Curated networking among founders, investors, health system leaders, policymakers, and platform operators.

KEVIN MORGAN
Board Chair & Founding Member, DC Tech & Venture Coalition (DCTAV)

DEREK FORDPresident & CEO, Washington DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP)

FELIPE MILLONHead of Government Go to Market, OpenAI

This panel will move beyond headline innovation to examine which healthcare and life sciences models are achieving real-world adoption.

Participants
BRYANT GODFREY Partner, Foley Hoag
‍CARTER CLIFF President, Agnos Therapeutics
‍MELISSA COHEN Founding Partner, Coral Health Advisors
‍DR. NAWAR SHARA Director, Medstar Health Research Institute Center for Biostatistics Informatics and Data Science

Discussion Focus‍
● Which AI, data, and platform models are deployable today
● How health systems evaluate traction versus promise
● Institutional barriers to scale and how they are being overcome
● Lessons from organizations already operationalizing innovation

This panel will examine how regulatory shifts, reimbursement dynamics, and risk allocation are shaping healthcare and life sciences strategy in the year ahead.

Participants‍
JASHASWI GHOSH Limited Partner, Holon Law Partners
‍TOMMY BARLETTA Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Aldis Institutional
‍JENNIFER EVERRETT Partner, Alston and Bird
‍CAROLINE FARRELL Counsel, Foley Hoag
‍TRICIA LEE Chief, Digital Health Strategies - Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

Discussion Focus‍
● Reimbursement pathways and payer alignment
● Risk, liability, and insurance considerations for emerging technologies
● Regulatory signals founders and investors must understand
● Using compliance as a strategic advantage rather than a constraint

This conversation will explore what it takes to build and scale healthcare and life sciences companies in Washington, DC through accelerator programs, institutional partnerships, and ecosystem support.
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Participants‍KEITH CAMHI Managing Director, Techstars DC
‍KEVIN MORGAN Founding Member & Board Chair, DC Tech & Venture Coalition (DCTAV)
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Key Themes‍
● Why DC is uniquely positioned for healthcare innovation
● Lessons from hosting global startup cohorts locally
● How founders can leverage DC’s institutional density

Three curated product demonstrations focused on real-world deployment, operational readiness, and early commercial traction.

● Agnos Therapeutics
Advancing off-the-shelf cell therapy delivering healthy proteins to durably rescue sight.

● Akara Robotics
AI platform capturing surgical event data in real time, coordinating staff and robots while enabling AI agents to automate scheduling and reporting.

● NervMyo Therapeutics
Developer of a long-acting, injectable system for targeted delivery of small proteins.

● TechNovaTime
Turns real work on screen into deployable AI workers that operate the same interfaces people do.

This panel will focus on how investors, financial institutions, and advisors are approaching healthcare and life sciences investments amid evolving market conditions.

Participants
MICHELLE BOQUIREN URBEN Managing and General Partner, Synergos Fund
‍DEANNA ANGELLO Life Sciences & HealthTech Executive Council, Springboard Enterprises
‍BRYCE ARRUDA Managing Director, Life Sciences Deal Advisory & Strategy, KPMG
‍SRIYA SRINATH Principal, Morgan Health Ventures, JPMorgan Chase
‍EMILY ZHEN Principal, Zeal Capital Partners

Discussion Focus
‍● Deal structures, valuation discipline, and timing
● What investors expect from founders in 2026
● The role of accelerators and strategic capital
● Advisory perspectives on diligence, scale, and exits

STEVEN POSNACK
‍Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Principal Deputy National Coordinator, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)