Our team is our edge

Ryan Allison

Ryan works at the earliest stage of invention disclosure on the Inside-Out team to identify and build out a portfolio of high-potential technology assets through due diligence, protecting intellectual property, and leading product development engagements. Ryan manages early-stage technology pipeline commercialization processes and reporting, and he works across the UH Ventures team to provide diligence assessments for TVSF, Outside-In, and Investment opportunities. Prior to joining University Hospitals, Ryan worked at Cleveland Clinic Innovations on the Business Analytics team where he conducted clinical unmet need and market analyses for internal invention disclosures, external consulting engagements, and portfolio spinout companies. Ryan received his BS in Biology from Cleveland State University and MS in Biotechnology Entrepreneurship from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to his seven years in technology commercialization, Ryan served in the U.S. Air Force with a focus on satellite communication technologies.

Katie Auble

Katie manages strategic projects in the UH Ventures consulting/co-development practice as well as more mature product development opportunities. She acts as “the hub” when multiple stakeholders, cross-functional teams, tight timelines and high expectations are activated, utilizing project management methodology and tools. She practices with intentionality and a programmatic lens to bring the visions of the broader team to life and to support the culture of innovation at UH.

Prior to joining the Ventures team, Katie managed complex, prize-based innovation contests to help client organizations find new technology solutions, knowledge and partners to accelerate innovation and economic growth. Katie received her BS in Biology from Allegheny College, and her MBS in Bioscience from Keck Graduate Institute. She is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Sarah Cannon

At UH Ventures, Sarah analyzes volumes, revenues and expenses with Service Line Managers, Vice Presidents, Ventures President and Senior Leadership. She facilitates monthly pillar meetings, business plan and Joint Venture development and approval. Sarah develops annual capital and operational budgets, annual strategic financial plan and monthly forecasts.

Patricia Colella

Patricia helps manage all programming and pipeline functions for UH Ventures. She leads day-to-day programming efforts in the department including podcast production, social media outreach, website enhancements, marketing strategies, and logistical support in our Health Voyagers Series, Innovation Days and Call for Ideas. She manages overall innovation operational development and improvements by organizing, advancing, and reporting on opportunity deal flow. She also interfaces with UH Ventures operating units to ensure communication and strategy alignment. Prior to joining the team, she worked in private-duty home care across northeast Ohio. Patricia graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in Long-Term Health Care Administration and obtained her MBA with a concentration of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship.

Brandon Cornuke

Brandon supports the strategy and execution of major transformation efforts at UH and serves as the primary liaison between UH Ventures and the Office of Transformation. He focuses on system initiatives like reducing defects in value, designing for value, and advancing value-based models of care delivery, management, and measurement. He also coordinates the systematic identification of important problems at UH, which involves building programmatic activities and an environment to both inspire and educate caregivers across the organization. This inclusive work to promote UH’s culture of innovation brings together internal partners, processes, and technologies in support of UH’s innovation priorities.

Prior to joining the UH Ventures team, Brandon was the Vice President of Strategy & Innovation at MAGNET, Northeast Ohio’s center for manufacturing talent, transformation, and innovation. There he was responsible for redesigning, launching, and growing MAGNET’s entrepreneurship program and, later, leading MAGNET’s efforts to coordinate rapid PPE production as part of Ohio’s Alliance to Fight COVID-19.

Brandon also teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Design & Innovation at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management and is the author of The Value Proposition Matrix: An Innovator’s Guide to Four Questions that Separate Success from Failure. Brandon is an experienced innovation leader, having co-founded a consumer products company, consulted with hundreds of startups, and led transformation and innovation efforts for multi-billion-dollar businesses such as Hitachi, Target, and American Greetings. He has shared his innovation methodologies with some of the most respected organizations in the world, including Fortune 500 companies, world-class cultural institutions, and professional sports teams.

Brandon holds a BA in Economics from Trinity University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Sara Edwards

Kendra Gardiner

Kendra leads product strategy for the UH Ventures team wherein she is the general manager and portfolio owner of the various strategic product-focused initiatives. UH Ventures defines product broadly and is inclusive of healthcare information technology, digital health (software development, consumer apps, etc…), medical devices and technologies, and product as a service wherein it correlates to enhanced customer experience, brand perception, and/or new revenue streams for the organization.

Prior to joining the UH Ventures team, Kendra was the Chief Performance Officer at JumpStart, a Cleveland-based venture development organization where she split her time between internal strategic initiatives to strengthen the performance of the organization and launching external strategic initiatives to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cleveland. The majority of Kendra’s career was spent in the manufacturing industry where she gained experiences through her roles in product development, sales & marketing and operations across a variety of industries including medical devices, lighting, appliance, aerospace and automotive.

Kendra graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a BS in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration.

Allison Grazia

Allison serves as a critical liaison between UH Ahuja Medical Center and UH Ventures, focusing on service design and clinical innovation to positively impact patient experience, safety, quality, and value. Supported by Tom and Nancy Seitz, whose vision is to support the advancement of innovation culture and projects at Ahuja Medical Center, Allison bridges opportunities identified at one of University Hospitals’ flagship hospitals that anchors the UH Eastern market region with solutions sourced and vetted through the UH Ventures innovation engine. She partners closely with senior leadership at Ahuja to manage, continuously evaluate, and advance projects and programs. She also resides at UH Ventures and partners with team members in the search to find and prioritize opportunities that can be piloted, tested, and measured at the UH Eastern market.

Prior to joining the team, she worked at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as the Director of Community Engagement and Programming. Allison graduated from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, where she obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration.

Allison Hart

Allison leads strategic initiatives and insights work in support of the innovation capability on the Ventures team, engaging and liaising with leaders across the University Hospitals Health System to identify opportunities and areas for potential impact.  She is actively involved in advancing innovation across the system with a focus on building engagement and support at our community hospitals.  Allison also leads the Feuer Innovation Accelerator, a system-wide program in partnership with the Office of the CEO, that supports the most promising innovation ideas from UH caregivers and aims to bring big and small transformations to life both at UH and in healthcare at large.

Before joining UH, Allison worked in the Office of Population Health at the Johns Hopkins Health System, leveraging data-driven protocols to develop and lead the health system’s overall post-acute strategy to improve patient transitions and quality of care.  Allison’s responsibilities included oversight of the Johns Hopkins post-acute care response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland.  Prior to her time at Johns Hopkins, Allison worked in public relations, marketing, and medical devices.  She also worked at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, leading paralegal teams investigating anticompetitive behavior by healthcare institutions.  For her efforts, Allison received the 2016 U.S. Assistant Attorney General Enforcement Support Award.

Allison holds a B.A. in English from Colgate University and a Master of Health Administration (M.H.A.) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  She completed her M.H.A. administrative residency at Johns Hopkins’ Sibley Memorial Hospital.

Randall Hoyle

Randall manages the Outside-In pipeline for the Ventures team to source, assess, and pursue new external innovation opportunities for University Hospitals. Randall has worked in healthcare innovation for five years, with experience supporting new venture opportunities and leading internships focused on tech commercialization. Prior to joining University Hospitals, he consulted for the JumpStart, Inc. Corporate Venture & Innovation team on projects related to medical devices, therapeutics, and digital health. He was also Program Manager at BioEnterprise, conducting unmet need and market analysis, and leading the analyst team. Randall received his BS in Biochemistry from Central Michigan University and MS in Biotechnology Entrepreneurship from Case Western Reserve University.

Kipum Lee

Kip manages an innovation portfolio that supports University Hospitals’ strategic initiatives and partnerships through product innovation and human-centered design. In this “living lab” model, the most promising opportunities are cultivated and positioned for system-wide adoption, commercialization support, and investment consideration.

Earlier in his career, he was part of the team at frog design that produced a mobile service around HIV awareness and self-testing in South Africa that was hailed by The Economist as “the world’s largest field trial in mobile health technology.” At Marriott International, he led the design of Marriott Mobile, which debuted at number four in the iTunes App Store and went on to become the third largest in mobile commerce revenue after Amazon and Apple.

Kip graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in biomedical science from the University of Pennsylvania, Master’s Degree in interaction design from Carnegie Mellon University, and a PhD in Management from Case Western Reserve University. He serves on the editorial board of the design and innovation journal, Design Issues, published by MIT Press.

Brian Nelson

Vish Pasumarthy

Product Strategy & Innovation | Consulting 

Vish brings the technical forte to UH Ventures with his experience in building complex and innovative people facing technology solutions.  In the past 20 years, Vish has been instrumental in innovating applications that catered to educational, healthcare, banking and insurance institutions in Ohio.

Early in his career with WellCorp, Vish built the innovative online scheduling & reporting platform that was used for health screenings in major corporations. This endeavor was soon followed by the development of a lifestyle and disease management platform that served as a preventive healthcare solution and its success led to the acquisition of WellCorp by Nationwide Insurance (Fortune 500). Vish also played a key role in building Enterprise Data Governance, Business Glossary and Lineage for the PNC bank along with STM Management tools. As CTO for Logic junction,  he engineered the first indoor geomagnetic-based indoor navigation mobile app which is now one of the top 3 wayfinding solutions in US and Abroad.

His passion and persistence to develop innovative technology solutions led to building world class products and most importantly building winning teams. He continues to play the role of technology advisor for multiple startups in and around Ohio. He is awarded Crain’s Cleveland 40 under 40 for the year 2017 for bringing technology innovation to Cleveland, OH.

Vish completed his Masters of Computer and Information Sciences at Cleveland State University with undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering. He has Lean Six Sigma from PNC University and Data Science – Machine Learning Program Certificate from Harvard University.

Biraj Patel

Biraj supports both the Innovation & Commercialization and Business Optimization platforms at UH Ventures. In his current role as VP of Strategic Planning, Biraj will be responsible for new business plans, strategic plans, analysis of major capital investments, planning support for new joint ventures and affiliations as well as other strategic initiatives that will drive profitable growth and improved outcomes for the health system. Biraj will also provide planning support for our service line and institute leaders as they continue the transition to our new Systems of Care framework. He will also focus on identifying service optimization and growth opportunities as well as new business development opportunities for University Hospitals.

Since joining UH in 2016, Biraj has served in various roles including strategic planning and business plan analysis; as a Portfolio Manager in UH Ventures; and most recently as the Director of Administration for the Office of the President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to UH, Biraj worked for a few years as a health care consultant at Integrated Clinical Solutions. Earlier in his career, Biraj held finance and strategic planning positions at The MetroHealth System, and completed his administrative fellowship at Northside Hospital Gwinnett (Georgia).

Biraj holds a BS degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Health Administration degree from Texas A&M University. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and has also served on the Board of Family Connections in Northeast Ohio.

James Ress

Brian Rothstein

Brian Rothstein, MD is the Chief Medical Officer for UH Ventures where he serves as the chief clinical advisor supporting the platform. He is the Director of Pediatric Skull Base and Neuro-oncologic Surgery at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, the Director of Neurosurgical Innovation for the Department of Neurosurgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Brian attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL where he received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing and worked in the Sports Marketing and Marketing Consulting industry before attending Medical School at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine for his MD. He also obtained a Master’s of Science in Applied Anatomy while attending Medical School. Brian completed his Neurosurgery residency at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, and a fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery at The Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Brian’s clinical interests include Pediatric Neurosurgical Oncology, Skull base surgery, and neuro trauma. He works closely with the University Hospitals Concussion program, and serves as an Independent Neuro Consultant for the NFL. Academically he has research interests in neuro oncology and player safety in high school contact sports. Outside of work, Brian enjoys spending his free time with his wife and three young children.

David Sylvan

David Sylvan is President of UH Ventures — the innovation and commercialization division of University Hospitals (UH), a comprehensive health system with annual revenues of $5.2 billion, 23 hospitals (including 5 joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices located throughout 16 counties. As President, David has a portfolio of responsibilities including core operations, industry partnerships, technology transfer, commercialization and investments, business development and strategic initiatives. He collaborates with UH leaders and the broader ecosystem to accelerate system growth through new business endeavors and expansion of existing programs. His work also includes the identification and evaluation of new opportunities through acquisition, investment, joint ventures and other arrangements. UH Ventures comprises a diverse array of professionals with deep domain expertise ranging from venture investing and company formation, to human-centered and experience design, as well as physicians, clinicians and researchers who collectively seek to bring innovation to life in service to University Hospitals’ mission. Sylvan was recently named in Becker’s Healthcare Review as one of the 113 great leaders in Healthcare for 2022. David comes to UH Ventures with more than 30 years of diverse corporate experience, most recently following a successful 15 year career in capital markets and investment banking, there he led a derivatives’ trading and public finance investment banking platform. David helped establish and build teams and operational platforms across the United States. Prior to this, David spent 8 years in a variety of responsibilities at the sports marketing giant, IMG. He started his career in public accounting with Deloitte in Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition to various board and advisory roles, David also serves as the interim CEO and Board Member for a Singapore-based early stage FinTech company, Paradigm, that provides an automated OTC trading platform for digital assets. David is an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) Weatherhead School of Business in their department of Design & Innovation. He is a frequent panelist and contributor at various industry-specific forums, and actively mentors and coaches both students and practitioners throughout their professional journeys. David received a Bachelors in Commerce and Business Law from the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and an MBA from the CWRU Weatherhead School of Management.

Neil Wyant

Neil is an experienced early stage investor, manager and board member with 25+ years of experience with new venture formation and governance, business development and commercialization.  In his role as Vice President, Investment & Commercialization of UH Ventures, Neil is responsible for investment, commercialization and technology transfer for the organization.  In this capacity he works with inventors to spin technologies out of UH and he works with UH leadership to source best-in-class external solutions to address system needs.

Prior to joining UH Ventures, Neil established and managed the venture investing business for a family office.  Previously he has held several C-level positions in early stage ventures.  Early in his career Neil managed the technology transfer office at Argonne National for the University of Chicago.

Neil holds BS degrees in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Matthew Zenker

Matt manages the Outside-In pipeline for the Ventures platform to source, assess, and pursue new external innovation opportunities for University Hospitals. Matt has been working in the technology innovation field for nearly a decade, with specific expertise in startups, pilots, investments, and programming to cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship in the ecosystem. Prior to joining University Hospitals, Matt worked at Cleveland Clinic Innovations in the field of strategic marketing and commercialization. He has also worked in government affairs, where he consulted on government funding opportunities for clients in healthcare, renewable energy, and manufacturing industries. Matt received his BA in English from the University of Notre Dame, and his MBA from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.