Health Systems Innovation Council Meeting – Q3 2026

Farzad serves as SVP of Strategic Innovation, leading Edwards Lifesciences’ future therapies incubator (devices and digital) in the Advanced Innovation and Technology unit. He’s a cardiologist by background, applying needs-driven principles to define and directionally solve high-impact challenges in structural heart disease.

Within his role, Farzad heads the Edwards Lifesciences Innovation Fellowship Program for cardiovascular physicians and surgeons, in partnership with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation. Academically, Farzad serves as Senior Advisor, Design at Stanford University’s Mussallem Center for Biodesign.

He previously served as Director of Health at the global design and innovation firm IDEO and Chief Medical Officer of an American College of Cardiology Foundation and venture capital-backed health technology start-up focused on heart failure.

Farzad completed his training in medicine and cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Minnesota / Lillehei Heart Institute respectively, served as Chief Cardiology Fellow and NIH T32 Research Fellow, and operated as the St. Jude Medical and Dean’s Innovation Fellow at Stanford Biodesign. He earned both his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and his MD from the University of Texas at Austin.

He holds patents and patents pending in the fields of interventional and structural cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology, and robotic surgery and is a recipient of Phi Beta Kappa distinction and the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award.

Joseph is a serial technology entrepreneur and the chief visionary and founder of iCardio.ai. With expertise in leading startups from nascent stages to successful exits, Joseph previously founded OlehPay, an international banking platform. He enjoys a multifaceted role at iCardio.ai, participating in technical research and development initiatives and strategic company development. As a technical founder, Joseph embodies the spirit of innovation with a deep commitment to making a positive impact in this world through deep tech.

With over 28 years of experience in information security, my most recent role as Chief Information Security Officer for Hoag Health System saw significant strides in safeguarding digital assets and infrastructure. At Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, both as an Adjunct Professor and Advisory Board Member, I’ve fused academic rigor with real-world cyber risk challenges.

The values of integrity, leadership, and continuous improvement guide my contributions to the field, aligning with the forward-thinking culture at Pepperdine Graziadio, where I continue to serve and impact future leaders.With over 28 years of experience in information security, my most recent role as Chief Information Security Officer for Hoag Health System saw significant strides in safeguarding digital assets and infrastructure. At Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, both as an Adjunct Professor and Advisory Board Member, I’ve fused academic rigor with real-world cyber risk challenges.

The values of integrity, leadership, and continuous improvement guide my contributions to the field, aligning with the forward-thinking culture at Pepperdine Graziadio, where I continue to serve and impact future leaders.

Physician entrepreneur, operational strategist, and investor-advisor with 15+ years as a healthcare executive leading transformation, building high-performing large multi-specialty ambulatory networks of independent & employed physicians, and driving clinical, financial, and digital results across integrated care models. Brings board-level clinical expertise, informatics depth, entrepreneurial judgment, and executive leadership to advance outcomes where healthcare, technology, regulation, and capital intersect.

As Chief Administrative Officer of Ambulatory Medicine at Community Memorial Healthcare, I led 25 clinics across hospital outpatient departments, rural health centers, MSO platforms, and physician-owned groups, with 500+ employees, ~130 providers, and a $110M operating budget. I also served as CEO of the system’s affiliated physician corporations, with governance and P&L oversight. Earlier roles include UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians, Sutter Health, and Kaiser Permanente.

Today I perform m&a transactions for my holding company and I consult on responsible adoption and AI governance, and train physicians, executives, and boards.

I bring value to our community as a guest faculty for the American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ABAIM). I also advise and coach founders building healthcare and AI companies (vendors) on product-market fit, clinical workflow, reimbursement, and procurement reality. Board-certified in Pediatrics and Clinical Informatics, with an MBA and MPH, former Epic Physician Builder, experienced in value-based care and digital transformation.

As a continuing board member and past president of the Ventura County Medical Association and a delegate to the California Medical Association, I stay close to physician advocacy and policy.

The Operator’s Thesis, my field guide to which healthcare AI actually gets purchased, adopted, and renewed, comes out this year.

Dr. Aakriti Gupta, MD, MSc, is an interventional and structural cardiologist, physician-scientist, and Assistant Professor of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. She is co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of iCardio.ai, which develops FDA-cleared artificial intelligence tools for echocardiographic analysis.

Dr. Gupta completed her internal medicine residency at Yale University, cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowships at Columbia University, and advanced structural interventional cardiology training at Cedars-Sinai. She holds a Master of Science in Patient-Oriented Research from Columbia.

Her clinical and research work focuses on transcatheter valve interventions, comparative effectiveness, and improving access to cardiovascular care. Her research has received support from the National Institutes of Health and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and she participates in multicenter trials of treatments for aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve disease. She serves as Executive Associate Editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and on the steering committee of the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network. She has published more than 150 papers in leading journals including Nature Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Circulation, and JACC cited more than 10000 times.

Dr. Gupta also co-founded Heartbeat Health and AllHeart Health, extending her work into virtual cardiology and access to specialty care. Across her clinical, research, and entrepreneurial roles, she focuses on translating advances in cardiovascular medicine into earlier diagnosis, timely treatment, and better patient outcomes.

Seth is Senior Vice President, Global Health Economics and Reimbursement (GHER) at Edwards Lifesciences supporting the Transcatheter Heart Valves (THV) business unit.  In this position, Seth leads the development and implementation of evidence generation and patient access strategies and has helped to address a complex and growing set of challenges related to health system performance, health technology assessment, reimbursement and emerging evidence needs globally.  He has coauthored and commissioned numerous articles in the areas of cardiovascular innovation and economics. Prior to joining Edwards in 2008, Seth worked at Cerner Lifesciences, where he served as Senior Research Associate, responsible for consultative services to biopharmaceutical companies in the areas of comparative effectiveness research, health technology assessment, and health economics.

Seth holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles.