Meet the speakers

Steven Kotler is a New York Times–bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and founder and executive director of the Flow Research Collective. He is the author of sixteen books, including eleven bestsellers. His work has been nominated for three Pulitzer Prizes, translated into over 80 languages and appeared in over 100 publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, TIME, and the Harvard Business Review. His book Stealing Fire was named Best Business Book of the Year by both CNBC and Strategy + Business, and helped spark today’s psychedelic renaissance. His other titles—The Art of Impossible, The Rise of Superman, and Gnar Country—are considered foundational texts in the field of performance neuroscience. At various times, Kotler has been a staff writer or blogger for Forbes, Psychology Today, GQ, Bikini, Freeze, V-Life, Blue, and Penumbra. Kotler is the host of Flow Radio, a top-ten Apple iTunes science podcast regularly featured on “best-of” lists across the web. He has lectured globally, and has appeared on platforms including Fareed Zakaria GPS, NPR, CNBC, Big Think, and The Joe Rogan Experience.

Recognized as a pioneer in applied performance neuroscience, Kotler publishes peer- reviewed research on flow, altered states, creativity, intuition, and consciousness. He
has been called “one of the world’s leading experts in ultimate human performance” by The New York Times. His training programs have reached individuals in 156 countries
and over 28 industries—including U.S. Navy SEALs, Olympic athletes, and executive teams at Google, Meta, Microsoft, Audi, and Accenture. He is also known for radical self-experimentation: flying a MiG-17 fighter jet into G-LOC to explore the neurobiology of near-death experiences, free falling 150 feet into a circus net to study flow and time perception, and breaking upwards of 80 bones along the way. As an entrepreneur, Kotler has launched or helped found sixteen companies. He was instrumental in the creation of several media and tech firsts, including Buzznet (one of the first online magazines), Bikini (the first punk lad-mag), Freeze (the first freeskiing magazine), Maxim (the first men’s magazine to exceed a million subscribers), EcoHearth (an early green marketplace), and Transcape (the first biofeedback-based branching video game). In 2021, Forbes named the Flow Research Collective one of the fastest-growing companies in America. Kotler lives in a small town in the big mountains of northern Nevada, with his wife, author Joy Nicholson, and too many dogs.

Sam Sebastian is the leader for the North American regions business of Google Cloud. In this role he is responsible for scaling the Cloud and AI go to market functions for the region and for bringing Google’s technology and innovation to large enterprises across the US and Canada. Prior to this role Sam was the VP & Country Manager for the Cloud/AI business in Canada. Prior to Google, Sam was the President and CEO of Pelmorex Corp, one of the largest weather data multi-platform media companies in the world. Sam joined Pelmorex from Google, where he held many executive-level positions in the US and Canada, including VP & Country Manager for Canada. Prior to his first stint at Google, he was a General Manager and Senior Vice President at a large online classified business, Classified Ventures (cars.com, apartments.com), and started his career as a consultant with Arthur Andersen in Chicago.

Murali Gandhirajan is Global Healthcare and Life Sciences CTO at Snowflake with strong background in data, analytics and AI in healthcare and life sciences. With a passion for thought leadership, he has consistently set and executed strategy that delivered significant business value through data-driven insights for various business functions across healthcare and life sciences organizations. He is focused on innovating healthcare through AI and committed to helping healthcare and life sciences organizations build next-generation data and AI platforms by harnessing the full potential of Snowflake’s capabilities.

Mohamed El-Demerdash brings over 25 years of global healthcare technology leadership to his role as President of TELUS Health. Prior to joining TELUS, he spent 27 years at GE HealthCare, where he held a series of senior leadership positions across technology innovation, commercial operations and global market expansion. In his current role as President of TELUS Health, Mohamed leads a global team of nearly 7,000 team members who are on a mission to leverage our world-leading technology innovation to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals around the world. His passion for improving global health outcomes – shaped by his diverse international experiences – is what led him to TELUS Health and its holistic approach to primary and preventive health and wellbeing. By integrating advanced healthcare technology with comprehensive employee support services, he is focused on scaling TELUS Health’s innovative digital health platforms that empower healthcare professionals, employers and governments to deliver personalized care efficiently, expanding access for all, and driving innovation that enhances care and wellbeing worldwide.

Prior to this, Mohamed led GE HealthCare’s service business across the U.S. and Canada. Under his leadership, the business delivered sustained profitable growth and introduced transformative operational solutions that improved efficiency and care delivery for large hospital networks.

Earlier in his career, Mohamed served as Chief Technology Officer for GE HealthCare’s MRI business, where he led global R&D teams in launching award-winning innovations. These included the industry-first air coil technology – recognized as Best New Radiology Device – and the first FDA-approved AI-based deep learning reconstruction for MRI.
A seasoned international executive, Mohamed has lived and worked across Africa, the Middle East, India, Turkey, Russia and Southeast Asia. He successfully established new operations and go-to-market strategies in multiple regions, managing both direct and indirect commercial channels.
He holds advanced degrees in Engineering Management from Marquette University and is widely recognized for his ability to lead cultural transformation, build high-performance teams and translate vision into scalable impact.

Dr. Adrianna Nava is an Applied Research Scientist at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) where she serves as the scientific lead for the Primary Care and Prevention Center. The center focuses on work related to immunizations, cancer prevention, wellness, climate sustainability, and primary care delivery. She works across organizational teams to create and integrate HEDIS measures into population health standards, research concepts and policy recommendations. She is also the Immediate Past President (2021-2024) of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), where she advocated for the advancement of nurses in leadership, research, and policy to advance Latino health. Previously, she served as the Chief Nurse of Quality and Systems Improvement at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, IL. In this role, she led a team of quality, patient safety and infection control experts to drive meaningful clinical improvement activities to improve Veteran outcomes. She is a mentor to future health care professionals through her positions as graduate faculty in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at the George Mason University College of Public Health , Adjunct Instructor at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and Capstone Faculty for the Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership (SQIL) Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Nava was recently named one of the Top 25 Emerging Healthcare Leaders of 2023 by Modern Healthcare; and was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2024.

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.

Recognized globally as an innovator and specifically an advocate in the field of pediatrics, Dr. Taraman has been involved with the development of multiple 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.
Currently, 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 is active in the community having previously served as a 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 continues to volunteer on the Irvine Unified School District Medical Advisory Board, with the Capistrano Unified School District and Girl Scouts of Orange County.

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.

Dr. Charles DeShazer is a physician-executive and health tech strategist with a proven track record of using data, digital innovation, and AI to drive clinical and financial performance across payer, provider, integrated delivery systems, and high-tech platforms.

He is one of the few physician leaders in the country to have served as a Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Chief Quality Officer, and Chief Medical Officer—giving him a uniquely comprehensive view of healthcare transformation across clinical, quality, operational, and digital domains.

Most recently, he served as Chief Quality & Health Advocacy Officer at The Cigna Group, where he led enterprise-wide functions spanning quality, health equity, patient experience, and population health. His leadership accelerated AI-driven process transformation and delivered measurable improvements in outcomes and efficiency. At Google Health, Dr. DeShazer helped shape next-generation global AI platforms powering clinical informatics at scale. As Chief Medical Officer at Highmark Health, he led clinical transformation initiatives for value-based care, achieving over $100 million in medical utilization savings.

Today, Dr. DeShazer is the Founder and Managing Partner of Nuvanta Consulting Group. Nuvanta partners with payers, providers, technology companies, and private equity-backed firms to transform complexity into clarity through AI-driven strategy, execution, and storytelling. The firm specializes in helping organizations accelerate digital transformation, enhance quality and inclusion, deliver measurable ROI, and position assets for sustainable growth in value-based models.

Amanda Martin joined Capital Blue Cross, the leading health insurer headquartered in central Pennsylvania, in 2019. As vice president of Brand and Market Strategy, she oversees marketing, brand strategy, corporate communications, public relations, and an in-house creative team.

A passionate advocate for customer experience, Amanda launched the company’s first holistic CX program to support customer satisfaction, employee engagement, measurement and reporting, brand reputation, and business development. She also serves on the marketing and CX executive leadership councils at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Before transitioning to health insurance, she founded and grew an integrated communications firm and an advertising agency, serving clients in retail, energy, national non-profit, higher education, and healthcare.

As an Emmy Award-winning television news journalist, Amanda traveled the world working for local, national, and international news outlets from Denver to Philadelphia, and New York City to London. An engaging live speaker, she advocates for continual personal evolution and for workplace culture that champions integrity, trust, and wellness.

She is a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame, enjoys competitive sports and summer concerts, traveling with friends, and pursuing professional adventure.

David 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.

Prashanth Cannanbilla is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience driving transformation, data engineering, and solution delivery across healthcare, finance, banking, and technology sectors. He currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Enterprise Delivery Officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, where he leads enterprise-wide business transformation and customer-centric healthcare initiatives, both clinical and non-clinical, across the state.

Previously, Prashanth served as Head of Data and Analytics at Verily (an Alphabet company), focusing on reducing the burden of chronic conditions. He has also held senior leadership roles at BCBS Louisiana, FNB Corporation, and Highmark Inc., where he spearheaded enterprise data governance, strategic programs, and technology modernization.

Prashanth holds master’s degrees in computer science and business administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP), a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, and holds AHIP designations in Health Insurance and Managed Healthcare. He serves as Treasurer on the board of Hill CDC, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, and has contributed as an advisory board member for the University of Pittsburgh Computer Science Department and as a board member for Small Seeds Inc., supporting children and single mothers.

Gerald Chan is a scientist and a global leader in biotechnology. In his career as a venture capitalist, he has started over a dozen companies with intellectual property spun out from universities. His work has resulted in first-in-class drugs, diagnostics and medical devices approved by regulatory agencies for use in the clinic.

In recent years, his work has focused on using AI to develop digital biomarkers, digital diagnostics and therapeutics for dementia, autism and behavioral disorders. Deployed at the population level, his work is changing healthcare by concurrently improving clinical outcome for patients, lowering healthcare cost, making healthcare more accessible and streamlining the workload of healthcare workers.

Gerald was trained in engineering at UCLA and in medical physics and radiation biology at the Harvard University. For his contributions to science and public health, he was awarded seven honorary degrees and elected to fellowships at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Trinity College of Cambridge University and Wolfson College of Oxford University. He is the Honorary Professor of Translational Medicine at University of Manchester.

Vinay Kulkarni is the Chief Information Officer of SCAN Health Plan, where he oversees the organization’s digital transformation initiatives, including automation, cloud enablement, and IT operations. His focus is on improving efficiency, scaling growth, and enhancing the member experience.

With over two decades of experience in leveraging technology to enhance healthcare, Vinay has a proven track record of leading successful digital transformation initiatives. His vision has driven advancements in automation, cloud enablement, and IT operations, all aimed at improving efficiency, scaling growth, and elevating the customer experience.

Vinay has been with SCAN since 2021, serving in various leadership roles. He began as the Vice President of Clinical Technology, where he spearheaded technological strategies and innovations across SCAN’s clinical entities. He then served as the Chief Technology Officer at Welcome Health, SCAN’s medical group dedicated to providing best-in-class primary care to older adults using a geriatric-focused approach. Most recently, he held the position of Interim Chief Information Officer, further enhancing clinician and patient experiences through advanced data analytics, cloud infrastructure, and precision engagement.

Prior to joining SCAN, Vinay held leadership roles at Elevance Health, CareMore Health, and Heritage Provider Network (Geniq), where he led numerous successful digital initiatives.

Vinay holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Karnatak University.