Femi Adewunmi MBA '09

Sound Physicians, Chief Medical Officer, Atlantic Region

Femi Adewunmi, MD, leads clinical operations of the Atlantic region. His responsibilities include regional organizational leadership and operational performance. In his role, Dr. Adewunmi works directly with our hospital partners and hospitalists along with the regional vice president of operations to ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care and the alignment of performance with partner hospital goals.

Femi holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Certificate in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is recognized as a Senior Fellow in the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) and served on the SHM's leadership committee and as a facilitator at the organization's Leadership academy. He is also recognized as a Certified Physician Executive by the American College of Physician Executives. He completed his internal medicine residency at Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, Pa. and graduated from the University of Ibadan's College of Medicine in Nigeria.

Carolann Augustine MBA '96

Boston Scientific Corporation, Director, Corporate Communications

Carolann Augustine, Director of Corporate Communications (internal and functional) at Boston Scientific Corporation, leads communications for large-scale enterprise and functional projects, initiatives and programs. Prior to this role, she was a Group Manager in Strategic Marketing where she and her team leveraged primary and secondary research to develop recommendations resulting in decisions related to investments, "go/no go", product positioning and marketing plans.

Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Carolann was a team member and manager for performance improvement and information technology consulting projects at Accenture and Ernst &Young. Her primary clients included healthcare and health and human services organizations.

Carolann has a BS in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MBA in Health Sector Management from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. Carolann interviews prospective Duke students as part of the AAAC Volunteer Program. She also enjoys opportunities to connect with the Fuqua community.

David Baker MBA '90

Alcobra, Chief Commercial Officer

Mr. Baker joined Alcobra in January 2014 as the Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to joining Alcobra, he worked at Shire for 10 years, most recently as Vice President of Commercial Strategy and New Business in the Neuroscience Business Unit. In that role, he led the commercial assessment of neuroscience licensing opportunities, managed commercial efforts on pipeline CNS products, and led the long term strategic planning process. Previously, he served as Global General Manager for Vyvanse® where he led the launch of Vyvanse, led the launch of the adult indication for Vyvanse, and led global expansion efforts including successful establishment of a partnership in Japan and launches in Canada and Brazil. Prior to that, Mr. Baker served as Vice President of Marketing for all of Shire's ADHD products. He has been directly involved with the commercialization of five approved ADHD medications.

From 1990 - 2004, Mr. Baker worked at Merck where he held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, sales, market research, and business development. In addition to his knowledge and experience with CNS medications, Mr. Baker's therapeutic expertise includes osteoporosis, migraine, and hyperlipidemia. He has been directly involved with the marketing of five medications with annual sales in excess of $1 billion each.

Mr. Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Computer Science from Duke University. He earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.

Corey Best MBA '13

YCORE of North Carolina, Inc., Principal

Cornelius L. Best is founder of YCORE of North Carolina, Inc., a biotech and pharmaceutical consulting firm.  Corey is currently leading all aspects (including project management and clinical management) of clinical trial conduct for a biotech company in New York.  He has a depth of experience in global pharmaceutical research with expertise in Operations, Program and Life Cycle Management, and Organization Development.  Corey is known as a "solutions architect".  While at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals he led more than 100 colleagues of various professional disciplines, cultural differences, multiple organizations and time zones to successfully complete a $60M global clinical development program for an anti-tuberculosis compound which is one of the first major multi-national clinical programs to evaluate treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

For over 15 years Corey has guided global clinical trials in the development of new pharmaceutical products, including directing all phases of high-impact clinical trials.  He has developed cultural literacy by working in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.  

Corey is a graduate of Campbell University with a BS degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an MS in Clinical Research. He also holds an MBA (Global Executive program) from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.  Mr. Best is a fellow of the Emerging Leaders in Public Health through the Gillings School of Public Health and Kenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Mr. Best is a credentialed member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).  

He currently serves on the Dean's Board of Advisors for the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at Campbell University.  In addition he is a Director on the board of the NCCU Foundation, Inc.  Mr. Best is a member of CALIBR which is a global leadership network that offers career and professional development, community service opportunities and points of connectivity for business professionals.  He resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife and son.

Leigh Ann Bruhn MBA/HSM '01

Avalere Health, Director

Leigh Ann Bruhn, Director at Avalere Health, advises clients on market access, product commercialization and value strategy.  In her prior pharmaceutical and medical device career, she led initiatives across healthcare stakeholders including commercial payers, providers, retail pharmacy, specialty pharmacy and patient advocacy. 

Prior to joining Avalere, Leigh Ann was a Director of Managed Care Marketing at Abbott Pharmaceuticals. Her work spans public and primary payers as well as both primary care and specialty products. Leigh Ann is a frequent speaker on accountable care organizations, payment and delivery reform and specialty pharmaceuticals/specialty pharmacy and a committee member for the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP).

Leigh Ann has a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MBA in Health Sector Management the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. She always enjoys opportunities to connect with the growing Fuqua community.

Laura Crandon MBA '99

UnitedHealth Group, Vice President, Strategic Provider Account Management

Laura Crandon is Vice President, Strategic Provider Account Management at UnitedHealth Group.  Laura is responsible for a portfolio of strategic provider partners in the mid-Atlantic region.  Working collaboratively with providers, she builds enduring relationships, works across the UnitedHealth Group enterprise to identify and execute on opportunities to create win-win relationships that advance healthcare transformation.  

Previously, Laura served as Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Consumer Engagements in the UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement business segment where she lead a team of account directors and implementation directors responsible for managing a portfolio of enterprise-to-enterprise relationships including AARP Federal Programs, Ameriprise, Walmart and Walgreens, among others.  She developed new business categories and fostered product differentiation by identifying, building and managing alliances that delivered retail channel growth, innovation, clinical quality and member engagement.  She is one of 40 Innovation Champions across UnitedHealth Group.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Laura founded a sales and marketing consulting firm focused on measurably improving client loyalty and retention, serving clients including eBay and UnitedHealthcare.  Laura previously held positions as Vice President of Sales and Sales Operations, and General Manager at successive start-ups where her focus was client acquisition and engagement worldwide.  During her tenure, the business segment she founded and led doubled in size and became the most profitable amongst its peers.  She previously held leadership positions in Europe and the United States with GE while a member of its Corporate Audit Staff.

Todd Creech MBA '03

HealthQuest Capital, Partner

Todd is a Partner at HealthQuest Capital, a venture growth fund investing in innovation across most of the healthcare spectrum: medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, tech enabled services, and consumer medicine. Prior to joining HealthQuest in 2016, he was the CFO of Femasys, a medtech company developing and selling devices for women's health issues; he continues to advise Femasys on strategic and financial matters. From 2013 to 2015, we was the CFO and Treasurer of ZS Pharma, which developed and manufactured inorganic compounds to treat renal and cardiovascular diseases. ZS was sold to Astra Zeneca in 2015 for $2.7 billion after going public in 2014.  He was the CFO and Head of Business Development for SarCode Biosciences from 2010-2013. SarCode developed LFA-1 antagonists to treat diseases in ophthalmology, dermatology. SarCode was sold to Shire Pharmaceuticals in April 2013 for $160m up front and significant additional development and revenue milestones. SarCode's lead product, Xidra, was approved for the signs and symptoms of dry eye in 2015. From January 2007 through September 2010, Todd was the CFO of Sirion Therapeutics, which developed and marketed ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, two of which were approved by the FDA (Durezol and Virgan). In the first half of 2010 he helped lead the sale of Sirion's drug assets to Alcon and Bausch & Lomb. During his CFO tenure, he raised more than $500m in equity and debt, helping to build operations in companies that generated over $3.5b in exits. 

Prior to Sirion, Todd worked with Quintiles/NovaQuest, the former investment group within Quintiles. There he made and managed U.S. emerging biotech and specialty pharmaceutical company investments, including the investment that launched Sirion. Todd also co-founded Centice, an optical sensor spin-out from Duke University in 2003. He was also a management consultant for over 10 years, advising pharmaceutical, biotech and high-tech companies, from startups to Fortune 100 firms, while at SRI International and Andersen Consulting. Todd holds bachelor's degrees in Finance and Accounting from Miami (Ohio) University and an MBA from Duke University. He and his wife, Heather, live in Tampa, Florida, and have two children, Ty and Caden.

Rebecca Fish MBA '00

Biodefense Division, Vice President, Marketing

Rebecca Fish is the Vice President of Marketing at Emergent BioSolutions.  Emergent is a global leader in the development of medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats including anthrax, smallpox and botulism. Rebecca has senior level health care experience working in both the public and private sectors.  In her last role, Rebecca served as the Senior Policy Advisor to The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services.  She led the Vaccine Policy, Science, and Strategy Team and her responsibilities included development of the U.S. National Adult Immunization Plan.  She also previously worked within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services developing new strategies for drug reimbursement policy (AWP reform) and Medicare Part D and Part B.

Prior to joining HHS, Rebecca worked at GlaxoSmithKline as the Global Head of Medical Countermeasures.  She also served as the Executive Director of Vaccine, Antibiotic, and Biodefense Policy at GSK and managed GSK's vaccine business with the Centers for Disease Control.  Rebecca held similar marketing roles at Merck & Co., Inc., where she was employed for 8 years and managed the federal and city/county/state vaccine business.  She has managed customer segments with approximately $1 billion in annual sales goals.
Rebecca graduated with a high honors degree in Psychobiology from Mount Holyoke College and received her M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.  She completed a Fellows program in Biosecurity through the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and recently published a paper on a new business model for health security in the Journal of Global Health Diplomacy.  Rebecca plans to begin her doctoral degree in public health and health security in the Fall of 2016.

Richard Gilbert MBA '01

MDLIVE, Inc., President, MDLIVE Medical Group

Dr. Gilbert brings over 25 years of innovative healthcare executive leadership developing and operationalizing strategic imperatives, leading large scale organizational change and engaging physicians to align with the transformative healthcare environment of consumerism and value based care. 
As President, MDLive Medical Group, one of the nation's largest telehealth companies, Dr. Gilbert is responsible for all aspects of clinical leadership, strategy, structure and operations.  He oversees the organization's imperative to optimize the patient experience, drive quality outcomes, engage and grow the physician network.   
Prior to MDLive, Rich served as Chief Medical Officer, Mednax, Inc. a publically traded healthcare company and along with the Executive Team, had responsibility for a $1.6 Billion P&L and thousands of healthcare specialists. 
Before joining Mednax, Rich served as CEO of 3 Charlotte based companies: Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants, Southeast Pain Care (founder) and Quantum® LLC (founder) a healthcare IT startup.  During Dr. Gilbert's 18-year leadership, Southeast grew from one hospital and pain center to 29 hospitals, ASCs and pain centers in three states. The enterprise, acquired by MEDNAX in 2010, remains Mednax's largest anesthesiology acquisition    
Other leadership roles include: Chief, Department of Anesthesiology and Medical Staff President at Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Gilbert was appointed as the only physician member to a five panel NC Medicaid Reform Group.
Board Membership: United Way of Central Carolinas; Providence Day School, Charlotte; Levine Children's Hospital Dare to Dream Campaign Steering Committee; Carolinas Partnership; Carolinas Healthcare System Board of Commissioners. Rich also serves as mentor to Health Wildcatters, a healthcare entrepreneur incubator based in Dallas.

Rich received his MBA from Duke University, completed anesthesiology residency and fellowships in Cardiac anesthesiology and Pain Management at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Gilbert earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco Medical School and membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He also received a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Larry Gladstone MBA '94

Clinical Difference, CEO

Larry has spent the last 25 years growing and building healthcare businesses as an operator, owner, investor and investment banker.  Immediately following graduation from Fuqua, he was the 12th corporate employee at MedCath, the Welsh Carson backed heart hospital company and later founded and ran National Vascular Care, a specialty surgery center company backed by Weston Presidio, that was sold to Fresenius Medical.  Larry was also a General Partner in the venture capital firm Kitty Hawk Capital and led healthcare M&A for Marks Baughan & Co.  Larry is currently the CEO of both Clinical Difference, an online medical education company, and Lawrence Capital LLC a healthcare focused consulting and advisory services business. 

Rony Golczewski MBA '04

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Senior Director, Marketing General Medicine - Emerging Markets

Rony is the Senior Director, Marketing | General Medicine - Emerging Markets at Takeda Pharmaceuticals based in Singapore. He joined Takeda in August 2015 as the Global Marketing Director - Diabetes. In his current role, Rony oversees the pre and post launch strategy and activities of the CVM, GI and other General Medicine brands in Emerging Markets, which includes Latin America, Russia/CIS, Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
 
Rony has been working in the Biotech/Pharmaceutical Industry since he graduated from the Fuqua in 2004. In the last 12 years he developed extensive International commercial experience at Lilly, Amgen and Takeda, working across most marketing and sales functions at a local, regional and global levels, within multiple therapeutic areas and has been based in countries on 5 continents (Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain, UK and US). 
  
Rony holds a double major Civil and Industrial Engineering degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Duke University. Rony currently lives in Singapore with his wife and 6 years old son.

Laurie Gomer MBA '13

Syapse, Director, Health System Partnerships

Laurie Gomer is Director, Health System Partnerships at Syapse, a social+capital, Safeguard Scientifics, Ascension Ventures, and GE Ventures backed company, whose precision medicine data platform integrates genomic and clinical data to provide clinicians with actionable insights at point of care, enabling diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes tracking. Previously, she was Director of Business Development at AppMedicine, a healthcare mobile app and communication platform, which used mobile technology to improve patient access to high-quality, cost-effective medical care outside of the doctor's office. Prior to AppMedicine, Laurie worked in Pipeline and Portfolio Planning at Genentech and Business Development at Navigenics (Acquired by Life Technologies/Thermo Fisher), a personal genomics company, which was venture-backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Procter & Gamble.  Before joining Navigenics, Laurie worked as a Research Manager in the Healthcare & Biomedical Practice at Gerson Lehrman Group, a primary investment research firm for institutional investors, venture capital and private equity firms. Laurie began her career as a Consultant at The Lucas Group, a boutique management consulting firm, where she was a member of the firm's Growth and Acquisitions Practice and assisted with multiple due diligence engagements for private equity firms and corporations.  Laurie earned a BA from Davidson College and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Christine Hale MBA '05

Lockton Dunning Benefits, Vice President, Clinical Consulting

Christine joined Lockton on May 1, 2017 as Vice President, Clinical Consulting.  She serves as the medical director and lead strategist for the Clinical Consulting team.  She is known as an innovator, collaborator, and change agent, and is particularly passionate about utilizing data and creative solutions to reduce waste improve cost-effectiveness in healthcare.

Christine received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Southern Methodist University and an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  She completed her residency training in Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center in 2003.  Spurred by an emerging interest in systems improvement, she stayed on at Duke post-residency to earn her M.B.A. with concentration in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business. 

Upon completion of her MBA in 2005, she joined McKinsey & Company as a consultant, where she remained for 7+ years.  During this time, she worked with hospitals and health systems both across the country and internationally in a variety of functional areas, including strategy, operations, and organization.  She was often sought out to facilitate in situations where building physician and administration alignment was key. 

She joined Tenet Healthcare in 2013 as National Director Clinical Performance Excellence.  In this new role, she was responsible for advancing a number of high stakes clinical performance improvement initiatives, including blood product utilization, sepsis identification and management, laboratory utilization, intensive care, palliative care, and cardiac quality.  She also oversaw fifteen Clinical Expert Panels which engaged across a spectrum of business issues relevant to their areas of clinical expertise.

Christine and her husband Wes live in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas with their two dogs, Ashley and Owen.  She co-owns a contemporary circus school (Moxie Mischief) located in the Design District and is an avid dancer and aerialist.

Patrick Jordan MBA '02

Encore, A Quintiles Company, Chief Administrative Officer

Patrick Jordan is Chief Administration Officer for Encore, A Quintiles Company. He joined Quintiles in 1997 where he has built and led teams in corporate development, operations, product management and partnership management in the healthcare industry.

In previous positions, Patrick has been Managing Director and Head of Operations for Quintiles' Customer Solutions Management Group, an organization dedicated to developing and delivering solutions utilizing the breadth of Quintiles clinical, commercial, and consulting capabilities. He led Quintiles' key accounts, whose best-of-industry partnership management practices were profiled in Harvard Business Review.

Patrick developed and managed investment solutions with NovaQuest, the managed partnership group of Quintiles, in the US and on assignment to the United Kingdom. He structured partnerships that combined internal and third-party investments with Quintiles' drug development and commercialization expertise to help biopharmaceutical companies advance assets in their development pipelines and expand their commercial portfolios. His work in the United Kingdom included a unique capital and commercial services partnership that launched ProStrakan, a Scotland-based international specialty pharmaceutical company, in the US. He also led and has been a principal for several of Quintiles' corporate transactions and partnerships.

He earned a BA from Duke University; an MA from the University of Durham, United Kingdom; and an MBA with a concentration in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.  He is passionate about Fuqua and health care and is excited to combine these interests as a member of the Health Care Alumni Advisory Board.

Lucy Lee MBA '04

H.O.P.E Management, Principal

Lucy is a principal and co-founder of H.O.P.E Management, a specialty consulting firm. H.O.P.E combines the business and clinical aspects of healthcare to create unique solutions and business models that improve the operational and financial performance of hospitals and healthcare providers. Lucy is currently leading the Clinical and Business Intelligence group, which is comprised of strong believers in the innovative use of data and technology in hospital management.  Prior to H.O.P.E, she was a partner at Apex Healthcare Consulting and a project manager at CSC Consulting, Global Health Solutions.   Lucy has touched many aspects of healthcare arena.  She was a volunteer, clinical instructor, nurse and care unit manager before she became a consultant.  Lucy obtained her Bachelor in Medicine from Beijing Medical University and graduated from Fuqua in 2004, and is certified in Health Sector Management.

Lucy is an enthusiastic traveller.  She and her family have visited over 20 countries spanning three continents.  Lucy lives with her husband and three daughters, Grace-Rae (13), Aubry (1) and Avery (1) in Edison, NJ. 

Carolyn Nohejl MBA '10

Verily Life Sciences (former Google Life Sciences), Alliance Manager

Carolyn has spent the last 10+ years in the medical device industry, starting as a Biologist at Edwards Life Sciences.  While pursuing her MS in Biomedical Engineering and MBA (HSM) at Duke, she partnered with 3 other students to co-found a neuromodulation start-up (Cerene Biomedics) focusing the treatment of epilepsy and won the Duke Start-Up Challenge.

After graduating from Duke, she pursued positions in product management at Boston Scientific Neuromodulation and Stryker Neurovascular. Through these roles, she drove products through all stages of development (conception through launch) and gained commercial experience across global markets. Carolyn is currently an Alliance Manager at Verily Life Sciences (former Google Life Sciences). 

Carolyn also holds a BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UC San Diego, and is an Ironman Triathlete.

Robert Paz MBA '08

Eli Lilly and Company, Director Finance Consolidation and R&D - Lilly BioMedicines

Vice Chair, Health Care Alumni Advisory Board

Following graduation from Fuqua, Rob accepted a position to work at Eli Lilly and Company.  Currently, Rob is a Director of Finance for the Lilly BioMedicines Business Unit and serves in consolidating Global Business Unit Performance and is the CFO for Development within the Business Unit.  Additionally, he facilitates business development transactions as they evolve and manages the financial integration following deal execution.  Prior to this position, Rob was a director in the Mergers and Acquisitions group, a Six Sigma Black Belt and worked as the Debt Capital Markets Analyst in Treasury.  Prior to Fuqua, Rob worked for five years as a Molecular Biologist at Pfizer and for one year at Affymax.  He has a BS in Human Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a MS in Microbiology from Miami University.

Julian Rimmer MBA '10

Abbvie, Assistant Director

Julian has twenty five years research and development experience within Pharmaceutical & Clinical Research Organizations. He is an expert in the complete pre-approval clinical development process, with hands on experience in Clinical Operations and Data Management. As well as running a CRO business unit, he has overseen global Phase I-IV studies, drug submissions and approvals in the therapeutic areas: Endocrinology & Metabolism, Cardiovascular, Osteoporosis and Anti-infectives.
A mentor to individuals and start-ups in the clinical development space, he is currently responsible for IT support of clinical systems within Abbvie, leading a first class global support team that develops game-changing software applications to harmonize technology and process.

He earned a BSc Hons from Kingston University; London England and an MBA with a concentration in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

Matthew Rizzo MBA '01

OrbiMed Advisors, Partner

Matthew Rizzo is a Partner, Credit Opportunities at OrbiMed Advisors, L.L.C. Mr. Rizzo is focused on healthcare royalty and structured finance investments. Previously, Mr. Rizzo was at Ikaria as a Senior Director in business development for pharmaceutical licensing and acquisitions. Prior to Ikaria, Mr. Rizzo was a Vice President at Fortress Investment Group, focused on healthcare investments in the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds. Prior to Fortress, he was at GlaxoSmithKline where he worked in business and commercial analysis. Mr. Rizzo received his M.B.A. from Duke University and his B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Bonny Rollender MHA '89

athenahealth, inc., Director and Client Account Executive

Bonny Rollender is a Client Account Executive with athenahealth,a leading provider of network-enabled services for electronic health records (EHR), revenue cycle management and medical billing, patient engagement, population health management, as well as Epocrates and other point-of-care mobile apps.  Bonny works closely with athenahealth's largest and most complex Enterprise clients to ensure optimal performance, strategic guidance and partnership success.  Prior roles at athenahealth included product development and instructional design, where she was a key contributor to onboarding the company's 2nd corporate office in Maine.  Prior to athenahealth, Bonny held a range of management positions with hospitals and health systems such as Dignity Health system and Tenet Healthcare, responsible for the start up phase and ongoing operations of their system owned medical groups.

Bonny received her BA in Public Administration from the University of Maine and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Duke University. She currently provides program mentorship for Fuqua MBA Health Sector students in both the Executive and Daytime MBA programs.  She currently resides in Concord, Massachusetts with her husband Matt.  They have triplets, 2 daughters and 1 son, who entered their freshmen year of college this year (2016).

Kevin Schelenski MBA '09

Axia Ltd., Engagement Manager

Kevin Schelenski is an Engagement Manager for Axia Limited, a Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Consumer Goods consulting firm based in Boston, MA. Over his career, Kevin has led several high-impact, strategic engagements including a comprehensive financial and operational turnaround for a major academic health system, go-to-market strategy design, customer segmentation strategy design and subsequent strategy implementations for leading medical device and healthcare services corporations, and operational planning and cost management for pharma and biopharma companies. Kevin has direct experience in a breadth of financial, operational, and policy driven areas such as patient flow, patient experience, strategic sourcing, operating room and procedure suite optimizations, ambulatory clinic management, network development, funds flow, clinician compensation models, diagnostic services, health system performance management, etc. etc.

Prior to joining Axia, Kevin worked for the Carlisle and Gallagher Consulting Group in Charlotte, NC specializing in the development and deployment of top-line growth and customer acquisition/retention initiatives within financial services.

Kevin holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business with a certificate in Health Sector Management. 

Rina Shah MBA '10

Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions, Inc, Vice President of Clinical Programs

Rina Shah is a health care professional who has worked in a number of different capacities across the industry since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Health Policy and Administration.  She currently works for Beacon Laboratory Benefits Solutions, a subsidiary of LabCorp, as Vice President of Clinical Programs.  The company is a start-up that is working with health plans to improve cost efficiencies in the laboratory testing space while also demanding higher quality.  Rina has been responsible for leading and developing the company's clinical program, in addition to playing an integral role in sales activities to new clients, development of new products, and design and testing of the IT platform.

Before her role at BeaconLBS, Rina obtained her MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business with concentrations in Health Sector Management and Marketing.  While in business school, she interned at Genentech, working to improve patient access to medications.  Prior to getting her MBA, Rina was a health consultant at Deloitte Consulting and with her own company. As a consultant she worked with a variety of clients in the payer and provider space, focusing on revenue cycle operations, EMR and other system integrations, and utilization management. 

Rina is also a founder and current member of both the Summerbridge Breakthrough Alumni Network Board and the Fuqua Health Care Alumni Advisory Board.  

Wendy Webster MBA '04

Duke University Medical Center, Divisional Administrator

Chair, Health Care Alumni Advisory Board

Wendy Webster is a Divisional Administrator at Duke University Medical Center in the Department of Surgery and brings more than 15 years' experience in health care operations management of teams in the provider and hospital settings. Recognized for her leadership in clinical operations and strategy, she consistently creates performance and cultural transformations.

Additionally, Wendy is active in the triangle community and has lead non-profit organizations such as Girls on the Run of the Triangle and The Junior League of Raleigh.

Wendy received her undergraduate degree from Baylor University and her master's degree from East Carolina University followed by a master's in business administration from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.

Richard Welch MHA '92

Best Practices Medical Partners LLC, Founder

Mr. Welch is both a founder of Best Practices Insurance Services, LLC (BPIS) and Applied Medico-Legal Solutions Risk Retention Group, Inc. (AMS RRG). He currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of BPIS and President of AMS RRG. Since 2003, AMS RRG has been providing medical professional liability insurance to physicians throughout the country across a broad range of specialties, and is now one of the nation's premier physician risk retention groups with over 2,500 insureds. Mr. Welch is also an owner and President of Global Stage Limited, a member of Lloyd's of London. Additionally, he invests in health sector innovation and participates in Health Wildcatters, a Dallas, Texas based healthcare business incubator.

As a leader in the healthcare industry, Mr. Welch served in executive positions throughout his career. Prior to his current positions, Mr. Welch was a founder, President and CEO of Applied Medical Solutions, Inc. (AMS), a hospitalist company located in South Florida. Mr. Welch merged AMS into one of the nation's leading hospitalist companies and served as Vice President, Operations and Business Development for the Southeast Region. Prior to founding AMS, Mr. Welch served as the Vice President, Operations for the North Broward Hospital District, a multi-hospital system located in South Florida.

Mr. Welch received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Florida State University and his Master of Health Administration from Duke University. Mr. Welch has served on numerous charitable boards as well as several professional healthcare organizations. Currently he serves on the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Foundation Board as Treasurer, is a member of YPO and a member of the Broward Workshop. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his wife Christine. They have two sons, Alexander and Ryan.

Scott Zhang MBA '04

Philips, Head of Quality and Regulatory, Ultrasound Business Group

Scott Zhang has 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry and currently serves as the head of Quality and Regulatory for the Ultrasound Business Group at Philips. Between December 2012 and July 2014, Scott served as the Senior Director of Quality and Regulatory for Philips Healthcare's Diagnostic X-Ray and Women's Healthcare Business Unit. Prior to his role in the Diagnostic X-Ray and Women's Healthcare Business Unit, Scott led various Quality and Regulatory projects for Philips in North America and Asia, from medical imaging products to defibrillators and patient monitors. Scott received a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from Tianjin University and an M.B.A. from Duke University. 

 Scott has developed a strong background in quality, compliance and regulatory affairs in the global healthcare environment from his experience working in North America, Asia and Europe. He has extensive experience in change management and building robust quality and regulatory organizations. Scott has been an invited speaker at various industry conferences and working groups with members of the industry and regulatory agencies on topics including quality systems, risk management, FDA regulations, IEC standards, and supplier management.

Femi Adewunmi MBA '09

Sound Physicians, Chief Medical Officer, Atlantic Region

Femi Adewunmi, MD, leads clinical operations of the Atlantic region. His responsibilities include regional organizational leadership and operational performance. In his role, Dr. Adewunmi works directly with our hospital partners and hospitalists along with the regional vice president of operations to ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care and the alignment of performance with partner hospital goals.

Femi holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Certificate in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is recognized as a Senior Fellow in the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) and served on the SHM's leadership committee and as a facilitator at the organization's Leadership academy. He is also recognized as a Certified Physician Executive by the American College of Physician Executives. He completed his internal medicine residency at Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, Pa. and graduated from the University of Ibadan's College of Medicine in Nigeria.

Carolann Augustine MBA '96

Boston Scientific Corporation, Director, Corporate Communications

Carolann Augustine, Director of Corporate Communications (internal and functional) at Boston Scientific Corporation, leads communications for large-scale enterprise and functional projects, initiatives and programs. Prior to this role, she was a Group Manager in Strategic Marketing where she and her team leveraged primary and secondary research to develop recommendations resulting in decisions related to investments, "go/no go", product positioning and marketing plans.

Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Carolann was a team member and manager for performance improvement and information technology consulting projects at Accenture and Ernst &Young. Her primary clients included healthcare and health and human services organizations.

Carolann has a BS in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MBA in Health Sector Management from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. Carolann interviews prospective Duke students as part of the AAAC Volunteer Program. She also enjoys opportunities to connect with the Fuqua community.

David Baker MBA '90

Alcobra, Chief Commercial Officer

Mr. Baker joined Alcobra in January 2014 as the Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to joining Alcobra, he worked at Shire for 10 years, most recently as Vice President of Commercial Strategy and New Business in the Neuroscience Business Unit. In that role, he led the commercial assessment of neuroscience licensing opportunities, managed commercial efforts on pipeline CNS products, and led the long term strategic planning process. Previously, he served as Global General Manager for Vyvanse® where he led the launch of Vyvanse, led the launch of the adult indication for Vyvanse, and led global expansion efforts including successful establishment of a partnership in Japan and launches in Canada and Brazil. Prior to that, Mr. Baker served as Vice President of Marketing for all of Shire's ADHD products. He has been directly involved with the commercialization of five approved ADHD medications.

From 1990 - 2004, Mr. Baker worked at Merck where he held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, sales, market research, and business development. In addition to his knowledge and experience with CNS medications, Mr. Baker's therapeutic expertise includes osteoporosis, migraine, and hyperlipidemia. He has been directly involved with the marketing of five medications with annual sales in excess of $1 billion each.

Mr. Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Computer Science from Duke University. He earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.

Corey Best MBA '13

YCORE of North Carolina, Inc., Principal

Cornelius L. Best is founder of YCORE of North Carolina, Inc., a biotech and pharmaceutical consulting firm.  Corey is currently leading all aspects (including project management and clinical management) of clinical trial conduct for a biotech company in New York.  He has a depth of experience in global pharmaceutical research with expertise in Operations, Program and Life Cycle Management, and Organization Development.  Corey is known as a "solutions architect".  While at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals he led more than 100 colleagues of various professional disciplines, cultural differences, multiple organizations and time zones to successfully complete a $60M global clinical development program for an anti-tuberculosis compound which is one of the first major multi-national clinical programs to evaluate treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

For over 15 years Corey has guided global clinical trials in the development of new pharmaceutical products, including directing all phases of high-impact clinical trials.  He has developed cultural literacy by working in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.  

Corey is a graduate of Campbell University with a BS degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an MS in Clinical Research. He also holds an MBA (Global Executive program) from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.  Mr. Best is a fellow of the Emerging Leaders in Public Health through the Gillings School of Public Health and Kenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Mr. Best is a credentialed member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).  

He currently serves on the Dean's Board of Advisors for the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at Campbell University.  In addition he is a Director on the board of the NCCU Foundation, Inc.  Mr. Best is a member of CALIBR which is a global leadership network that offers career and professional development, community service opportunities and points of connectivity for business professionals.  He resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife and son.

Leigh Ann Bruhn MBA/HSM '01

Avalere Health, Director

Leigh Ann Bruhn, Director at Avalere Health, advises clients on market access, product commercialization and value strategy.  In her prior pharmaceutical and medical device career, she led initiatives across healthcare stakeholders including commercial payers, providers, retail pharmacy, specialty pharmacy and patient advocacy. 

Prior to joining Avalere, Leigh Ann was a Director of Managed Care Marketing at Abbott Pharmaceuticals. Her work spans public and primary payers as well as both primary care and specialty products. Leigh Ann is a frequent speaker on accountable care organizations, payment and delivery reform and specialty pharmaceuticals/specialty pharmacy and a committee member for the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP).

Leigh Ann has a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MBA in Health Sector Management the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. She always enjoys opportunities to connect with the growing Fuqua community.

Laura Crandon MBA '99

UnitedHealth Group, Vice President, Strategic Provider Account Management

Laura Crandon is Vice President, Strategic Provider Account Management at UnitedHealth Group.  Laura is responsible for a portfolio of strategic provider partners in the mid-Atlantic region.  Working collaboratively with providers, she builds enduring relationships, works across the UnitedHealth Group enterprise to identify and execute on opportunities to create win-win relationships that advance healthcare transformation.  

Previously, Laura served as Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Consumer Engagements in the UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement business segment where she lead a team of account directors and implementation directors responsible for managing a portfolio of enterprise-to-enterprise relationships including AARP Federal Programs, Ameriprise, Walmart and Walgreens, among others.  She developed new business categories and fostered product differentiation by identifying, building and managing alliances that delivered retail channel growth, innovation, clinical quality and member engagement.  She is one of 40 Innovation Champions across UnitedHealth Group.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Laura founded a sales and marketing consulting firm focused on measurably improving client loyalty and retention, serving clients including eBay and UnitedHealthcare.  Laura previously held positions as Vice President of Sales and Sales Operations, and General Manager at successive start-ups where her focus was client acquisition and engagement worldwide.  During her tenure, the business segment she founded and led doubled in size and became the most profitable amongst its peers.  She previously held leadership positions in Europe and the United States with GE while a member of its Corporate Audit Staff.

Todd Creech MBA '03

HealthQuest Capital, Partner

Todd is a Partner at HealthQuest Capital, a venture growth fund investing in innovation across most of the healthcare spectrum: medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, tech enabled services, and consumer medicine. Prior to joining HealthQuest in 2016, he was the CFO of Femasys, a medtech company developing and selling devices for women's health issues; he continues to advise Femasys on strategic and financial matters. From 2013 to 2015, we was the CFO and Treasurer of ZS Pharma, which developed and manufactured inorganic compounds to treat renal and cardiovascular diseases. ZS was sold to Astra Zeneca in 2015 for $2.7 billion after going public in 2014.  He was the CFO and Head of Business Development for SarCode Biosciences from 2010-2013. SarCode developed LFA-1 antagonists to treat diseases in ophthalmology, dermatology. SarCode was sold to Shire Pharmaceuticals in April 2013 for $160m up front and significant additional development and revenue milestones. SarCode's lead product, Xidra, was approved for the signs and symptoms of dry eye in 2015. From January 2007 through September 2010, Todd was the CFO of Sirion Therapeutics, which developed and marketed ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, two of which were approved by the FDA (Durezol and Virgan). In the first half of 2010 he helped lead the sale of Sirion's drug assets to Alcon and Bausch & Lomb. During his CFO tenure, he raised more than $500m in equity and debt, helping to build operations in companies that generated over $3.5b in exits. 

Prior to Sirion, Todd worked with Quintiles/NovaQuest, the former investment group within Quintiles. There he made and managed U.S. emerging biotech and specialty pharmaceutical company investments, including the investment that launched Sirion. Todd also co-founded Centice, an optical sensor spin-out from Duke University in 2003. He was also a management consultant for over 10 years, advising pharmaceutical, biotech and high-tech companies, from startups to Fortune 100 firms, while at SRI International and Andersen Consulting. Todd holds bachelor's degrees in Finance and Accounting from Miami (Ohio) University and an MBA from Duke University. He and his wife, Heather, live in Tampa, Florida, and have two children, Ty and Caden.

Rebecca Fish MBA '00

Biodefense Division, Vice President, Marketing

Rebecca Fish is the Vice President of Marketing at Emergent BioSolutions.  Emergent is a global leader in the development of medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats including anthrax, smallpox and botulism. Rebecca has senior level health care experience working in both the public and private sectors.  In her last role, Rebecca served as the Senior Policy Advisor to The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services.  She led the Vaccine Policy, Science, and Strategy Team and her responsibilities included development of the U.S. National Adult Immunization Plan.  She also previously worked within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services developing new strategies for drug reimbursement policy (AWP reform) and Medicare Part D and Part B.

Prior to joining HHS, Rebecca worked at GlaxoSmithKline as the Global Head of Medical Countermeasures.  She also served as the Executive Director of Vaccine, Antibiotic, and Biodefense Policy at GSK and managed GSK's vaccine business with the Centers for Disease Control.  Rebecca held similar marketing roles at Merck & Co., Inc., where she was employed for 8 years and managed the federal and city/county/state vaccine business.  She has managed customer segments with approximately $1 billion in annual sales goals.
Rebecca graduated with a high honors degree in Psychobiology from Mount Holyoke College and received her M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.  She completed a Fellows program in Biosecurity through the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and recently published a paper on a new business model for health security in the Journal of Global Health Diplomacy.  Rebecca plans to begin her doctoral degree in public health and health security in the Fall of 2016.

Richard Gilbert MBA '01

MDLIVE, Inc., President, MDLIVE Medical Group

Dr. Gilbert brings over 25 years of innovative healthcare executive leadership developing and operationalizing strategic imperatives, leading large scale organizational change and engaging physicians to align with the transformative healthcare environment of consumerism and value based care. 
As President, MDLive Medical Group, one of the nation's largest telehealth companies, Dr. Gilbert is responsible for all aspects of clinical leadership, strategy, structure and operations.  He oversees the organization's imperative to optimize the patient experience, drive quality outcomes, engage and grow the physician network.   
Prior to MDLive, Rich served as Chief Medical Officer, Mednax, Inc. a publically traded healthcare company and along with the Executive Team, had responsibility for a $1.6 Billion P&L and thousands of healthcare specialists. 
Before joining Mednax, Rich served as CEO of 3 Charlotte based companies: Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants, Southeast Pain Care (founder) and Quantum® LLC (founder) a healthcare IT startup.  During Dr. Gilbert's 18-year leadership, Southeast grew from one hospital and pain center to 29 hospitals, ASCs and pain centers in three states. The enterprise, acquired by MEDNAX in 2010, remains Mednax's largest anesthesiology acquisition    
Other leadership roles include: Chief, Department of Anesthesiology and Medical Staff President at Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Gilbert was appointed as the only physician member to a five panel NC Medicaid Reform Group.
Board Membership: United Way of Central Carolinas; Providence Day School, Charlotte; Levine Children's Hospital Dare to Dream Campaign Steering Committee; Carolinas Partnership; Carolinas Healthcare System Board of Commissioners. Rich also serves as mentor to Health Wildcatters, a healthcare entrepreneur incubator based in Dallas.

Rich received his MBA from Duke University, completed anesthesiology residency and fellowships in Cardiac anesthesiology and Pain Management at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Gilbert earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco Medical School and membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He also received a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Larry Gladstone MBA '94

Clinical Difference, CEO

Larry has spent the last 25 years growing and building healthcare businesses as an operator, owner, investor and investment banker.  Immediately following graduation from Fuqua, he was the 12th corporate employee at MedCath, the Welsh Carson backed heart hospital company and later founded and ran National Vascular Care, a specialty surgery center company backed by Weston Presidio, that was sold to Fresenius Medical.  Larry was also a General Partner in the venture capital firm Kitty Hawk Capital and led healthcare M&A for Marks Baughan & Co.  Larry is currently the CEO of both Clinical Difference, an online medical education company, and Lawrence Capital LLC a healthcare focused consulting and advisory services business. 

Rony Golczewski MBA '04

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Senior Director, Marketing General Medicine - Emerging Markets

Rony is the Senior Director, Marketing | General Medicine - Emerging Markets at Takeda Pharmaceuticals based in Singapore. He joined Takeda in August 2015 as the Global Marketing Director - Diabetes. In his current role, Rony oversees the pre and post launch strategy and activities of the CVM, GI and other General Medicine brands in Emerging Markets, which includes Latin America, Russia/CIS, Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
 
Rony has been working in the Biotech/Pharmaceutical Industry since he graduated from the Fuqua in 2004. In the last 12 years he developed extensive International commercial experience at Lilly, Amgen and Takeda, working across most marketing and sales functions at a local, regional and global levels, within multiple therapeutic areas and has been based in countries on 5 continents (Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain, UK and US). 
  
Rony holds a double major Civil and Industrial Engineering degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Duke University. Rony currently lives in Singapore with his wife and 6 years old son.

Laurie Gomer MBA '13

Syapse, Director, Health System Partnerships

Laurie Gomer is Director, Health System Partnerships at Syapse, a social+capital, Safeguard Scientifics, Ascension Ventures, and GE Ventures backed company, whose precision medicine data platform integrates genomic and clinical data to provide clinicians with actionable insights at point of care, enabling diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes tracking. Previously, she was Director of Business Development at AppMedicine, a healthcare mobile app and communication platform, which used mobile technology to improve patient access to high-quality, cost-effective medical care outside of the doctor's office. Prior to AppMedicine, Laurie worked in Pipeline and Portfolio Planning at Genentech and Business Development at Navigenics (Acquired by Life Technologies/Thermo Fisher), a personal genomics company, which was venture-backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Procter & Gamble.  Before joining Navigenics, Laurie worked as a Research Manager in the Healthcare & Biomedical Practice at Gerson Lehrman Group, a primary investment research firm for institutional investors, venture capital and private equity firms. Laurie began her career as a Consultant at The Lucas Group, a boutique management consulting firm, where she was a member of the firm's Growth and Acquisitions Practice and assisted with multiple due diligence engagements for private equity firms and corporations.  Laurie earned a BA from Davidson College and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Christine Hale MBA '05

Lockton Dunning Benefits, Vice President, Clinical Consulting

Christine joined Lockton on May 1, 2017 as Vice President, Clinical Consulting.  She serves as the medical director and lead strategist for the Clinical Consulting team.  She is known as an innovator, collaborator, and change agent, and is particularly passionate about utilizing data and creative solutions to reduce waste improve cost-effectiveness in healthcare.

Christine received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Southern Methodist University and an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  She completed her residency training in Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center in 2003.  Spurred by an emerging interest in systems improvement, she stayed on at Duke post-residency to earn her M.B.A. with concentration in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business. 

Upon completion of her MBA in 2005, she joined McKinsey & Company as a consultant, where she remained for 7+ years.  During this time, she worked with hospitals and health systems both across the country and internationally in a variety of functional areas, including strategy, operations, and organization.  She was often sought out to facilitate in situations where building physician and administration alignment was key. 

She joined Tenet Healthcare in 2013 as National Director Clinical Performance Excellence.  In this new role, she was responsible for advancing a number of high stakes clinical performance improvement initiatives, including blood product utilization, sepsis identification and management, laboratory utilization, intensive care, palliative care, and cardiac quality.  She also oversaw fifteen Clinical Expert Panels which engaged across a spectrum of business issues relevant to their areas of clinical expertise.

Christine and her husband Wes live in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas with their two dogs, Ashley and Owen.  She co-owns a contemporary circus school (Moxie Mischief) located in the Design District and is an avid dancer and aerialist.

Patrick Jordan MBA '02

Encore, A Quintiles Company, Chief Administrative Officer

Patrick Jordan is Chief Administration Officer for Encore, A Quintiles Company. He joined Quintiles in 1997 where he has built and led teams in corporate development, operations, product management and partnership management in the healthcare industry.

In previous positions, Patrick has been Managing Director and Head of Operations for Quintiles' Customer Solutions Management Group, an organization dedicated to developing and delivering solutions utilizing the breadth of Quintiles clinical, commercial, and consulting capabilities. He led Quintiles' key accounts, whose best-of-industry partnership management practices were profiled in Harvard Business Review.

Patrick developed and managed investment solutions with NovaQuest, the managed partnership group of Quintiles, in the US and on assignment to the United Kingdom. He structured partnerships that combined internal and third-party investments with Quintiles' drug development and commercialization expertise to help biopharmaceutical companies advance assets in their development pipelines and expand their commercial portfolios. His work in the United Kingdom included a unique capital and commercial services partnership that launched ProStrakan, a Scotland-based international specialty pharmaceutical company, in the US. He also led and has been a principal for several of Quintiles' corporate transactions and partnerships.

He earned a BA from Duke University; an MA from the University of Durham, United Kingdom; and an MBA with a concentration in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.  He is passionate about Fuqua and health care and is excited to combine these interests as a member of the Health Care Alumni Advisory Board.

Lucy Lee MBA '04

H.O.P.E Management, Principal

Lucy is a principal and co-founder of H.O.P.E Management, a specialty consulting firm. H.O.P.E combines the business and clinical aspects of healthcare to create unique solutions and business models that improve the operational and financial performance of hospitals and healthcare providers. Lucy is currently leading the Clinical and Business Intelligence group, which is comprised of strong believers in the innovative use of data and technology in hospital management.  Prior to H.O.P.E, she was a partner at Apex Healthcare Consulting and a project manager at CSC Consulting, Global Health Solutions.   Lucy has touched many aspects of healthcare arena.  She was a volunteer, clinical instructor, nurse and care unit manager before she became a consultant.  Lucy obtained her Bachelor in Medicine from Beijing Medical University and graduated from Fuqua in 2004, and is certified in Health Sector Management.

Lucy is an enthusiastic traveller.  She and her family have visited over 20 countries spanning three continents.  Lucy lives with her husband and three daughters, Grace-Rae (13), Aubry (1) and Avery (1) in Edison, NJ. 

Carolyn Nohejl MBA '10

Verily Life Sciences (former Google Life Sciences), Alliance Manager

Carolyn has spent the last 10+ years in the medical device industry, starting as a Biologist at Edwards Life Sciences.  While pursuing her MS in Biomedical Engineering and MBA (HSM) at Duke, she partnered with 3 other students to co-found a neuromodulation start-up (Cerene Biomedics) focusing the treatment of epilepsy and won the Duke Start-Up Challenge.

After graduating from Duke, she pursued positions in product management at Boston Scientific Neuromodulation and Stryker Neurovascular. Through these roles, she drove products through all stages of development (conception through launch) and gained commercial experience across global markets. Carolyn is currently an Alliance Manager at Verily Life Sciences (former Google Life Sciences). 

Carolyn also holds a BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UC San Diego, and is an Ironman Triathlete.

Robert Paz MBA '08

Eli Lilly and Company, Director Finance Consolidation and R&D - Lilly BioMedicines

Vice Chair, Health Care Alumni Advisory Board

Following graduation from Fuqua, Rob accepted a position to work at Eli Lilly and Company.  Currently, Rob is a Director of Finance for the Lilly BioMedicines Business Unit and serves in consolidating Global Business Unit Performance and is the CFO for Development within the Business Unit.  Additionally, he facilitates business development transactions as they evolve and manages the financial integration following deal execution.  Prior to this position, Rob was a director in the Mergers and Acquisitions group, a Six Sigma Black Belt and worked as the Debt Capital Markets Analyst in Treasury.  Prior to Fuqua, Rob worked for five years as a Molecular Biologist at Pfizer and for one year at Affymax.  He has a BS in Human Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a MS in Microbiology from Miami University.

Julian Rimmer MBA '10

Abbvie, Assistant Director

Julian has twenty five years research and development experience within Pharmaceutical & Clinical Research Organizations. He is an expert in the complete pre-approval clinical development process, with hands on experience in Clinical Operations and Data Management. As well as running a CRO business unit, he has overseen global Phase I-IV studies, drug submissions and approvals in the therapeutic areas: Endocrinology & Metabolism, Cardiovascular, Osteoporosis and Anti-infectives.
A mentor to individuals and start-ups in the clinical development space, he is currently responsible for IT support of clinical systems within Abbvie, leading a first class global support team that develops game-changing software applications to harmonize technology and process.

He earned a BSc Hons from Kingston University; London England and an MBA with a concentration in Health Sector Management from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

Matthew Rizzo MBA '01

OrbiMed Advisors, Partner

Matthew Rizzo is a Partner, Credit Opportunities at OrbiMed Advisors, L.L.C. Mr. Rizzo is focused on healthcare royalty and structured finance investments. Previously, Mr. Rizzo was at Ikaria as a Senior Director in business development for pharmaceutical licensing and acquisitions. Prior to Ikaria, Mr. Rizzo was a Vice President at Fortress Investment Group, focused on healthcare investments in the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds. Prior to Fortress, he was at GlaxoSmithKline where he worked in business and commercial analysis. Mr. Rizzo received his M.B.A. from Duke University and his B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Bonny Rollender MHA '89

athenahealth, inc., Director and Client Account Executive

Bonny Rollender is a Client Account Executive with athenahealth,a leading provider of network-enabled services for electronic health records (EHR), revenue cycle management and medical billing, patient engagement, population health management, as well as Epocrates and other point-of-care mobile apps.  Bonny works closely with athenahealth's largest and most complex Enterprise clients to ensure optimal performance, strategic guidance and partnership success.  Prior roles at athenahealth included product development and instructional design, where she was a key contributor to onboarding the company's 2nd corporate office in Maine.  Prior to athenahealth, Bonny held a range of management positions with hospitals and health systems such as Dignity Health system and Tenet Healthcare, responsible for the start up phase and ongoing operations of their system owned medical groups.

Bonny received her BA in Public Administration from the University of Maine and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Duke University. She currently provides program mentorship for Fuqua MBA Health Sector students in both the Executive and Daytime MBA programs.  She currently resides in Concord, Massachusetts with her husband Matt.  They have triplets, 2 daughters and 1 son, who entered their freshmen year of college this year (2016).

Kevin Schelenski MBA '09

Axia Ltd., Engagement Manager

Kevin Schelenski is an Engagement Manager for Axia Limited, a Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Consumer Goods consulting firm based in Boston, MA. Over his career, Kevin has led several high-impact, strategic engagements including a comprehensive financial and operational turnaround for a major academic health system, go-to-market strategy design, customer segmentation strategy design and subsequent strategy implementations for leading medical device and healthcare services corporations, and operational planning and cost management for pharma and biopharma companies. Kevin has direct experience in a breadth of financial, operational, and policy driven areas such as patient flow, patient experience, strategic sourcing, operating room and procedure suite optimizations, ambulatory clinic management, network development, funds flow, clinician compensation models, diagnostic services, health system performance management, etc. etc.

Prior to joining Axia, Kevin worked for the Carlisle and Gallagher Consulting Group in Charlotte, NC specializing in the development and deployment of top-line growth and customer acquisition/retention initiatives within financial services.

Kevin holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business with a certificate in Health Sector Management. 

Rina Shah MBA '10

Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions, Inc, Vice President of Clinical Programs

Rina Shah is a health care professional who has worked in a number of different capacities across the industry since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Health Policy and Administration.  She currently works for Beacon Laboratory Benefits Solutions, a subsidiary of LabCorp, as Vice President of Clinical Programs.  The company is a start-up that is working with health plans to improve cost efficiencies in the laboratory testing space while also demanding higher quality.  Rina has been responsible for leading and developing the company's clinical program, in addition to playing an integral role in sales activities to new clients, development of new products, and design and testing of the IT platform.

Before her role at BeaconLBS, Rina obtained her MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business with concentrations in Health Sector Management and Marketing.  While in business school, she interned at Genentech, working to improve patient access to medications.  Prior to getting her MBA, Rina was a health consultant at Deloitte Consulting and with her own company. As a consultant she worked with a variety of clients in the payer and provider space, focusing on revenue cycle operations, EMR and other system integrations, and utilization management. 

Rina is also a founder and current member of both the Summerbridge Breakthrough Alumni Network Board and the Fuqua Health Care Alumni Advisory Board.  

Wendy Webster MBA '04

Duke University Medical Center, Divisional Administrator

Chair, Health Care Alumni Advisory Board

Wendy Webster is a Divisional Administrator at Duke University Medical Center in the Department of Surgery and brings more than 15 years' experience in health care operations management of teams in the provider and hospital settings. Recognized for her leadership in clinical operations and strategy, she consistently creates performance and cultural transformations.

Additionally, Wendy is active in the triangle community and has lead non-profit organizations such as Girls on the Run of the Triangle and The Junior League of Raleigh.

Wendy received her undergraduate degree from Baylor University and her master's degree from East Carolina University followed by a master's in business administration from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.

Richard Welch MHA '92

Best Practices Medical Partners LLC, Founder

Mr. Welch is both a founder of Best Practices Insurance Services, LLC (BPIS) and Applied Medico-Legal Solutions Risk Retention Group, Inc. (AMS RRG). He currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of BPIS and President of AMS RRG. Since 2003, AMS RRG has been providing medical professional liability insurance to physicians throughout the country across a broad range of specialties, and is now one of the nation's premier physician risk retention groups with over 2,500 insureds. Mr. Welch is also an owner and President of Global Stage Limited, a member of Lloyd's of London. Additionally, he invests in health sector innovation and participates in Health Wildcatters, a Dallas, Texas based healthcare business incubator.

As a leader in the healthcare industry, Mr. Welch served in executive positions throughout his career. Prior to his current positions, Mr. Welch was a founder, President and CEO of Applied Medical Solutions, Inc. (AMS), a hospitalist company located in South Florida. Mr. Welch merged AMS into one of the nation's leading hospitalist companies and served as Vice President, Operations and Business Development for the Southeast Region. Prior to founding AMS, Mr. Welch served as the Vice President, Operations for the North Broward Hospital District, a multi-hospital system located in South Florida.

Mr. Welch received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Florida State University and his Master of Health Administration from Duke University. Mr. Welch has served on numerous charitable boards as well as several professional healthcare organizations. Currently he serves on the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Foundation Board as Treasurer, is a member of YPO and a member of the Broward Workshop. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his wife Christine. They have two sons, Alexander and Ryan.

Scott Zhang MBA '04

Philips, Head of Quality and Regulatory, Ultrasound Business Group

Scott Zhang has 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry and currently serves as the head of Quality and Regulatory for the Ultrasound Business Group at Philips. Between December 2012 and July 2014, Scott served as the Senior Director of Quality and Regulatory for Philips Healthcare's Diagnostic X-Ray and Women's Healthcare Business Unit. Prior to his role in the Diagnostic X-Ray and Women's Healthcare Business Unit, Scott led various Quality and Regulatory projects for Philips in North America and Asia, from medical imaging products to defibrillators and patient monitors. Scott received a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from Tianjin University and an M.B.A. from Duke University. 

 Scott has developed a strong background in quality, compliance and regulatory affairs in the global healthcare environment from his experience working in North America, Asia and Europe. He has extensive experience in change management and building robust quality and regulatory organizations. Scott has been an invited speaker at various industry conferences and working groups with members of the industry and regulatory agencies on topics including quality systems, risk management, FDA regulations, IEC standards, and supplier management.