Entrepreneur-in-Residence Team

Marie Rigley is a Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC) professional with more than 15 years of medical device industry experience and a deep specialization in FDA regulatory strategy and market authorization. She serves as a strategic regulatory resource for portfolio companies and emerging MedTech entrepreneurs navigating the FDA regulatory landscape, helping translate early-stage innovation into compliant, submission-ready programs. A Senior Consultant through MedTech Impact Partners, she brings experience spanning all FDA submission types and Agency interactions, with particular strength in AI/NL-enabled devices, digital health, diagnostics, and combination products. Her regulatory expertise is further informed by a substantive background in Quality Management Systems and R&D, spanning design control, V&V, and risk management from feasibility through design transfer. She is recognized as a trusted regulatory authority by medical device companies seeking strategic, high-impact regulatory guidance.

Maureen Richard is an accomplished medical device software professional with extensive expertise in providing software development lifecycle processes, system engineering, and documentation services to medical device startups and established companies. Based in Longmont, Colorado, she specializes in ensuring compliance with IEC 62304 and FDA regulations in regulated healthcare environments. Maureen holds a Master of Science in Medical Informatics from Northwestern University, Chicago, a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from the University of Texas, Austin, and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, College Station. This unique combination of technical, medical, and scientific education provides her with a comprehensive understanding of the intersection between healthcare technology and regulatory requirements.

Dr. Loleta Robinson is the President & CEO of Fortis Industries, LLC and a physician entrepreneur and healthcare investment strategist. She is known for her ability to bridge clinical insight with business acumen—advancing innovation, guiding commercialization strategies, and aligning cutting-edge medical solutions with market needs. Throughout her career, Dr. Robinson has held pivotal roles at Thermo Electron Corporation and MedImmune Vaccines, and has served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska and the NIH SEED program. As a trusted advisor to startups, she offers strategic guidance on product development, payer engagement, and market access, with a steadfast commitment to clinical relevance, patient safety, and ethical rigor. She holds an MD from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, an MBA in Health Administration from the University of Colorado–Denver, and a Certificate in Venture Capital Finance from UC Berkeley School of Law. Dr. Robinson’s interdisciplinary expertise positions her at the forefront of healthcare innovation, driving growth and impact in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Dr. Ethel Rubin is a biotech strategy and finance executive with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of healthcare investment and commercialization. With a proven track record in leading high-impact business and corporate development activities, driving product and portfolio strategies, and engaging with investors and industry partners, she currently leads a team of venture professionals helping NIH portfolio companies navigate rapid growth cycles, prepare for capital raise, progress to valuation inflection points and exit.  In addition, she is an active business consultant to biotech, partnering with strong scientific and clinical teams to bridge the gap between breakthrough research and institutional-grade commercial strategy, building the financial architecture and strategic roadmap necessary to attract institutional investment or scale to an exit. In previous roles as an EIR for the NHLBI, she deployed a $40M pre-seed fund, resulting in over $1B in exits. From 2009-2015 she led global clinical strategy, external innovation and medical affairs at Medtronic, plc, with a focus on interventional technologies including the fast growing Afib ablation business. Prior to that, she was CSO/COO of two successful early stage companies: BioFortis, Inc. (acquired by IQVIA) and CSA Medical, Inc. Over the course of her career, Dr. Rubin took part in over 25 commercial product launches, was instrumental in multiple M&As, partnerships & collaborations, and capital raises totaling more than $2B. Ethel currently sits on the Board of a multinational biotech company, Volition Rx (NYSE:VNRX), a world leader in nucleosome detection and quantitiation, and was previously a Director at Innara Health, Inc., where she helped attract strategic investment and exit in 3 years via acquisition by Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH). She is an advisor or mentor to numerous companies through both private engagement as well as NYU Stern School of Business’ Endless Frontier Labs. Dr. Rubin earned a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry and was a research fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she led independent breast cancer research that identified developmental gene re-expression in adult tumors. She earned a certificate in Corporate Governance from The George Washington University School of Business and is an LP in VC funds focused on women’s health as well as an advisor to First Bight Ventures. Ethel maintains media presence as a sought-after speaker, moderator or pitch judge. Check out her articles on www.linkedin.com/in/ethelrubinphd/.

John Sullivan is a proven leader in healthcare innovation with extensive experience building, operating, and acquiring market-leading businesses that leverage technology to improve health outcomes, drive operational efficiencies, and reduce healthcare costs. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated exceptional ability to work closely with customers, understand complex market needs, and develop products and services designed for rapid marketplace adoption. His comprehensive background spans multiple healthcare sectors including medical devices, biotechnology, healthcare IT, digital health, consumer health, pharmacy, and supply chain management.

Susan Solinsky is an Entrepreneur in Residence at BHI, where she leverages her expertise in commercialization, go-to-market strategy, and fundraising to help healthcare organizations successfully navigate market entry. With a track record of scaling technology-driven healthcare startups, Susan specializes in revenue growth, payer and provider relationships, operational efficiency, and building world-class teams. Her leadership has propelled companies from early-stage development to over $120 million in revenue, particularly ones pioneering new care models. She is passionate about harnessing AI, machine learning, and innovative health technologies to expand access, improve outcomes, and drive systemic change—especially in behavioral and women’s health. As a Strategic Operator with Kayne Anderson and Composition Capital, Susan supports the growth and innovation of healthcare-focused portfolio companies. She serves on the boards of TeleMed2U, Carium, and MDisrupt, organizations advancing virtual care and healthtech validation, and advises women’s health startups, including LunaJoy and Lovu. Previously, Susan was Co-Founder of Ellipsis Health (Series A+), where she played a pivotal role in commercializing AI-powered voice technology that established a clinically validated vital sign for mental health. She also led enterprise sales at Phreesia (IPO 2019) and co-founded Vital Score, a behavioral health technology company acquired by Phreesia. Her experience includes serving as Managing Partner at Reditus Revenue Solutions, scaling revenue cycle strategies, and holding key leadership roles as part of the founding team at The Advisory Board Company (IPO) and The Corporate Executive Board (IPO). A champion for female entrepreneurs, Susan has directed the Women’s Health Tech Initiative at HITLAB for five years, connecting startups with funders and industry leaders to drive innovation. She is a founding LP of the How Women Invest Fund, an investor in venture funds such as Swizzle Ventures, Emmeline Ventures, Scrub Capital, and DigitalDx, and also an angel investor in women-led healthcare disruptors, including Avanlee Care, Gabbi, C-Plan.ai and MDisrupt. Recognized as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Women in Health IT to Know” for the past four years, Susan frequently speaks at industry events and serves on the board of Synapse School, fostering the next generation of changemakers. She holds an A.B. from Princeton University and remains committed to advancing healthcare, technology, and education through leadership and innovation.

Michael J. Thomas is a distinguished healthcare executive and venture capital investor with over three decades of experience achieving remarkable successes in strategic and corporate venture capital investments, turnarounds, IPOs, startup operations, and commercialization of innovative healthcare products and services. As an operating executive, he has achieved investor returns ranging from 3x to 80x, establishing himself as a proven value creator in the healthcare technology sector. Michael earned his Bachelor's Degree in Microbiology from Cornell University in 1989, where he was a varsity baseball player and served as House Manager for the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. His career began in pharmaceutical sales at Merck & Co. (1989-1992) and Glaxo Inc. (now GlaxoSmithKline, 1992-1995), where he demonstrated exceptional performance, earning President's Club Awards and transforming underperforming territories into top revenue generators.

Stephanie E. Toney is a highly accomplished Global Market Access & Health Economics executive with over two decades of experience delivering revenue and market share growth for leading medical device and diagnostics companies. Currently serving as an Independent Consultant through her firm Wide Horizons Consulting, LLC, she specializes in market access and reimbursement strategies for healthcare innovation companies. Stephanie holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2004) and a Bachelor of Science in Management with a concentration in Finance from Tulane University (1995). She was also a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her expertise spans global market access, medical device and diagnostics expertise, global reimbursement and payment policy, coverage and coding strategies, and health economics outcomes research. She has established herself as a subject-matter expert consistently called upon by sales, marketing, senior leadership, and advocate groups for her deep knowledge of clinical matters, policies, procedures, and regulations.

Kwame Ulmer is a distinguished medical technology executive and regulatory strategist with over 20 years of experience navigating the complex intersection of innovation, regulation, and commercialization in healthcare. As Managing Partner of MedTech Impact Partners, a specialized regulatory strategy consulting firm, Kwame has established himself as a trusted advisor to medical device companies seeking to successfully navigate FDA requirements and bring life-changing technologies to market.

Julie is a scientist, C-level executive, and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience advancing MedTech innovations through FDA clearance and GMP manufacturing across medical devices, digital health, and in vitro diagnostics. She brings a practical combination of scientific depth, operating experience, product development strategy, and commercialization insight to her work with innovators and early-stage companies. Julie has led R&D efforts at major health technology companies, including Abbott, Beckman Coulter, and Agilent. She also founded and grew a life science service company from launch to $10 million before a successful exit, giving her firsthand experience building and scaling a business in the life sciences sector. Her expertise includes developing and executing FDA pathways, assessing MedTech technology readiness, supporting investor diligence, and guiding companies through early-stage activities such as need identification, value proposition development, business model design, and product-market fit. She is especially interested in technologies, products, and services that make healthcare more accessible and shift care into the home. Julie was a member of the $2 billion RADx Tech NIBIB initiative, which helped create U.S. manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 tests. In that role, she led multiple company teams through successful FDA authorization and manufacturing scale-up for new diagnostics in record-breaking time. Her background also includes leading R&D teams through successful 510(k), de novo, Class I, II, and III FDA diagnostics product development across technologies involving nucleic acids, proteins, cells, viruses, bacteria, and fungi. She has supported digital health companies focused on mental health and evidence-based behavior-modifying apps, developed FDA-cleared clinical lab diagnostic platforms and reagents with significant global sales, and led ISO-9001 and ISO-13485 certification efforts for international medical device technology providers.

Dr. Stephen D. Wolpe is a distinguished biotechnology executive and scientific pioneer with over 30 years of experience in therapeutic and diagnostic development, particularly renowned for his groundbreaking discoveries in immunotherapy and inflammatory mediators. As a discoverer of the chemokine superfamily of inflammatory mediators, Dr. Wolpe has fundamentally shaped our understanding of immune system regulation and hematopoiesis.

Anna Zornosa is a seasoned healthcare entrepreneur and executive with deep expertise in building, scaling, and transforming life sciences companies at the intersection of digital technologies and health. As both a successful CEO and strategic advisor, she brings a unique combination of operational excellence, fundraising acumen, and extensive industry networks to help early-stage companies navigate the complex path from innovation to market success.