Mentors
The heart of the Deshpande Center is its Catalysts, mentors who share their expertise with grantees working to take their technologies to the marketplace.
Filter Catalysts by:

Rajesh Aggarwal
Panda Health | Chief Growth & Strategy Officer Rajesh Aggarwal is a physician and executive leader with clinical, scientific, and technological expertise in healthcare innovations.
Jeff Arnold
CEO Advisor and Investor Jeff Arnold is an angel investor and mentor to CEOs for diverse life science companies.
Hillel Bachrach
20/20 HealthCare Partners | Founder and Managing Partner Hillel Bachrach is an entrepreneur investing in life science and medical entities.
Roopom Banerjee
WhiteLeaf Advisors | Managing Partner Life Science Catalyst nurturing MIT innovators through major inflection points from company inception to high-value exit.
Barry Berger
Medical Affairs, Chief Medical Officer Barry M. Berger MD FCAP is the Chief Medical Officer at NAVERIS, a molecular diagnostics company.

Paul Blackborow
Hamamatsu Photonics | Business Development Paul Blackborow was CEO of Energetiq Technology, now a subsidiary of Hamamatsu Photonics.
Larry Brown
Noveome Biotherapeutics | Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Larry Brown has broad experience in large pharmaceutical and start-up venture capital based companies.
Christine Bunt
BuntAssociates LLC | Managing Director Christine Bunt is an entrepreneur, investor, founder, and CEO of life sciences companies.
Malcolm Burwell
Deep Science Start-up Founder As a builder of early-stage deeptech start-ups, Malcolm Burwell acts at the overlap of technology, markets and operations.
Joe Caruso
Advisor Joe Caruso is an active angel investor, mentor, coach and personal advisor to CEO’s and entrepreneurs.

Jose Estabil
ADN Genomix | Cofounder José Estabil is experienced in translating technology into high-growth businesses.
Robert Farra
Entrepreneur Robert Farra is an entrepreneur/executive with expertise in medical devices development.
Jim Freedman
Retired MIT TLO Associate Director and Consultant Jim Freedman is experienced in product development and manufacturing of materials and processes, and patenting and licensing of new technologies.
Don Golini
SANICA Ventures | Consultant Don Golini has over 20 years experience in the development, management and commercialization of new technologies.
Sanjay Gupta
AirFuel Alliance | President Sanjay Gupta has expertise in launching hardware, firmware, and software systems solutions.
Nesbitt Hagood
Tenon Ventures | General Partner Nesbitt Hagood, currently serving as the Managing General Partner at Tenon Ventures, is a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist.
Mark Kirtland
Pyxis Advisors | Managing Director Mark Kirtland guides equity firms, VCs, and med tech companies on strategy, commercialization, R&D priorities, and corporate development.
Michael Krasner
Vioby | Cofounder Mike Krasner, a pioneer in digital audio, has cofounded a number of businesses in advanced tech markets.
Manoj Kumar
Architect and Advisor Manoj Kumar is a healthcare AI leader with genomics and precision medicine expertise.
Bob Linke
IonSense, Inc. | Board Executive Chairman Bob Linke is a seasoned healthcare entrepreneur.
Sissi Liu
Metalmark Innovations | CEO Sissi Liu is an entrepreneur and investor targeting sustainability and climate change challenges.
Val Livada
Consultant Val Livada is an active member of the Boston entrepreneurship ecosystem, board member or advisor to many start-ups.
George Mabry
Consultant and Investor George Mabry focuses on early stage companies in medical, software, and B2B industries.
Bob Mason
Argon Ventures | Managing Partner Bob Mason leads pre-seed, deep-tech investments to launch products and build businesses.
Jon McGrath
Medtech Entrepreneur Jon McGrath is a medtech entrepreneur and has led transformative therapeutic technology projects.
Gaurav Mehta
Co-founder CEO and Advisor Gaurav Mehta is an accomplished entrepreneur with extensive experience in building, scaling, and transforming companies.
Matthew M. Nordan
Prime Impact Fund | Managing Director Matthew Nordan is an investor, advisor and analyst for early stage companies, especially related to climate innovation.
Lisa Paborsky
Biotechnology Executive Lisa Paborsky is an accomplished executive driving corporate strategy, business development and operations for early-stage biotech companies.
Lori Pressman
Consultant and Advisor Lori Pressman brings intellectual property, scientific, and business development expertise to the Deshpande table.
John Ripple
Ripple Biotech, LLC | Founder John Ripple has been CEO of five biotechs, and his LLC advises biopharmaceuticals.
Alex Rosiewicz
A2E Partners Founding Partner Alex Rosiewicz set up A2E Partners, a consulting company assisting small and large photonics companies.
Marc Rudoltz
MSR Healthcare Consultants LLC | President Marc Rudoltz provides executive support to pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Jason Sager
Sagely Health | CEO Jason Sager is an oncology physician-scientist with more than 20 years of clinical and drug development experience.

Eric Swanson
MIT | Research Affiliate Eric Swanson holds managerial posts in academic, industrial, and nonprofit organizations
Samson Timoner
Entrepreneur Samson Timoner is a serial entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in computer vision.
Jack Turner
Technology Licensing Advisor Prior to retiring, Jack Turner was the Senior Associate Director of MIT's TLO.
Anna Voronova
MIT OSATT | Catalyst Dr. Anna Voronova’s experience spans many biotech and pharma companies.