Leadership
Aster Insights is led by industry trailblazers and scientific experts who share the belief that a world without cancer is possible through collaborations that spark boundless connections.
Executive Leadership
Anand Shah, M.D. is the CEO of Aster Insights, the leading provider of scientific and clinical intelligence for oncology discovery. He brings decades of strategic and operational leadership to the Aster Insights team. As CEO, he leads Aster Insights with a focus on driving the scientific and commercial innovation needed to bring new cures to patients. He is also an Operating Advisor at global investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Dr. Shah is a nationally recognized physician leader and health policy expert with extensive healthcare experience as an industry leader, physician, and in the senior-most levels of the U.S. government. He was previously the Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Shah led consensus policy development for fit-for-purpose programs including Advanced Manufacturing, the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program, Covid vaccine development, digital health, consumer protection, and decentralized clinical trials. During the Covid public health emergency, he led FDA’s policy development for pandemic preparedness and recovery. Dr. Shah represented FDA with top-level policy makers of the White House and Cabinet, Governors and local governments, and Congressional leadership.
He previously served in two senior leadership roles at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As Senior Medical Advisor, he was the primary counselor for agency-wide policy related to medical and scientific innovation. Dr. Shah established consensus on several critical policy initiatives including aligning payment and prevention to increase Medicare beneficiaries’ access to novel antimicrobials, expanding patients’ access to cell and gene therapies, and streamlining Medicare access to breakthrough technologies. As the Chief Medical Officer of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Dr. Shah led the design of novel value-based payment and service delivery models including those for primary and specialty care.
Dr. Shah specializes in the early detection, surveillance, and treatment of prostate cancer, and previously developed and led a survivorship clinic for patients on cancer clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health. His scientific track record includes publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Affairs, Cancer, and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. Dr. Shah is an Adjunct Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, both at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Shah was chief resident during his radiation oncology residency at Columbia University. He concurrently earned his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.P.H. in health care management and policy from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Shah graduated with honors from Duke University with a degree in economics. He also served as a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Scholar.
Dan Elgort, PhD, currently serves as the Chief Data and Analytics Officer for Aster Insights. As both a Fortune 100 leader and entrepreneur, Elgort has spent his career at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and data science delivering unique digital products and services that meaningfully impact patient outcomes. Elgort leads Aster Insights's Data & Analytics organization which is responsible for further advancing the end-to-end clinicogenomic data strategy, operations and quality initiatives, and building on the advanced analytics and data science capabilities.
Prior to Aster Insights, Elgort was Chief Scientific Officer at Covera Health, where he built a unique healthcare data platform which collects cancer diagnosis data (e.g., advanced radiological and pathology tissue images), and links that information to longitudinal clinical data including pharmaceutical and surgical interventions. Elgort’s team also was responsible for building advanced analytic products and services designed to help clinicians improve quality of care for patients.
In his role at Covera, he built a provider data-sharing consortium, established a standardized approach for collecting and linking patient and clinical datasets, and deployed data pipelines and infrastructure to ingest, de-identify, clean, and organize complex data. In addition, Elgort led development of AI methodologies to deliver health outcome analytic products and services for providers and payors.
Elgort holds baccalaureates in biomedical engineering and computer science from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Anshu Jain is the Chief Medical Officer at Aster Insights. He is a board-certified oncologist with deep clinical oncology and informatics experience, and focuses on advancing medical affairs, commercial operations, and scientific strategy.
Prior to joining Aster Insights, he led clinical operations at Hero Health where he developed a value-based framework for a remote monitoring health technology platform and established life sciences partnerships. He has oncology research experience and has published extensively in journals such as Nature Communications, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, the Journal of Oncology Practice and more. Dr. Jain is a seasoned oncologist with extensive experience in clinical trials and has served as an investigator in several early and late phase clinical studies evaluating novel therapeutics in oncology. Dr. Jain is additionally board certified in clinical informatics and has provided clinical leadership to large scale data initiatives, including NCI SEER programs. He previously served as an advisor to the FDA’s Office of the Commissioner and the Oncology Center of Excellence. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Oncology Alliance, the Board of Advisors for the Duke Cancer Institute, and is an Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Medicine.
Dr. Jain received his clinical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School and New York Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has an M.D., with Highest Distinction, from the University of Kentucky, and a degree in Economics from Duke University. He continues to care for patients with cancer on a limited basis.
Owyn Richen currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for Aster Insights. He brings over 20 years of leadership experience in technology and strategy in a diverse range of industries where he has guided digital transformations and product development from inception to launch.
Prior to Aster Insights, Owyn held engineering leadership roles at Nike, leading critical aspects of their marketing technology, consumer and athlete data, and AI/ML personalization teams, leading large-scale digital transformations and delivery of products to tens of millions of customers globally.
Richen is an inventor and speaker at large technology conferences and contributor to several patents in the data and technology space.
Board of Directors
Sandra E. Peterson
Chair of the Board - Partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Ms. Peterson joined CD&R in 2019. Prior to CD&R, she was group worldwide chairman of Johnson & Johnson, where she led the consumer and medical devices businesses and was responsible for the corporation’s global supply chain, as well as its technology strategy and operating infrastructure. She currently serves as Chairman of Cynosure. Previously, Ms. Peterson served as CEO of Bayer CropScience AG, CEO of Bayer Medical Care, and president of Bayer HealthCare AG’s Diabetes Care Division. She started her career at McKinsey and has held executive positions at Medco Health Solutions (formerly known as Merck-Medco), Nabisco, and Whirlpool. Ms. Peterson is a member of the Microsoft Board of Directors, chairman of the board of the American Academy in Berlin, and on the board of the Institute for Advanced Study, the world-renowned center for science and humanities research in Princeton, NJ. Ms. Peterson is also on the boards of Covetrus (Nasdaq:CVET), Zymergen, and Volastra. She has appeared on Fortune magazine’s list of most powerful women numerous times and was featured on the magazine’s inaugural list of leaders changing healthcare. She holds an M.P.A. in applied economics from Princeton University and a B.A. in government from Cornell University.
Xavier Avat
Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer - Moffitt Cancer Center
Xavier Avat is the Chief Business Officer at Moffitt Cancer Center. He is responsible for leading the cancer center’s business development, entrepreneurship, and innovation strategies.
As CBO, Avat manages the growth and development of the center, focusing on creating sustainable strategies to diversify revenue streams, build business lines, nurture partnerships, and ultimately expand Moffitt’s portfolio and ability to impact lives. He provides strategic oversight and direction to ensure the overall success of the business and projects across the enterprise.
Prior to joining Moffitt, Avat spent nearly 30 years in marketing, operations, and business development, most recently serving as chief business officer at Capricor Therapeutics, a biotech company. Prior to that he served in various leadership roles at several life sciences and biotech companies, including Genentech and Gilead Sciences.
Avat holds a Master of Business Administration degree from EDHEC Business School, as well as a Master of Science degree in bioengineering from Polytech Lille School of Engineering, both in France.
Gregory Dorn, MD, MPH
Senior Vice President - Hearst
Greg Dorn is a senior vice president of Hearst and the president and group head of Hearst Health, overseeing Hearst’s healthcare businesses in the U.S. and globally, including FDB (First Databank), Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase and MHK. He also serves as a director of Aster Insights and is a member of the Hearst board of directors.
For more than two decades, Dorn has been focused on raising the standard of excellence for patient care across the healthcare spectrum, through clinically rigorous guidance delivered by efficient, scalable technology. He is the co-inventor of two patented healthcare software technologies that continue to be used in health systems across the U.S. His expertise is in developing and commercializing inventive and disruptive solutions that improve care quality and efficiency.
Dorn has held a variety of leadership positions across Hearst, including chief operating officer of Zynx Health and president of FDB. In 2013 he was appointed a vice president of Hearst to lead its growing portfolio of healthcare companies. He became president of Hearst Health in 2014. The mission of Hearst Health is to guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person’s health journey.
Dorn received his medical doctorate from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his bachelor’s degree from the Columbia University School of Engineering. He performed his clinical training at UCLA, where he also obtained his master’s degree in health services management.
Sarah Kim
Partner - Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R)
Ms. Kim joined CD&R in 2008. She played a key role in the Firm’s investments in and subsequent sales of Diversey and naviHealth, the public and secondary offerings of HD Supply and ServiceMaster, and the Firm's investment in Covetrus. Previously, she held positions at private equity firms Metalmark Capital and McCown De Leeuw & Co. and worked in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs & Co. She currently serves on the board of Huntsworth, a leading provider of specialty services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. She holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a J.D. from Harvard Law School (J.D.), and a B.A. in economics and political science from Yale University.
Stuart McGuigan
Interim Global Chief Information Officer and Executive Committee member, Fresenius Medical Care
Stuart McGuigan was appointed as the Interim Global Chief Information Officer and member of the Executive Committee of Fresenius Medical Care in March 2023. Leveraging his vast expertise in digitalizing large healthcare organizations, he is leading Fresenius Medical Care's Digital Innovation and Technology division in implementing their organization-wide transformation strategies. He places a strong emphasis on harmonizing business and technology, instilling a culture of consistent use of agile methodologies to expedite advancement in IT projects, and guaranteeing transparency by continually evaluating results to achieve enhanced value.
Prior to joining Fresenius Medical Care, Stuart served as the Chief Information Officer U.S. Department of State and the Assistant-Secretary level head of the Bureau of Information Resource Management, appointed on March 25, 2019. As Chief Information Officer, he established technology strategic direction and provided oversight for $2.4B of technology programs across the Department.
Mr. McGuigan joined the Department of State from Johnson & Johnson where he was responsible for global Information Technology strategy and operations for an organization with 130,000 employees at over 170 overseas and domestic locations. With an established reputation for rapidly aligning technology innovation with global business needs, Mr. McGuigan brings over 33 year of industry background including experience as Senior Vice President and CIO of CVS Caremark, Senior Vice President and CIO of Liberty Mutual, and Senior Vice President of Information Services for Medco Health Solutions.
Mr. McGuigan earned Master of Science and Master of Philosophy degrees in the Cognitive Science program at Yale University, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Fairfield University. In 2018, Mr. McGuigan was inducted into www.CIO.com’s CIO Hall of Fame, and he is the recipient of the “Lifetime Contribution Award” from NASSCOM—India’s top not-for-profit IT organization, enabling India’s growth of its $154 billion dollar IT-Business Process Management (BPM) industry.
Stuart McGuigan
Interim Global Chief Information Officer and Executive Committee member, Fresenius Medical Care
Jack Robinson
Principal, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Mr. Robinson joined CD&R in 2015 and is principally engaged in evaluating investment opportunities in the healthcare vertical. He has played a key role in the Firm’s investments in apree health, Covetrus, and Cynosure, as he did in prior investments in naviHealth and TRANZACT. Prior to joining CD&R, he worked in the mergers and acquisitions group at Blackstone. Mr. Robinson has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Directorships
- Cynosure
CD&R Investments
- apree health
- Covetrus
- Cynosure
- naviHealth
- TRANZACT
Experience
- Blackstone
Education
- The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania | M.B.A.
- University of Pennsylvania | B.S. economics, engineering
Board Observers
Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS
Director, the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Kathleen Wellenreiter Klotz Chair in Cancer Research
Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD was born in Chicago, IL in 1950. He is a graduate of Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH, where he majored in history. This was followed by medical school at St. Louis University, St. Louis; MO, residency training in general surgery at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center and the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, Chicago, IL; followed by fellowship training in surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. Dr. Pollock was invited to join the MD Anderson faculty in 1984 upon completion of fellowship training. While serving as an assistant professor of surgery, Dr. Pollock began graduate studies at the University of Texas Health Science Center/Houston, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, culminating in receipt of the PhD in tumor immunology in 1990. In 1993 Dr. Pollock began service as chairman of the Department of Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a position that he held until 2010. In 1996, service as head of the Division of Surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was begun, a position entailing supervisory relationships with all 7 surgical specialty departments at that institution. In 2013 Dr. Pollock was recruited to Ohio State University as professor and director of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Chief of Surgical Services at the James Comprehensive Cancer Center. This was followed by appointment in 2015 as Surgeon in Chief, the James Comprehensive Cancer Center and Surgeon in Chief, the Ohio State University Health System. In 2017, Dr. Pollock was appointed to his current position as professor and director of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Pollock’s clinical and laboratory research work focuses on soft tissue sarcoma, a rare tumor system of connective tissue origin. He has been the recipient as principal investigator of an NIH/NCI K08 Clinician-Investigator Award (1984-89), an NIH/NCI R29 FIRST Award (1989-1994), an NIH/NCI R01 Award (1995-2007), and NIH/NCI T32 Training Grant (1999-2010), and an NIH/NCI SPORE award (2012-2017). He is married to Dina Lev, MD, a Professor of Surgery at Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel. They have 5 children: Jessica, a medical student at the Ohio State University College of Medicine; Samuel and Eden, students at the Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences; and Noam and Omer, who are in high school in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS
Director, the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Kathleen Wellenreiter Klotz Chair in Cancer Research
David M. Rubin, PhD
Managing Director and Founding Partner, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund
David M. Rubin, Ph.D., is a Managing Director and a founding partner of GHI Fund since inception in 2010. David is focused on digital health and precision medicine mainly focused in oncology. Before joining the GHI team, Dr. Rubin led a portfolio management group in Merck Research Labs, where he facilitated the development of franchise strategies and analysis of portfolio valuations. David joined Merck from Cognia Corporation, a venture-backed international healthcare R&D software company, where he was CEO. Previously, Dr. Rubin was a management consultant at The Wilkerson Group/IBM Global Services. Dr. Rubin holds a Ph.D. from Temple University in Molecular Biology and a B.A. from SUNY Binghamton in Biology. He was a National Institutes of Health and American Cancer Society Post-Doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School where he worked on the Ubiquitin Proteasome Pathway. He also received training in post-graduate business at Harvard University.
David M. Rubin, PhD
Managing Director and Founding Partner, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund
Dave Schulte
Senior Vice President and Managing Director of McKesson Ventures
Dave is Senior Vice President and Managing Director of McKesson Ventures. He has been investing in innovative healthcare businesses for nearly two decades. Prior to McKesson, Dave ran Kaiser Permanente Ventures and helped build the investment program from $20M to $400M of assets under management. Prior to KP Ventures, he spent several years in healthcare and technology investment banking at JPMorgan, UBS and Piper Jaffray. He is a graduate of St. John's University (MN) and earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University.
Scientific Advisory Board
William Dalton, MD, PhD
Co-Chair, Aster Insights SAB
Former President and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Eric Rubin, MD
Co-Chair, Aster Insights SAB
Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Oncology, Merck
Nino Sireci, MD, MSc
Senior Vice President, Diagnostics Development, Loxo Oncology at Lilly