Ms. Seltzer is Managing Partner and Founder of Pontiva Healthcare Partners. She has spent 25 years in the healthcare industry and has invested over $550M, resulting in 9 IPOs and $6.9B in M&A value. Previously, she was a Partner at Gurnet Point Capital (GPC), where she led growth equity investments and served on the boards of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Auregen Biotherapeutics and Naveris. Prior to GPC, she was a Partner at Aisling Capital, a life sciences investment firm.  At Aisling, investments included Agile Therapeutics, Aimmune Therapeutics (acquired by Nestle Health Sciences), AVROBIO, Durata Therapeutics (acquired by Actavis), Miramar Labs (acquired by Sientra), Prolacta Bioscience, Reneo Pharmaceuticals (merged with Onkure), Wugen and ZELTIQ Aesthetics (acquired by Allergan). Ms. Seltzer serves on the Investment Advisory Board of the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale and the Yale School of Management Advisory Board.

Mr. Steckler is Principal and Founder of Pontiva Healthcare Partners, a venture capital firm targeting the critical gap in women’s health investing. He has spent his career in the public and private healthcare markets as both an investor and advisor across different stages of companies and products.

Previously, he was an Analyst at Velan Capital, a healthcare dedicated hedge fund, where he focused on small and mid-cap equities across all subsectors with an interest in shareholder activism. At Velan, he completed seven private placement transactions along with work across the activism and long / short portfolio. Prior to Velan, he was a Vice President at Gurnet Point Capital (GPC) where his board service included Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Alladapt Immunotherapeutics and Naveris. Prior to GPC, he served as an Investment Banking Analyst at Lazard in their Global Healthcare Group where he advised on ~$19B of closed M&A transaction value. 

Dr. Garner is a Venture Advisor to Pontiva Healthcare Partners. She brings decades of experience in clinical development and medical affairs with a focus on women’s health. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer to SeNa Therapeutics, a women’s health focused biotech company. Previously, she served as Chief Scientific Officer at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, where she oversaw clinical development, regulatory affairs, and medical affairs. She previously served as Chief Medical Officer at ObsEva and Agile Therapeutics, and Vice President of Medical Affairs, Women’s Health at Myriad Genetics. Earlier in her career, Dr. Garner held clinical leadership roles at Abbott and Merck Research Laboratories, where she was responsible for the global Phase 3 development of Orilissa® and a range of women’s health programs. Her board experience includes being the Board Chair of Nua Surgical and a Board Member of Kezar, the Drug Information Association (DIA), CorStone (focused on resilience in girls), and the Executive Women of New Jersey.

Ms. Grimaldi is a Venture Advisor to Pontiva Healthcare Partners. She brings a 35-year career in life sciences investment banking, most recently serving as Managing Director and Head of Life Sciences Investment Banking at BMO Capital Markets. She previously held similar senior leadership roles as Managing Director at Jefferies and Cowen, and previously a Vice President at Goldman Sachs. Throughout her career, she has advised on a wide range of strategic transactions, including IPOs, private financings, mergers and acquisitions, and business development partnerships. She is widely respected for her ability to guide clients through complex corporate strategies and capital markets, with a particular focus on long-term value creation in the healthcare sector.

Ms. Grimaldi earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and received her M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Kornowski is a Venture Advisor to Pontiva Healthcare Partners. She brings more than 25 years of global biopharmaceutical leadership experience spanning business development, corporate strategy, and company building across both large pharma and venture-backed biotech. She most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Boston Pharmaceuticals, where she led the transformation of the company’s in-licensed pipeline and guided its acquisition by GSK for up to $2 billion, including $1.2 billion upfront for its FGF21 program in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

Before leading Boston Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Kornowski was a Senior Partner at Gurnet Point Capital, advising on portfolio strategy and company creation efforts. Previously, she served as Global Head of Partnering at Roche, where she oversaw all business development activities and executed numerous strategic transactions across oncology, immunology, and rare diseases. Earlier in her career, she held senior commercial and BD roles at Novartis and Sanofi.

Dr. Kornowski earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacy from Rene Descarte University in Paris and her M.B.A. from Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Ms. Millman is a Venture Advisor to Pontiva Healthcare Partners. She is a long-time advocate for women entrepreneurs and co-founded Springboard Enterprises, where she served as President for 21 years. Under her leadership, Springboard supported over 800 women-led companies that collectively raised over $10 billion in capital. She built a global network of investors, experts, and influencers dedicated to scaling women-led ventures across healthcare and technology. Earlier in her career, Ms. Millman served as Executive Director of the National Women’s Business Council, a federal advisory commission, and worked as a lobbyist for various corporate and industry groups. She is currently a Managing Partner at the StageNext angel fund.

Ms. Millman earned her M.P.A. from The George Washington University and holds an undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Ms. Forcellina is a Venture Advisor to Pontiva Healthcare Partners. She brings over 30 years of experience advising healthcare companies across leadership, strategy, and organizational design. She is currently a Partner at Spencer Stuart, where she focuses on leadership advisory and executive search within the Healthcare Practice. Prior to Spencer Stuart, she was a Partner at Egon Zehnder, where she led the North American leadership advisory and health practices, advising clients across CEO, C-suite, and board-level placements. Earlier in her career, she was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, serving global life sciences and healthcare services clients on growth and strategy. She began her professional journey as a U.S. Senate staffer, where she focused on healthcare policy.

Ms. Forcellina received her M.B.A. from the McCombs School of Business and her M.P.Aff. from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, both at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her B.A. from Yale University.

Mr. Appel is a CFO Consultant (part-time CFO) to Pontiva Healthcare Partners. He brings over 30 years of financial management experience, primarily as Chief Financial Officer of alternative investment firms, including hedge funds and venture capital funds. Since 2020, Mr. Appel has advised numerous emerging and established venture capital firms by providing strategic financial guidance, overseeing fund operations, developing policies and procedures, managing service provider relationships, and coordinating compliance initiatives.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Appel served as CFO of New Science Ventures and Aisling Capital, two venture capital firms focused on technology and life sciences, as well as CFO or controller of several hedge funds and a large multi-strategy alternative asset platform. He began his career at BDO, rising to the position of Audit Manager within the Financial Services Group.