The HCEP staff includes medical and business professionals with experience developing, managing, and investing in entrepreneurial companies in health care.

Richard H. Egdahl, M.D., Ph.D.--Dick Egdahl, the director of HCEP, has been active both in health care business and as a surgeon, administrator, and researcher. He served as the Director of Boston University Medical Center from 1973 to 1996 and had been Chief of Surgery prior to that. Dick has founded or been a founding director of five start-up businesses, including HPR Inc. (now part of McKesson) where he served as its first board chairman from 1987 until 1994. Dr. Egdahl is also a trustee of the Pioneer family of mutual funds and of the Boston Medical Center.

N. Stephen Ober, M.D., M.B.A.--Steve Ober is Associate Director of HCEP. Steve is a graduate of Boston University School of Medicine and received his surgical training at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). In 1991 he graduated from the Harvard Business School and started Synergy Health Care, his first of four start-up ventures. Synergy was acquired by Quintiles, the world's largest Clinical Research Organization in 1998. Most recently, Steve was founder and President of Beyond Genomics, Inc., a successful venture-backed biotechnology company based in Waltham, MA. Steve has experience in multiple health care sectors including information technology, delivery services, managed care, and biotechnology. He has raised capital for early stage ventures from several private equity and corporate partners. At HCEP, Steve is responsible for coordinating the fourth year clerkship program, assisting in the expansion of the HCEP curriculum, and identifying entrepreneurs and early stage companies that seek to partner with HCEP.

Cynthia Taft, M.A.--Cynthia Taft is a senior consultant at HCEP and previously served as director of new product development and strategic planning consultant at HPR Inc., a health care software company that is now part of McKesson. She had been vice president for clinical operations at New England Medical Center for eight years and held policy and planning positions in Washington, D.C. and Boston prior to that. Cynthia is a trustee of the Faulkner Hospital and the Boston Children's Museum.

Michael S. Koeris, M.S. Michael Koeris is a member of the start-up group
which provides in-house consulting services to BU ventures while
simultaneously allowing graduate students in engineering, medicine and
business to gain exposure to nascent businesses. He has served as a founding member together with Director Dick Egdahl and worked to conceptualize the processes for the start-up group. He received his M.S. With high honors in biochemistry from the Free University of Berlin. After a visiting scholar appointment at MIT and stints at KPMG Consulting and McKinsey & Company he enrolled at Boston University to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering, where he is currently in the process of completing the degree.

Nicholas D. Lyford, B.A. - Nick is a member of the startup group at HCEP.  After receiving his B.A. in Physics from Bowdoin College, Nick joined Brandwise Inc., a startup company specializing in Salesforce Automation software.  During his one-year tenure as lead of the technical support staff Brandwise saw its customer base grow from a handful to over 40 companies.  His next position was at RAPT Industries, a startup company where he served as an applications engineer for the company’s surface engineering projects.  In 2006 he entered the College of Engineering at BU to pursue an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering, where he is currently working on a thesis developing a balance-aid device along with researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.  Nick’s interests lie in medical devices, translational research and technology transfer.

Valmeek "Vick" Kudesia, M.D. candidate 2008, B.S. B.M.E. -- Valmeek, or Vick, is a graduate of the Biomedical Engineering Program in the College of Engineering at Boston University (Summa Cum Laude 2004). He is a member of the HCEP graduate student start-up group. He will complete his M.D. in spring 2008 from Boston University School of Medicine via the ENGMEDIC combined BME-MD early pathway program. He plans to pursue a residency in Internal Medicine and plans sub-specialty training in Cardiology, Critical Care Medicine or the to-be-discovered fascination. His past research interests focused on cardiac electrophysiology, particularly low energy methods of controlling ventricular fibrillation. His interests now focus on Medical Informatics and the application of Systems Engineering principles to health care delivery to provide the safest, most reliable and most comforting care possible for patients.

David Spenciner, P.E., Sc.M. is currently a MBA student at Boston University.  David is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has an undergraduate degree in Material Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters Degree in Bioengineering from Brown University. David is a member of the HCEP graduate student start-up group. Prior to coming to BU, David started and managed a medical device testing laboratory for the RIH Orthopaedic Foundation in Providence, Rhode Island.  Over the course of eight years, David grew this successful medical device testing laboratory from zero to nearly 100 US and international clients. Additionally, he authored or co-authored 18 technical publications and 43 poster and podium presentations. He is active in multiple professional and technical societies and currently co-chairs the ASTM International subcommittee for spinal devices.

Susan Hamilton, B.S.--Susan Hamilton is senior program manager for HCEP responsible for administration and market research. She is also the manager of the Health Policy Institute, where she has held administrative positions since 1980. Susan received her B.S. degree from Boston University.

HCEP staff have extensive networks in medicine, business, law, and the investment community. They have close relationships with both angel investors and venture capital firms. Several members of our staff are also board members of hospitals in the Greater Boston area.

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