2026 Judges

Nilesh B Davé, MD MBA MPHVP, Clinical Effectiveness Chief Medical Officer and Associate System CMO for Texas Health Resources. In his current role, Dr. Dave leads current and new initiatives to drive high-quality, clinical performance and create innovative solutions for complex operational problems. Notably, Dr. Dave leads system medical staff affairs, co-leads our system telehealth deployment with a focus on clinical operations, and a participant in the THR AI Governance Committee. Recently, he
earned a Certificate from MIT’s program on AI in Healthcare. 

  Gina Ford, PharmD, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer of BioNorth Texas (BioNTX), where she is focused on positioning North Texas as one of the nation’s leading hubs for life sciences innovation. She brings a builder’s mindset to the role—connecting industry, academia, healthcare systems, and investors to accelerate innovation, support company growth, and deliver meaningful impact for patients.   

With more than two decades of experience across biotech and pharmaceutical industries, Gina has built her career at the intersection of strategy and execution. She has led corporate strategy, business development, and commercialization efforts for clinical-stage and growth companies, including IPSEN and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals. She is also the founder of One Joule, LLC, where she has advised life science companies on company formation, fundraising, licensing, and go-to-market strategy.

• Scientist-Entrepreneur and Bench-to-Market expert
• 10 years of experience in building, incubating, supporting ventures
• Advises new tech ventures, academic founders and first-time founders in a wide range of tech verticals
• Deeply passionate about bench-to-bedside translation, academic-industry partnerships, pre-seed funding, innovation ecosystem building
• Helped build a large national health accelerator network and national innovation challengesat BCG, Kraft Foods, Keurig Dr Pepper, and PepsiCo, and was most recently the Chief Strategy Officer at Guayaki Yerba Mate, a venture-backed consumer products start-up. He has led large strategy & transformational change efforts

and been at the forefront of consumer and technology start-up trends as an operator, advisor and investor for the past decade. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of New South Wales and earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2010.

Brandon Pope is senior vice president of strategy and market development at Texas Health Resources, the largest healthcare provider in North Texas. In his role at Texas Health, Brandon oversees market development and intelligence, growth planning, and consumer/product insights. Brandon has spent his career focused on applying systems engineering principles and methodologies to health systems including value-based care, quality, strategy and growth planning. Brandon has a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Abilene Christian University. He also has master’s and doctoral degrees in industrial and systems engineering from Texas A&M University.

  Dr. David E. Snow is an innovation-driven executive with over 15 years of experience advancing research commercialization, strategic partnerships, and place-based innovation. He is Executive Director of Pegasus Park in Dallas and previously held senior roles at the University of Arkansas and Texas Tech University, overseeing technology transfer, corporate engagement, and research park operations. A Certified Licensing Professional and registered Patent Agent, Dr. Snow holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is a recognized leader in building knowledge-based ecosystems that drive economic and societal impact.

Josh Taylor leads the William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the SMU Cox School of Business. He has 20 years of experience in leadership roles

at BCG, Kraft Foods, Keurig Dr Pepper, and PepsiCo, and was most recently the Chief Strategy Officer at Guayaki Yerba Mate, a venture-backed consumer products start-up. He has led large strategy & transformational change efforts

and been at the forefront of consumer and technology start-up trends as an operator, advisor and investor for the past decade. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of New South Wales and earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2010.