LOOKING FORWARD TO 2024
RHIS 2023 saw our largest reproductive health focused summit to date, with over 300 leaders and 240 companies in attendance, taking part in 2 days jam-packed with knowledge sharing, networking, and future collaborations in the making.
Join us back in Boston next year as we onboard all your feedback to ensure that we're bringing you the most up-to-date, valuable, and enjoyable conference.
Want to be part of the 2024 programme? Contact: [email protected]
2023 ADVISORY BOARD
Alice Zheng
Dr. Neel Shah
Elizabeth Garner
Kalahn Taylor-Clark
Jamie White
Raymon uit de Bulten
Lucy Perez
Lucy is a Senior Partner in McKinsey’s Boston office. Lucy has 15+ years of experience advising CEOs and top teams at leading pharma, biotech and life sciences companies globally on growth strategy, innovation, sustainability, and organizational transformation.
Lucy co-leads McKinsey’s ESG domain and McKinsey’s All-In DEI efforts in North America. She also sponsors the Hispanic Latino Network at McKinsey and leads our research efforts on health equity.
Sandy Milligan
Valerie Palmieri
Rachel Braun Scherl
2023 INNOIVATION SHOWCASE
2023 Selection Committee
Showcasing the most innovative and disruptive companies in reproductive health.
- An opportunity for 12 start-up finalists from the reproductive health sphere to present their innovation in front of our audience of 300+ attendees.
- An expanded Selection Committee of leading investors who will provide their expertise and feedback in person.
- An all-new prize bundle including personalised, top-level prizes to set your business up for scale.
2023 Prize Bundle included:
- VIP Pass + Guest to a future WHIS event of your choice
- Showcase Finalist Breakfast on Day 2
- 1-2-1 Coaching with FemTech Lab
- 1- Hour 1-2-1 Consultation Session with Fempower Health
- 1-hour personalized Capital Raise Strategy with She Raises Capital
Applications Closed 23rd of December
2023 SPEKAERS
Alice Zheng, MD, MBA, MPH
Dr. Neel Shah
Elizabeth Garner
Barbara Collura
Rachel Braun Scherl
David Sable
Marsha Henderson
David Stern
David Stern has over 28 years of women’s health experience and has devoted the majority of his career to the fertility industry. He has held executive leadership positions and built successful teams while launching numerous products in pharmaceutical and biotech markets world-wide. Currently, David serves as the CEO of Boston IVF, one the largest IVF center networks in the United States with 11 full service IVF centers and over 30 satellite centers nationwide.
David served as CEO of Symbiomix Therapeutics a venture backed biotech company. He led the transition of the company from development stage to commercial launch in the US, prior to its acquisition by Lupin Pharmaceuticals in 2017. He served on the board of California Cryobank and has held executive positions in startup companies in the women’s healthcare market, building commercial teams, developing strategy and expanding scientific partnerships for Celmatix, Ohana and OvaScience.
David was the Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Business Franchise for Fertility at Merck Serono, responsible for the strategic development and growth of the portfolio world-wide. Prior to his global role, he was responsible for the US commercial operations in the Fertility, HIV and Growth Hormone markets. David started his career in women’s health with Organon Pharmaceutics. He has an MBA with a concentration in International Marketing and Management from the F.W. Olin School of Business at Babson College and holds a Bachelors’ degree in Biology from Brandeis University.
Casey Santiago
Casey Albert Santiago has 20 years of global operating experience building, scaling and investing in women’s health companies. Casey is a Managing Partner at SteelSky Ventures, a female-led venture capital fund investing in early-stage companies that improve access, care, and outcomes in women's health. Prior to joining SteelSky, Casey invested in early-stage digital health & consumer health start-ups in partnership with Johnson & Johnson. She was CEO/Founder of Kangu, a maternal health tech platform that was acquired in 2018, and was an early product leader at Kiva, which has facilitated billions of dollars in microloans to female entrepreneurs in the US and globally. Casey serves as an advisor to a number of venture-backed women’s health start-ups and speaks frequently on entrepreneurship and women’s health. She holds a BA from Wellesley College, an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Evan Sussman
Evan is the Chief Executive Officer and a Co-Founder of Granata Bio, a US based biopharma company focused on women’s health and fertility. In his role, Evan is responsible for Granata Bio’s corporate, customer, and commercial strategies.
Before founding Granata Bio, Evan spent nine years at EMD Serono/Merck KgAA. Most recently, he served as the Marketing and Business Unit Head for the US Fertility/Fertility Technologies businesses. During this time, Evan spearheaded the creation of innovative programs aimed at expanding access to care for under-recognized patient groups. He has previously served on the corporate council of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.
Evan is a graduate of Brown University and received an MBA in Healthcare Leadership from Yale University. He lives in the Boston area with his wife and daughter.
Maya Hardigan
Michelle Perugini
Daniella Gilboa
Heather Vahdat
Brian Levine
Ru-fong Cheng
Stasia Obremskey
Stasia Obremskey is the Managing Director of RH Capital Funds an impact venture capital fund of Rhia Ventures where she is responsible for investing in innovations in women’s reproductive health. She joined Rhia Ventures at its founding in 2018 after more than twenty-five years of experience as an interim CFO for non-profit organizations and start-up companies and an impact investor and philanthropist in women’s reproductive health. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. She has extensive experience as a member of several nonprofit boards where she has held a number of leadership positions. Stasia is a founding member of The Maverick Collective, an initiative of PSI. As the proud mother of three young adults, she is working with scientists and entrepreneurs to find the next generation of hormone-free contraceptives to meet their sexual health needs.
Angeline N. Beltsos
Noelle Acosta
Noelle Acosta is the Co-Founder & CEO of Noula Health, a digital health company that provides personalized reproductive health care for women and birthing people via at-home precision health testing and 1-on-1 virtual support from experts. Noelle is one of less than 100 Latina female founders to have ever raised over $1M for her startup. Prior to Noula, Noelle has helped lead and scale sales and business development teams at startups in the Bay Area and New York City. Noelle is also a certified birth doula and passionate about accessible, equitable healthcare for all.
Jackie Rotman
Danika Severino Wynn
Arielle Bogorad
Asima Ahmad
Beth Zoneraich
Anate Brauer
Serena H Chen
Khaled Kteily
Sabrina Martucci Johnson
Sabrina Martucci Johnson is a life sciences executive with a record of achievement in building successful companies, launching innovative products into specialty markets, delivering returns on shareholder investments, and implementing complex directional change.
Sabrina is committed to advancing innovation in women’s health. She is the Founder and CEO of DARÉ Bioscience (NASDAQ:DARE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven by a mission to identify, develop and bring to market a diverse portfolio of novel therapies that expand treatment options, improve outcomes and facilitate convenience for women. Prior to founding DARÉ, Sabrina was President of WomanCare Global Trading, a global provider of women’s health products, CFO/CAO of the California Institute for Biomedical Research, CFO/COO of Cypress Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYPB), held marketing and sales positions with Advanced Tissue Sciences, and began her career in the biotechnology industry as a research scientist with Baxter Healthcare, Hyland Division, working on the recombinant factor VIII program.
Sabrina has a Master of International Management with honors from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird); a MSc. in Biochemical Engineering from the University of London, University College London; and a BSc. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University, magna cum laude.
Sabrina currently serves on the boards of ATAI Life Sciences, a publicly-traded clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, and Aethlon Medical, Inc., a publicly-traded company developing immunotherapeutic technologies to combat infectious disease and cancer, BIOCOM, as Vice President of Industry, the Clearity Foundation as Chair, and the YWCA of San Diego County as Past President. Additionally, Sabrina serves on the Board of Advisors of Tulane University School of Science & Engineering and on the Audit Committee of Project Concern International.
Ms. Johnson was honored by Athena, a San Diego-based business organization championing women executives and rising managers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with the Individual in Life Science award in 2017 and the same year received the “Moxie” for her grit and determination and positive impact in the community from the award-winning MOXIE Theatre, a Southern California theatre dedicated to producing diverse and honest images of women using the art of theatre. She was an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year San Diego finalist in 2018 and in 2019 was recognized as an entrepreneur in the PharmaVoice 100 and honored as 2019 Director of the Year in the Emerging Board Leader category by the San Diego Corporate Directors Forum.
Kristin Brogaard
Lauren Berson Sugarman
Pam Pure
Pam Pure, CEO and Co-Founder of Posterity Health, is on a mission to give every couple who is trying to conceive access to inclusive male fertility care. She is an experienced digital healthcare executive and inspirational leader who has built, run and scaled market leading healthcare companies. She served as the CEO of HealthMEDX, EVP of McKesson Technologies and has extensive board experience with small venture backed start-up companies, including NurseGrid and Bivarus, and large public and private companies including MModal and ChangeHealthcare.
Abigail Sirus
Abigail Sirus is a member of the life sciences investment team at AWM Investments, Inc. which evaluates investments in reproductive medicine venture capital and life sciences public equities.
After graduating from Boston College, Abigail joined IBM as a technology consultant focused on blockchain implementations for healthcare and life sciences clients. Abigail was IBM lead for the FDA DSCSA Blockchain Interoperability Pilot collaboration with KPMG, Merck, and Walmart, and for the New York State Excelsior Pass Project (COVID-19 HealthPass) which used blockchain for digital identity validation, then joined. IBM’s Alternative Monetization team which monetizes IP assets across IBM's business units and was part of a core team that provided strategy and M&A activities for emerging technologies like blockchain and quantum computing.
Mylene Yao
Roopan Gill
Roopan is co-founder and executive director of Vitala Global Foundation - a Canadian not-for-profit that commits to developing digital solutions that support and facilitate access to safe abortion care in challenging contexts globally. She is an obstetrician gynecologist and provides abortion care in Toronto. She works with Medecins Sans Frontieres as an emergency OBGYN and previously with the World Health Organization (WHO). Most recently, she was featured in Forbes as 1 of 7 female leaders committed to inclusivity and accessibility.
Traci L. Baird
Traci L. Baird is President & CEO of EngenderHealth, a global organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality. Traci has worked across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and in the Americas on topics related to women’s health. Prior to leading EngenderHealth Traci was CEO of SHIFT NC, a non-profit adolescent and young adult sexual health organization working across North Carolina. Traci started her global health career at Ipas, where she worked for more than 20 years including as Executive Vice President of Programs. Traci earned a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor of arts degree in human biology with a concentration in women’s health from Stanford University.
Carlos Guerrero
Dana Northcraft
Jannine Versi
Megan Murphy
Meg Murphy is the Associate Director of Events and Engagement at PCOS Challenge: The National Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Association. Serving 57,000 members, PCOS Challenge is the leading nonprofit support organization globally that is advancing the cause for people affected by PCOS. PCOS Challenge hosts the largest and most influential PCOS educational events in the nation, which serve both patients and healthcare providers. They are the leading organization advocating for and shaping public policy with regard to women and girls impacted by polycystic ovary syndrome.
Meg attended her first PCOS Challenge symposium in 2014 and learned more in that one afternoon than she had in years as a patient. She immediately signed on as a volunteer and went on to become a Patient Advisory Board member. In January 2022, Meg joined the PCOS Challenge team full-time. Meg is passionate about empowering other people with PCOS to advocate for their health.
Prior to joining PCOS Challenge, Meg worked in the Office of Research Affairs at UC San Diego. She is a runner and recently launched the PCOS Challenge Race Team at the Los Angeles Marathon. Meg received her B.A. from Boston University and resides in San Diego, California with her husband.
Kevin Eisenfrats
Vidhi Data
Dhammika Perera
Kate Devine
Akash Bakshi
Carmen Messerlian
Gary L. Harton
Ryan Morin
Kylie Long
Bethany Young Holt
Angela Rastegar
Clay Schwabe
Kelly Athayde Wirka
Shira Center
Sandra Milligan
Marcel van Duin
Libby Horne
Kelle Moley
Ramy Abou Ghayda
Ali Castro
Steve Kretschmer
Matthew “Tex” VerMilyea
Shannon Cohn
Chloe Stoddard
Janna Meyrowitz Turner
Ashley Jackson
Alexis Cirel Partner
Sandra Elizabeth Ford
Amira Ghouaibi
AUDIENCE BREAKDOWN
Start Ups
We are committed to increasing exposure of emerging companies in reproductive health, at all stages of growth and development who are seeking partnership opportunities and are at the forefront of shaping the
future of this space.
Big Pharma/Medical Device/Biotech
At the forefront of women’s health innovation, Big Pharma, Medical Device, and Biotech companies play a key role in shaping the investments and innovation happening in the reproductive health sphere.
Investor, Funding Groups
We look to bring together leading investors with a particular focus in reproductive health, ranging from seed, to angel, venture capital firms, private equity, funds, and advisors.
Payers, Providers, Employers
Payors, insurance companies, and benefit providers provide an important bridge between stakeholders within the reproductive health industry, and we are delighted to have more joining us at this years’ summit.
Service Providers
Industry support and service providers include advocacy groups, researchers, knowledge leaders and accelerators such as consultants, lawyers, CROs, non-profits and regulatory experts
FMCGs
Fast moving consumer goods companies play an important role in the reproductive health landscape, and the women’s health landscape more broadly, and include companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Holland & Barrett.
2023 PARTNERS
HEADLINE PARTNER
Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Website: www.ferring.com
Helping mothers and babies, from conception to birth
At Ferring, we are committed to helping people become parents and to keeping mothers and babies healthy, from conception to birth. Over one third of our research and development investment goes towards finding innovative treatments in reproductive medicine and maternal health. We are also passionate about making a difference to people’s health and quality of life through our work in urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and orthopaedics.
INNOVATION PARTNER
Organon
Website: https://www.organon.com/
Organon (NYSE: OGN) is a global healthcare company formed through a spinoff from Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, to focus on improving the health of women throughout their lives. Here for her health, the company has a portfolio of more than 60 medicines and products across a range of therapeutic areas. Led by the reproductive health portfolio coupled with an expanding biosimilars business and stable franchise of established medicines, Organon’s products produce strong cash flows that will support investments in future growth opportunities in women’s health, including business development. In addition, Organon is pursuing opportunities to collaborate with biopharmaceutical innovators looking to commercialize their products by leveraging its scale and presence in fast growing international markets. Organon has a global footprint with significant scale and geographic reach, world-class commercial capabilities, and approximately 9,000 employees with headquarters located in Jersey City, N.J.
PLATINUM PARTNER
EMD Serono
Website: https://www.emdserono.com/us-en
At EMD Serono, we’re committed to connecting important details within the fertility cycle. Thanks to our long-standing expertise, support programs, and partnerships, we aim to provide patients with solutions that can help ART treatment success.
To Learn more about our commitment to financial affordability and access for our fertility medications, please visit www.fertilitysavings.com.
To learn more about our fertility medication portfolio, please visit www.emdseronofertility.com.
GOLD PARTNERS
GranataBio
Website: www.granata.bio
Granata Bio is a biopharma company focused on women's health and infertility. Founded in 2018, Granata Bio’s model is to identify and in-license strategic products for development and commercialization in North America. The company recently announced a partnership with IBSA Group (Lugano, CH) to co-develop a novel subcutaneous progesterone solution in the United States.
PRIA Healthcare
Website: https://priahealthcare.com/who-we-help/medical-device-manufacturers/
PRIA Healthcare provides patient solutions for medical device reimbursement. We believe patients deserve to have access to—and insurance coverage for—the most innovative and scientifically proven medical devices, treatments, and procedures so they can receive the care their health and well-being depend on.
At the Reproductive Health Innovation Summit, industry veterans and experts from PRIA Healthcare will discuss the importance of early consultative involvement for innovative treatments and navigation in the strategic reimbursement landscape, as well as market and patient access solutions. Join us for an enlightening discussion around how to drive maximum adoption of your therapy from conception to patient access to ensure progressive treatments in the reproductive health arena are accelerated to their full potential.
EVENT PARTNER
Presagen
Website: https://www.presagen.com/
Presagen is an AI healthcare company focused on improving Women's health outcomes globally. Presagen's Social Network for Healthcare that is changing the way clinics, patients, and medical data from around the world are connected through AI. Our online data-sharing and collaboration network enables clinics and patients to connect, safely share data, use AI healthcare services, and get rewarded. With an initial focus in Women’s Health, Presagen’s first product, Life Whisperer, is being used by IVF clinics globally to improve pregnancy outcomes for patients.
AIVF Ltd.
AIVF is a reproductive technology company leading the digital transformation of fertility care. The company is developing a suite of solutions for the entire fertility journey. The first to market, EMA™, is an AI software platform that delivers automated and actionable insights to empower care decisions in fertility clinics. AI-powered fertility clinics hold enormous potential to substantially impact the financial and emotional costs experienced by individuals seeking assisted reproductive technology options to grow their family.
The company has successfully deployed its solutions in Europe and Asia and has research collaborations with leading clinics in the USA to advance research and innovation in Reproductive Medicine. AIVF was founded by Reproductive Medicine experts and is female led. AIVF was recently selected by WIRED UK as one of the Hottest Startups in Tel Aviv for 2022.
MEDIA PARTNERS
Femtech Insider
Website: https://femtechinsider.com/
Femtech Insider is the go-to platform for all things femtech. We’re the fastest growing portal for innovation in women’s health and address the information needs of founders, investors, researchers and consumers alike.
Fempower health
Website: http://fempower-health.com/
Fempower Health focused on empowering women to be the CEO of their health. Women are often "trained" to grin and bear it, rather than being offered research-backed solutions (mostly because the research is incredibly limited). Women deserve better: better insight and better solutions. Over 80 women’s health experts on women’s health issues have been interviewed on the Fempower Health Podcast covering how to navigate the complex healthcare system, reproductive health, menopause, the pelvic floor, pregnancy, sexual health and general women’s health.
SPARK Solutions For Growth
Website: www.sparksolutionsforgrowth.com
SPARK Solutions for Growth, under the leadership of Managing Partner Rachel Braun Scherl, is a provider of choice for business leaders, C-Suite executives and entrepreneurs alike, who are looking to catalyze topline growth. With decades of experience, the team has successfully launched, built and turned around Fortune 500 brands and businesses as well as startups. By designing customized processes and solutions, SPARK works to accelerate revenue and arm entrepreneurs with the wisdom, insight and knowledge to succeed in competitive spaces.
Drawing on a proven expertise and thought leadership in women’s sexual and reproductive health, SPARK works with businesses “from menstruation through menopause.” The strategy work focuses on driving innovation through products, ideas, messaging and business models, while finding funding and creating strategic partnerships. SPARK’s international client base includes multiple divisions of Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer and Church & Dwight and funded start-ups, including companies in menstruation, fertility, infertility, disease prevention, incontinence and menopause.
Business of The V
Website: https://businessofthev.com/
Dr. Alyssa Dweck & Rachel Braun-Scherl are here to introduce you to the most fascinating inventors, investors, thought leaders and health care professionals who are in the Business of The V. We focus on the intersection of patient care, unmet needs, unanswered questions AND with the businesses being created to respond to those areas.
If you are a woman, know a woman, have a business or care about your v health and wellness, this is the podcast for you. Dr. Alyssa Dweck is a gynecologist, surgeon and author. She's an expert on V health who explores what’s on other women’s minds when it comes to periods, hormones, breasts, butts and sex. Dr. Alyssa Dweck is a gynecologist, surgeon and author. She's an expert on V health who explores what’s on other women’s minds when it comes to periods, hormones, breasts, butts and sex.
Listen to Business of the V on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on social media for updates on new releases and more discussions about the business of women's health.
MassMEDIC
Website: http://www.massmedic.com/
Founded in 1996, the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) is the largest regional medtech association in the United States, with over 300 members representing manufacturers, product developers, suppliers, research institutions and academic health centers.
For more than a quarter of a century, MassMEDIC has been the voice of the groundbreaking medical technology industry in New England, advocating for sound public policy that supports innovation and fostering a community built on a shared purpose.
As a MassMEDIC member, you are part of a community of innovators that believe in collaboration and collective success. Our network and resources help you navigate today’s evolving healthcare ecosystem and strengthen your goals through connection, education, awareness, and advocacy.
2024 EVENT PARTNERS
Future Fertility
Website: https://futurefertility.com/en/
Future Fertility is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to unlock the future of personalized fertility care around the world, starting with the oocyte (human egg).
In today’s standard of care, there is no objective, standardized oocyte scoring system. Embryologists are unable to assess oocyte quality through visual assessment of oocytes under a microscope. As a result, clinicians must rely on generalized population health statistics to predict oocyte “quality”, likelihood of success and fertility diagnoses.
Future Fertility is the first company to develop objective, AI-based oocyte quality assessment tools. These non-invasive, clinically validated solutions use deep learning to analyze 2-dimensional oocyte images to predict the likelihood of an oocyte becoming a blastocyst. This enables healthcare providers, embryologists, and patients to have access to improved, personalized information to guide their fertility journey decisions and future cycle planning. These individualized insights also empower patients to better understand their own likelihood of success versus generalized predictions.
As precision medicine solutions continue to arise across the fertility journey, Future Fertility is focused on developing tools that are addressing outstanding gaps to elevate clinics to a new standard of care.
Presagen
Website: https://www.presagen.com/
Presagen is an AI healthcare company focused on improving Women's health outcomes globally. Presagen's Social Network for Healthcare that is changing the way clinics, patients, and medical data from around the world are connected through AI. Our online data-sharing and collaboration network enables clinics and patients to connect, safely share data, use AI healthcare services, and get rewarded. With an initial focus in Women’s Health, Presagen’s first product, Life Whisperer, is being used by IVF clinics globally to improve pregnancy outcomes for patients.
PARTNERING OPPORTUNITIES
The Reproductive Health Innovation Summit is an opportunity to strengthen and elevate your position in a growing market, which is ripe for partnerships and investment.
Based on your objective, we can create bespoke packages tailored specifically to you. From presenting your expertise, hosting a panel discussion, virtual networking booths, exclusive pitching sessions or webinars. We’re dedicated to helping you showcase your brand and make valuable new connections. Opportunities predominantly lie in 3 main categories:
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP BRANDING NETWORKING
For any Partnering Opportunities enquiries, please contact Sam Grimsley.
+44 (0)20 3897 9536 [email protected]
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