Greg helps large technology companies align their solutions with the unique needs of the healthcare industry. With hands-on experience in go-to-market strategy, partnership development, and closing multi-million-dollar deals, he brings strategies to life that create real impact. His expertise spans multiple industries, technology platforms, and consulting services.
Bryan Bean Bio A native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and his Master of Business Administration from Middle Tennessee State University, graduating summa cum laude from both institutions.
Judith Byrd is a seasoned executive with experience in business, government, trade association, health policy and journalism. Most recently, she was Director of Community and Government Relations for Ardent Health Services.
Previously, Judith was the Executive Director for Healthcare for Waller, Lansden, Dortch and Davis (now Holland & Knight) and served as Senior Policy Advisor for Healthcare for Nashville Mayor David Briley.
Maura Cunningham is dedicated to closing the racial and gender wealth gaps as well as the opportunity gap that exists today. Determined to make this vision a reality, Maura combined her entrepreneurial skills and her passion for working with teenage students and she went on to launch Rock The Street, Wall Street, (RTSWS) in 2012. RTSWS sparks girls’ enthusiasm for finance at a critical age and makes them aware of the societal benefits that personal investment knowledge and math-oriented careers can have.
Derek Dedeker joined Frist Cressey Ventures in 2022 and serves as Principal. He is involved with investment origination and execution as well as post-close value creation for the Firm’s partnerships. Prior to FCV, Mr. Dedeker spent 4 years at Santé Ventures, an early-stage healthcare venture capital firm based in Austin. Prior to Santé, he worked as an Investment Banking Senior Analyst in the Financial Institutions Group at Citi in New York City, where he worked on a variety of M&A and equity transactions.
Lisa is a Managing Director at Link Ventures, where she focuses on early-stage companies leveraging large datasets, machine learning, and AI to drive personalization, predictive analytics, automation, and intelligent decision-making. She and her team support companies beyond the seed stage, providing proven go-to-market strategies and seasoned technical leadership.
Patrick Driscoll is the Director of Client Development at Holland & Knight in Century City. He leads strategic initiatives in business development, marketing, and branding for the Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practices.
RJ Forbes is a passionate and dedicated business professional with experience navigating today’s complex and evolving business environment. His background allows him to approach challenges from multiple perspectives and develop solutions using the technical expertise and skills he has gained.
Chris Garabedian founded Xontogeny in June of 2016 to support multiple promising technologies from early development through clinical proof of concept. In 2017, Chris joined Perceptive Advisors to develop their Venture Fund strategy and is Portfolio Manager of the Perceptive Xontogeny Ventures Fund which supports early-stage companies with Series A investments across biotech, medtech and healthtech.
Eller Kelliher is the Chief Investment Officer for Launch Tennessee. In this role, Eller oversees all capital and equity programs for the organization including the $70M InvestTN Fund and IMPACT and INCITE portfolios. She leads the Capital team on investment strategy, due diligence, and capital deployment. Eller is a native Tennessean who grew up in Chattanooga. She moved to Nashville in 2015 to start a career in venture capital.
Stephen joined CTTC in May 2024 and is responsible for leading the New Ventures team in their efforts to advance entrepreneurship and new venture creation and support programs across the Vanderbilt campus, in the greater Nashville area, and throughout Tennessee.
Christopher Monroe is a co-Founder of IonQ. He is also the Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at Duke University.
Ben Scruggs is a Partner at Hatteras, where he focuses on biotechnology and life science tools companies. He has experience building and scaling healthcare companies across therapeutic areas including inflammation, oncology, neurodegeneration, ophthalmology, cell therapy, and gene therapy.
Nadim Shohdy, Ph.D., is the Chief Operating Officer, Deerfield Discovery and Development and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Shohdy was Vice President, Corporate Development at Hyku Biosciences. Before Hyku Biosciences, Dr. Shohdy served as Entrepreneur in Residence at RA Ventures, a division of RA Capital Management, during which time he also served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Clear Creek Bio. Prior to these roles, Dr.
Mateo focuses on exploring new investment themes and incubating new companies that could potentially become Series A investments.
Prior to joining Santé, Mateo was a Biodesign Innovation Fellow at Stanford University, where he focused on identifying pressing unmet healthcare needs and inventing novel solutions to address those needs. Before joining Biodesign, Mateo was responsible for designing and developing future surgical robotic solutions as a Senior Mechanical Engineer at both Verb Surgical and Auris Health.
