Sante Ventures

Douglas French, former Ascension Health CEO who created its venture arm, brings 30+ years of healthcare leadership and pre-med biology, offering a clinically informed, operator perspective on health-tech and medtech.

Joe Cunningham co-founded Santé Ventures in 2006 and has expertise in healthcare delivery systems, physician associations, and compensation models. He previously served as a healthcare Venture Partner at Austin Ventures, Vice Chair of Ascension Health Ventures' investment committee, Chief Medical Officer of Providence Health System, and Executive Director of the Providence Health Alliance. He holds an MBA from Baylor University, an MD and BS from Texas A&M University, and is board-certified in Internal Medicine and in Quality Assurance and Peer Review.

Kevin Lalande, a repeat founder and founding MD/CIO, is unusually hands-on in portfolio strategy, blending technical AI fluency with a focus on platform companies that change drug discovery risk-reward.

Casey Cunningham, MD, joined Santé Ventures in 2008 as Chief Scientific Officer, where he focuses on biotechnology. He previously held a faculty position at Harvard Medical School and served as Associate Director of the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, an early-phase clinical trial institute focused on gene and cell-based therapies. He has also taken operating roles as Chief Medical Officer at several Santé portfolio companies.

Dennis McWilliams combines visceral founder empathy—having shouldered financial risk and creatively financed Apollo Endosurgery through the 2008–09 crisis—with rare transparency about VC mechanics, LP expectations, and fund dynamics.

James Eadie is a Managing Director at Santé, where he leads the firm's medical device investment practice, having joined in 2009. He works with entrepreneurs from company inception through clinical development and early commercialization, with prior investments including TVA Medical, Claret Medical, Millipede, Farapulse, and Laminar. A board-certified emergency medicine physician, he previously served in the U.S. Air Force, including as Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine at a Level I trauma center and two combat deployments to Iraq. He holds an MD from the Harvard–MIT HST program, an MBA from UT McCombs, and a BS in Bioengineering from the University of Michigan.

Omar Khalil heads the Boston office and rejoined VC after senior commercial roles at Baxter, Baxalta and Kaléo, bringing payer-focused market access expertise to scale early clinical products to billion-dollar franchises.

Auriel August works with Santé Ventures on its early-stage portfolio, focusing on medical devices and healthcare services. She previously served as a Physician-in-Residence at IDEO's Design for Health Studio and completed the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship, and trained as a general surgeon at Stanford. She holds an MD from Dartmouth Medical School and a BS in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Michael Gutbrod combines a Cold Spring Harbor PhD in neurobiology and MIT CSAIL postdoc integrating deep learning with adult stem cell models, enabling first-principles evaluation of complex biotech platforms.

Ashley Seehusen leads an affiliated startup studio that forms seed-stage medtech, biotech, and healthtech companies through structured incubation, talent matching, and intensive coaching to produce Series A–ready founding teams.

Thomas Krummel, a pediatric surgeon-turned-investor who co-directed Stanford Biodesign for nearly two decades and helped pioneer neonatal ECMO, bridges an incubator and early-stage healthcare fund, shaping concepts used by millions.

Cardiac surgeon and medical-device engineer who prototypes in machine shops, holds 90–120+ U.S. patents for TVA Medical and BiVACOR, and co-led the first successful continuous-flow pulseless total artificial heart implantation.

Louis Bock built a biotechnology practice at a historically tech-focused venture firm, backing early winners like Seagen and Horizon, and brings bench-to-business experience from Genentech/Gilead plus ASU tech-transfer board service.

Chas Juliano is a CPA specializing in alternative asset management fund operations and currently serves as Controller at SANTÉ. Previously, Juliano was VP of Finance at an enterprise software company, overseeing financial reporting, FP&A, compliance, operations, and human resources.

Diane Brouillard is Head of Talent & Networks at SANTÉ. Her work spans relationship building, project management, coaching, and process development, with prior experience at global institutions and in early-stage venture capital. Outside of her corporate role, she works with entrepreneurs and companies focused on social causes and mentors female entrepreneurs and younger girls.

CEO of Redwood Trust since May 2018 and a director since 2017, having joined the company in 2006 and previously served as President, CFO, and Controller. He was previously with PricewaterhouseCoopers and holds degrees from Western Michigan University and an MBA from UC Berkeley/Columbia.

President of Redwood Trust since December 2017 and a director since 2021. He previously led Mortgage Finance at Wells Fargo Securities and worked in structured credit at Wachovia. He holds a B.A. from Georgetown University.

Eli is an Entrepreneur in Residence focusing on the intersection of fintech and AI.

Jeff focuses on alternative investment strategies and deal structuring at Cohen Circle. He previously co-founded a $10bn asset management platform and founded companies at Resource America.

Lisa Bedwell is Head of Marketing at Oxford Science Enterprises, which she joined as Senior Communications Manager in September 2020. She previously served as Communications Manager at Medicines Discovery Catapult and has over ten years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including work with US-based biotech start-ups. She holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience from Durham University.