Fifth Annual New York Tech Biotechnology Conference

Evan Shlofmitz (D.O. ‘10), FACC

Evan Shlofmitz is an interventional cardiologist and the director of intravascular imaging at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Roslyn, N.Y. He completed a fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at Georgetown University / MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He previously completed an Intravascular Imaging and Physiology fellowship at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), a Cardiovascular Disease fellowship at Northwell Health, and served as chief resident for internal medicine at New York Presbyterian Queens after graduating from NYITCOM, Class of 2010. He serves as chair of SCAI’s Ischemic Heart Disease Council and is the co-director of Optimizing PCI (www.OPCI.live). His research interests have centered on the optimization of stent implantation, with more than 170 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Susanna Bächle, Ph.D.

Susanna Bächle obtained her M.S. in biomedicine and her Ph.D. in medical science from Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Her scientific passion is to understand the interaction of the immune system with pathogens and her PhD research focused on HIV and innate immune responses. After additional training in business fundamentals from Harvard Business School Online and Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship, she moved to Boston and into the biotech industry in 2015. Since then, she has held various positions at biotech and pharma companies in business development and medical affairs teams. In May 2023, she transitioned to medical affairs for Pfizer as field-medical director for vaccines. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities, travel, and pets.

Kriti Chopra, Ph.D.

Kriti Chopra specializes in computational biology and bioinformatics, focusing on protein structure, function, and interactions. At BNL, she applies cutting-edge AI and computational tools to uncover molecular insights in radiation biology, protein-ligand dynamics, and multi-omics integration. She has contributed significantly to structural biology research, including developing workflows for SAXS-driven molecular dynamics simulations and assisting at structural biology beamlines to integrate experimental and computational insights. Her doctoral work contributed towards developing hybrid pipelines for protein-protein interaction prediction, combining co-evolution, machine learning, and network analysis to address complex biological challenges. Her research interests include advancing AI applications in personalized medicine and translational research. Her passion lies in leveraging computational methodologies and data-driven approaches to solve intricate biological problems.

Md Jobair Hossain Faruk

Md Jobair Hossain Faruk is an early-career researcher and Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the New York Institute of Technology. His interdisciplinary research integrates artificial intelligence (AI), quantum machine learning (QML), and blockchain technology, focusing on applications in health informatics and cybersecurity. With a strong foundation in software engineering (SE), his work utilizes the SE’s best practices to develop emerging technologies, such as AI and blockchain, ensuring the reliability, security, scalability, and privacy of software applications. Throughout his academic journey, he has actively contributed to impactful research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His work has resulted in numerous publications in IEEE/ACM conferences, book chapters, and journals, earning prestigious accolades such as the IEEE ICHI Best Paper Award (2022) and the IEEE ICDH Special Paper Award (2021). His projects include cancer diagnostics using deep learning models on histopathological images, quantum-enhanced cybersecurity solutions, and blockchain-based frameworks for secure data sharing in electronic health records (EHR). He earned his bachelor’s degree in software engineering from Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia, and an M.S. in software engineering from Kennesaw State University, Georgia, U.S. His professional experience includes worked as a SciAuth Fellow at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), where he collaborated on blockchain research to advance secure and efficient scientific data access. At the United Nations Headquarters, he contributed to the development of generative AI applications and flagship information systems, further enhancing his expertise in cutting-edge technologies. In addition to his research, he is deeply passionate about teaching, mentorship, and youth development. He mentors undergraduate students from Asia, providing guidance in research methodologies, academic writing, and project development. As a Fellow in the SDGs Futures Fellowship Program, he actively promotes the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), fostering leadership and professional growth among underprivileged youth worldwide. These experiences reflect his dedication to nurturing the next generation of scholars and empowering students to achieve their full potential.

Xueqing (Summer) Huang, Ph.D.

Xueqing (Summer) Huang is an associate professor of computer science at New York Institute of Technology. She obtained her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in 2017, where she worked on NSF grants on greening mobile edge computing, interned as a co-op student at Bell Labs (Murray Hill, N.J.), and won the NJIT Newark College of Engineering (NCE) Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation and Outstanding Graduate Student awards. Her main areas of research are mobile edge computing, data-driven optimization, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. She has published more than 45 journal articles and conference papers. She has served as a reviewer for numerous journals and conferences, such as IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, and IEEE Network Magazine. She has also served as a technical program and organizing committee member for various IEEE conferences.

Thrasyvoulos Karydis, M.Sc.

Thras Karydis is the chief technology officer and co-founder at DeepCure, which is driving the discovery of novel small molecule therapies for inflammation and immunology indications. Its powerful next-generation chemistry platform integrates causal AI screening & molecule generation tools with robotic synthesis and automated assays. He obtained his M.Sc. from the MIT Media Lab, where his research was primarily focused on deep learning for protein design. He also has experience leading various hardware and software projects at various biotech and tech companies. He developed DeepCure’s groundbreaking core technology and is a thought leader and international speaker on computational tools and software for small molecule design and automated chemistry.

Lise McCoy, Ed.D.

Lise McCoy, Ed.D., is director of faculty development at NYITCOM, specializing in integrating AI into medical education. With a research background in active learning, clinical reasoning, and interprofessional collaboration, She has been involved in many medical education innovation projects funded by HRSA, AACOM, and AMA, focusing on faculty development, virtual patient simulations, and game-based learning. Her current projects involve co-designing an AI certification course for the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), and an AI Integration Framework for the International Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence (IACAI).

John Pennett

Partner, Eisner Advisory Group LLC Pennett is the partner-in-charge of the National Technology and Life Sciences Group. He has 35 years of public accounting experience, with a strong emphasis on public and private life-science and technology companies. He is a frequent writer and speaker on industry topics. He is the publisher of Catalyst, a newsletter focused on delivering informative content on both business and technical issues affecting entrepreneurs in the technology and life sciences space.

David Putrino, Ph.D.

David Putrino was trained clinically as a physiotherapist before completing a Ph.D. in neuroscience. He worked as a clinician in Australia before moving to the United States to study computational neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, MIT, and NYU. He is currently a professor of rehabilitation and human performance at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He works to develop innovative technology solutions for individuals in need of better healthcare accessibility. His work spans the ability spectrum, ranging from helping completely paralyzed people achieve autonomy using novel brain computer interfaces to partnering with organizations such as the U.S. Olympic Team, the Brooklyn Nets, and Red Bull to enhance athletic performance. He is the author of Hacking Health: How to Make Money and Save Lives in the HealthTech World, which is available from Amazon and Springer-Nature. In 2019, he was named “Global Australian of the Year” for his contributions to healthcare.

Milan Toma

Milan Toma, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of clinical sciences at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM). His areas of expertise include image processing, high-performance computing, computational mechanics/biomechanics, biomechanical/biomedical engineering, Trefftz elements, hydrated soft tissue, impact biomechanics, head and brain injuries, and cardiovascular fluid-structure interaction.

Kaveh Vejdani

Dr. Vejdani is a nuclear medicine physician specialized in PET/CT and PET/MR from Stanford University and NYU Langone Medical Center, a computer programmer and expert in medical image processing and machine learning. As a co-founder and the chief medical and technology officer of Darmiyan, Inc., he has led the design, development, testing, FDA-breakthrough designation, clinical validation, and FDA De Novo approval of the BrainSee platform, the first and only prognostic AI to help clinicians in the evaluation of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a potential prodrome to Alzheimer’s dementia.