Tanya Andreadis
Chief Marketing Officer
UCLA Health

Tanya Andreadis is the Chief Marketing Officer for UCLA Health. Prior to joining UCLA Health, Tanya served as Associate Chief Marketing Officer at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System for 7 years.

With over 20 years of analytical marketing experience, Tanya is a leader in solidifying brand positioning and connecting with patients and consumers alike through digital strategy, campaign execution, brand development and marketing research and analytics. Tanya is skilled at working in complex environments, focusing in healthcare, to transform and build large teams with digital fluency and at hard-wiring data-driven decision making.

In her current role at UCLA Health, the leading academic medical center in California, Tanya leverages new technology to lead contemporary, customer-first communication strategies. She has proven success in enterprise CRM, content strategy, marketing automation, SEM, and social initiatives.

Yuman Fong, M.D.
Sangiacomo Chair in Surgical Oncology and Chairman of the Department of Surgery
City of Hope Medical Center

Dr. Yuman Fong is a graduate of Brown University (BA, Medieval Literature, 1981) and Cornell University Medical College (MD, 1984). He is currently the Sangiacomo Chair and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the City of Hope Medical Center.

Dr. Fong is best known clinically for his extensive work in the field of liver and pancreatic surgery. He also helped usher in robotic techniques for HPB surgery. He is editor of the SAGES Atlas of Robotic Surgery. For his clinical work, he was awarded the Layton F. Rikkers Master Clinician Award from the SSAT. He has assisted in the design and deployment of many novel surgical tools. His work in medical engineering has led to his election to the American Institute of Medical and Biologic Engineering.

Dr. Fong’s early research was in immune activation during cancer or infection.  He was part of the group that discovered tumor necrosis factor and helped established the field of innate immunity. He is regarded as a pioneer and leader in the field of gene therapies. His laboratory focus over the last 20 years has been in design of gene and immune cell therapies for cancer. He is Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy Oncolytics- Official Journal of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. His leadership in this field on the national level has included serving as the Chair of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) of the National Institutes of Health. He has co-authored over 900 articles and 14 text books.

Heitham Hassoun, M.D.
Vice President and Medical Director, International
Cedars-Sinai

Dr. Heitham Hassoun is the Vice President and Medical Director, International for Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai, he served as the Global Medical Director for Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI) and was an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Hassoun is a multi-faceted clinician and global healthcare leader with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare strategic planning, global business development, international patient services, global collaborations, health system integration and development. He was instrumental in the creation of Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, an approximately USD $1.2 billion joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Johns Hopkins Medicine, as well as oversight of many other Johns Hopkins institutional management and affiliation agreements around the world. Currently, he has wide-ranging responsibilities for Cedars-Sinai, a leading US academic medical center, including expanding its global impact and footprint in both patient care and institutional collaborations.

Dr. Hassoun maintains a clinical practice in vascular and endovascular surgery, and he continues to educate and research in a variety of topics related to global collaborative healthcare and academic medicine. He completed his fellowship training in vascular and endovascular surgery at Northwestern University in Chicago in 2005 and earned his medical degree in 1997 at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Rene Sotelo, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Urology and Medical Director of International Medicine
Keck Medicine of University of Southern California

Dr. René Sotelo is a world-class robotic surgeon, with more than 20 years of experience treating urological conditions. He’s a Professor of Clinical Urology at USC Institute of Urology and is the Medical Director of the Department of International Services at @keckmedusc. Dr. Sotelo is a distinguished researcher, having published more than 60 journal articles, 28 book chapters, and 3 textbooks. For his outstanding work, he has received 18 international awards from scientific and governmental associations. Dr. Sotelo is a renowned surgeon, innovation, and teacher in the world of urology.

“These credentials present the scientific part of me, but definitely feeling invited to the life’s party every day, and being able to tell my story as a physician and researcher, for helping people improving their health and life ’s, is what defines me best.

I was born to be a doctor. It’s an enormous satisfaction seeing my patients living their life’s and developing their own stories, as well as teaching others from what I have learned and from my experiences. I owe a lot to this profession, and I work hard to give in return all the goodness that it has given to me.

I work for impacting people every day, while striving hard, all together to take Urology and Medicine to another level. Blur the boundaries using Medicine as a tool, so every country, every city, every neighborhood, every house, and every person in it could get outstanding medicine. This is my passion".

Session Chair: David J. Whelan, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
BioscienceLA

David J. Whelan serves as Chief Executive Office of BioscienceLA, an independent not-for-profit catalyst for bio and life sciences innovation in the greater LA area. Dave is a seasoned strategy, business development, and general management executive building businesses and inspiring entrepreneurs at the intersection of technology, health, and wellness. Having spent 20 years in Los Angeles, he is passionate about leading the growth of a vibrant ecosystem that will create new opportunities for all stakeholders.

His experience spans genomics, wearables, digital health, consumer health services, wellness and nutrition, enterprise health services, and healthcare providers, among other areas. He was an integral part of the creation of New York Genome Center, a unique not-for-profit scientific research institute, where he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development & Chief Strategy Officer and collaborated on development of the business plan, fundraising of $115 million, and operational launch.

Recent engagements include incubating a digital health and media start-up (including serving as Chief Operating & Strategy Officer), steering a multi-year strategic and financial plan for a leading synthetic biology organization, launching a cancer diagnostic spinoff from a leading hospital, and developing a market assessment and strategic plan for an innovative integrative healthcare research institute, which was designed to bring together academic research and commercialization.

He holds an MBA with Honors from the UCLA Anderson School and a BS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University. He also studied at London Business School and Carnegie Mellon University. He has held a Top Secret Security Clearance.