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At HealthQuest, we take “Best Ideas” from our investment professionals and form pods to investigate and develop investment theses. Below we dive into some of the more serious cybersecurity challenges we see facing health systems and explore some innovative solutions and technologies that may be used to combat them. 

Health systems are continuously digitizing their operations, leading to rapid growth in sensitive data and increased risks of cyberattacks. This data has tremendous value to criminals, allowing them access to personal identity details, compromising patient security, disrupting medical care, and damaging finances and reputation. Given the devastating consequences, health systems are directing significant attention towards cybersecurity initiatives to protect against these increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Innovative solutions and technologies are essential in safeguarding sensitive patient data and IT systems. From artificial intelligence (AI) powered tools to medical Internet of Things (IOT) management to Identity Access Management (IAM) to blockchain-based systems, here are some of the innovative solutions and technologies we are excited about:

AI is a particularly attractive technology when it comes to powering healthcare cybersecurity solutions. Capabilities include the ability to:

 Solutions that identify, monitor and trigger alerts for connected medical devices. Healthcare organizations are rapidly adopting connected medical devices; however, unlike conventional IT assets (e.g., laptops, tablets, and mobile phones), many of these devices may not be managed by IT teams and traditional security solutions often can't see or secure them. While these devices improve patient care, many seem to lack robust security, often making them easier entry points into an organization’s network. The leading approaches typically monitor behavior with known profile baselines instead of static parameters.

 Through its distributed ledger technology, blockchain may be a more secure way for hospitals to store and manage patient health information. Unlike traditional database architectures, a decentralized system allows organizations to share data across multiple stakeholders while seeking to prevent malicious actors' unauthorized access or manipulation of records – providing secure storage of protected health information (PHI). Overall, blockchain technology is still nascent but has the potential to be an impactful enabling technology.

 IAM is typically designed to be an essential Zero Trust security strategy component. Zero Trust is a security model that assumes every request, user, and device is untrusted, and seeks authentication and authorization before granting access to resources. Unlike a traditional security framework, it is typically designed to not grant unfettered access upon entering a single password.

IAM’s goal is to ensure that only authorized users are granted access and this is often achieved by implementing a combination of technologies and policies that work seamlessly together with minimal disruption to user workflow. In addition to common security technologies like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or Single Sign-On (SSO), a proper IAM solution also incorporates technologies such as Role-based Access Control (RBAC), which assigns permissions to users based on their role within the organization (rather than on an individual basis), and Attribute-based Access Control (ABAC) which grants access to resources based on a set of attributes, such as the user's job title or location.

If you are working on solutions that address the cybersecurity challenges health systems are facing or are interested in this space, please get in touch with our team at 

This material is intended for information purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities to any person in any jurisdiction. This material may contain estimates and forward-looking statements, which may include forecasts and do not represent a guarantee of future performance. This information is not intended to be complete or exhaustive and no representations or warranties, either express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. The opinions expressed are as of June 2023 and are subject to change without notice. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investing involves risks. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee any investment strategy will be successful. HealthQuest Capital Management, L.P. is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission

    The Cost And Impact On Patient Safety And Care. 

    Cybersecurity Nightmares: The Cost Of Healthcare Cyberattacks In 2023. 

Healthcare IT

Keeping health systems secure: The increasing importance of cybersecurity

2023

 spoke with GrowthCap's RJ Lumba to discuss his decision to be an investor, what we're looking for in our partners, the recent macro environment, and much more. Listen to the podcast 

Services

Growth investor podcast: Deep dive with Garheng Kong

2022

At HealthQuest we develop theses through best ideas brought by our investment team members and voted on by the full team. The selected “best ideas” form research pods to go deeper on a particular trend or hypothesis. In early 2022, we focused a pod on the challenges facing the nursing workforce. Healthcare stakeholders have been aware of these challenges for decades; however, the stress levied on the healthcare system and on nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic brought these challenges to a national and global stage. It also fueled our interest in understanding the needs of one of our most critical healthcare resources: nurses. Our findings are detailed below. 

The nursing workforce has experienced a multitude of challenges ranging from recruitment, education, training and licensure to job culture, safety, retention, scope of practice, job satisfaction, growth, and career progression. While we expect many of the solutions to the nursing workforce challenge to arise from within provider entities (e.g., a change in hospital culture or creation of nurse leadership opportunities) or from policymakers (e.g., national licensure), we also anticipate that the private sector will generate solutions targeted at the nursing workforce.

Our research highlighted several themes – some of which have existed for years, and have been exacerbated in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic:

Hospital and health system leadership are looking for solutions to address the needs of their nursing workforce across the following categories. 

These represent areas where technology solutions can have an impact on the nursing workforce, either on their own or in conjunction with policy, culture, leadership and educational initiatives. 

Streamline Nurses’ Workload & Focus Their Efforts on Advanced Care

Ensure nurses are adequately trained to care for their patients

If you’re working on solutions for these problems or interested in this space, reach out to our team at 

Research

Nursing Workforce Challenges

Portfolio company hiring was like riding a rollercoaster during the pandemic – from supporting commercial growth to assessing the workforce ahead of market headwinds – and the evolution we are seeing in leadership teams, particularly among Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), is worth its own spotlight. HealthQuest Venture Partner, 

, also Partner and Head of JSS Executive, shares his insights on how the CFO responsibilities have expanded and the importance of recruiting a dynamic leader into this role. 

What is the current state of the CFO role? 

Today’s CFO is busy in ways that previous generations of finance leaders could not have anticipated, with more responsibility for corporate strategy, board engagement, digital initiatives, financial performance, controls and management. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recessionary environment changed the CFO’s responsibilities; they had to sharpen their focus when it came to managing inflation, supply chain disruptions, hybrid work, financing the business during an evolving macro environment, workforce fluctuations (The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting and RIFs) and interest rate hikes. CFOs also have a meaningful role to play in their companies’ Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) programs, an increasingly important topic for investors and companies. A 

 reported dramatic changes in the gamut of functions that reported to the CFO, compared with data from two years prior. Amid all this disruption, it has become apparent that CFOs are expected to play a strong, central role, alongside executive peers, in stabilizing a business and positioning it to thrive in challenging conditions. 

How did macro events shape the needs within this role?

I mentioned some of the macro factors above that ultimately shifted focus, and added responsibilities, of the role of the CFO, but overall, the increase in capital markets activity seen in late 2020 and the record setting 2021 had many companies in 

 of the formal CFO role. The increase in traditional IPO volumes (+93% YoY for the U.S.

) along with the strong emergence of the SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) vehicle required many companies to hire a CFO with public-company readiness and experience. In 2021, there were 613 SPAC IPO’s, an increase of 147% from 248 in 2020 and over 900% compared to 59 in 2019

. The increase in volumes for IPOs, both traditional and through SPAC IPOs, increased the demand for CFOs who were ready and experienced to lead private companies through these transitions. These day-to-day tasks of executing one of these transactions rely heavily on the CFO to stretch in functionality from investor relations, to legal to accounting, and more. 

While public market exits have dried up in the last 18 months, we continue to see an abundance of hiring for the CFO role. However, these searches are no longer focused on CFOs who can transition a company from private to public or tackling the responsibilities of an IPO or SPAC process; instead, searches are focusing on CFOs with experience weathering prior downturns, turning companies around and bringing credibility during these challenging times. As a result, we have seen a decline in COO searches as more experienced CFOs take on both the financial and operational roles. This reduces cost to the company and streamlines turnarounds under one leader. 

What are companies looking for in Chief Financial Officer hires?

The role of the CFO has evolved to become more strategic over time; not to diminish the historical functions of the CFO, these are incredibly important, but the strength in bench under a CFO across Controller, FP&A, Investor Relations, etc. focuses on most of these duties, thus elevating the CFO to be more strategic. 

In a recent engagement for a private-equity backed business, some of the compulsory requirements included: significant prior M&A experience (buy side & sell side), past experience as a CFO of a private equity-backed company, proven track record to direct debt strategy and work with lenders and bankers, MBA in Accounting, large Audit firm experience (Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG) and of course, specific life science experience, and not to mention they had to be based in a specific city. Couple this with the considerations for a distributed workforce, repurposing hard assets, like office space, and budgeting for T&E in a hybrid world, it becomes increasingly evident what investors mean when they talk about the “war for talent”. Ultimately, the CFO search for an executive search professional such as myself, has become the most challenging search of them all. 

How do you evaluate CFOs to ensure they are prepared to lead through this environment?

When hiring a CFO, a rigorous and multi-faceted assessment process must be applied. Each investor group and company has their own priority experiences that a search agency must consider and be thoughtful of – it is imperative that a diligent approach is taken during the brief taking.  In the most part, my time is spent understanding the prospective CFO’s core competencies and leadership qualities, as well as their background in driving company growth (top-line & bottom line) as well as operational efficiency (supply chain, inventory management and distribution, etc.). The follow-on questions shift from quantitative to qualitative examples around how this was managed, how did the organization respond, what was the outcome and what challenges they encountered through this growth. When addressing core financial capabilities, the CFO will be asked to explain their experience managing significant budgets and P&Ls. How did they prioritize investments and what is their experience managing budget cuts, restructuring, or reallocating resources? We would also look to understand how the CFO implemented best practice across the finance organization: FP&A, GAAP reporting, IT systems and compliance.

For the ‘Strategic CFO’, understanding their M&A background (including strategic partnerships and joint ventures) and the transactions they have led takes up a large part of the discussion. Key questions around the number of buy-side/sell-side transactions completed, size of checks, capital structures, and whether they have directed and executed on documents are key for hiring decision makers to understand. 

It is important to note that I have highlighted just a few topics and core areas an executive search professional may look to address. A lengthy article could be written on this topic alone. Finally, a thorough executive assessment (i.e., Myers-Briggs, DiSC Assessment, Lumina) along with thorough soft and back-channel references will be taken.

Do you have any predictions for how 2023 may further evolve the CFO role?

At this time, 2023 will mostly come down to the state of corporate transactions. While we don’t expect the IPO markets to reopen, certainly not to the extent they were in 2021, there is increasing optimism around M&A. CFOs are usually on the chopping block post acquisition and therefore we could expect to see an increase in available CFO talent. This is something to watch for if you are in the market for a CFO. 

For companies not going through a corporate transaction, we expect the role of the CFO to be heavily focused on executing according to plan and focusing on profitability. CFOs who have led companies through prior market turbulence are highly coveted at this time, given the value they can bring to their executive counterparts, board members and employees broadly. 

The Strategic CFO

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Garheng founded HealthQuest Capital in 2012 to improve people’s lives through improving healthcare on a significant scale.  His vision was to build a best-in-class team of the highest talent and integrity to work with outstanding entrepreneurs to transform healthcare through high growth companies while generating outsized risk adjusted returns for investors. 

A physician, scientist, and engineer by training, Garheng has over two decades of experience investing in innovative healthcare companies with a long list of successes (34 IPO/M&A exits). 

Some of his notable past successes include IPO’s with Alimera (ALIM), AmWell (AMWL), Applied Genetic Technology Corp. (AGTC), Avedro (AVDR), Castle Biosciences (CSTL), Cempra (CEMP), Histogenics (HSGX), Lunit (A32813), Proteon (PRTO), Pulmonx (LUNG), StrongBridge (SBBP), TransEnterix (TRXC) and Venus Concept (VERO). His companies going on to successful M&A transactions include: Ajax I (Medtronic), Alcresta (Linden), Aldagen (Cytomedix), Athenix (Bayer), Avedro (Glaukos), Avizia (AmWell), BardyDx (Hillrom), Calibra Medical (J&J), CareMetx (General Atlantic), Cellective (AstraZeneca), NovaMin (GlaxoSmithKline), Salveo Specialty Pharmacy (United Health), SARCode (Shire), Serenex (Pfizer), Spirox (Stryker), Strongbridge Biopharma (Xeris) and Virmedica (CareMetx). 

Garheng’s interests and industry footprint are broad as he serves as the Lead Independent Director of LabCorp (LH), and serves on the board of Xeris Biopharma (XERS), Be The Match, Duke University Medical Center, Dell Children’s Foundation, UT President’s Commercial Advisory Board, and the Austin Healthcare Council, and has served as Chairman on nine boards.  He is an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow, Kauffman Fellows Mentor, and member of YPO. He was named a Top 25 Healthcare Investor of 2024 and 2022 by GrowthCap, and a Top 30 Asian American and Pacific Islander Board Member in the U.S. by BoardProspects in 2023.

Garheng received undergraduate degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences from Stanford, while on an athletic scholarship. He then earned a MD, PhD and MBA from Duke University, graduating at the top of his class in each instance. His early career included stints at GlaxoSmithKline, McKinsey and a medical device start-up, TherOx, before joining Intersouth Partners and then Sofinnova Investments. He is married to his physician wife (a board certified cardiac electrophysiologist), has 3 children, and was a nationally ranked volleyball player (and avid “foodie”).

Investor Stories

Founding Managing Partner

Garheng Kong

Randy joined Garheng in starting HealthQuest in 2013. Randy brings to HealthQuest more than 29 years of industry experience (including 11 years of investment experience), and has served on the boards of HealthQuest portfolio companies VirMedica (now part of CareMetx), Springbuk, Magnolia Medical, Avizia (now part of AMWL) , Thirty Madison, 83bar and Etairos. 

Randy’s industry successes include starting NovaMin Technology, Inc. leading it through financing, growth and eventual acquisition by GlaxoSmithKline (at a 10x return on capital); a turn-around of USBiomaterials Corp’s bone-grafting business from perennial money-loser to a profitability (now NovaBone Products div of Halma PLC); and a member of the early management team at LensCrafters as it emerged from start-up to market leader. These businesses each solved real problems for patients and users and those are the kind of opportunities Randy seeks as he thinks about opportunities at HealthQuest. 

Randy graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS in Management Science. He spent the first half of his career in consumer products marketing, starting in brand management at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati. In his spare time Randy enjoys backpacking and fly fishing.

Founding Partner

Randy Scott

Sam Brasch joined HealthQuest in 2023 as a Partner, bringing over 25 years of experience in leveraging technology innovations to drive value in the healthcare and lifesciences industries. As the former Senior Managing Director for Kaiser Permanente Ventures, one of the nation's largest strategic venture funds, Sam led investments and served on the Boards of numerous healthcare companies, including Ginger (Headspace Health), iRhythm (IRTC), Collective Medical (PointClickCare), and Health Catalyst (HCAT), among others.

Prior to his role at Kaiser, Sam held positions as a Venture Partner at New Leaf where he played a key role in sourcing investments and advising portfolio companies and as a Senior Advisor to Health Catalyst. He started his investment career at Frazier Healthcare, focusing on venture and growth equity opportunities. With a global operating perspective, Sam has held management roles at Medtronic, Inc., both in the US and Europe, and worked with venture-backed startups in the medical device and HCIT sectors. Additionally, he started his career as a management consultant, providing strategic guidance to hospital, physician group, and healthcare payor clients.

Sam's expertise and contributions have been recognized in the industry, being named one of the "Top 25 Investors in Healthcare" by GrowthCap in 2021 and included on the "Powerlist" by Global Corporate Venturing in 2022. Outside of his professional endeavors, Sam actively serves on the board of Adopt-a-Family of Marin and fundraises for the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. He and his wife are parents to three children.

Partner

Sam Brasch

Sharath is a Partner focused on the Tactical Opportunities Fund. Sharath joined HealthQuest in 2022 and brings over fifteen years of investing experience and many years as an operator. He joins the team to focus on investment sourcing, structure firmwide partnerships and more. 

As an operator, Sharath helped stand up Atropos Health as founding CFO / COO, managing its carveout from Stanford Health Care and preparing the company for its recently completed Series A financing. Prior to Atropos Health, Sharath was CFO of Arundo Analytics, a mid-stage startup that had raised $60M, where he repositioned the company to survive COVID-19 related challenges. 

As an investor, Sharath co-led a team at KKR responsible for $13B of investor capital. During his tenure, the team had top decile and top quartile results, based on strategy, and attracted over $4B in capital with multiple new funds. Prior to his leadership role, he was the lead analyst for KKR's public and private credit healthcare investments. Sharath earned the KKR Founder’s award, given every two years to six recipients firmwide. Sharath also worked with Farallon Capital, a $39B investment fund, to support their credit team through the heart of the pandemic, and with Redwood Capital, a $5B leading credit hedge fund, covering a number of sectors. At Farallon and Redwood, Sharath had firsthand experience managing LP capital through the pandemic, the eurozone crisis, and great financial crisis. Earlier in his career, Sharath worked with Francisco Partners, a late stage technology investment fund, and Bain and Company, a management consultancy.  

Sharath graduated from Stanford with a degree in Computer Science as a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, and earned an MBA with honors from the Wharton School. In his spare time, Sharath enjoys traveling with his family and reliving with his kids his own childhood favorites like the Transformers, Carmen Sandiego, and Inspector Gadget.

Sharath Reddy

Conrad joined HealthQuest in 2023 as a Partner focused on the Tactical Opportunities Fund. Conrad has nearly two decades of healthcare investing experience, ranging from seed investing and company formation to structured growth capital for commercial stage companies. He has been an investor at OrbiMed, Healthcare Royalty Partners, and Three Arch Partners where he made over thirty investments in medical device, healthcare services and therapeutics companies, resulting in 13 M&A exits and five IPOs, and has served on the board of directors of 10 private companies. He has also led corporate development teams at Medtronic, a Fortune 500 medical device company, executing M&A and licensing transactions, private-public partnerships and venture investments.

Conrad is trained as a physician, scientist and engineer, and completed his post-graduate training at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Orthopaedic Journal and published multiple peer-reviewed basic science and clinical papers. He earned his undergraduate degree from MIT in mechanical engineering and biology, where he was awarded membership in Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma honor societies, his MD from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard Medical School, and his MBA from Harvard Business School, graduating as a Baker Scholar (top 5%). Conrad enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, playing golf, alpine skiing and classical piano.

Conrad Wang

Anthony Williams joined HealthQuest in 2019 and is responsible for the firm’s medical device investing initiatives. Before joining HealthQuest in 2019, Anthony served as president of Globus Medical (NYSE: GMED), a multinational medical device company focused on developing products that promote healing in patients suffering from musculoskeletal disorders, including implants to treat disorders of the spine and large joints as well as orthopedic trauma. While at Globus, Anthony also identified and ultimately acquired the technology behind Globus’ Excelsius robotic surgical and navigation system.  Anthony brings over 22 years of industry experience to HealthQuest and serves on the boards of HealthQuest portfolio companies 83bar, Clearsense, ENT Specialty Partners and Perspectum.

Earlier in his career, Anthony was a partner at Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, a law firm based in Raleigh, NC, where he specialized in corporate and transactional work for high-growth healthcare companies and their investors, including corporate governance and public and private financings, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic transactions. 

Throughout his career, Anthony has been a frequent speaker to entrepreneurial groups and previously served on the board of SEBIO. He now mentors entrepreneurs through Mentor Connect, a program sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners and the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), and Texas Health Catalyst, a collaborative initiative of Dell Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. 

Anthony holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD and MBA from Wake Forest University. He enjoys hiking and traveling with his wife and two sons.

Anthony Williams

David joined the HealthQuest team in 2012 to leverage decades of experience as an entrepreneur in the diagnostics and biotech fields. While a chemist by training, the companies that David has led as President, CEO or Chairman have produced billions of dollars in returns for investors and employees. David brings over 44 years of industry experience to HealthQuest (17 of which have been in healthcare investing), and currently serves on the Board of portfolio company RareCyte, and previously served on the Boards of Lineagen (sold to Bionanogenomics), Biotheranostics (sold to Hologic) and Castle Biosciences (CSTL).

As an operator David’s successes include leading the development of some of the diagnostic industry’s most iconic products like the first rapid yes/no color pregnancy test, the PSA test for prostate cancer and the rapid strep throat test, plus numerous cancer diagnostics. He served in senior executive positions at Hybritech, was President of Dura Pharmaceuticals, CEO of Spiros Development Corp., Corvas International and co-founder/CEO of Salmedix. Each of the products he developed succeeded because it made a large impact on the medical management of patients and David keeps a keen eye out for innovative products when he considers investments for HealthQuest.

He has served as Chairman of Trius Therapeutics (acquired by Cubist), Chairman of Cebix Inc., Chairman of Amplimmune, Inc. (acquired by AstraZeneca), and as a Director of InterMune, Inc. (acquired by Roche), Principia Biopharma (acquired by Sanofi), Antiva Biosciences, and Allylix, Inc. (acquired by Evolva).

David earned his BA in chemistry from Case Western Reserve University and then his PhD from Yale University. He lives with his wife and enjoys fine wine, print collecting, skiing and golf.

Founding Senior Partner

David Kabakoff

Dr. Emmett Cunningham joined HealthQuest in 2023 as a Senior Partner, bringing over 20 years of experience as a full-time investor and entrepreneur. He most recently served as a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Life Sciences group (BXLS) of Blackstone, Inc. (BX), joining that company through the acquisition of Clarus Ventures in 2018, where he was a member of the full-time investment team since that firm’s inception in 2006. Emmett has led or co-led investments in medical technology and biotechnology that have supported FDA approval for ten therapeutics. Prior to investing, his previous roles included Senior Vice President, Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was a key member of the leadership team responsible for the development of Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium), a pioneering, first-in-class VEGF-A inhibitor for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Emmett's extensive experience and leadership have been recognized further through his role as the founder and chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) symposium for more than a decade.

Emmett currently serves on the Boards of Galera Therapeutics (GTRX), Eyconis, Inc, where he was co-founder and is Executive Chairman, OncoSwitch, where he was co-founder, Oryon Cell Therapies, where he is Executive Chairman, and Nacuity Pharmaceuticals. He previously held positions on the boards of SARcode Biosciences (acquired by Shire), Neomend (acquired by Bard), Restoration Robotics (acquired by Venus Concept), Annexon Biosciences (ANNX), GrayBug Vision (GRAY), Lumos Pharma (LUMO), and SFJ Pharmaceutical Group. Additionally, he has played instrumental roles as a co-founder and personal seed investor in several companies, including Xeris Biopharma Holdings (XERS), Aiolos Bio (acquired by GSK), Placid0 (acquired by WALDO), and Pr3vent Medical. Emmett’s dedication to philanthropic endeavors is evident through his service on the Boards of The Alta Foundation and EverythingALS, contributing to meaningful unmet needs within the healthcare community.

Emmett earned his MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University and holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego for research conducted at The Salk Institute. He completed residency in ophthalmology and fellowship training in Corneal Disease and Uveitis at UCSF and The Francis I. Proctor Foundation, a medical retina and uveitis fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and a fellowship in public health ophthalmology with Prof. Alfred Sommer at the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore. In addition to his professional commitments, Emmett is actively involved in teaching and holds positions as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at California Pacific Medical Center and Stanford University, as well as a Research Associate at The Francis I. Proctor Foundation, UCSF School of Medicine. He is also an advisor to the Stanford Byers Center for BioDesign, to Johns Hopkins University Technology Venutures (JHTV) and Department of Biomedical Engineering. He has co-authored over 400 papers related to his clinical and research efforts.

Senior Partner

Emmett Cunningham

Jared joined HealthQuest in 2018 and brings a unique breadth and depth of experiences. Prior to investing, Jared was an operator at medical device companies with successful exits and an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.  Jared brings 5 years of operating experience and 10 years of investing experience to HealthQuest, and currently serves as a board member at HealthQuest portfolio companies Inbound Health, CleanSlate, Etairos, and Alcresta, and a board observer at Ajax Health.

The foundation of Jared’s experience is in medical device R&D.  At FoxHollow Technologies (acquired by eV3), Kerberos Proximal Solutions (acquired by FoxHollow) and CryoCor (acquired by Boston Scientific), Jared led the conception, development and commercialization of innovative devices in several therapeutic areas, first as an R&D Engineer and later as an R&D Project Manager. 

At Goldman Sachs, Jared advised clients across the life sciences, diagnostics and medical device industries on M&A transactions and public equity/debt financings.  He was responsible for complex financial analyses and day-to-day transaction execution. 

Jared received a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC San Diego and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  Jared is an aspiring photographer and fitness enthusiast.  

Principal

Jared Teo

Witney McKiernan joined HealthQuest in 2022. She was an investor at KCK Group. Prior to becoming an investor, Witney spent 14 years in operational and consulting roles within the medtech industry and has developed market access strategies for over 40 medical technologies. Witney has expertise in commercial strategy, market access, reimbursement policy, and healthcare economics.

Earlier in her career, Witney worked as a med-surg oncology nurse at the University of California, San Francisco's Comprehensive Cancer Center and is a recipient of the Johnson & Johnson Promise of Nursing Award. Witney is a Kauffman Fellow and Co-Chairs the Healthcare Special Interest Group for the Kauffman Fellows Program. She enjoys cooking, hiking and mountain biking in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their three sons, and is always on the lookout for good book recommendations.

Witney McKiernan

Neil joined HealthQuest in 2022. Prior to joining, he practiced as a Board-Certified Radiation Oncologist at the San Antonio Cancer Center with a focus on genitourinary and central nervous system malignancies. He completed his Radiation Oncology training at UCLA, where his primary research interests focused on value-based healthcare in radiation oncology, and integration of novel technologies/techniques for prostate cancer (e.g., PSMA imaging, SBRT). While at UCLA, he also completed the Biodesign Fellowship, and co-founded "CranioView", a medical device company focused on noninvasively detecting elevated intracranial pressure in patients with acute neurologic injury.  Prior to this training, he pursued his interest in health policy and health economics, spending two years as a healthcare consultant at McKinsey & Company where he served payors, providers and life science companies.

Neil lives with his wife (a board-certified pediatric cardiologist) and three kids; in his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, rooting for his Dallas sports teams, and trying out Tex-Mex restaurants.  

Neil Parikh

Hyun Kim joined HealthQuest in 2022. Prior to HealthQuest, he was an investor at HealthCare Royalty Partners, an investment firm focused on providing debt-like capital to commercial-stage life sciences companies. 

Prior to becoming an investor, Hyun worked at Leerink Partners as an investment banker, raising capital for numerous growth-stage healthcare companies. 

Hyun received a BS in Mathematics from the University of Florida. During his college years, he gained extensive experience in the healthcare industry through various roles. He worked as a sales representative at GE Healthcare and completed internships as a financial analyst at both GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services - where he provided debt solutions to investment firms acquiring SNFs and ALFs - and Philips Healthcare - where he worked in the MRI coli division. Additionally, Hyun interned at HealthQuest Capital. 

In his free time, Hyun enjoys spending his time training for marathons, going to CrossFit and trying out new restaurants. 

Vice President

Hyun Kim

Bill joined HealthQuest in 2023 focused on the Tactile Opportunities Fund. Prior to joining HealthQuest, Bill was a Senior Associate at SV Health Investors where he executed control buyouts and growth equity investments. Bill was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and structuring new investment opportunities, as well as providing portfolio company oversight. 

Prior to that, Bill worked at Leerink Partners, where he focused on mergers, acquisitions and debt and equity financings for healthcare and life science companies. He executed 20+ M&A and capital market transactions with an aggregate value of $5 billion. Bill started his career at KPMG where he obtained his CPA (inactive).

Bill enjoys spending time with his wife, volunteering, surfing, skiing, and competing in endurance-based events. Bill graduated cum laude from Manhattan College with a degree in Accounting & Business Analytics. In college, Bill played and served as the captain of the Men's Division I Lacrosse team.

Senior Associate

Bill Gerard

Katie joined HealthQuest in 2024 and is a physician, data scientist, and engineer by training. Prior to joining HealthQuest, Katie was a consultant at McKinsey & Company where she advised clients on corporate strategy and M&A in healthcare and tech. 

Katie holds an MD and BS in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University and MSc in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University.

Katie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, language learning, hiking, and recreational scuba diving. 

Associate

Katie Shi

Manfred joined HealthQuest in 2016 and has over 30 years of private equity experience in managing investments, operations, finance and regulatory compliance.  Manfred has broad knowledge in the legal, tax and accounting issues relevant to private equity firms, as well as deal structuring expertise and investment experience in the healthcare, financial services, business services, manufacturing, automotive, retail and energy industries.  

Manfred spent 17 years with CAI Managers & Co., L.P., a mid-market private equity investment firm, where he became a Partner in 1998 and served on the boards of multiple portfolio companies.  While at CAI in New York, Manfred held CFO responsibilities until 2001 during which time he formalized and implemented the firm’s operational policies and investment processes.  He also led all Advisory Committee meetings and discussions relating to valuation policy and potential conflicts of interests.  In 2001, he founded CAI’s Toronto office where he served as President of CAI’s Canadian subsidiary for seven years while continuing to have management responsibilities for all aspects of finance, operations and investor relations.  More recently, Manfred also spent six years as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Acuta Capital Partners, LLC, responsible for all finance, operations, compliance and administration for a family of hedge and venture capital funds focused on healthcare investing.

Manfred began his career in investment banking with Merrill Lynch & Co.’s corporate finance group where he worked on public and private issuances of equity, debt, and equity-linked securities, as well as M&A transactions, restructurings and leveraged recapitalizations.  He also spent two years with New Street Capital Corporation, a New York-based merchant bank that invested in high-yield debt, distressed debt and private equity, and was a Senior Director at Visa Inc. for three years, where he structured and negotiated incentive agreements with Visa’s issuing financial institutions.  

Manfred holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.  He lives with his wife, and both enjoy cruising while on vacation.

Chief Financial Officer

Manfred Yu

Ajay joined HealthQuest in 2023 as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. He has over two decades of experience as a corporate lawyer in the investment management industry. Ajay has led and managed negotiations of multi-million and billion dollar contracts with global institutional clients spanning North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East investing in private funds, publicly traded funds and separate accounts. His experience also includes forming private and public investment funds, advising on a broad range of general corporate and investment advisory related matters and drafting a variety of contracts, policies and procedures.

Prior to joining HealthQuest, Ajay spent over eight years as vice president and counsel at Dimensional Fund Advisors in Austin, TX and over three years as vice president and counsel at BlackRock in San Francisco, CA. At both of these companies, he was responsible for providing legal support to their global institutional sales and support teams. At BlackRock, Ajay also supported the US transition management business. In these roles he worked closely with corporate executives as well as with each company’s compliance, marketing, sales, operations and investment teams.  

Before his in-house counsel positions, Ajay was an associate attorney in Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s corporate and private funds groups in San Francisco, CA,  Dechert LLP’s investment management group in Washington, DC and Hawkins, Delafield & Wood LLP’s public finance and energy groups in Sacramento, CA. 

Ajay holds BS (business administration), MBA and JD degrees from the University of Southern California. He resides in Austin, TX with his family and is a devoted fan of the USC Trojans. In his free time he enjoys going on long walks, staying abreast of business news and current affairs and reading both fiction and non-fiction books.

General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

Ajay Madan

Avery joined HealthQuest in 2022. Prior to joining HealthQuest, Avery was the Senior Director of Investor Relations & Corporate Development at HealthQuest portfolio company, Everly Health. There she oversaw all financing processes, helping the Company raise over $500M across equity and debt, and executed three M&A transactions for the Company. 

Avery previously spent 6+ years at J.P. Morgan in roles across the Investment Bank and Asset Management. She was a member of the Healthcare Capital Markets team where she worked on equity transactions for healthcare clients across all verticals.

Avery holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business, Entrepreneurship & Organizations from Brown University. She and her husband have two sons and a beloved french bulldog. 

Head of Investor Relations, Platform & Marketing

Avery Williams

Harold is currently serving as the Vice President of Finance at HealthQuest.  

Prior to HealthQuest Capital, Harold held key positions at AlixPartners, Wells Fargo, Exxon Mobil, and Deloitte. His diverse experience includes developing complex economic valuation models, serving as a financial advisor, and operations management.

Harold is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the State of California, and holds certifications in Insolvency & Restructuring Advisory, Financial Forensics, and Fraud Examination.  He earned his Master of Science from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of San Francisco.

Vice-President of Finance

Harold Lee

Christine joined HealthQuest in 2016 as Director of Finance with over 14 years of finance, accounting, and tax experience. 

Christine began her career with the IRS where she audited partnerships and corporations. Shortly after, she joined Deloitte & Touche’s audit and assurance team with a focus in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication. Her experience in audit ranged from network companies to healthcare technology startups. Her experience also includes being a manager at Visa Inc. where she developed robust financial models for incentive negotiations with financial institutions.

Christine received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California San Diego with a professional certificate in Accounting. She enjoys spending quality time with her children.

Director of Finance

Christine Ong

Ying joined HealthQuest in 2017 as Finance/Operations Analyst. Prior to joining, she was part of Global Supply Chain at Cepheid responsible for reporting and forecasting. She started her career working in laboratories at San Diego where she graduated from UC San Diego with a B.S. in Biochemistry/Cell Biology. Ying received her MBA from Santa Clara University where she was also a graduate teaching assistant. 

Senior Finance/Operations Analyst

Ying Liang

Denise Mutschler brings to HealthQuest more than 30 years of executive administration and support expertise. Prior to joining HealthQuest, Denise worked for over 20 years at USA Compression Partners, a publicly traded billion dollar corporation, where she supported the company’s CEO across many functions, including executive administration, human resources, project management and event planning. 


Denise, a longtime resident of Austin, Texas, is thrilled that both her daughters have graduated high school and are now attending the same university. She enjoys spending time with friends, listening to live music, and being outdoors whenever she can.

Executive Assistant

Denise Mutschler

Rob Alger is the Senior Vice President for Health Plan Information Technology Strategy for Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Permanente operates in eight states (Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia) and the District of Columbia. It holds the distinction of being the largest managed care organization in the United States. With 39 hospitals and over 700 medical offices, Kaiser Permanente employs more than 300,000 personnel, including 87,000 physicians and nurses.  Rob helps to define and implement the strategic technical capabilities of the National Health Plan providing architecture, thought leadership and through the management of the Health Plan technology investment portfolio.

Rob was previously the CIO of Blue Shield of California, the President of Advanced Health Technologies, Chief Technical Officer for Skylight Systems/Get Well TV and currently serves on the board of CAQH. 

SVP, Health Plan Information Technology Strategy at Kaiser Permanente

Rob Alger

Dr. Rob Bart is the Chief Medical Information Officer at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), a $20B health care provider and insurer. Under Dr. Bart’s leadership UPMC has increased a national reputation for innovation in medical informatics that improve patient care. He also continues to see critical care pediatrics patients at UPMC. Previously he was the CMIO for the health services department of Los Angeles County, which serves a population of more than 10 million, with 4 hospitals and 18 ambulatory locations.

Chief Medical Information Officer at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)

Rob Bart

John is an Executive-in-Residence at the Harvard Medical School Executive Education. He is a former senior vice president of Population Health, at Cerner Corporation. Previously he was chief executive officer of Siemens Heath Services. Prior to Siemens, John was chief information officer at Partners HealthCare.

John was the founding chair of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the past-president of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). He is the former Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Digital Health, World Economic Forum. He is former Senior Advisor to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

John serves on the boards of the Scottsdale Institute, PatientPing, National Committee for Quality Assurance, the American Telemedicine Association, Wellsheet, eHealth Initiative and Relatient.

John has received numerous industry awards including the John P. Glaser Innovation Award (established by the School of Biomedical Informatics, UTHealth), William B. Stead Thought Leadership Award (American Medical Informatics Association) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (CHIME).

John received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He has written over 200 articles and three books on the strategic application of IT in health care. He is on the faculty of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Former SVP of Population Health at Cerner Corporation

John Glaser

András Sablauer is an innovative Certified Healthcare CIO and Chief Medical Information Officer with experience in clinical, clinical research and basic research informatics. András is a strategic partner in designing and delivering IT strategies and innovative solutions aligned with business goals. He impacts organizational strategic plans via his experience in health IT leadership, program management, technology roadmaps and vendor collaborations. András has experience leading teams with over a hundred employees and consultants, selecting vendors through extensive due diligence, managing implementation projects, postimplementation vendor relationships, and multimillion dollar budgets.

Certified Healthcare CIO and Chief Medical Information Officer 

András Sablauer

Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA is the founder and CEO of BayouClinic, and was the 18th United States Surgeon General (2009-2013). As America's Doctor, she provided the public with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and the health of the nation. Benjamin specializes in prevention policies and health promotion among individuals as well as large populations, especially concerning obesity, childhood obesity, and children's health. 

She has special interest in rural health care, health disparities among socio-economic groups, suicide, violence, and mental health. Benjamin holds a medical degree from the University of Alabama Birmingham and an MBA from Tulane University. She currently serves on the boards of Ascension, Kaiser Hospitals and Health Plan, ConvaTec Plc, and Computer Programs & Systems, Inc.

Dr. Benjamin also serves on the Public Health Advisory Board of HealthQuest portfolio company BioIQ.

Team

An experienced, complementary and integrated team with over 300 years of combined operating and investing experience