The MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks and Startup Exhibit listed below are part of the full agenda for 2026 MIT Health Science Technology Forum: Expanding the Precision of Modern Therapeutics.
Breakthroughs in biology, engineering, and computation continue to redefine what is possible in human health. Building on the momentum of prior MIT ILP Health Science Forums, which highlighted advances in drug discovery, AI-enabled biomolecular modeling, next-generation diagnostics, and precision biomanufacturing, the 2026 MIT Health Science Technology Forum will spotlight emerging research in diagnosis, brain science, microbial therapeutics, and targeted drug delivery.
This year’s program brings together leading MIT faculty working at the forefront of early detection, brain circuitry and neurodegeneration, the microbiome’s role in health and disease, and new therapeutic approaches that reach previously inaccessible tissues. Complementing the faculty program, MIT-connected startups will deliver rapid-fire presentations showcasing commercialization-ready innovations across diagnostics, delivery systems, computational biology, and health-enabling technologies.
Director, MIT Startup Exchange
Catarina Madeira joined the Office of Corporate Relations as Program Director of Startup Exchange, in May 2021. She was promoted to Director of Startup Exchange in December 2022.
Catarina has been working with the Cambridge/Boston startup ecosystem for over 10 years and joined Corporate Relations with a solid network in the innovation and entrepreneurial community. Prior to MIT, she was part of the team that designed and launched the startup accelerator IUL MIT Portugal later rebranded to Building Global Innovators. She was based in Lisbon and worked in direct relation with the Cambridge team. She held positions including Operations Coordinator, Program Manager, and Business Developer. The accelerator soon achieved steady growth in large part due to the partnerships that Catarina led with regional and global startup ecosystems. After that, she worked at NECEC, leading a program that connects cleantech startups and industry. In this role, she developed and built a pipeline of startups and forged strong relationships with both domestic and European companies. She has also held positions in Portugal and France including at Saboaria e Perfumaria Confiança and L’Oréal as Technical Director and Pharmacist.
Catarina earned her Bachelor in Chemistry at the University of Porto and her Bachelor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. She went on to earn her Master of Engineering for Health and Medicines at University Lyon 1 and EM Lyon in France.
Co-Founder & CEO, Safi Biotherapeutics
Doug McConnell is co-founder and CEO of Safi Biotherapeutics, a pre-clinical stage cell therapy company that is reimaging the global blood supply by developing allogeneic stem-cell-derived manufactured human red blood cells at a scale and economics viablefor use in chronic, anemia-related transfusions and acute transfusions for blood loss due to surgeries or trauma. Prior to Safi, Doug held strategic and operational leadership roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Radius Health that spanned the areas of research, pre-clinical and clinical development, regulatory, quality assurance, integrated program management, and commercial launch. Doug obtained his master’s in business administration from MIT Sloan, and his bachelor’s in business and computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Founder & CTO, VeraMorph
Dr. Doug Godfrin is the founder and CTO of VeraMorph, a specialty pharmaceutical company with a novel oral drug delivery platform, which he invented. Doug is an expert in pharmaceutical formulation and drug delivery technology development and characterization, with a particular focus on hydrogels and complex fluids. He has authored 16 peer-reviewed journal articles and 5 patents. Doug has led the technical development and funding of VeraMorph for the past 8 years. He obtained his PhD under advisement from Norm Wagnerand Yun Liu at the University of Delaware, during which he was a guest researcher at the NIST Center for Neutron Research, and subsequently was an MIT postdoctoral fellow in the Doyle Lab. Outside of science and entrepreneurship, Doug is an avid hiker (a member of the White Mountain 4,000 footer club) and an amateur brewer.
Co-Founder and CEO, PathMaker Neurosystems
Nader Yaghoubi, M.D., Ph.D. is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PathMaker Neurosystems, bringing over 25 years of experience in the creation, operations and financing of life science companies. At PathMaker, he has led the development of a breakthrough, non-invasive approach to treating ALS using neurotechnology, and has led the company through five clinical trials, two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations, and multiple international prizes, awards and grants. Dr. Yaghoubi previously founded and served as CEO of Symbiotix Biotherapies, a pioneering microbiome company emerging from Harvard Medical School. Earlier, he was the first employee at BIND Biosciences (Nasdaq:BIND) and Selecta Biosciences (Nasdaq:SELB), two of the first targeted nanoparticle companies emerging from MIT. Previously, he was an investor at Zero Stage Capital, and completed an internship at Advent International. He was a Health Care Entrepreneurship Fellow at Boston University, and earlier, served as a surgery resident at Lenox Hill Hospital.
Dr. Yaghoubi received an M.D. and Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from the combined degree program at Boston University School of Medicine, and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona. His doctorate work on the development of high-throughput automated electrophysiological systems resulted in five issued patents, received one of the University's highest awards for dissertational research, and was the basis of a venture-backed neuroscience company. Dr. Yaghoubi is actively engaged in the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a mentor and advisor through numerous organizations and business plan competitions.
Co-Founder & CEO, LumenAstra, Inc.
After receiving BSEE from MIT and formative years with Hewlett Packard, Jim Pollock has been involved in eight early stage or startup technology companies in Dallas, Silicon Valley and Boulder with 4 exits. He has developed and sold products in a range of industries including scientific instrumentation, online learning and AgTech before LumenAstra’s novel non-invasive brain temperature sensor with applications in clinical, military and consumer thermometry.
Founder & CEO, Alphabiome AI
Dr. Altshuler is an MIT researcher and an experienced entrepreneur, renowned for his expertise in designing and implementing scalable AI systems. Dr. Altshuler is the author of three books on the theory of Artificial Intelligence, as well as over 80 scientific papers, and 18 patents in this field. His novel work has gained global recognition, including the prestigious title of Technological Pioneer awarded by the World Economic Forum.
Disclaimer: MIT Startup Exchange can make introductions that ideally provide open ended discussions in order to share mutual interests and potentially create common ground that incite the parties to collaborate. MIT Startup Exchange introductions may eventually lead to mutual partnerships, but that is not in any way guaranteed by MIT, MIT Corporate Relations, MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) or MIT Startup Exchange, which takes no responsibility for these outcomes and no formal part in such discussions following our introduction. MIT Startup Exchange and its activities and events are not for purposes of soliciting investment or offering securities.