Manish Bhandari
Manish Bhandari, MD, E-MBA, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Angel Physicians Fund, a venture capital firm that supports early-stage healthcare technology companies. He is also Medical Oncologist and Chief of Innovation & Oncology at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in MidWest USA. With over two decades of experience in the healthcare sector as a clinician, research investigator, and as a MedTech investor, he advises five large MedTech funds nationally.
As a medical oncologist, healthcare executive, and strategy consultant, Manish brings a combination of clinical, operational, and financial expertise to identify, evaluate, and invest in promising opportunities in the healthcare sector. His work is driven by a mission to improve patient outcomes, advance medical innovation, and drive healthcare transformation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of several portfolio companies in oncology, where he provides strategic guidance, industry insights, and mentorship to the founders and management teams. Additionally, he advises Catalyst Health Ventures and AngelMD, two leading healthcare investment platforms. Manish has multiple publications and patents in the field of oncology and medical devices, was named "Doctor of the Year" by Cincinnati Magazine in 2018, and bestowed a lifetime achievement award by a cancer patient support group in the U.S.
Manish is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and a board-certified medical oncologist from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, with an executive MBA from McKinsey & Co.
Maria Palasis
Maria Palasis, PhD, is Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Lyra Therapeutics, a combination product biotechnology company she took public in 2020.
Maria is also on the Advisory Board of Beta Bionics. Prior to Lyra Therapeutics, she was President, CEO, and Board Director of both Arsenal Medical and its spin-out, 480 Biomedical. Maria also served in senior leadership roles at Boston Scientific Corporation, focused on the development of drug-device combination products. In 2021, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for outstanding contributions to the design of medical devices and drug delivery systems.
Maria holds a BS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Biology at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine.
