The Lucid Diagnostics Story — Lishan Aklog
A Lifetime of Preventing Cancer Deaths — Stan Lapidus
Esophageal Cancer: A Surgeon’s Perspective — Philip Woodworth, MD
Realizing EsoGuard’s Commercial Opportunity — Shaun O'Neil, MBA
EsoGuard: Unprecedented Precancer Detection — Lishan Aklog, MD
EsoGuard in My Practice — Seper Dezfoli, MD
Pathway to Profitability — Dennis McGrath
Fireside Chat with Lucid Executive Leaders
Fireside Chat with Physician Experts
Meet the Presenters
Lishan Aklog, MD
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Lishan Aklog is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Lucid Diagnostics and its parent company, PAVmed Inc., which he co-founded. Dr. Aklog is a recognized leader in the medical technology industry. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of AdvaMed, the leading medtech trade association, has consulted for leading medtech companies, and has testified on innovation to Congress on behalf of Lucid. Dr. Aklog is an inventor on dozens of patents including life-saving products which he and his colleagues have commercialized. Prior to entering the life sciences industry as an entrepreneur and executive, Dr. Aklog had a distinguished career as an innovator in cardiac surgery, serving on the faculty of leading academic medical centers including Harvard Medical School and Mount Sinai Medical Center, and in professional society leadership positions. Dr. Aklog is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and completed his training at Harvard teaching hospitals and leading medical centers in London and Paris.
Dennis McGrath
Chief Financial Officer
Dennis McGrath is the Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Lucid Diagnostics and President & Chief Financial Officer of its parent company, PAVmed, Inc. Mr. McGrath brings decades of public company C-suite experience, including leading numerous financing and mergers & acquisition tranactions at PhotoMedex, Inc. (Nasdaq: PHMD), Surgical Laser Technologies, Inc, (formerly, Nasdaq: SLTI), ProCyte Corporation (formerly, Nasdaq: PRCY), LCA Vision, Inc. (formerly, Nasdaq: LCAV), Think New Ideas, Inc. (formerly, Nasdaq: THNK) and AnswerThink Consulting Group, Inc. (then, Nasdaq: ANSR, now, The Hackett Group, Nasdaq: HCKT). He has also has extensive experience serving on public and private company boards. Mr. McGrath began his career as a C.P.A. at Arthur Andersen & Co and is an honors graduate of LaSalle University.
Suman Verma, MD PhD
SVP & Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Suman Verma is Senior Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer of Lucid Diagnostics and oversees research, development, and analytic validation work on the EsoGuard® Esophageal DNA Test at Lucid’s CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory in Lake Forest, CA. Dr. Verma has more than a decade of experience in the development and implementation of molecular diagnostic assays using the full spectrum of cutting edge molecular biologic techniques and technologies. Dr. Verma earned her Ph.D. and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California Irvine, during which she performed and published on important research in breast cancer biology and targets for therapeutic intervention in breast cancer. Dr. Verma earned her medical degree, completed her internal medicine training, and served as a staff physician active in clinical research in India.
Victoria Lee, MD
SVP & Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Victoria Lee is Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer of Lucid Diagnostics and its parent company, PAVmed Inc. Dr. Lee bring extensive experience in clinical affairs and research in the medical technology industry, including in pre-market and post-market clinical trials, collaboration with clinical research organizations and key opinion leaders and general oversight of clinical research operations. She has been a frequent collaborator on regulatory submissions to the FDA and European regulatory authorities. She previously served as a physician consultant at McKinsey and Company with a focus on medical policy, resource utilization, and optimizing efficiencies in healthcare. Dr. Lee is a graduate of the University of Washington and NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and completed her training at Harvard and NYU teaching hospitals.
Brian deGuzman, MD
EVP & Chief Technology & Compliance Officer
Dr. Brian deGuzman is Executive Vice President & Chief Technology & Compliance Officer of Lucid Diagnostics and its parent, PAVmed Inc., which he co-founded. Dr. deGuzman has over a decade of experience as a successful medical technology entrepreneur and executive. He has helped develop and commercialize multiple life-saving products and has served as a consultant to leading medical device companies. Prior to entering the life sciences industry, Dr. deGuzman had a distinguished career as an innovator in cardiac surgery at leading medical centers, including Lahey Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. Dr. deGuzman is a graduate of Boston College and Georgetown School of Medicine, and completed his training at Harvard teaching hospitals.
Seper Dezfoli, MD
Shaun ONeil
President & Chief Operating Officer
Shaun O’Neil is President & Chief Operating Officer of Lucid Diagnostics and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of its parent company, PAVmed, Inc. Mr. O’Neil has led numerous strategic initiatives at Lucid including the design and launch of its commercial operations, sales and marketing strategy, market access program, as well as the launch of Lucid’s CLIA- certified laboratory, Lucid Dx Labs. He brings two decades of experience in the medical technology industry, developing, acquiring, launching and commercializing innovative products, including peripheral vascular and thrombus management products at Angiodynamics (Nasdaq: ANGO) and medical imaging products at aycan Medical Systems. Mr. O’Neil is graduate of Alfred University and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
Stan Lapidus
Vice-Chairman
Stan Lapidus is the Vice Chaiman and lead independent director of Lucid Diagnostics. Mr. Lapidus is a medical diagnostics pioneer who brings more than three decades of experience founding, leading, and advising breakthrough diagnostic companies, including founding and leading two of the most successful cancer early detection startup companies in history. He founded and served as President of Cytyc Inc., whose ThinPrep® Pap test technology, which he invented, revolutionized early cervical cancer detection. Cytyc was acquired by Hologic Inc. for over 6 billion dollars. He subsequently founded and served as President & CEO, and later as Chairman, of Exact Sciences, whose Cologuard® stool DNA test has revolutionized early detection of colorectal cancer and has a market capitalization of over 11 billion dollars. Mr. Lapidus was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and honored by the Smithsonian Institute for his pioneering work on early cancer detection. He served as an instructor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his electrical engineering degree from Cooper Union in New York City.
Deepika Lakhani
SVP & Chief Regulatory &Quality Officer
Deepika Lakhani is Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer of Lucid Diagnostics. She is an internationally recognized regulatory professional, with over fifteen years of experience, and has received many awards for excellence and leadership. She spent over a decade at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including at both the Center for Drugs Evaluation and Research at the FDA and Center for Devices and Radiological Health, where she reviewed, led cross-disciplinary teams, and contributed to policies impacting drugs, biologics, medical devices, tobacco products and combination products. On the industry side, she has led efforts for global regulatory approvals of drugs, medical devices, combination products and emerging technologies, including at AstraZeneca and as a consultant for Johnson and Johnson. She received her bachelor’s degree in Delhi, India and her PhD Virginia Commonwealth University.
Natalie Carfora
Vice President, Market Access
Natalie Carfora is Vice President, Market Access of Lucid Diagnostics. Ms. Carfora brings over a decade of market access and sales experience across diagnostic, medical device & pharmaceutical industries, including successfully engaging with commercial and governmental payors on coverage policy. She most recently served as Head of Market Access of an innovative molecular diagnostic company focused on commercializing a blood-based test for pancreatic cancer. She previously held market access and commercial roles at Myriad Genetics and Eli Lilly. In these roles, Ms. Carfora successfully led and supported a variety of market access initiatives, including collaborating with clinical research teams on study design, driving pilot programs with payors and self-funded clients, as well as utilizing clinical utility studies to inform broader coverage policies. She is an honors graduate of the Questrom School of Business at Boston University.
Philip Woodworth, MD
Dr. Phillip Woodworth is a renowned minimally invasive general surgeon with a focus on the robotic treatment of foregut disease, including esophageal disease. He is a partner at the Institute of Esophageal and Reflux Surgery and Director of the Heartburn Treatment Center at HCA Sky Ridge Medical Center, in Denver, Colorado. In addition to his busy clinical practice utilizing cutting-edge techniques and technologies, Dr. Woodworth has worked closely with the medical technology industry to facilitate the development, application, and adoption of advanced medical technologies and procedures. Dr. Woodworth is an honors graduate of Vanderbilt University and St. Louis University School of Medicine. He completed his training at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and served in the U.S. Army, reaching the rank of Major.
Dr. Seper Dezfoli is a Board Certified Gastroenterologist, Liver Specialist & Physician Nutrition Specialist with a private practice in Long Beach, California. He is affiliated with several southern California hospitals, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and St. Mary Medical Center. In addition to his personalized clinical practice, he has served as a consultant to several medical device companies and has published important clinical research in leading gastroenterology journals. Dr. Dezfoli has been named a 2023 Los Angeles Magazine Top Doctor, as well as Southern California Super Doctors Rising Star for 3 consecutive years. He is a graduate of University of Maryland and Penn State College of Medicine and completed his training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and University of California, Los Angeles.