Investing in the Next Generation: Women's Health Innovation

Aaron has over 10 years of investment banking experience with focus on Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Advisory with dedicated expertise in Healthcare Provider Services with a focus on Physician Practice Management and Healthcare Facilities. Aaron’s prior experience includes, Cain Brothers (KeyBanc), FocalPointPartners (B. Riley), ECG Management Consultants, Kaufman Hall & Associates.

Ann Ford is a partner at Malecki Brooks Ford Law Group, LLC. She provides strategic, business and legal advice to clients in the highly regulated healthcare industry in compliance, regulatory and transactional matters. 

Ann’s experience includes over 15 years of executive leadership in healthcare organizations and more than 20 years in the private practice of healthcare law. Practice focus areas in healthcare include governance, risk and compliance, client counseling and transactions.  Ann represents a variety of clients including hospitals, clinics, physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and medical supply and device manufacturers and distributors.

Prior to returning to private practice, Ann developed global and US-based programs in healthcare compliance and worked on strategic acquisitions while serving as the chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel of an international medical device, supply and distribution company.  Ann has also served as general counsel for hospitals and healthcare providers.  Before the law, Ann practiced high-risk clinical nursing in obstetrics, pediatrics and neonatology.

Board positions Ann holds include those with the following organizations:  Medical Affairs Professional Society, an international organization that promotes medical affairs professionals in the life sciences industry, Endeavor Healthcare, Partnership for a Connected Illinois and Roosevelt University.

Ann has a B.S. in Nursing from Marquette University and a J.D. from DePaul College of Law.  She is a frequent speaker on healthcare legal, regulatory and compliance topics and is adjunct faculty in the Masters of Science in Law program of Northwestern University Law School.

Jennifer Lee is a board of directors, investor, and CEO of JLC Life Sciences consulting firm. She is an influential biotech executive, driving the transformation of innovative science into life-saving treatments for over two decades. Therapies she’s steered have culminated in $20 billion in value, seven global regulatory approvals, label changes, multiple inspections, and multi-million dollar exits. Jennifer is a noted STEM advocate and contributes to the field through multiple board and advisory roles and publications. Jennifer earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master’s in regulatory compliance from Northwestern University.

Kate has spent the last 20 years helping organizations bring innovative products and services to market as both a corporate leader and entrepreneur. Her experience spans life sciences and health care across academia, industry and non-profits. R&D roles at Organon, AbbVie, Takeda, Organon, Baxter, TAP and Washington University in Saint Louis’s Office of Technology Transfer have positioned Kate well to help innovative teams think through the complexities of launching a new product or service in terms of planning, budgeting, and measuring progress. Kate spent ten years in management consulting at Deloitte and PwC, partnering with senior executives to design licensing, business development, go-to-market, and sales strategies. As an experienced chief of staff to senior leadership teams, Kate has driven the design of governance frameworks, operating models, and communications plans that inspire alignment and execution. As a start-up co-founder, Kate has innovated in the areas of health and wellness mobile apps, dynamic pricing and scheduling in hospitality and wellness, medical travel, and career coaching and job search. As an angel investor, Kate has made strategic investments in female founders and ideas she believes will make a social impact. Kate is a seasoned start-up and not-for-profit board member. She has been recognized for her entrepreneur advocacy and civic engagement by Springboard Enterprises and Becker’s Hospital Review. She is a published author and public speaker, as well as a graduate school instructor. Kate earned a B.A. in economics from Washington University in Saint Louis, certificate in healthcare innovation from the University of Pennsylvania, and certificate in cancer genomics and precision oncology, Harvard University Medical School. Kate finds joy traveling the globe, exploring live music venues, and spending time with her dogs.

Dr. Harris is an accomplished female reconstructive surgeon and medical entrepreneur. He has lived his dream of helping women with pelvic floor issues for the past 27 years since completing his fellowship training in Urogynecology, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Duke University. He is a native Mississippian and lives outside of Jackson where he founded Southeast Urogyn in 1999. Listening to his patients, mostly around menopause age, he realized that significant numbers of women complained of similar issues. This led to the founding of Ovation Wellness and V-Revive, independent practices with specific focuses on mid-life therapies, including hormones, wellness, and vaginal health and rejuvenation. Dr. Harris has always been interested in the business of medicine and continued his education with certificates in medical leadership and medical business from Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame, and more recently completed the Physician CEO program at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He has served on the board of directors for the American Urogyecologic Society, where he headed the committee on coding and reimbursement for many years. More recently, Dr. Harris completed the sale of his medical enterprise with Shore Capital and Together her Women’s Health, where he currently serves as an active board member with primary focus on acquisition and business development.