VALERA HEALTH - Key Persons
Adam is passionate about healthcare, wellness and its intersection with data and technology. He most recently worked in Analytics at Signify Health, championing their growth in multiple value-based care insurance programs. He is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, where he earned a B.A. in Public Health and Biology.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and CEO of Windham Venture Partners
Adam Fine is a co-founder and CEO of Windham Venture Partners. Adam is currently Director at Coravin, GlySens, CuraSeal and HelpAround, Board Observer to SpineView, MC10, Holaira and VytronUS. Adam is a mentor in Blueprint Health, a healthcare IT accelerator in NYC. Prior to Windham, Adam was VP & GM at I-many, Inc., an enterprise software company. Prior to joining I-many, Adam was a New Business Development Analyst at Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company focused on interventional vascular devices such as stents. In that capacity, Adam worked on a range of licenses, acquisitions, divestments, as well as strategic investments with Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), J&J's strategic venture arm. Prior to J&J, Adam was a research analyst at Coopers & Lybrand's Integrated Healthcare Consulting practice.
Alan is a clinical social worker who works with children, adolescents, and adults. He has prior experience as Family Coordinator and Complex Trauma Program faculty member at Mount Sinai, therapist at the largest FQHC network for Asian-Americans, and clinical fellow at Yale School of Medicine. He specializes in trauma, anxiety, and mood disorders, with particular interest in supporting families of youth with behavioral health issues and co-occurring disorders.
Alex Ferstenberg is a CPA with experience leading the Finance & Accounting functions at high-growth tech startups in the NYC area. Prior to that, he worked at PwC in their Alternative Investments division.
Job Titles:
- Director of Clinical Informatics
Andrew is passionate about healthcare tech, privacy, interoperability, and improving the patient experience. At Epic he worked with healthcare organizations across the U.S. and Canada as a technical support engineer. As a consultant, he helped design, implement, and manage analytics initiatives and population health programs.
Arick Rynearson joined The Whittemore Company (TWC) in 2007 with a focus alternative investments, including early stage investing. A serial entrepreneur with deep background in finance, operations and strategy, Arick represents TWC in a number of early stage investments, including several in the health tech space.
Caitlin uses a holistic and collaborative approach to address the emotional needs of each client to help them achieve their individual goals and improve overall well-being.
Christine Rambert has 10 years of clinical experience providing psychotherapeutic services to culturally diverse and bilingual populations from children to older adults. Bilingual in Spanish, Christine has worked collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams in various outpatient settings to deliver integrative behavioral health care. Christine has extensive training in therapeutic modalities which include CBT, DBT, ACT and TF-CBT. She earned an MA in Sociology/Anthropology from Northeastern University and a Masters in Social Work from NYU Silver School of Social Work. Christine is also a registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) with Yoga Alliance.
Job Titles:
- Director of Growth Marketing
Daniel is a seasoned marketer with experience leading Marketing and User Acquisition functions at several different startups across eCommerce, Healthcare and Fintech business verticals.
Job Titles:
- Associate Medical Director
- Psychiatrist
Dr. Michael Cooper is a psychiatrist trained in both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. He completed his M.D. at Albert Einstein School of Medicine, his residency at NYU Langone Hospital and was faculty member at NYU School of Medicine, where he participated in novel clinical trials for psilocybin-assisted psychopharmacologic therapy for alcoholism. Dr. Cooper is strengthening Valera Health's quality improvement program and new clinical trials program.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Clinical Director
Dr. Victoria Johnson, M.D. is a Georgia native now living in NYC with a passion for providing patient-centered, recovery-oriented care. She holds board certifications in both Adult Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and enjoys working with patients ranging from school age youth to young adulthood. Dr. Johnson received her medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA) and completed her specialty training in Psychiatry at the University of Alabama- Birmingham (UAB) Medical Center and Columbia University. In her free time, Dr. Johnson enjoys spending time with her partner, exploring NYC's hidden gems, reading, and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Associate Medical Director
- Psychiatrist and Pediatrician
Faisal is a psychiatrist and pediatrician specializing in integrated care. He completed a combined residency in adult psychiatry, child & adolescent psychiatry, and pediatrics at Columbia NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Faisal uses a recovery oriented, systems-based practice approach to navigate systems of care while working at various non-profit, community-based organizations in New York City.
Mr. Nahirny was the Managing Director of Bain Capital Ventures and past chairman of the New England Venture Capital Association and Managing Partner of Leerink Capital Partners. Mr. Nahirny was a former partner at McKinsey consulting and is the Founder, Managing Partner of Alsora Capital. James Nahirny serves on several community and industry boards, including Children's Hospital Boston Board of Overseers, New England Venture Capital Association, and Yale Entrepreneurial Society.
Job Titles:
- Associate Medical Director
Dr. Lulejian received his medical training at COMP-NW in Lebanon Oregon, and went on to complete his general psychiatry residency at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He came to Valera from Carelon, a division of Elevance, where he managed a medicaid HARP plan as well as large commercial plans. There he focused his efforts on population health management and innovative ways to cooperate with providers to form symbiotic partnerships. He is board certified in general psychiatry and Addiction medicine, with his clinical focus on the study of trauma disorders and addiction. His focus at Valera is on development of new programs that synergistically improve quality, provider satisfaction and drive the organization toward excellence.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Operations
Julia is passionate about providing accessible and high-quality mental healthcare. Julia holds a BS in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University.
Karina has half a decade of experience in the mental health field. She has provided case management to people experiencing SMI, has integrated behavioral health care into two primary care practices, and is a certified Cognitive Behavioral Therapist. In her role within Valera Health, Karina is focused on expanding access to quality and inclusive mental health care while providing the resources, training, as well as support needed for Social Workers to thrive regardless of their level of experience.
Job Titles:
- Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Keith Schraad is Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. Prior to joining AZBlue, Keith was Director of the Arizona Department of Insurance and served as Vice Chair of the NAIC's Innovation and Technology Committee. Prior to that, Keith worked with several technology startup companies and formerly served as a State Senator in Kansas.
Job Titles:
- Human Resources Coordinator
- HR Coordinator
Kourtney serves as an HR Coordinator for Valera Health. Kourtney brings over four years of HR and Recruiting experience to the Valera Team. Prior to joining Valera, Kourtney worked as an HR Generalist in the medical field & convenience store industry where she focused on Onboarding, Employee Relations, & Recruiting, with an emphasis on high level management & executive positions.
Job Titles:
- Medical Director
- Psychiatrist
Larry Ozowara is a psychiatrist who specializes in the collaboration between inpatient and outpatient care. He attended Stanford Medical School, completed a residency in adult psychiatry at Columbia University and is a former Assistant Professor at NYU School of Medicine where he supervised and trained medical students, residents and fellows in psychiatry. He has extensive experience in working with patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and patients with serious and persistent mental illness. Dr. Ozowara directs Valera's psychiatry program and HEDIS improvement program for healthplans and hospitals.
Lauren Mills began her career as a clinical social worker providing counseling to children and families in a community-based mental health program at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Lauren later became a Clinical Supervisor and oversaw operations of a Medicaid funded program for children and adolescents and owned a private psychotherapy practice. Through this work, Lauren became passionate about increasing access to mental health services through technology and joined AbleTo, where she helped develop and scale a telemental health program and national provider network serving thousands of patients as Clinical Director. Following AbleTo, Lauren joined Aetna and led new product development as the Strategy and Product Management Director for National Account Commercial Business. Lauren holds a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lauren lives outside Providence, RI with her husband and three year old daughter.
Mr. Agarwal joined AXA Venture Partners in 2015 and focuses on early stage investments, based in New York. He led AVP's US and Israeli early stage investments including PG, Limelight, Mindoula and K4Connect. Prior to AVP, Manish held a number of investing, operational and strategic roles. Most recently, he was the Head of Financial Protection for Equitable, responsible for the company's life insurance business.Manish started his career at McKinsey & Co. where he led client teams in engagements across strategy, corporate finance and operations & technology.
Maya is passionate about making mental healthcare more equitable and accessible. Before Valera, she worked as a clinical research coordinator at Columbia University Medical Center. She received her BS in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan.
Michele has worked as the Regional Vice President at Elements Behavioral Health and Head of Operations & Expansion at Defining Wellness Centers.
Naomi is passionate about using technology to improve mental healthcare, accessibility and the patient experience. She believes in the interdisciplinary nature of creative problem-solving, reflected in her time incorporating music, fitness and social/mental health at Drums Alive. Prior to Valera, she worked at Kaiser Permanente, using her product and engineering background to drive virtual and digital care initiatives spanning several clinical specialties across the Southern California region.
Dr. Shukair received his MD from Damascus University, Syria. He completed General Psychiatry Training Program with psychoanalytic training at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Dr. Shukair completed a Child and Adolescents Psychiatry training in Children's Hospital of Boston, Harvard University. Dr. Shukair‘s current work focuses on attachment, ADHD and the interaction between executive functions and mental wellness.
Job Titles:
- VP, Research and Development
Noam Tzur
Noam formerly worked as a Software Engineer at Quickode, VMWare and ORCAM. He received his B.S. in Computer Software Engineering from the Jerusalem College of Engineering.
Ofer Sharon, MD is the CEO of OncoHost Ltd. a clinical stage precision oncology company combining blood based proteomic analysis and powerful machine learning tools in order to predict response to immunotherapy and provide clinicians with potential combinations strategies to overcome treatment resistance and improve patient outcomes.
Dr. Sharon is a physician and entrepreneur with close to 20 years of experience in clinical and commercial product development for startups in the health tech, biotech, and medical device industries. Ofer is the co-founder and President of Valera Health a commercial stage US-Israeli startup company developing a digital platform for payers and providers for severe mental illness serving more than 4 million patients in the US. Prior to joining Oncohost, he served multiple roles in global pharmaceutical companies including Medical Director for AstraZeneca (Israel), new technologies scout for Medimmune and Medical Director for MSD (Israel). He co-founded several healthcare companies, mainly focusing on bioinformatic and machine learning platforms for clinical deterioration detection and early intervention.
As a Chief Technology Officer, Prashant Gharpure leads the execution of the company's technology strategy and is responsible for the management of software development, informatics, and infrastructure operations. Prior to Valera Health, he served as the CTO at Phynd (acquired by symplr). With over 30 years of experience in software product architecture and development, Prashant helmed technology leadership and consultative positions at various startup companies. He currently lives in the Atlanta area and is a passionate wildlife photographer.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Rachel is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with academic, clinical, and tech experience in the field of behavioral health. Rachel earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her Master's Degree in Social Welfare from USC. In 2010, Rachel was accredited as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
Rachel has extensive experience in the field of mental health and as a clinician, healthcare Leader, and innovator with expertise in value-based care and Implementation. Rachel enjoys building exceptional provider teams and quality-based service delivery models of care.
Sarah has over 15 years of experience in healthcare. She started her career as a Medical Assistant and worked closely with physicians in a variety of clinical settings. Prior to Valera, she worked for a rural hospital in Vermont as a clinical informaticist. She has an undergraduate degree in information technology and a masters degree in healthcare administration from Champlain College. She is passionate about technology in healthcare and providing patients with exceptional quality of care.
Sherese has over 10 years of clinical counseling experience. She strives to highlight holistic physical, emotional, and spiritual health. She believes in listening to strengths to support recovery and obtaining the best out of behavioral health services. Her mission is to support a mutual relationship in which the client and therapist seamlessly work together. She believes in the identification of behavioral healthcare goals utilizing all available resources as a team.
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
Sterling Elder most recently worked at Evolent Health. She brings a breadth of experience in human resource management, recruitment team leadership, and clinical recruiting.
He was the former CMO at a Merck subsidiary focused on commercializing digital solutions. Prior to Merck, Tom was part of the team that developed the Affordable Care Act on the House Committee on Ways and Means and worked on the development of a national framework for the use of electronic health records as Medical Director at the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT, HHS. He started his career as Chief Medical Officer working at Charles B. Wang, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving the immigrant Asian population in NYC and served on the Board of Health for NYC. He currently serves on several boards including BCBS Kansas City.
Thomas R. lnsel, M.D., a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, has been a national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. From 2002-2015, Dr. Insel served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). More recently (2015 - 2017), he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences) in South San Francisco, CA. In 2017 he co-founded Mindstrong Health, a Silicon Valley start-up building tools for people with serious mental illness. In 2020, he co-founded Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery. Since May of 2019, he has been a special advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Chair of the Board of the Steinberg Institute in Sacramento, California. Dr. Insel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received numerous national and international awards including honorary degrees in the U.S. and Europe.
Veena Muthusamy is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. She completed her adult psychiatry training at Northwell Health, her child and adolescent psychiatry training at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and a public psychiatry fellowship at Columbia University/NYSPI. Dr. Muthusamy believes in providing patient centered care using a trauma focused lens and recovery oriented approach. Through a systems based approach she helps her patients navigate the complex mental health system and address social determinants of health.
Victoria provides individual and family therapy to children and adults, specializing in mood and anxiety disorders, difficult interpersonal relationships, chronic illness, and trauma. Victoria has experience in play therapy, mindfulness, psychodynamic therapy, and evidence-based therapies. Victoria provides a safe space for all and uses a strengths based and trauma informed approach. Victoria is committed to provide a non judgmental space where together we can explore your feelings, supports, goals, and stressors.