What excites you about bringing new medical technologies to the market?

I’m an entrepreneur at heart and highly motivated by helping people in solving complex problems. At this unique moment in time, we have a very dense, systems-level problem in healthcare – increasing costs without better outcomes. But with that, we have the opportunity to usher in a new era of healthcare in the US – and I strongly believe technology is at the epicenter. Technology has the potential to make healthcare more impactful, sustainable, and more equitable.

In addition, I love the extremely entrepreneurial and innovative medtech culture; it energizes me and our team. I feel a strong alignment to the mission and culture of medtech. Many of these technologies are developed to address very niche specific clinical needs for subgroups of the population. Helping underserved or under-represented subgroups of the population has always been a passion and something I’ve been invested in from the early days of my career.

Tell us a little about your background and the types of people who have impacted you.

I was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Two of the people I admire most in the world are my parents. They are hard-working, family-focused, kind, and generous with their time and talents. My father started out in special education and had such a passion for helping the most vulnerable among us. They instilled in me a work ethic and drive to use my gifts to make the world a better place and a strong sense of humility, to seek to add value to others and to always learn and grow by being open and approachable. Growing up where I did with access to so many state parks and beautiful lakes and cascades gave me a deep love and appreciation for nature, something I carry with me to this day.

Tell us about your education, degrees, and other certifications you have received.

I am an epidemiologist by training. I have received my PhD in Human Genetics & Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University and did my post-doc in Clinical Immunology at the School of Medicine. I hold an MPH in Epidemiology and Community Health from Saint Louis University, and a BA in Chemistry and English from Washington & Jefferson College. What many people don’t know about me is that I have a deep love for the arts, having studied romanticism and transcendentalism, and Renaissance art in Italy. Developing diverse interests has given me a more holistic appraoch to my work and the world, and has made me skilled at seeing connections that others may not.

What are the best skills you bring to your job?

I have been told that my best attribute is my passion and conviction for a new model of healthcare that puts people (patients and providers) at the center, enabled and empowered by technology. I am creative, disruptive, and not risk averse. Balancing that is my deep analytical expertise which means, at the core of our business, is data-driven decision making. We collect more business intelligence and analytics that most companies and we bring this expertise to our clients.

In addition, I find that most people aren’t fully aware of the depth and breadth of my healthcare and public research background. This deep “high collision” applied healthcare expertise means I understand data creation at every level of the healthcare ecosystem. I built TTi around this deep experiential understanding of data and research methods from “bench to bedside,” which makes us uniquely positioned to conduct studies and create evidence that can accelerate time from discovery to real-world impact, speeding time to adoption.

In a general sense, who or what has influenced you the most when it comes to how you approach your work?

My children – statistically speaking, they’re a unique bunch. Two of my children were born with rare musculoskeletal birth defects. Having undergone more than 15 surgeries by ages 16 and 12, I understand the burden of these events on patients, their families, and the healthcare system firsthand.

When my daughter was born with congenital constriction band syndrome (or amniotic band syndrome), I made a commitment to better understand what contributes to these birth defects. She led us to adopt our youngest son from China, who has the same birth defect. My children continue to grow and inspire me, my work, and the direction of the company – especially as it relates to helping vulnerable and underserved populations – the unheard voices of healthcare. They drive my passion for the work we do to accelerate adoption of high-value tech that can positively impact the lives of these groups.

What are the values that drive you?

Service – This call to serve others has guided every major decision in my life. It is my WHY and what drew me to public health, to adopt my son in China in 2010, and to start this company in 2011 with the goal of putting people at the center.

Spirit (Enthusiasm) – As transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson (one of my favorite writers of all time) believed, “Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” I wake up every day excited to do what I love and make a difference.

What expertise or real-world experiences do you bring that help you deliver value to your clients?

Technically speaking, I am expert in evidence and how the healthcare ecosystem uses it to make decisions… what type is best to answer a particular question; how likely existing evidence or studies are to provide actionable evidence; the strengths and limitations of evidence and evidence synthesis as it relates to informing policy and practice, and so on. Clients, whether they are providers, health systems, payers, or government agencies, come to us for this advice. What we give them is the optimal path – if this is what needs to be decided or demonstrated… here are the ways we can get there, and better yet – here is how we can get there faster and for less investment (cost-effective).

Strategically, I have helped bring to market and accelerate growth for hundreds of medical technology products including surgical instruments, capital equipment, diagnostics, precision medicine technologies, predictive algorithms and disease management apps, among many others across a wide range of indication areas and use cases. In a highly siloed, fragmented marketplace, the diversity of my (and our) experience is highly unique and highly valuable. Beyond that, I have had the opportunity to work on healthcare from so many different angles that I see connections and opportunities that others often don’t.

Describe your role at TTi. What values and special talents do you bring to the company?

As CEO my role is to set the strategic vision for the company and to be the primary ambassador of our mission, our WHY. I am also a strategic adviser to a small portfolio of clients and projects that align strongly with both my personal background and interests.

I am motivated by two things: leaving the world better than I found it and helping people. I am not interesting in perpetuating an industry of research (and I know some will say this is counter to my own interests, but it’s the truth.) I’m interested in disrupting inertia, challenging the status quo, and helping high-impact technologies that have a real opportunity to address health disparities and to deliver high ROI care to more patients, faster. While you will definitely find me talking about this on podcasts or other platforms, what I’m most proud of is that our team is actually doing it, in the trenches, making it happen.

How would you describe the workplace culture and atmosphere at TTi?

TTi’s workplace and culture is dynamic, passionate, inclusive, and fosters camaraderie and a growth leadership mindset. Our team members are not afraid to take risks and make bets to propel growth, for ourselves and our clients. One thing that really makes us unique is that we never “phone it in” at TTi and we don’t shy away from challenges. We only take on clients and projects we believe in, where we are guaranteed scientific and professional autonomy, and we’re not afraid to push back on that. We like to say “we’re not going to let you do something stupid.” We are passionate about the power of technology to transform healthcare and when we believe in something we are dogged in our pursuit of it. One of our medtech CEO clients said he came to us because we were “gritty and actually gave a damn” and he had “total confidence we would get the job done.” I love that.

What has surprised you about working with TTi?

The growth that our organization has experienced in such a short amount of time – translating to millions of patient lives positively impacted by our engagements, which I credit to our team and, of course, our clients who are incredible innovators, entrepreneurs, and healthcare leaders. We’re a very different company looking to work with a very specific client… Our goal is always to find team members and clients who are almost cult-like in their belief in our WHY and will stand with us in pursuit of the same goal… they have exceeded my expectations! I am grateful for the chance to do the work we do with incredibly passionate, talented people who really are the game-changers, ushering in a new era of healthcare and making the world a better place for all, not just some.