predictive analytics. Before taking her role at HHS, Jiwani worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a Team Lead for Policy and Partnerships in the Office of the Associate Director for Policy and Strategy. During her time at CDC, she focused her efforts on health systems transformation and was responsible for translating evidence into payment policy. Jiwani’s previous experience includes work in the fields of international development, clinical psychiatry research, youth development and newborn screening translational research. Jiwani earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Public Health in Management and Policy degree from the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.
Prashant Yadav, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development; Affiliate Professor, INSEAD; Lecturer, Harvard Medical School.
Prashant Yadav is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, an Affiliate Professor at INSEAD, and a Lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Prashant Yadav is a globally recognized scholar in the area of healthcare supply chains. He is the author of many peer-reviewed scientific publications and his work has also been featured in prominent print and broadcast media including The Economist, The Financial Times, Nature, and BBC. Prashant Yadav is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and Affiliate Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD. Yadav’s work focuses on improving healthcare supply chains and designing better supply chains for products with social benefits. He is the author of many peer reviewed scientific publications and his work has been featured in prominent print and broadcast media including The Economist, The Financial Times, Nature, and BBC. Yadav’s research papers have been the recipient of best paper awards from the Production and Operations Management Society, INFORMS, and scientific bodies. Over the last 15 years, Yadav has worked closely with multiple country governments and global organizations in improving supply chains for medicines and health products. Yadav’s policy advisory roles have included: Strategy Leader-Supply Chain at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chair of the Market Dynamics Advisory Group of the Global Fund, Co-chair of Procurement & Supply Chain Management at the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines. Yadav has been invited for expert testimony on issues related to medicine supply chains in the US Congress and legislative bodies in other countries. Yadav also serves on the advisory boards of many global organizations and social enterprises. In his previous roles, Yadav has worked as Strategy Leader-Supply Chain at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Vice President of Healthcare at the William Davidson Institute and Faculty at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan; Professor of Supply Chain Management at the MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program and Research Affiliate at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics.
Krista Donaldson, Alliance Board Member; Director of Innovation to Impact, Stanford University Byers Center for Biodesign.
MODERATOR
The panel will be moderated by Alliance Board Member, Krista Donaldson, Director of Innovation to Impact at Stanford University Byers Center for Biodesign. Donaldson is an engineer, designer, author, and entrepreneur who has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, TED speaker, and a GLG Social Impact Fellow. She was also named one of Fast Company’s “50 Designers Shaping the Future.” Donaldson is the Director of Innovation to Impact at Stanford University’s Byers Center for Biodesign, where her work focuses on ensuring design tools and processes are broadly applicable across global markets. She is also part of the team establishing the East Africa Biodesign Program at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. In addition to her work at Stanford she serves on a number of boards and works with organizations to promote financing of local medtech innovation in emerging markets. Prior to joining the Byers Center, Donaldson was the founder and CEO of Equalize Health where she addressed health inequities through the design and scaling of disruptive medical devices that treated over 1.8M patients – mostly children and young people – in 80 countries. Equalize Health filled a critical gap in global health by bridging innovation with global distribution to ensure that solutions sustainably reached the people who needed them. Peter Singer of the Effective Altruism movement called Equalize Health “one of the world’s best charities” because of its cost effectiveness and exemplary end-to-end processes. Donaldson also served as an Economic Officer at the U.S. Department of State where she managed part of Iraq’s reconstruction portfolio, co-founded the startup Safehub (acquired by Bitium, USA), designed water pumps at KickStart International (Kenya) and worked on a range of projects at the design firm IDEO (USA). Donaldson holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University, master’s degrees in Product Design and Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, also from Stanford. She has published widely in design, global health, mechanical engineering, and engineering education, and is on the boards of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance and Design for Good. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, she now lives with her family in San Francisco, CA.
WITH OPENING REMARKS
Raj Panjabi, former White House Senior Director.
Raj Panjabi will provide opening remarks. One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, Raj Panjabi is a renowned physician, entrepreneur, and former White House official.
Dr. Panjabi served as White House Senior Director, leading the pandemic and biological threats office for President Biden at the National Security Council. He played a pivotal role in the largest global vaccination campaign in history against COVID-19 and numerous infectious disease outbreak responses. He oversaw White House efforts to prevent the next pandemic, including playing a lead role in implementing the National Biodefense Strategy, American Pandemic Preparedness Plan, President’s Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing, and the U.S. Global Health Security Act. Panjabi also led the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative.
Panjabi is Entrepreneur In Residence at Emerson Collective, co-founder at Last Mile Health, and on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Twice listed as one of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders by FORTUNE and named one of TIME’s 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare, Panjabi has received the TED Prize, Clinton Global Citizen Award, Skoll Award for Social Innovation, and World Economic Forum’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
Panjabi trained in medicine and public health at the University of North Carolina, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.