Our People

Manisha Shetty Gulati is the Chief Growth Officer at Commure. Manisha is driven by a deeply rooted passion to empower the growth and performance of healthcare organizations through the adoption and acceleration of innovative technologies. As Chief Growth Officer at Commure, Gulati spearheads the company’s growth and partnerships strategy, driving go-to-market, revenue growth, and the partner ecosystem through alignment of the marketing, sales, and business development organizations.

Before joining Commure, Gulati held leadership positions across the healthcare ecosystem, including serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Clarity Health Solutions, where she brought to life the company’s mission to deliver better healthcare through advanced analytics and software solutions. She also worked as a partner at McKinsey & Company in the health systems, medical products, and life sciences practices in the US and EMEA, focusing on commercial growth and innovation with impact.

Manisha has also worked on global public health issues throughout her career. She has worked extensively with foundations on economic development and with leading global public health organizations in the areas of infectious disease strategies, policy and advocacy strategy, organization and operations, including the operational response to the Ebola outbreak. She led McKinsey’s west coast philanthropy practice as part of her social sector work with non-profits and foundations.

Gulati currently serves as chair of the board of directors at ReSurge International, a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization providing reconstructive surgical care in low-income countries worldwide, and as a member of the board of the directors for Model N, a revenue lifecycle management software company. Manisha received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, a master’s degree of public administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College.

John Cochrane is currently the President and CEO of HumanGood, the nation’s sixth largest non-for-profit organization providing housing, healthcare and support services for older adults. The organization employs more than 4,500 team members, and serves more than 14,000 residents and clients across 116 campuses, generating revenues in excess of $500M annually.

John is a seasoned executive and experienced corporate director. He has served as a keynote speaker and brand development leader, and is recognized as an expert in the field of well-aging. He has a deep experience in risk management, finance, brand development, and strategy while serving as a member of boards of directors of various for-profit companies. He has subject matter expertise in corporate strategy, operations, hospitality, risk management, and brand development.

Umesh is a Venture Partner at Thomvest Ventures focused on investments in the cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure sectors and working closely with founders and CEOs developing disruptive platform solutions. He currently serves as a Board Member at Avalanche Technology, Bolster, ShiftLeft, and Tactus Technology, and as a Board Observer at Clari and ShieldX. He is also an investor in Baffle and ThousandEyes.

Prior to joining Thomvest, Umesh was a successful entrepreneur, investor and CEO of a public company. He most recently worked for over 8 years at Bessemer Venture Partners in their Menlo Park offices. Prior to Bessemer, he was an Executive Vice President at LSI after its acquisition of a public video infrastructure and distribution company in C-Cube Microsystems, where he served as President and CEO. Umesh has served on over 30 public and private company boards, bringing extensive operating experience and skill set valued by CEOs and founders.

Aliza Apple is the co-Founder and SVP of Portfolio, Partnerships, & Strategy at Santa Ana Bio, a biotech startup focused on developing biologics for autoimmune disease. Prior, Aliza was a partner at McKinsey and Company’s San Francisco office working across healthcare and non-profit clients to develop their growth, operational, and investment strategy.

Prior to McKinsey, Aliza worked at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) as a member of the Global Vaccines leadership team based in Nairobi, Kenya. There she formulated country-specific vaccine introduction strategies, managed operational roll outs, designed immunization system strengthening programs, and monitored program impact across 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and SE Asia. She also served as the CHAI representative in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative convened by UNICEF and WHO.

Aliza began her career as a scientist, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics at Georgetown University. She went on to complete a PhD in Bioengineering from UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, where her doctoral research focused on stem cell mediated regeneration of spinal tissue. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Cornell Medical College designing articular cartilage implants. She joined the ReSurge board in 2022.

Dr. Arvin Taneja is a board-certified plastic surgeon from Southern California. He completed his plastic surgery residency from Houston Texas and is now in solo practice in Pasadena and Newport Beach. He became a member of ReSurge in 2017 after working on surgical missions with other nonprofit groups. His first ReSurge trip was an especially poignant one as it was located in Dehradun, India, his father’s ancestral home. His most recent ReSurge trip was to Bangladesh in 2019 just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Becky Ann Hughes has extensive experience in Marketing. She currently is Vice President, Growth at Electronic Arts, a video game company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. She previously held senior marketing positions at Glu Mobile, Play First Inc., and Black Angus Steakhouse. Becky Ann is a graduate of San Jose State University and received her MBA from The Wharton School. She has served on the ReSurge board since October 2021.

Christina Dickerson is an accomplished corporate, finance and operations executive with decades of leadership experience in the life science industry, private and public corporations, banking, and the nonprofit sector. Most recently, Christina was the Vice President, Corporate Development for Corium, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products with responsibility for corporate finance and strategy, operations and strategic partnerships, administration, governance and human resources. Prior, Christina worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan, The Jim Pattison Group, and Salomon Brothers Inc, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, high yield finance, arbitrage, divestitures and general corporate finance.

Current and previous board positions include more than 15 years on the LifeMoves board, the largest provider of interim housing and services for homelessness in Silicon Valley, holding the Chair and Chair Emeritus positions, and current Chair of the Development Committee and member of the Finance Committee. In addition, she continues to serve in a number of appointed leadership roles for Stanford University and is active in several other community service organizations.

Christina earned an A.B. in International Relations and an A.B. in Economics from Stanford University. Christina joined the ReSurge board in 2021.

Delali Attiogbe Attipoe is the chief operating officer (COO) for 54gene, a genomics research, services, and development company addressing the need to include under-represented African genomic data in research that could lead to medical breakthroughs and new healthcare solutions worldwide. She joined 54gene with over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector ranging from logistics and supply chain management to commercial marketing and managed care. Prior to 54gene, Delali was most recently the head of market access for East Africa within Roche Pharmaceuticals (F. Hoffmann La-Roche AG) as well as held former roles of increasing responsibility within Genentech (a US subsidiary of the Roche group).

In addition to her diverse work background, Delali holds a bachelor’s of science in biomedical engineering from the University of Rochester; a master’s in biotechnology (MB) from the University of Pennsylvania; a master’s in business administration (MBA) from Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business; and received a certificate in health economics and outcomes research from the University of Washington. She is formally an advisory board member of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department at the University of Rochester. She joined the ReSurge board in 2019.

Derrick Booker is currently the SVP of Global Marketing and Innovation for SkinCeuticals at L’Oreal. Where he is responsible for all aspects of the holistic marketing strategy for the SkinCeuticals brand including campaign development and product innovation across 44+ Countries. Derrick most recently held the position of VP and Head of Marketing for CeraVe US. Derrick led the brand integration into L’Oréal’s Active Cosmetics Division in 2017. During this time he spearheaded the launch of the brand’s first ever direct to consumer advertising campaign, including the launch of television, which not only accelerated the US business but served as the foundation for the brand’s communication supporting the global launch into 38 countries.

Derrick extended this campaign to restage the brand’s Sun and Facial Cleanser franchises while launching into medicated Acne, a new franchise for the brand. Derrick led a multi-year, consumer-centric strategy focused on increasing household penetration and driving cross-purchase. During his time on CeraVe, the brand has grown more than 500% making it the fastest growing mass skincare brand in the US creating a billion dollar skincare brand. In 2020 he was recognized among the top 100 under 50 emerging and executive leaders, by Diversity MBA Chicago.

Derrick joined L’Oreal in 2017 from Pfizer Consumer Health where he held roles of increasing responsibility across the Rx-to-OTC switch, Advil, and Pediatric franchises with full P&L responsibility. Prior to Pfizer, Derrick worked at P&G where he held both Medical and Consumer brand marketing roles for Crest & Oral-B. In addition to being an award-winning marketer and business leader, he is also an accomplished research scientist having led the clinical claims support strategy as a Clinical Trial Manager for P&G’s North American Oral Care R&D organization.

Derrick holds an undergraduate degree in Microbiology from Miami University and an MBA from Xavier University.

Diane Flynn is co-founder and chief executive officer of ReBoot Accel, which accelerates the careers of women in the workplace. ReBoot Accel helps women become current, connected and confident by teaching essential workplace technology skills and building community. Diane also consults with Fortune 500 companies interested in tapping the pipeline of women returning to the workplace, and in improving cultures supporting women.

Diane has a teenage son who was born with a cleft lip, and is grateful for the many services readily available in her community. She is excited to be part of the effort to bring more aid to those in countries where reconstructive options are limited.

Diane previously served as chief marketing officer of GSVlabs, a marketing executive at Electronic Arts and an associate consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. She also works as an executive coach. Diane earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University. She has been a member of the ReSurge board since 2018.

Dr. Finny George joined New York Plastic Surgical Group, a Division of Long Island Plastic Surgical Group in 2016 and became a partner in 2022. Dr. George was selected from among the top graduating high school students in New York to attend an accelerated 7-year combined undergraduate and medical school education from CUNY Sophie Davis and SUNY Upstate Medical University. He received his Bachelor of Science degree and Doctor of Medicine in 2004 and 2006, respectively. He went on to complete a residency in general surgery at the New York Medical College in Westchester. During this time, he also completed a research fellowship at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. George completed his plastic surgery residency in 2015 at Montefiore Medical Center. Following this, he obtained specialty training in reconstructive microsurgery with a fellowship at the nation’s top cancer hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering. In 2022, Dr. George was named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Plastic Surgeons recognized for liposuction.

Jenny is currently a Managing Partner at Adjuvant Capital, a life sciences investment fund dedicated to supporting companies addressing significant global health challenges affecting lower- and middle-income countries. Adjuvant’s portfolio spans across drugs, vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics for high- burden infectious disease, sexual and reproductive health. Jenny currently serves on the boards of Antiva Biosciences (US), 54gene (Nigeria), ChromaCode (US) and Evofem Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVFM – US) and as a board observer on Excision Biotherapeutics (US).

Prior to Adjuvant, Jenny was a Partner at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund where she led numerous transactions across the foundation’s focus areas in global health, agriculture, nutrition, and education. She has always been passionate about improving the health and lives of those living in low-resourced settings and spent time working in Kenya and China. In Kenya, Jenny was as a volunteer consultant for Technoserve, a non-profit business consultancy for small-holder farmers and small to medium businesses.

Jenny has worked in finance for 20 years, beginning her career as an investment banker advising corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings at Goldman Sachs’ Hong Kong, New York, and San Francisco offices. She also serves on the Investment Advisory Committee at the Reproductive Health Investors’ Alliance (US), the Advisory Board of the Harvard School of Public Health Magazine and the Board of Directors at ReSurge International (US).

Jenny graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in History of Science. She lives with her husband and two young children in San Francisco, CA.

Dr. Jeremy Deer is a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Children’s National Hospital in
Washington, D.C. He is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Cardiac Anesthesia at
George Washington University. Presently, he serves as the Program Director for the Pediatric
Cardiac Anesthesia fellowship program and serves on a number of committees within the
Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, as well as the
American Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Deer was introduced to ReSurge in 2013 when a mentor
suggested that he join a service trip to Phan Rang, Vietnam, and since then, he has participated in
a number of service and educator trips including trips to Vietnam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Zimbabwe,
and Nepal. In addition to his service work with ReSurge, Dr. Deer continues to actively
participate in the virtual lecture series with ReSurge including the CANSECA anesthesia lectures
series in Africa. Dr. Deer joined the ReSurge board in 2023 and is excited to champion the role
of anesthesiology in the support of ReSurge’s surgical and reconstructive efforts.

Karen Moore is a retired health care executive who joined the ReSurge board in 2018. Her career in health care spanned the public and private sectors at NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, KMPG and at California Health Care Systems, a major Bay Area health provider. She is an active community volunteer. She has served on the board of Abilities United, chairing its governance committee and serving as board president; worked with Habitat for Humanity on numerous international trips; assisted with several volunteer medical teams in Peru; is a master gardener of San Mateo and San Francisco counties; and a volunteer with the League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County.

Karen has master’s degrees in business, and in epidemiology and public health from Yale University.

Kathryn Hanson is founder and former chief executive officer of ALearn. ALearn’s mission is to get more underserved students of color on the path to college through intensive math, college readiness and growth mindset programs. In March 2018, ALearn merged with Silicon Valley Education Foundation to create the largest education program and advocacy nonprofit in the Bay Area.

Prior to ALearn, Kathryn served as an executive, entrepreneur and consultant to high-tech and internet companies for three decades. She was co-founder of Satmetrix, a customer satisfaction internet company, and co-founder of eMentoring, an e-learning company. She started her technology career working for Hewlett-Packard, after a consulting stint at the Boston Consulting Group. She currently serves on the boards of Trident, an online university serving the military, and Downtown College Preparatory.

She has a bachelor’s degree in english from Stanford University, master’s and doctoral degrees in english from University of Chicago, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. Kathryn joined the ReSurge board in 2019.

Kimberly Kerry is a senior managing associate in the San Francisco office of Dentons’ national health care practice group. Her practice focuses on health care-related corporate transactions, tax-exempt bond financing and the licensing and certification of medical facilities. Kimberly’s experience includes advising multi-hospital health systems, home health agencies, hospices and skilled nursing facilities on a variety of corporate governance issues, tax exemption issues, contracting arrangements and other regulatory and operational matters. She has extensive experience advising clients on Medicare/Medicaid enrollment and licensing and accreditation issues.

Prior to joining Dentons, Kim was a member of the health care group and family wealth transfer planning and trust and estate practice at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, where she focused on drafting complex estate plans. She also advised tax-exempt organizations in choice of entity and formation issues, federal and state tax-exempt status issues and dissolution.

Kim earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Hayward and a law degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. She has published several articles on her work and is a member of the bar association of the state of California. Kim is also a certified public accountant (licensed in the state of California) and a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.

Coming soon.

Upon completing his medical training, Matthew Naythons specialized in emergency medicine, practicing in California for eighteen years (1974 – 1992). During this period, between emergency room shifts in California hospitals, he built an award-winning career as a photojournalist for Newsweek, TIME and National Geographic. His reportage included such events as the Yom Kippur war, the fall of Saigon, the Nicaraguan revolution and the Jonestown suicides. Working for National Geographic, he spent a year with the Epidemiologic Intelligence Service (EIS) of the Centers for Disease Control, studying and traveling globally with EIS physicians on a story entitled “Medical Sleuths.”

In response to a 1979 refugee crisis on the Thai-Cambodian border, which he witnessed firsthand for TIME, Naythons founded and directed International Medical Teams (IMT). Funded by donations from Californians, IMT’s trucks brought medical care to refugee encampments inside Cambodia, locations where the International Red Cross did not operate.

In 1991, Matthew founded Epicenter Communications, which created prestigious photojournalism, multimedia and internet projects. Epicenter created some of the first disease-specific health sites on the internet, such as Diabetes.com and Alzheimers.com. In 1999, Matthew became vice president and publisher of the online pharmacy PlanetRx.com, and the following year co-authored “There is Still A Person in There”, a caregivers’ guide to Alzheimer’s. Following PlanetRx, Matthew resumed online and print publishing at Epicenter, where he remains president. He joined the ReSurge board in 2018.

Meredith Taylor has extensive experience building and leading consumer organizations. Currently, she serves as a board member and advisor to several restaurant/food service industry companies. Previously, she was the president and chief executive officer of Black Angus Steakhouse. Meredith also served as president of San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation (a not-for-profit organization). Her work experience includes serving as president and chief executive officer of two venture-backed startups: SeniorSurfers, which provided computer and internet training to older adults, and CookExpress.com, which produced and delivered gourmet meals. She has held C-level positions at Spectrum Foods, Saga Corporation and Marriott Corporation.

Meredith has a master’s degree in business administration from Santa Clara University, where she has been a guest lecturer in its graduate entrepreneurship program and served as an adjunct professor, teaching ethics and finance. She also served on the boards of MentorNet, a not-for-profit e-mentoring organization, and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Meredith has been a ReSurge board member since 2015.

Coming soon.

Dr. Richard Redett is an associate professor and director of pediatric plastic surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Rick specializes in the treatment of cleft and craniofacial disorders, facial palsy and complex burn reconstruction. In February 2016, Rick traveled to Zimbabwe with ReSurge. There, with other visiting educators, he trained local physicians and treated patients. As a board member, Rick is excited to be playing a more strategic role. He joined ReSurge’s board in 2016.

Dr. Tom Davenport was honored with the Donald R. Laub Humanitarian Award at the 2018 ReSurge Transformations Gala for volunteering his time and talent to ReSurge for more than 15 years.

Tom is a board-certified plastic surgeon and a partner at Long Island Plastic Surgical Group. He is the director of microsurgery and the director of surgical wound care at New York University (NYU) Winthrop Hospital, where he is also the chief of plastic surgery. He is actively involved in medical volunteerism and has traveled to perform reconstructive surgery and lecture on plastic surgery in numerous developing countries including the Philippines, Peru, India, Nepal, Ecuador, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brazil, Bhutan, Nicaragua and Mali.

Tom holds a medical degree from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree from Iona College. He rejoined the ReSurge board in 2020, after having previously termed off in 2017.

Wendell is retired, having most recently held a part-time nursing position at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento. Prior to his part-time role, he had a long career with the University of California, Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) where he worked more than 10 years in outpatient surgery; 13 years as a flight nurse on the Life Flight helicopter; and in the intensive care unit. He also worked three years at King Khalid Military Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Wendell became a registered nurse at a time where there were very few men pursuing a career in nursing, graduating in 1976 from Sacramento City College with an associate’s degree in nursing. He has been an annual volunteer with ReSurge for 10 years and has traveled to Vietnam, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cambodia with the organization. Prior to joining the board in 2019, Wendell served on the ReSurge Nursing Leadership committee.

Wende Hutton is a 30-year healthcare investor and a partner with Canaan Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. She has facilitated bringing more than a dozen medical devices and drugs to market, and currently sits on the boards of Antiva Biosciences, Glooko, Hyalex Orthopaedics, OncoResponse, Qlaris Bio and SafeinHome. Wende holds a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar. She is active with several community service groups and has served on the ReSurge board since 2015.