HealthTech Works Names Inaugural Director and Advisory Board; Faculty Applications Open This Fall
Yale Ventures named Kenzie Mucci inaugural Director of HealthTech Works, the university’s accelerator fund for faculty-led health technology ventures and announced the program’s first Advisory Board. Applications for the inaugural cohort open this fall. The program, one of Yale Ventures’ five accelerator funds, offers commercialization support, funding, and access to a network of investors, clinicians, operators, and entrepreneurs.
HealthTech Works reflects Yale University's deepening commitment to expanding Yale’s health technology innovation ecosystem, translating breakthrough faculty research into market-ready solutions that enhance healthcare delivery, patient outcomes, and health system performance.
“We've built five accelerators at Yale Ventures to ensure faculty founders receive expert, domain-specific support and mentorship. We are grateful to the donors who have made HealthTech Works possible, and to the alumni and friends who are sharing their time and expertise to serve on our advisory board and help guide this program toward the greatest possible impact for patients and the healthcare system,” said Yale Ventures Managing Director Josh Geballe.
HealthTech Works is made possible by a generous gift from the Morse Family Foundation, representing two generations of Yale alumni from the Yale College classes of 1977, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2017, and Yale School of Medicine Class of 2019. Additional support is provided by Raj and Indra Nooyi ’80 MBA, Faiz Kayyem ’85, Tom Lee '90, and Richard Gliklich ’83.
Why HealthTech Works
Commercializing health technologies requires more than scientific discovery. Success depends on validating clinical need, navigating reimbursement and regulatory pathways, aligning with healthcare workflows, and building sustainable business models supported by strategic alliances. HealthTech Works offers faculty a structured venture development program tailored to address these complexities, combining capital with guidance from operators and investors who have built health technology companies.
Leadership
Mucci led digital health investments, portfolio management, and strategic partnerships at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Digital Ventures. She previously managed the Beiwe digital health platform at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and began her career in health technology at Accenture.
“HealthTech Works bridges one of the most critical gaps in healthcare innovation: the translation of promising research into real-world solutions. By providing strategic funding, mentorship, and commercialization support, we aim to empower Yale founders to develop technologies that improve patient care and contribute to a more connected, accessible healthcare ecosystem,” said Mucci.
Mucci will lead investment strategy, support faculty founders, guide program design, and cultivate industry collaborations as she works closely with Yale innovators to accelerate ventures from lab to marketplace.
HealthTech Works Advisory Board
HealthTech Works is supported by an inaugural Advisory Board drawn from venture capital, healthcare delivery, medical technology, corporate innovation, and entrepreneurship. The Advisory Board will offer strategic guidance, mentor faculty entrepreneurs, and help forge connections between ventures and key partners across the health technology landscape.
The inaugural members include:
- Vig Chandramouli, Partner, Oak HC/FT
- Trip Hofer ’02 MBA, CEO, Redox and Partner, 406 Ventures
- Tom Lee ’90, CEO, Galileo
- Hilary Marston ’00, Principal, Canal Row Advisors
- Elliot Morse ’13, ’19 MD, Physician, NYU Langone Health
- Margaret Morse ’17, Vice President, Insight Partners
- Alexi Nazem ’04, ’12 MD, Partner, AlleyCorp
- Kevin Rocco ’13 MS, Partner, Neovate Capital Partners
- Vicki Seyfert-Margolis, Founder and CEO, Respond Health
- Daniel Stein ’03, President and Founder, Embold Health
- Matt Storeygard ’06 MBA, Senior Managing Director, Connecticut Innovations
- Mike Stow ’07 MBA, Vice President of Strategy, Medtronic
- Suzie Yoon, Partner, Takeda Digital Ventures
Faculty Advisors
HealthTech Works is also guided by a group of Yale faculty advisors whose clinical, scientific, and commercial expertise informs the program. Representing the university's schools of medicine, engineering, and public health, they advise on the fund's strategy and priorities.
The faculty advisors include:
- Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH, FACEP, Dean of Yale School of Public Health and C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Public Health and Professor of Emergency Medicine
- W. Mark Saltzman, PhD, Sterling Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and of Chemical Engineering
- Christopher Whitlow, MD, PhD, MHA, Chair of the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging
Applications Open Fall 2026
Faculty innovators developing health technologies can apply this fall. Selected ventures will receive funding awards and join a program built around clinical validation, regulatory strategy, and go-to-market.
About HealthTech Works
HealthTech Works is Yale Ventures' accelerator supporting faculty-founded health technology ventures. Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across the Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Management, Yale School of Nursing, Yale School of Public Health, and Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, the program advances innovations spanning digital health, medical devices, diagnostics, AI applications for drug discovery and clinical care, and other emerging technologies. It combines strategic capital with expert commercialization support to accelerate the translation of Yale innovations into scalable companies transforming healthcare.
About Yale Ventures
Yale Ventures is Yale University’s center for innovation and entrepreneurship. It supports faculty, students, and alumni in transforming discoveries into products, companies, and partnerships that create societal impact. Through venture creation, licensing, translational funding, industry partnerships, and accelerator programs, Yale Ventures drives breakthrough ideas from laboratory to market.