Where IS Healthcare Going in 2024 and Beyond
Annual Conference
Biographies
Opening Keynote
Dr. David Vequist, Professor, H-E-B School of Business, University of the Incarnate Word, Founder or UIW’s Center for Medical Tourism.
Dr. David George Vequist IV is a Professor of Management in the H-E-B School of Business & Administration and the founder/Director of the Center for Medical Tourism Research, part of the Liza and Jack Lewis Center of the Americas. Before joining UIW, Dr. Vequist was an executive for Methodist Healthcare and previously and a consultant for Ernst & Young.
Morning Panel: Innovations and Pathways in Healthcare Entrepreneurship
Ben Perkins, Managing Partner, pH Partners
Ben Perkins oversees daily operations at PHP and leads the global healthcare advisory and capital formation practice. Ben is based in Austin, Texas. Ben has over 20 years of experience advising companies in the Healthcare and Life Sciences sectors. He has worked with leading pharma, medtech and diagnostic companies on equity and debt financings, merger and acquisition transactions. In addition, Ben has advised dozens of smaller life science companies on partnership and licensing agreements with leading global companies.
Bianca Rhodes, President and CEO, Knight Aerospace
Bianca Rhodes brings years of leadership and experience to her position as Knight Aerospace’s President and CEO. She has ushered in a new era of innovation with the introduction of the company’s Aeromedical Bio-Containment Module (ABCM) and Next-Generation ATGL for military aircraft.
Rhodes began her career in banking, as a commercial banker for San Antonio’s second-largest bank: the National Bank of Commerce. Nearly a decade into her tenure, she transitioned to a corporate finance role with TexCom Management Services, a computer leasing company. Rhodes helped TexCom consolidate a 34-bank group, which positioned the company to be sold to Intelogic Trace (NYSE: IT), for which she became the Chief Financial Officer.
Morris Miller, CEO, Xenex
Morris Miller is a managing partner at Tectonic Ventures as well as the Chief Executive Officer at Xenex Disinfection Services. Morris co-founded and provided the initial funding for Xenex, which produces a Robot used to help reduce pathogen transmission in hospitals. Previously he co-founded Rackspace Managed Hosting (NYSE:RAX) (brought private by Apollo for $4.3 billion). Morris also founded Curtis Hill Publishing, the first company to publish Texas case law on CD-ROM, which he successfully sold to Thomson Legal Publishing. Originally from San Antonio, Morris is a graduate of the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, and Phillips Exeter Academy.
Armando Polanco, President and CEO, Apollo Vanguard
Apollo Vanguard specializes in a Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Programs to greatly reduce prescription cost. This includes mail order and targeted programs for specific drugs as well as a Pharmaco Travel as an option to obtain Brand Named Specialty Prescriptions while saving 38% to 75% of US pricing.
The company also offers a Pharmacogenomics program to genetically determine best prescriptions based upon a patients genetic profile. The program, also known as personalized medicine, helps patients avoid adverse reactions and improve efficacy of Rx.
Luncheon Keynote: Leadership, Innovation, and Community: The Wolff Vision for San Antonio
Nelson Wolff
Nelson William Wolff (born October 27, 1940) is a retired American judge and Democratic politician from San Antonio, Texas. He represented Bexar County in the Texas House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and the Texas Senate from 1973 to 1975. He served on the San Antonio City Council from 1987 to 1991 and then as mayor of San Antonio from 1991 to 1995.[4] He served as Bexar county judge from 2001 until December 31, 2022.
Robert J. Rivard
Robert “Bob” Rivard is a veteran American journalist whose 46-year career has taken him to dozens of countries around the world and to 48 states (still have not made it to Hawaii!).
Bob has worked for five different Texas newspapers, beginning his career on the border at the Brownsville Herald, then moving to the Corpus Christi Caller, the Dallas Times-Herald and then, after eight years with Newsweek magazine as a foreign correspondent and chief of correspondents managing its journalists around the world, back to Texas, first to the San Antonio Light and then the San Antonio Express-News.
Roundtable Session: Collaborative Conversations at the Crossroads of Business and Healthcare
Kevin Wood, Chair, Healthcare Industry Group, Winstead PC
As chair of our Healthcare Industry Group, Kevin Wood assists all types of healthcare providers in navigating the complex and ever-changing rules that control how they can enter business arrangements with each other and to ensure regulatory compliance. Kevin draws on his deep knowledge of the healthcare industry and its regulatory agencies to ensure his clients are aware of the latest challenges facing those in the healthcare industry, providers and non-providers alike. He works closely with his team to stay ahead of the latest challenges and comes alongside healthcare providers to find practical solutions to meet and overcome these challenges.
VC Session with Austin Medtech Connect: Investing Across the Austin / San Antonio Corridor
Jawad T. Ali, MD, General Surgery, Ascension Medical Group
Dr. Jawad Ali is a general surgeon in Kyle, Texas and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Ascension Seton Hays Hospital and Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin.
Dr. Ali has over ten yeears experience working hand-in-hand with medical technology companies. In particular, he has focused the areas of digital health, surgical technology and patient engagement.
Afternoon Panel: Humanitarian Innovations: Shaping a Healthier World
Mary Stefl, Professor Emerita, Trinity University
Dr. Stefl is now Professor Emerita of Health Care Administration at Trinity University. She was a long-term former Department Chair, and former Dean of the Division of Behavioral and Administrative Studies. She has been with Trinity since 1984. She currently spends some time with Trinity’s Development Office engaging alumni of the health care program.
She has assumed leadership roles in the national professional community, having chaired organizations concerned with health administration education and program accreditation. She is also active with a number of local non-profit and professional organizations, and now serves on the boards of the San Antonio Humane Society and the Master Leadership Program of Greater San Antonio.
Since 1996, she and colleague Richard Butler, Ph.D. have prepared (for the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and other local entities) more than thirty economic impact studies of the region’s Healthcare & Bioscience, Manufacturing, Aerospace, Hospitality, and Information Technology industries.
Walter Ulrich, Medical Bridges
President & CEO of Medical Bridges, a life-changing and life-saving non-profit serving the global poor by providing needed medical supplies and equipment to clinics and hospitals. Walter was recently named a Charity Navigator Nonprofit Advisor. A popular speaker, he has been featured in several business publications and the Houston Business Journal.
Walter is a member of the Texas Advisory Committee of the bipartisan US Global Leadership Coalition and has participated in virtual visits with senior staff of members of the US House of Representatives and Senate.
In 2018, Walter served as interim CEO of a company that provides financial services to the the poor laying the foundation to offer health care services to the same community throughout Texas. In 2017, he concluded his assignment as president and CEO of Houston Technology Center (HTC). HTC clients have created nearly 6,000 jobs and enjoyed $3.5 billion in funding and transactions.
Dr. Amanda Marshall-Rodriguez is Surgeon founder of Tru Ortho, the country’s only all-female multispecialty orthopaedic clinic.
She is a graduate of UTHealth Science Center in Houston, Carolinas Medical Center Orthopaedic Residency, and RUSH University Joint Reconstruction Fellowship.
Dr. Marshall-Rodriguez served on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Department of Orthopedics in San Antonio as a clinician scientist for 8 years. She remains actively involved in research on the use of our body’s stem cells for future regenerative potential. She dedicates a large portion of her time on humanitarian efforts through her non-profit charity, Women Orthopedists Global Outreach, providing free knee replacements to those around the globe via Operation Walk as well as those in need locally through OpWalk USA.
Eric Estrada, Form Communities
Mr. Estrada has served with Form Communities since 2015. He came on board in 2015 as the Director of Operations and in 2020 was made the Executive Director. Form Communities serves individuals with histories of mental illness. The organization serves over 700 individuals each year.
Prior to joining Form Communities, Mr. Estrada was a Management Consultant the the firm Booz Allen and prior to that he served as a Program Analyst for the US Census Bureau.
Precision Group Mixer
Join us for the tour and celebration.