Meet the speakers

David L. Holmberg is president and chief executive officer of Highmark Health, a $27.1 billion blended health organization that includes one of America’s largest Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers and a growing regional hospital and physician network. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Highmark Health’s 44,000 employees serve millions of customers nationwide through the nonprofit organization’s affiliated businesses, including Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, HM Insurance.

Holmberg is shaping the future of the healthcare industry by engaging with trade associations, regulators, peer organizations, strategic partners, and government to resolve critical health care issues. In 2016, Highmark Health sued the U.S. government in federal claims court, resulting in a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that affirmed that the federal government must fulfill its promises to preserve the trust that ensures the successful of public-private partnerships, including the ACA marketplace.

Despite national challenges including inflation and staffing, Holmberg has overseen Highmark Health’s consistently strong consolidated financial performance—proving the success of the blended health and diversified business model. During his tenure, the organization has grown from $15 billion in revenue in 2013 to $27 billion in 2023.

Holmberg has also expanded the footprint of the organization’s insurance markets to western and central New York and southeastern Pennsylvania, while also growing the government business segment. Allegheny Health Network has also grown to include 14 hospitals in western Pennsylvania and five multi-specialty medical malls.

Holmberg is investing to build a better-connected ecosystem for health, coverage and care, designed to improve the consumer and clinician experience. In 2022, Highmark Health launched My Highmark, a first-of-its-kind health platform providing seamless care navigation, shared care plans, virtual and digital health, simplified bill payment, and cost transparency to Highmark’s 7 million members.

Christine Turner is Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Santa Clara Family Health Plan (SCFHP). She brings more than 30 years of experience in health plan operations, information systems, and contract administration to SCFHP. As COO, Ms. Turner provides leadership and direction to operational areas including Customer Service, Enrollment & Eligibility, Grievance & Appeals, Marketing & Communications, Medicare Outreach, Provider Network Operations and Vendor Management.

Prior to joining SCFHP in 2015, Ms. Turner was Chief Operations Officer at Soundpath Health, a subsidiary of Catholic Health Initiatives, having previously held positions at Soundpath Health in Network Development and Sales & Marketing. Before joining Soundpath Health, she held operations and provider network management positions at The Polyclinic (Seattle) and PacifiCare of Washington.

Ms. Turner earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Washington.

Jeff Leger is President of Shoppers Drug Mart, a leading Canadian pharmacy retailer and one of the most trusted retail brands in the country. Shoppers Drug Mart is a division of Loblaw
Companies Limited.

With its roots in pharmacy, Shoppers Drug Mart has been named one of the most admired companies in Canada on the Leger Reputation Ranking; one of the most trusted brands by the Gustavson Brand Trust Index, a study that gauged consumer trust in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; and one of the most valuable Canadian brands in the Brandz 2020 report.

As the country’s leading pharmacy retailer, Shoppers Drug Mart has a network of thousands of established healthcare professional delivering care and wellness to millions of Canadians, both in-store and virtually.

In his role at Shoppers Drug Mart, Jeff oversees the enterprise-wide strategy to provide a digitally connected healthcare solution for Canadians, making care convenient and seamless. His team is responsible for a number of efforts to make healthcare more accessible to Canadians, including the introduction of the PC Health app, investments in virtual care through Maple, the expansion of the retail brand to The Health Clinic by Shoppers and the acquisition of Canada’s leading physical therapy clinics, Lifemark.

Jeff serves on the Board of 2 Digital Health startups: Maple and League, and is an active contributor to industry associations, including acting as past Chair of the NPAC Board of Directors
for several years.

In 2019, Jeff was recognized as Chain Drug Review’s 2019 Retailer of the Year. A proud native of Moncton, New Brunswick, Jeff is a licensed pharmacist and has worked in the
hospital and generic pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors prior to joining Shoppers Drug Mart in 2008 as Director, Category Management. Jeff holds a BSc. Pharm. from Dalhousie University and M.B.A. from Université de Moncton.

Lisa Prasad is the Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer for Henry Ford Health, a world-renowned integrated healthcare system in Detroit, Michigan. She has successfully created and driven the institution’s innovation strategy that leverages technology, intellectual property, and clinical expertise to improve quality and access of patient care. Henry Ford Innovations is recognized nationally as the leading innovation program for healthcare equity. Lisa has also led the System’s successful entry into international markets through licensed hospital projects in the Middle East and India, as well as the Global Technology Program for Henry Ford to partner with early-stage companies around the world and launch them in the U.S. market. Lisa’s diverse accomplishments spanning healthcare innovation, university administration, international business and community development have made her a respected and sought-after leader at the nexus of healthcare innovation and business value creation.

Colin is General Manager, Product & Core Platform at Amwell. His team aims to deliver a high-quality, engaging consumer experience, insightful product analytics & reporting, and an extensible platform that supports the integration demands of the industry. With over a decade of experience in healthcare & video technologies, he has held several roles in Product Management & Solution Consulting. Prior to his time at Amwell, Colin’s background includes roles in digital marketing and financial services. He received his MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst & is a Boston native.

Tracy Saula is the Senior Vice President of Product & Health Experience for Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh-based national health and wellness organization and the second-largest integrated health care delivery and financing system in America. In this role, Tracy is responsible for leading the teams that develop health plan insurance products, revolutionize the digital experience, and design solutions aimed at optimizing the health care journey and experience for customers and clinicians. These solutions include offerings designed to manage or improve a person’s physical, mental, and social health with the goal of simplifying the care journey – freeing people to engage in their health by addressing head-on all the things they do not like about the health care system. In addition, they focus on clinician support by addressing the barriers that make it difficult for them to do what they do best – all supported by a new, transformative digital experience.

A passionate health executive with a broad array of experiences and successes at the health plan, provider, and integrated level, Tracy has a proven track record of developing new strategies and leading efforts to bring those strategies to life.

Before joining Highmark in 1998, Tracy worked as a CPA for KPMG. At Highmark Inc. and Highmark Health, Tracy has served in a series of leadership positions throughout Finance, Audit & Compliance, Transformation, and Strategy.

In her most recent role prior to joining the Living Health team, Tracy was the Senior Vice President of Operations at Allegheny Health Network.

Ashesh Desai is Head of Group Benefits, Manulife Canada which provides health benefits to over 23,000 employers across Canada and more than three million Canadians. Ashesh also oversees the International Group Program (IGP), a network of global insurers who collaborate to support some of the largest multinational companies’ pool benefit costs globally to better manage their employee benefits programs.

Before joining Manulife, Ashesh spent 21 years with Shoppers Drug Mart, most recently as Executive Vice President, Pharmacy and Healthcare. In that role, Ashesh oversaw the healthcare businesses and pharmacy strategy and operations for the pharmacy and health businesses.

Mike Serbinis is the co-founder and CEO of League. Previously, he was founder and CEO of digital reading company Kobo, the only global competitor to Amazon’s Kindle. His transformative career as an entrepreneur, engineer, pioneering technologist and investor includes founding and growing DocSpace—a messaging service that ran one-third of the world’s email. Today, Mike is a member of the Board of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Board of the Creative Destruction Lab, the Board of Trustees at the Ontario Science Centre, and YPO.

Stacy Byers is Senior Vice President of Experience, Design, & Digital for Highmark Health. In this role, Stacy is responsible for setting the vision and experience strategy for the enterprise, partnering with business teams to transform the way we work together to meet and exceed customer needs, and embedding research, insights, and human-centered design into our approach. Stacy and her team are responsible for Highmark’s digital transformation, working together to create remarkable digital experiences that will allow our customers and clinicians focus on health.

At Highmark since 2001, Stacy spent much of her career focused on delivering digital solutions. She has led diverse teams throughout her career at Highmark, including strategy and design, digital operations and software development, social media, e-commerce and CRM, content and copy, and cost transparency solutions.

Prior to joining Highmark, Stacy was a professor of English at Clarion University. She also taught writing workshops for high school students in partnership with the International Poetry Forum and the Indiana County Summer Happening arts program. Stacy holds a BA in English from Clarion University and a MA in Literary and Cultural Theory from Carnegie Mellon University.

As SVP of Customer & Engagement Experience Solutions at enGen, a wholly owned healthtech subsidiary of Highmark Health, Jennifer Magaro leads the digital and print technology teams where she focuses on driving an exceptional omni-channel experience for our customers.
Previously, Jennifer led the digital member experience program, and she led the diversified business technology platforms of Highmark Health, focusing on the United Concordia Dental and HM Insurance Group platforms, servicing over nine million members nationwide.
With more than 25 years’ business and technology leadership experience, Jennifer has a proven track record in her field, showcasing a skillset that includes platform ownership, portfolio management, process improvement, delivery methodologies, and employee engagement.
An active supporter of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs throughout her local community, Jennifer is a board member of the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania and is an advisory board member of the STEM-Up Network.
Jennifer holds a master’s degree in management information systems from Shippensburg University, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Pittsburgh. Jennifer resides in Central Pennsylvania and is married to her husband, Shawn, and has two children, Nick and Gabe.

Dr. Olatokunbo Alli, a distinguished figure in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, currently holds the esteemed position of Chief Executive Officer at Leadway Health, the country’s premier and fastest growing Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in West Africa. Educated at esteemed institutions worldwide, he received his Medical Degree from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria and his postgraduate degree in Public Health from the Yale University School of Public Health, with a concentration in Healthcare Financing, Policy and Management.

With an illustrious career spanning medical operations, policy analysis, and health insurance management, Dr. Alli embodies a steadfast commitment to revolutionizing healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality. His major areas of interest include Universal Healthcare Coverage and developing sustainable healthcare delivery models. He began his health insurance career as a Policy Analyst at the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange (USA), which was set up to implement the Universal Health Coverage program in the state (Obama Care). Upon his return to Nigeria, he joined AXA Mansard Health as a founding employee and exited AXA in January 2021 as the Head of Operations and Medical Services.

Dr Alli is an alumnus of the Global Health Delivery Program, Harvard School of Public Health and the IHT executive program at INSEAD Business School. He is also a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London, Royal society of Public Health, American Quality Society and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

With a rich tapestry of academic achievements, professional accolades, and a steadfast commitment to societal impact, Dr. Olatokunbo Alli stands as a paragon of excellence, shaping the future of healthcare in Nigeria and beyond.

Shawn Wang is a results oriented executive that approaches technology issues – particularly AI – by putting people first. A strategic leader with 15+ years of experience empowering enterprises through Gen AI, AI, and digital transformations, delivering patented solutions with a billion-dollar impact across retail, e-commerce, and healthcare industries in a responsible manner. Shawn currently serves at Chief AI Officer at Gainwell Technologies and previosly held the same title at Elevance Health.

David Bates, PhD, is the CEO and co-founder of Linus Health. He is a scientist, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and investor. David was a founding partner of Tamarisc Ventures and he co-founded Bode, a tech-enabled hospitality company for group travel. He is on the board of several technology companies, as well as the philanthropic TMCity Foundation. David has previously held positions at Morningside Ventures, F-Wave, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Louisville, and Georgia Tech. David earned his PhD in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the University of Auckland and earned his BS and MSc in Applied Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He resides in Boston with his wife and kids.

Dr. Sharief Taraman, is dual board-certified in Neurology with special qualifications in Child Neurology from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and Clinical Informatics from the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Taraman was the former Division Chief of Pediatric Neurology at Children’s Health of Orange County and University of California-Irvine. He remains an active member of the medical staff and the Sharon Disney Lund Medical Intelligence, Information, Investigation, & Innovation Institute at CHOC.

He is a Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor at UC Irvine School of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics and Affiliate Professor at Chapman University, Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler School of Engineering.

Dr. Taraman is active in the community as the past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Orange County Chapter, board member of AAP-California, and committee member for the development of the AAP National CHILD health registry. He also serves on the Irvine Unified School District Medical Advisory Board, volunteers for the Capistrano Unified School District and with Girl Scouts of Orange County.

Recognized globally as an innovator and specifically an advocate in the field of pediatrics, Dr. Taraman has been involved with the development of three FDA designated breakthrough devices, awardee of the prestigious National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation grant, and is an advisor to Board of Directors for the International Society for Pediatric Innovation.

He is the Chief Executive Officer at Cognoa and formerly served as the Chief Medical Officer leading the clinical trials that led to the FDA authorization of Cognoa’s lead product, Canvas Dx, the first and only FDA authorized AI based diagnostic device for autism for children 18-72 months old with concern for developmental delay.

Dr. Taraman graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan having majored in Biochemistry. He completed his medical education at Wayne State University School of Medicine and went on to complete residency training in Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology at the Detroit Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

Matteo Berlucchi is a tech entrepreneur and CEO with a rich background in building and scaling consumer-oriented digital ventures. Born and raised in Italy, he studied Physics before moving to the UK, where he became deeply involved in the early digital and streaming ecosystem.

In 2013, Berlucchi joined Your.MD, guiding its evolution from a consumer-focused symptom checker app into Healthily, a B2B SaaS platform offering AI-driven health guidance and triage solutions for healthcare organizations. Known for his strategic vision, user-centric design approach, and ability to anticipate market shifts, Berlucchi has consistently leveraged emerging technologies to improve how information is delivered to consumers. His move into digital health reflects his overarching passion: using technology to democratize access to trusted information and improve people’s everyday lives.

Prior to leading Healthily (formerly Your.MD), Berlucchi served as the CEO of the social reading platform Anobii, where he worked closely with major publishing houses such as Penguin, HarperCollins, and Random House. Under his leadership, Anobii evolved into a vibrant community for book discovery, eventually being acquired by British retailer Sainsbury’s in 2012. Before Anobii, he held leadership roles at innovative tech companies like Livestation, one of the earliest platforms to stream live TV news online, and was active in various start-ups focused on digital media, content distribution, and interactive marketing.

Andrea Ippolito currently serves as the CEO and Founder of SimpliFed. Prior to joining SimpliFed, Andrea served as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs surrounding Electronic Health Record Modernization and Director of the Department of the VA Innovators Network. Prior to that role, Andrea served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow based out of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and General Services Administration. She pursued doctoral studies in the Engineering Systems Division at MIT and was the Co-Founder of an innovative application that improves access to care called Smart Scheduling (acquired by athenahealth in 2016). She also previously served as the Co-Director of MIT Hacking Medicine, as an Innovation Specialist at the Brigham Innovation Hub and Product Innovation Manager at athenahealth. Ms. Ippolito completed her MS in Engineering & Management at MIT. Prior to MIT, Ms. Ippolito worked as a Research Scientist within the Corporate Technology Development group at Boston Scientific. She obtained both her BS in Biological Engineering in 2006 and Master of Engineering degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2007 from Cornell University.

Amy is a seasoned healthcare and life sciences AI strategist who recently concluded six years at Google on their global industry strategy team. In this capacity, she led the US healthcare and life sciences industry strategy and served as the global health plans strategy leader. Recognized for driving innovation through interoperability, analytics, and AI/ML, Amy has collaborated with leading healthcare organizations to enhance user experiences, operational efficiency, and clinical outcomes while on their path to digital transformation.

Prior to her tenure at Google, Amy spent 20 years at PwC, where she held leadership roles in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. She led market growth strategies for emerging markets, new service lines, and played a critical role in market turnarounds. She later became a partner at The Chartis Group, a missions based healthcare advisory firm, where she led marketing and sales efforts, driving organic and inorganic growth initiatives.

Amy is passionate about the role technology plays in bridging critical gaps in the healthcare experience. She’s published in Forbes and many industry blogs as well as has been a featured speaker at leading industry events such as the Oliver Wyman Global Healthcare Summit, AHIP, HIMSS Annual Summit, and the Nashville Healthcare Sessions, where she explored the transformative potential of AI and generative AI in healthcare. Amy has also spoken on digital transformation, interoperability, and addressing healthcare inequities at events like HealthImpact, League Connect, and Google’s Healthcare Symposium.

Amy and her teams have received numerous accolades, including 5 AVA Gold Awards for digital innovations, The Financial Communications Society’s “Differentiating a 21st Century Professional Services Firm” award, and the Brandon Hall “Excellence in Learning” award. She has also been honored with the President’s Council on Service Award, the National Service to Youth Award, and several Innovation awards.

Amy holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in technology and strategy from Loyola University of Chicago. In addition to advising healthcare organizations, she serves on the following boards: National Make-A-Wish, the American Heart Association Chicago, and the Advisory Board to the Dean at Loyola University of Chicago.

Josh Goode is Chief Information Officer at SCAN. He provides leadership, strategy and support to the company’s Information Technology (IT) department and leads the Consumer Experience team.

At SCAN, Josh has led a digital transformation effort that has modernized SCAN’s technology ecosystem, leveraging its technology investments to meet the individual needs of seniors now and in the future.

Prior to joining SCAN in 2013, Josh worked for Accenture, a multinational technology and management consulting firm. During his 15 years there, he worked with several health plans throughout the United States, including UnitedHealth Group, CIGNA, Express Scripts and PacifiCare.

Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Tennessee. He serves on multiple advisory boards, including those of California State University, Long Beach, the Healthcare Administration Board, Medocity, and HMG Strategy.

A seasoned executive with 20 -years experience in financial services, more recently in health insurance. From teams of 2 to 200, I’ve led brand, product development, sales, contact centre, CX, continuous improvement, strategy and innovation teams.

With a passion for leading human-centered transformation, I believe it makes commercial sense to invest in CX. Great CX can drive word of mouth, lifetime value and efficiency (when done right).

A big believer in EX = CX, our people are the legends that unlock great experiences. When we get conditions right for our people, they’ll not only meet our different customer needs, but they’ll also be champions for change in our continual quest to make things better.

The proof is in the results, with numerous Canstar customer satisfaction awards at RAA Insurance and Health Partners achieving Most Satisfied Customers in Australia for six consecutive years. Health Partners was also awarded the winner of 3 of 4 health insurance categories for the 2024 Finder awards: Most Loved Health Insurance Brand, Most Trusted Health Insurance Brand, and my favorite, Legendary Customer Services for Health Insurance.

Passionate about yoga, cycling, and our local South Australian wine (not at the same time), I may have names for all the plants in my slightly wild indoor plant collection.

Kevin is the Chief Technology Officer for Google Healthcare and Life Sciences, which is a division of Google that focuses on applying advanced technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to healthcare and life sciences research and applications. The Google Cloud Healthcare mission is to improve health outcomes and enhance the quality of life for people around the world. In this role, Kevin is responsible for the overall strategy, aligning customer and industry needs while also enabling partners and ISVs to deliver value through Google for customers.

Kevin’s extensive experience prior to Google includes leadership roles at major healthcare payers, providers, and life science organizations, as well as management and IT consulting positions in the healthcare and communications sectors.

Mike Stimpson is enGen’s Chief Technology Officer, leveraging over 26 years of experience in technology and health care to drive technology-enabled business transformations focused on creating remarkable member experiences.

His expertise stems from two decades in management consulting, notably within Deloitte Consulting’s Health Care and Life Sciences practice. There, he was a leader in their Digital Health Plan offering and spearheaded numerous successful customer transformations.

This expertise informs his leadership at enGen, where he architects and delivers person-centric applications that simplify the health care journey for members of leading health insurance companies. 

As CTO, Mike oversees enGen’s technology strategy and the delivery of its product suite. He also mentors clinical, digital, and product teams to ensure innovative and secure solutions. He effectively communicates complex technical strategies to executive leadership, partners, and stakeholders, adeptly navigating regulatory landscapes, mergers and acquisitions, and technical challenges to deliver exceptional business results.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The American University and resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife. He is a strong supporter of animal welfare causes.

Julie Nix is a native of Arkansas and has worked in the healthcare industry in central Arkansas
for over 28 years. She serves as Baptist Health’s corporate vice president of Women and
Children’s, Surgery and Rehabilitation Services.

Julie’s journey in healthcare began with a desire to help people, which initially led her to pursue
a career in nursing. However, she soon realized she could significantly impact others from a
different perspective. Transitioning to healthcare administration was a pivotal decision that
allowed her to profoundly influence the lives of others. Since the mid-nineties, Julie has been at
the forefront of strategic growth, development, and clinical quality improvement initiatives,
shaping the healthcare landscape in central Arkansas.

Julie holds a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Alabama
at Birmingham and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock.

Matt Kaye is a Partner and leader within Deloitte Digital’s health care practice. His practice focuses on designing and delivering digital experiences, products, and platforms across the health care ecosystem, including health plans, providers, retail pharmacies, and health care technology companies. He is dedicated to driving personalization and enhancing user engagement—whether they are members, patients, care teams, or consumers—by helping them navigate the complexities of the health care system. Matt works closely with growth-stage digital health innovators, helping his enterprise clients evaluate and select the best fit market solutions for their top priorities. Matt also leads a portfolio of account relationships with Regional Health Plans in the East and Central regions.

I’m an old curmudgeon in the world of health technology. Best known as the founder of The Health Care Blog (THCB) and (with Indu Subaiya) the Health 2.0 conferences, I now split my time between THCB, and the SMACK.health Advisory service for health tech startups.

Starting in 2007 (yup, before Digital Health was cool!) Health 2.0 was the leading conference series showcasing frontier technologies in health care. In April 2017 HIMSS bought the conference side of Health 2.0.
Catalyst @ Health 2.0 was the other part of Health 2.0 and never went over to HIMSS. It ran challenges for orgs like Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, innovation programs for orgs like the World Bank, and it owns the SourceDB which has more health tech companies in it than you can imagine! It was sunsetted last year.

The Health Care Blog has been a leading source of opinion, news and interviews about health and health technology since 2003, now with 100k visitors or so a month. It also features the weekly #THCBGang live video/podcast where I wrangle a group of health care know-it-alls.

And at SMACK.health I advise startups navigating the health care world.

During my career I’ve spent over 30 years in health care and health care IT as a generalist forecaster and strategist, I’ve worked for renowned forecasting (IFTF) and polling (Harris) organizations, conducted several ground breaking in-depth studies about many aspects of health care, and delivered several keynote addresses all over the world (and now all over Zoom). I know a few people too.