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Our Team

Neliesh Patel

Dr. Neilesh Patel

Founder / CEO

Dr. Neilesh Patel manages HealthSouk. Mr. Patel has over 10 years of experience in the medical device, public health and hi-tech. industry. At age 17, he founded StudentsHelp.org Consulting, the world's largest student-run volunteer computer consulting organization, which ultimately served millions of people and non-profits worldwide. From 2002 - 2004, Mr. Patel worked in regulatory affairs at Medtronic Inc. and as a submission reviewer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). From 1997 - 2002, Mr. Patel worked at over a dozen technology companies such as Netscape (acquired by AOL Time Warner) and OnePage (acquired by Sybase). He currently has several medical device patents pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Mr. Patel has received half a dozen awards including volunteering awards from the City of Palo Alto, International Youth Foundation and the Institute of Electrical Engineers, and has completed thousands of hours of volunteer service. Dr. Patel founded HealthCare Volunteer in 2005, which became the largest pro bono health network on the Internet. In 2008, Patel was awarded the UCLA CEY Humanitarian Award. He has been featured in several dozen print publications, including Financial Times, New York Times, S.F. Examiner and The Columbus Dispatch. He has spoken on non-profit topics on CNN, New Media News and numerous other international T.V. stations across the world. He currently serves the United States FDA and State of Texas in appointed government public health positions.

Dr. Patel attended St. Francis High School and received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering / Computer Science and his Minor in Entrepreneurship and Management from the Johns Hopkins University, and has completed coursework in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Mr. Patel also attended UCLA for graduate studies in global health, business administration and dental surgery.
Reter

Neal Reter, MBA

COO / Vice President of Business Development

Neal Reter serves HealthSouk as a VP of Business Development. Mr. Neal Reter has over 6 years of management experience in the High Tech and Consulting industries.

Mr. Neal Reter attended the Yale School of Management and received his MBA on a full academic scholarship under the Donald G. Borg Fellowship. Mr. Neal Reter also graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy.
Vivian Li

Vivian Li

Vice President of Product Development & UI/UX

Vivian's background is in UI/UX and she serves as the lead designer for HealthSouk. Her responsibilities include designing an intuitive and friendly User interface/User experience for all of HealthSouk's users. Vivian holds a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University.
Jan Slapnicka

Jan Slapnicka D.D.S., M.D., Ph.D.

Medical Advisor

Dr. Jan Slapnicka was born and raised in Europe, the Czech Republic. While at Masaryk University, Dr. Slapnicka completed his PhD degree doing a research project on bone and soft tissue healing using platelet-rich plasma. He then started residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. In 2006 Dr.Slapnicka relocated to U.S. to continue he professional career. Dr. Slapnicka is a member of numerous professional societies and organizations including the American Association of Oral and MaxilloFacial Surgery. Dr.Slapnicka makes annual trips abroad as a volunteer to perform cleft lip and palate surgery, and other craniofacial procedures in children. His prior trips have included journeys to underserved communities in Peru and India.

Dr. Slapnicka was selected for Advanced Standing Program at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry, where he received D.D.S. degree and a D.D.S. degree from Masaryk University School of Dentistry. He successfully completed his General Surgery Internship and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency training at the Indiana University Medical Center, Riley Hospital for Children, Wishard Hospital and Methodist Hospital. He received M.D. degree from Masaryk University School of Medicine.
Marc Thomas

Dr. Marc Thomas and Medical Team

Clinical Specialist

Dr. Thomas serves HealthSouk in a clinical capacity managing all aspects of clinical information. He worked for two years as a general dentist in a Health Professional Shortage Area in Texas. Marc is an Eagle Scout and performed service abroad in Tijuana, Mexico for two years. His interests include sculpting and back-packing.

He is currently finishing a residency program in pediatrics at the Yale-New Hospital in Connecticut. Dr. Marc Thomas completed his B.A. in zoology and Spanish at Brigham Young University and his dental training at UCLA where he graduated as valedictorian (magna cum laude).



Sales & Marketing

Ryan Pashelinsky

Ryan Pashelinsky

Director of Sales and Marketing

Ryan Pashelinsky's background is in medical coding and sales. He has over eight years of sales experience including direct sales and leading sales teams. His responsibilities with HealthSouk involve creating the sales strategy and increasing awareness of how HealthSouk can benefit doctors, employers and patients. Additionally he oversees the sales team.

Ryan attended Menlo College.
Maxim Kaplan

Maxim Kaplan

Director - Public Relations

Maxim Kaplan serves Healthsouk as a Director of Public Relations to help develop novel marketing and technical concepts, as well as focusing on website development to provide a leading-edge user experience for the patient and provider. Maxim has worked as an R&D engineer in the medical device industry for the past 10 years, designing and developing automation test and production equipment. He has spent the majority of this time working at Boston Scientific as well as having multiple internships at Medtronic.

Maxim received his M.S and B.S in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Asia Quan

Asia Quan

Marketing Associate

Asia's background is in business development and marketing. With HealthSouk she is responsible for various research and analysis in business development and marketing strategies. In addition, she works with with local businesses to spread awareness of HealthSouk. Asia is in the process of earning her B.S. from the University of San Francisco.
Sanders Deionne

Sanders Deionne

Marketing Associate

Sanders' background is in video production and channel partnership development. With HealthSouk she is responsible for the videos that help patients, providers and employers understand HealthSouk and how it will benefit them. In addition, she works with with local organizations to spread awareness of HealthSouk. Previously she has worked with Paradigm Productions and Idealist Media. Sanders earned her BA from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Media Studies (formerly Mass Communications).



Board of Advisors

Tony Salah

Tony Salah

Board of Advisors - Director

Tony Salah has more than 20 years’ experience leading high-performing, cross-functional teams to deliver measurable impact through technology-based innovation in both the Healthcare and High-Tech markets. Most recently, Tony led the venture-backed spin out of PeerCase, an online platform that enables physicians to efficiently and effectively tap into the collective experience and expertise of the worldwide oncology community. Prior to PeerCase, Tony was Vice President of Strategic Accounts at WebMD accountable for $70M in business and 128% compound annual growth rate.

Previously, as VP of Enterprise Solutions, he led the strategic turnaround of Eveo Communications Group to become a leading provider of rich media solutions to the BioPharma industry. Tony also held executive management roles at Intravation(a leading proposal management software start-up), PRTM (management consulting firm), Sony, and Westinghouse.

Tony earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, his MSEE at Johns Hopkins, and his BSEE at Tufts University.
Brian Jaffe

Brian Jaffe

Board of Advisors - Sales

Brian Jaffe has more than 20 years’ experience leading high-performing sales teams in the dental industry including Cigna, Samsung and most recently served as VP of Sales for Implant Direct the company that sold for $300 million to Danaher. Brian earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, his BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Ravi Raghavan

Ravi Raghavan

Board of Advisors - Strategy

Ravi Raghavan serves HealthSouk as Head Strategist. Mr. Raghavan has over 5 years of management experience in the High Tech, Healthcare, Finance, and Non-Profit industries. Mr. Raghavan most recently worked on upstream marketing initiatives for Melody, a pulmonary heart valve developed at Medtronic. Most recently, Mr. Raghavan developed a commercialization plan for an orphan drug developed by an early stage pharmaceutical company. Previously, Mr. Raghavan spent 3 years at SAP where he developed business cases for selling SAP software and launched the Business Transformation Studies marketing program in India. Mr. Raghavan began his career as an investment banking analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort. Mr. Raghavan has also served as C.O.O. for HealthCare Volunteer, a global health care non-profit organization that connects volunteers to health-related volunteering opportunities.

Mr. Raghavan attended The Wharton School for his MBA and a Masters in Biotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Raghavan graduated from MIT with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and a B.S. in Management Science from the Sloan School of Management, and a Minor in Music.
Ravi Goklaney

Ravi Goklaney, M. D., D.F.A.P.A.

Board of Advisors - Medical

Dr. Goklaney is a past Assistant Professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine He is a Distinguished Fellow of American Psychiatric Association with over 20 years of Clinical and Research experience in Community Mental Health, Private Practice and Academic University settings. Currently a Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Goklaney serves as the Assembly Representative to the American Psychiatry Association and is the past-president of the Central California Psychiatry Society. Among his numerous Awards is the Captane Thompson Psychiatrist of the Year Award in Central California and distinguished recognition from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, a volunteer organization to advocate for services for those suffering from brain disorders.

Dr. Goklaney completed his residency training in Psychiatry at New England Medical Center- Tufts University, and a fellowship in Sleep Disorders from Ohio State University.
Carolyn Candido

Carolyn Candido - M.D. Candidate

Medical Advisor

Carolyn Candido has over 8 years of experience in biomedical engineering, public health, and global health volunteerism. In 2002, her team won 2nd place in the Society of Women Engineers Team Tech competition, in which they designed a foot interface for the Intuitive Surgical Da Vinci machine. For her Masters Thesis, she designed a Musical Medical Monitor that converts the ECG insert into sound to enable detection of arrhythmias in surgery and the ICU, and currently has a patent pending on this technology. After she obtained her Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering she worked as an electronic medical record consultant for Cerner Corporation. She has conducted public health research at LA Free Clinic, she studied the effects of depression and patient provider communication on Latino diabetic patients. She was an AmeriCorps volunteer in the HealthCorps program, mapping underserved populations and physicians in Los Angeles County for Health Provider Shortage Designation. She recently organized a medical mission to Haiti that donated 100 lbs of medications, served over 1000 patients, and trained 20 healthcare providers in CPR and ultrasound. She spends her weekends volunteering at a Free Clinic, providing primary care to uninsured and undocumented residents of Sacramento County.

Carolyn Candido is a third year medical student (M.D.) at University of California, Davis. She has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and an M.S. in Biomedical engineering from Purdue University.
Scott Wharton

Scott Wharton

Board of Advisors - Strategy

Scott Wharton, founder and CEO of Vidtel, Inc. has been recognized as a leader in the VoIP and video industry for nearly 15 years. From 1999 to early 2008, he was the VP of Marketing at BroadSoft, Inc., the leading developer and marketer of VoIP application servers, which also handle video IP calling. Scott made significant and enduring contributions leading to: the dominance of the BroadSoft brand in the voice application space, the company’s acquisition of 9 of the world’s 10 largest telecom service providers as customers, and the expansion of the company’s presence in over 60 countries. Scott also defined a new product category for the telecom industry, a next-generation applications layer, establishing BroadSoft's global leadership in the VoIP applications market. In 2003, Scott was honored with the Frost & Sullivan IP Telephony Executive of the Year Award. It is presented each year to the individual who has excelled in developing and executing a business strategy allowing his or her company to gain market leadership. In 2006, Scott was recognized as a “Top 100 Voice” in the IP Communications Industry by Internet Telephony magazine. Prior to BroadSoft, Scott was Vice President of Marketing at VocalTec Communications, the pioneer and a leading developer of VoIP software solutions. From 1995 to 1999, Scott spearheaded numerous groundbreaking initiatives, including the development of the first commercial VoIP product and the creation of the VoIP service provider industry. In the 1990s, Scott created one of the first IP video products for the consumer market as a senior marketing exec with VocalTec, the pioneering VoIP company. Scott holds an MBA from Yale University./div>