Is a Daily Glass of Wine Actually “Heart-Healthy”? What You Should Know

Vinay Raj

Vinay Raj is a Principal at CVS Health Ventures and works on investments, capital deployment strategy, and fund operations. In addition to covering equity investments.

Before joining CVS, Vinay was a Principal at X, Google’s moonshot factory, leading diligence, capital allocation, and strategic finance partnership across cutting-edge technology investments. Prior to Google, Vinay has worked on mergers and acquisitions spanning billions in enterprise value across roles managing strategy / M&A at Gap Inc, private equity investing at Riverside, and investment banking at Evercore. Vinay has a M.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Economics (Finance and Operations concentrations) from Penn’s Wharton School of Business.

Fun Fact:

Outside of work, Vinay enjoys playing tennis, learning new guitar songs, and meditating.

Greg Kazarian

Greg’s unique ability to work collaboratively with the founders and leadership teams at our portfolio companies in support of the growth and scaling of their business is a key element of the CPF strategic advantage.

He builds trust-based relationships with these leaders, which allows him to play a key role in advising, supporting and guiding leadership teams at our portfolio companies in strategic acquisitions, recruitment and retention of key talent, structuring valued based care arrangements and managing the legal and regulatory landscape in which our healthcare service companies operate.

Previously, as part of R1 RCM founding management team and as one of its four Executive Officers, Greg took the company from start-up to a value of $1.2B at IPO in just six years. He held several leadership roles while there, including Chief People Officer, Senior Vice President of Operations and General Counsel. He also served as Head of the company’s Physician Advisory Service Business, which grew under his leadership by 650% in less than two years. Prior to joining R1 RCM, Greg represented mid-size growth companies as a Partner at Pedersen and Houpt in Chicago. He holds a B.S. and a J.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Biography

Dr. Michael Le joins WellBe Senior Medical as President, bringing a career-long legacy of redefining value-based care for the nation’s most complex, high-needs populations. A visionary clinical architect, Dr. Le is charged with scaling WellBe’s care model to establish a new national gold standard for polychronic and mobility-limited seniors.

A Legacy of Clinical Innovation
Prior to WellBe, Dr. Le served as Chief Medical Officer of WelbeHealth, the country’s fastest-growing PACE organization. Under his clinical leadership, the organization achieved a remarkable 50% reduction in hospital admissions while simultaneously driving peak outcomes across quality, finance, and patient satisfaction.

His impact on the “Hospital-at-Home” movement is perhaps best defined by his role as Co-Founder and CMO of Landmark Health. Dr. Le built Landmark into the nation’s largest risk-bearing medical group, growing the entity to 2,500 employees and 250,000 full-risk lives before its landmark $3.5B acquisition by Optum in 2021. Following the integration, he served as CMO of Optum Home & Community Care, where he unified six distinct entities into a massive, 16,000-employee platform managing over one million high-risk patients across 30 states.

Founding Expertise
Dr. Le’s deep expertise in high-acuity care was forged through executive roles at Fidelis SeniorCare and CareMore, where he designed intensive clinic-based models and oversaw complex programs ranging from palliative care to “Social SWAT” teams. He began his career as a Regional Lead Hospitalist for HealthCare Partners, focusing on inpatient outcomes in Southern California.

Education & Personal
Dr. Le earned his Medical Degree from UCLA and completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He also holds a leadership fellowship from UCSF’s Institute for Physician Leadership. Based in Irvine, California, Dr. Le is a devoted husband and father of two daughters.

Matt joined CPF in 2022. He has nearly 25 years of healthcare advisory and investment experience.
Prior to joining CPF, he was at J.P. Morgan in their Healthcare Investment Banking group for over 20 years. He served as a Managing Director advising senior healthcare executives on strategic initiatives, M&A, and capital markets in the healthcare services sector.

Matt earned his bachelor’s degree from the Boston College Carroll School Management in Finance and Information Systems.

Expertise

• Deal Sourcing
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Capital Raising
• Management
• Growth & Operational Efficiency
• Healthcare Services

James “Jim” Reed is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lifetime Healthcare Companies, which include Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS), Univera Healthcare, Lifetime Benefit Solutions (benefits consulting firm and third-party administration) and MedAmerica (national long-term care insurance company).

Jim joined Excellus BCBS in January 1996, providing him an opportunity to become educated in virtually all areas of the organization. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, and as Regional President in the Central New York region. As President and CEO, Jim assumes responsibility for the entire operations, including satisfying the mission of the company and maintaining the corporate culture. Jim also serves on multiple committees and boards in the regions, including CenterState CEO, ROCH2025, Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, and BlueCross BlueShield Association.

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in business administration from Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

With the vision and focus that has made her an investment leader, Mary engages her extensive networks and investment acumen to strategically identify founders that are poised to transform patient care services and delivery.
She founded R1 RCM in 2003 and led the company’s growth for a decade as it evolved from an idea into a billion-dollar enterprise. She led with a team of seasoned industry professionals focused on revolutionizing patient access and revenue cycle processes for healthcare providers. The company grew to become a top provider of comprehensive end-to-end healthcare revenue cycle management services and population health management services infrastructure.

Between 2003 and 2010, Mary was the company’s Chief Executive Officer and served as Board Chair. She led the company’s IPO in 2010, earning it a $1.2 billion market capitalization.

Mary is an expert at building diverse and talented teams. Prior to founding R1 RCM, she was a Group Chief Executive at Accenture, heading up the $2.3 billion global operating group that was part of the $64 billion market cap global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. 

Mary also helped lead the team responsible for successfully taking Accenture public in 2001, one of that year’s largest offerings on the New York Stock Exchange. She holds a BBA from Loyola University Chicago and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Founder, entrepreneur, payor, investor, and advisor—Larry applies more than 30 years of experience in every aspect of the healthcare and managed care industries to his work at CPF. His track record of success reflects his commitment to helping healthcare companies and those that serve them achieve superior levels of performance while leveraging new and innovative strategies, technologies, and business models.  

Guided by a passion to provide more democratized healthcare that delivers both improved outcomes and affordability, Larry has been an influential force behind a number of companies’ leading advances in digital health and managed care. He was a key driver in building the successful consulting practices at both Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) and Accenture. 

Larry co-founded the Employer Health Innovation Roundtable, a coalition focused on accelerating and adopting innovations that improve employee health, wellness, and productivity. Their scope has expanded to now include cohorts of leading health plans and health systems. He also devotes significant time, energy, and personal resources to encourage and support innovation across multiple academic institutions, industry collaborations, and one-on-one mentoring. He holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California-Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

Matt Mainelli joined Chicago Pacific Founders as a Partner in June 2022. Prior Matt served as a Managing Director in Healthcare Services Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan for over 20 years.

Matt graduated from Boston College with a B.S. in Finance.

Brian assesses where the highest value opportunities are within and across CPF’s portfolio companies, and applies analytics and AI to drive the most impact. He uses data, analytics and AI to source new strategies and companies in the healthcare sector while consistently elevating CPF as a recognized thought leader in healthcare data and technology. 

Before joining CPF, Brian co-led the global Analytics Transformation and the Knowledge Development agenda for McKinsey & Company Analytics. At McKinsey he focused on enhancing the firm’s capacity to call upon cutting-edge approaches to Artificial Intelligence in support of decision-making in the C-suite and at every level of the business. As an advisor to senior executives, Brian helped define a compelling vision for digital and analytics, enabled transformations based on that vision, and led the resulting change journey across industry sectors. Prior to McKinsey, Brian worked for more than two decades at Accenture. Among his top accomplishments were the launch of Accenture Analytics and serving as the Head of Financial Services Analytics and the Head of Analytics Strategy and Transformation. 

He holds two patents for innovative applications in the areas of analytics and value management and continues to write and publish extensively. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from University College Cork-National University of Ireland.

Griffin Rigg joined Chicago Pacific Founders as a Senior Associate in August 2023. Prior to his current role, Griffin served as a Private Equity Associate at Longshore Capital Partners and Investment Banking Analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Griffin pursued a dual major in Finance and Economics and graduated with honors from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.

Madhav Rajan is Dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. His primary area of research interest is the economics-based analysis of management accounting issues, especially as they relate to the choice of internal control and performance systems in firms. He has carried out analytical, empirical, and field-based research on the role of information in incentive contracting, the value of nonfinancial and subjective performance measures, and the structural properties and usefulness of common financial ratios.

Before joining Booth, Rajan spent 16 years on the faculty of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where he was the Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, with a courtesy appointment in the Law School. He served as senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2010-2016, overseeing the school’s MBA program. From 2002-2010, he was area coordinator for the accounting faculty group. Previously, he served on the faculty at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, from 1990-2001.

While at Stanford, Rajan received the Robert T. Davis Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service (2017), and the Notable Contribution to Management Accounting Literature Award (2004). He also was the recipient of the David W. Hauck Award for Outstanding Teaching at Wharton (2000) and the Alexander Henderson Award for Excellence in Economic Theory (1990).

Rajan has served as editor of The Accounting Review, as well as Associate Editor for both the Accounting and Operations areas for Management Science. He has twice been a plenary speaker at the AAA Management Accounting Conference. He is coauthor of Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, whose 16th edition was published by Pearson Prentice Hall in January 2017. He is also coauthor of Managerial Accounting, whose first edition was published by Pearson in January 2013. He is a Director of Cavium, Inc. and iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of the iShares Trust.

Rajan received his Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Madras, India, and an MS in Accounting, an MS in Industrial Administration, and a PhD in Accounting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Bob Badal is a veteran of the healthcare industry, with a proven track record of executive success across health plans, provider organizations, and consulting service lanes. In 2018, Bob joined forces with New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a global venture capital firm with over $24B in invested capital across 500+ organizations, to cofound Strive Health. As co-founder, Bob is responsible for identifying and working with Strive’s health system, provider, and medical group organizations to design and establish the partnerships that drive value-based care in kidney centers of excellence nationwide. Strive’s mission is to disrupt the renal care industry status quo…and to dramatically improve clinical outcomes for chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease patients, healthcare providers, and insurers.

Building upon Bob’s desire to identify and deploy disruptive solutions to improve patient care, he co-founded in 2017 a digital health care company, Treatment Technologies & Insights (TTI). TTI Partners with payors, pharma organizations and providers, to improve chronic disease Outcomes, and reduce the total cost of care. TTI achieves these goals through the deployment of its leading patient-facing engagement mobile application, WaveHealth, and robust risk management care portal, which, when combined, drive enhanced real-time clinical intervention Opportunities.

Bob currently serves as a Board Member for multiple organizations including i) WellBe Senior Medical, a leading senior care company specializing in comprehensive medical care delivered in The home; ii) Lightfully Behavioral Health, a mental health provider organization providing Residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive and virtual outpatient programs; iii) Prism Vision Holdings, a leading administrative service organization (ASO) for eye care professionals across 67 locations and 122 providers; and iv) Commons Clinic, a Los Angeles-based specialty health System with center of excellence programs for spine, orthopedics, sports medicine and pain Management. Additionally, Mr. Badal serves as Principal of Robert Badal & Associates, a Healthcare strategic consulting organization that provides managed care, operations and Business development strategy support for numerous national provider-based organizations.

Bob earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and law from Trinity University in San Antonio Texas. Following his undergraduate degree, Bob worked in the healthcare field for over 10 Years, in health plan network development and hospital administration roles, before earning his MBA from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Alex is an Executive Director, Partner and founding member of CVS Health Ventures. Alex manages a $800M portfolio including both direct and LP investments. He leads capital deployment planning and strategy across multiple investment vehicles, as well as investment operations. Additionally, Alex led growth equity investments in Carbon Health and Array Behavioral Care, where he currently serves as a board observer.

Alex has 13 years of experience in the healthcare industry across multiple segments as an active investor and strategist. Prior to joining CVS Health, Alex was a healthcare focused management consultant for over 10 years, most recently in Deloitte Consulting’s Healthcare M&A practice. His industry experience spanned the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem, serving companies in the Health Plan, Pharmacy, Medical Device and Care Delivery segments. 

Alex earned his MBA from Cornell University and his B.S. in Economics and Mathematics from Syracuse University. He currently lives in New York City.

Carter Prince is a Lead Director at CVS Health Ventures working across investments both in CVSH Ventures’ early-stage venture and growth equity investment strategies. Prior to joining CVSHV, Carter led Growth for Syntegra, one of the first companies to use Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI in healthcare, where he led Syntegra’s seed financing and initial launch into the market. Prior to Syntegra, Carter spent his career across both health technology companies and Venture with previous roles at Aetion, Flare Capital, SymphonyAI, and Epic Systems, with a focus on data and analytics across these roles.

Late in 2006, excited to solve its challenges and move healthcare forward by sharing best-in-class innovations with the industry’s leadership, record-setting sales executive Richard Lungen founded Leverage Health. Today, with many longtime colleagues on his team, Richard continues to act as an industry connecter and leader, and as an advisor to the most respected companies in healthcare.

Before founding Leverage Health, Richard oversaw sales and business development in tenured positions at several outstanding enterprises, including HealthPlan Services, where, as senior vice president of business development, he led the company to achieve new levels of success. Prior to HealthPlan Services, Richard cemented his position as an exceptional driver of sales in organizations like MedAvant Healthcare Solutions, PlanVista Solutions, and National Preferred Provider Network (NPPN).

Richard continues the work he founded Leverage Health to do, directing the world-class team through healthcare’s busiest intersections while driving aspiring innovators to solve industry challenges. When colleagues—whether they represent a PPO, a health plan, a pharmacy, or a self-insured provider—look for solutions, they turn to Richard and Leverage Health to connect them to the up-and-coming companies that can take them forward. By founding the industry’s only Venture Catalyst, Richard has created a framework for solving some of healthcare’s most pressing problems.

Before joining Element3 Health as a board member and CEO, Doug was the co-founder and CEO of Prospero Health, a home-based medical care provider company he launched and grew from three Northeastern states with 1,700 patients to 29 states and over 30,000 patients in just three years’ time.

A former attorney, Doug began his career at Wiggin & Nourie, P.A., where he specialized in commercial litigation and health care compliance and regulation. He transitioned to healthcare, serving a successful 16-year tenure as a C-suite executive with Anthem. He also served as acting CEO of Privia Health.

Doug is motivated by the philosophy that great quality care should be organized around the needs of patients and their families, not the customs and preferences of the system itself. It is an organizing principle forged through his experience with his father Vin’s affliction with cancer and his own experience as a 25-year Hodgkin’s disease survivor.

Doug received his B.A. from Boston College, his JD from Suffolk University Law School, and his M.S. from The Dartmouth Institute at Dartmouth College.

Biography

Katrina Booth, MD, is a board-certified geriatrician and clinical executive dedicated to scaling high-quality, patient-centered care for older adults. Most recently, as Chief Quality Officer for Optum at Home, she spearheaded national quality and clinical innovation for Medicare Advantage members, overseeing a diverse range of services from behavioral health to in-home urgent care.

A former faculty member at UAB, Dr. Booth has held pivotal leadership roles at Landmark Health, where she guided the organization through major integrations as Chief Clinical Officer. Known for her blend of operational rigor and collaborative spirit, she is a fierce advocate for interdisciplinary, value-based models that meet patients exactly where they are: at home.

Education

UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine – MD