Dr. Zachary Helft co-founded C. Light and brings over 10 years of neuroscience and regulatory experience to the team. He worked in the Technical Process Support team at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to develop and transfer a GMP biologics manufacturing process to an international site. He was also part of regulatory interactions to manage quality systems documentation. Dr. Helft helped to launch Regeneron’s first large-scale biologic to the market, Eylea. He is the author of multiple research articles and two successful grant applications. Dr. Helft brings his GMP and regulatory background from his time at Regeneron and mixes it with his scientific background in neuroscience. He was educated at Colgate University (B.S. in Cellular Neuroscience) and UC Berkeley (Ph.D. in Vision Science).
David has more than ten years of experience in artificial intelligence, medical devices, robotics engineering, and HealthTech. David studied a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in health management at Harvard University. He is passionate about empowering people with physical challenges to live independently and making a significant social impact. David has invented and developed many medical devices, such as adjustable dental instruments, wheelchairs that convert into a walker, a medical drone for emergencies, and a medical app tracking health for people with chronic diseases. He also built an autonomous personal transporter for wheelchair users that can convert any manual wheelchair into an electric wheelchair. He has been featured in many global events and organizations such as Fast Company, Harvard innovation, Microsoft, Amazon, TechCrunch, Wired, McKinsey, Verizon, and Novartis.
David’s aunt passed away from MS, and his friend and mentor continue to struggle with the challenges of MS today. David seeks to help people like him and all others who live with similar conditions to maximize their independence. David is passionate about empowering people with neurological challenges and their caregivers.
Wim Van Hecke, PhD, is the founder and CEO of icometrix (Chicago, USA; Leuven, Belgium). Wim is an academic engineer by training with two Master degrees in applied biomedical engineering and neuroimaging, and a PhD in diffusion MRI analysis. He is author or co-author of over 150 scientific publications, the editor of a clinical neuroimaging handbook, has won numerous scientific awards and is frequently invited to present his work at courses, conferences and hospitals around the world.
Wim is the founder of icometrix, a leader in software AI solutions to obtain clinically meaningful data from brain MRI and CT scans. The goal of icometrix is to transform the care of patients with neurological disorders through imaging AI and a more objective diagnosis and monitoring.
Shawna Persaud has 15 years of pre-clinical research experience and has published in the fields of stem and cancer cell biology. As clinical and product manager at Abilitech Medical, she leads all clinical and marketing initiatives, including the development of the Abilitech Assist 75 patient post-market outcomes study with the University of Minnesota and Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. Shawna has consulted with several biotech and medical device startups in the twin cities area including a 3D printed exoskeletal nonprofit, Magic Arms. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Minnesota.
Amy Li is Founder of Dance4Healing, an award winning behavior health social venture inspired by her stage IV cancer journey. Dance4Healing is an AI-powered live video platform empowering anyone access to creative arts therapy, and building healthy habits in a fun, and supportive way. It has won over 15 awards such as Stanford Medicine X Healthcare Design Award, Stanford Health++ Hackathon Intel Nervana AI Cluster Grand Prize, top 5 finalist for Pfizer’s global mBC Challenge, 2nd prize for Partners Connected Health Fit Mind Challenge sponsored by AARP. Amy also founded Stage IV {Wicked Wisdom} Network: a global network of leaders who champion for Technology for Social Good, Healthcare Innovation, Integrative Medicine, and Patient Advocacy. Our mission is 1 million lives saved from cancer and other life difficulties through inspiring stories, public education, and technology innovation. Amy is a UX, design and branding expert for global brands such as Yahoo, AT&T, VW and Sony. Her first iPhone App Have2P was independently reviewed and featured as “App of the Week” at New York Times, leading to a major media storm in over 50 publications, such as NBC, Yahoo! News, Gizmodo, Popsugar, praised as third on the list of “11 Coolest App ever.” This resulted in millions of downloads within 4 weeks, and a successful cross-sale of a whole suite of AT&T R&D apps. Amy graduated from Singularity University, which is known for empowering future leaders to use technology to positively impact the world. She is a board member of Humanity+, an international non-profit advocate using technology to expand human capacities.
Kinza is a researcher, interaction designer and strategist based in New York. While working on projects centering user experience and digital products, it is the “how” and “why” of the problems that drive her creative thought process. She starts at the purpose of every interaction she is exploring which inspires her to keep finding challenges that people face in their day-to-day lives, in hopes of solving them through critical thinking, user research and human-centered design.
For five years, Kate Milliken has been immersed in the personal stories of people living with chronic illness as the founder of MyCounterpane, an online platform that allows patients and caregivers to lay out their personal moments and connect to others who get it. The venture began when Kate was diagnosed with MS in 2006. Kate saw a need for moment-based authentic content of what it was like to actually live with an illness, where every entry was tagged with an emotion to make it immediately helpful and easily searchable for people in need of finding others to relate to. MyCounterpane aimed to demonstrate insights and prove outcomes in the emotional realm of health, healing people through the story of them in the process. Kate will continue this work with Moodify, a 2.0 version of MyCounterpane.
Pre-MS, Kate founded Milligrace Productions, a video production company specializing in mini documentaries for private, corporate and non-profit clients. She has worked in television for more than 15 years, off camera as a producer for the View and VH-1 and as a correspondent in alternative sports (such as snowboarding, mountain biking and monster trucks) where she worked for Fox Sports NET, TNT, TNN the Outdoor Life Network and Oxygen.
Kate lives in Bronxville, New York with her husband and two young children, an 8-year-old son who works to throw 3-pointers on a basketball court like Steph Curry and a 6-year-old daughter who wages a daily battle against the hairbrush.
Teresa is a Congenital Heart Disease survivor and has endured multiple open-heart surgeries and cardiac procedures. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in November of 2014 and is under the care of an esteemed MS Specialist. Teresa knows there is a calling on her life and she fully embraces that. Teresa uses her illnesses as opportunities to further rely on her faith, walk in her truth, raise awareness and educate others. She believes that she is purposely on purpose and uses her life to empower and inspire others. Teresa aspires to be a light that shines in dark places. Teresa is a patient advocate, inspirational speaker, author, poet, and a community activist. Diversity, inclusion and health equity matter to Teresa and her advocacy efforts solidify her commitment to amplifying the patient voice, racial and social justice. She enjoys writing, reading, listening to music and spending time with her family and friends. Teresa acknowledges her supportive and loving husband who is beside her through every trial and triumph and the unwavering love of her wonderful parents throughout her life.
Jessie Ace is host of the DISabled to ENabled podcast. A podcast that aims to inspire people living with chronic illness. She’s interviewed everyone from Paralympians, radio DJs, chronic illness bloggers, and marathon runners. She’s also a writer and illustrator for the biggest MS charities worldwide such as the multiple sclerosis today, National MS Society, MS Society UK, shift.MS, MS-UK amongst others and she has also written articles and illustrated for Momentum magazine, MS Matters and New Pathways. Jessie was diagnosed with MS at 22 years old and says MS makes her feel blessed every day because it has enabled her to meet many amazing people. Her own experience of being newly diagnosed so young was negative and scary – she wants to change this for other young people diagnosed. Jessie is also determined to show what is possible and is determined to teach others how to successfully blog and create a brand around blogging.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, Diana spent the first seven years running. Where to? She had no idea as long as MS wasn’t around. But as we all know, you can run but you can’t hide. No matter what Diana tried to do, MS would rear its ugly head to remind her who was boss. You would think she would get the hint and make room for MS, but NO! Diana would do things her way. Until one day, seven tedious years later, she finally woke up and realized she could never outrun MS.
And that has made all the difference. For one, her cat Nosey stopped biting her. For two, she was no longer ashamed of her story. Empowered, Diana started blogging about her experience with MS and depression on Instagram. Her passion is helping others have a more peaceful journey with MS.
Diana lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, 14-month-old daughter, and two fur babies Ninja and Nosey. In her former life, she worked as a writer and digital media-marketing specialist.