Klasko Advisory Partners
Unlike traditional consultants, who seek to improve existing models of patient care and higher education, Klasko Advisory Partners helps your leadership team break free of siloed, place-based, twentieth-century thinking by unleashing creativity and innovation to meet change.
Recognized experts help your team create an optimistic future through:
- Organizational design to meet consumer/patient/student trends
- Identifying opportunities to diversify revenue within your organization
- Creating an innovation strategy and organizational structure
- Manager/employee leadership training designed to improve your culture
- Launching a start-up, spin-in, spin-out strategy
- Fundraising campaign design and implementation grounded in compelling ideas for change
- Proven M&A strategies for dynamically changing markets, using both
- capital and governance as currency
- Create community engagement programs to address issues of equity and health disparities
- Using simulation training and AI in educational settings
- Establish meaningful international educational linkages
- Develop international patient recruitment programs for hospitals
Potential partners include:
- Start up innovators targeting healthcare or higher education
- Hospitals and health systems
- Colleges and Universities
- Medical, Nursing and Health Professions schools
- Organizations confronted with unprecedented change and competition
Expert Advisors
Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, DSc honoris causa
Chief Visionary, Klasko Advisory Partners
Executive in Residence,
General Catalyst
Board Chair, DocGo
Ambassador and Chief Global Innovation Officer, Sheba Medical Center
Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, DSc honoris causa
Dr. Stephen Klasko is a pre-eminent innovator and advocate, pursuing his passion to bridge traditional academic medicine with the emerging world of generative AI, digital medicine and entrepreneurship. His focus on building radical collaboration has led to numerous new partnerships. In 2018, he was recognized by Modern Healthcare, tying for #2 in its list of the most influential individuals in healthcare. In 2024, he was named one of
healthcare’s “Great Leaders” by Becker’s Hospital Review.
His career has been driven by his vision for a revolution in healthcare and higher education, as dean of two medical colleges, as a health system CEO, and as a university president. As an author, he has used creativity through music, science fiction, and storytelling to develop what he sees as “heretical optimism” in creating institutions that are friendly, equitable, and develop healthcare and education at any address.
He has developed alternative programs for medical school admissions and mentorship, for lifelong education, for virtual health and for creativity. As chair of Apple’s iTunes Advisory Board for Health, he led the early wave of online university content.
Current activities:
Dr. Klasko is an Executive in Residence at General Catalyst, the world’s largest venture capital investor in generative AI and its impact on healthcare workforce transformation and clinical trial expansion. He is Chair of the Board of DocGo, a leading provider of technology-enabled mobile health services. He serves as the lead independent director of Teleflex, involved in expanding its global footprint. He serves as ambassador and chief global innovation officer for Sheba Medical Center. He is creating an “Alliance” of fifteen large health systems across the United States willing to lead in digital transformation through Abundant Venture Partners. He has been chosen as the chair of the CEO council for the American Cancer Society and chosen by the AAAS to help lead a diverse council of leaders on the opportunities and unintended consequences of AI and mental health. Dr. Klasko was appointed by President Biden (after senate confirmation) to the National Board of Education Sciences. He was appointed co-chair for Health Evolution’s “obstacles to healthcare digital transformation.” He is also the past board chair of Opera Philadelphia and a trustee of Rosalind Franklin University and Chicago Medical School.
On May 15, 2024, he was given an honorary doctorate from Fairleigh-Dickinson University based on his successes in reducing healthcare and educational disparities.
Career summary:
Dr. Klasko began his career as a busy women’s health physician, leading innovation in such areas as finding alternatives to hysterectomy. Since then, his clinical, healthcare leadership, executive, entrepreneurial and academic career have been spent searching for, and trying to create, best practices globally in the economic, equity, social and clinical arenas. By 2019, he was a Distinguished Fellow of the World Economic Forum, leading
projects on “healthcare at any address,” and the ethics of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
As President of Thomas Jefferson University, he directed a merger between a two-century old health science university and a nationally ranked university for design and architecture. That merger was heralded by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the “few successful mergers between academic entities.” As CEO of Jefferson Health, he presided over the growth of the system from $1.5 billion to $9 billion including the acquisition of Health Partners Plan, making Jefferson the first integrated delivery and financial system in Philadelphia history and the largest health system in Philadelphia. This included a first-of-its-kind digital “health at any address” partnership between Jefferson and leading health venture capital firms such as General Catalyst, and 16z and
Oak HC. Through his development of a unique partnership with Gemelli Health System and Cattolica University in Italy, Jefferson became one of the few American universities able to participate in Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding.
His most recent book, Feelin’ Alright: How the Message in the Music Can Make Healthcare Healthier uses music and creativity to tackle the biggest issues in healthcare. His fifth book (with Hemant Taneja of General Catalyst) in 2021, UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance has become the manual for both founders and health system CEOs for merging the venture capital world with the traditional healthcare ecosystem.
In 2024, Becker’s Hospital Review named him one of the “Great Leaders in Healthcare.” He has been awarded by Fast Company as one of the “top 25 most creative people in business,” by Modern Healthcare as the “#2 most influential person in healthcare” and by Ernst and Young as the “entrepreneur of the year.”
He lives in Miami and New York with his wife Colleen Wyse, a commercial model and former fashion executive with senior positions in Vogue, W and Glamour.
John C. Ekarius
Managing Director, Klasko Advisory Partners
As Managing Director for Klasko Advisory Partners, John serves as strategic advisor to several healthcare and inusrtech start-ups. In addition, he provides consultation for healthcare and higher education marketing and communication as well as government affairs funding strategies.
During his tenure as EVP and Chief of Staff at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, John worked alongside Jefferson President and CEO Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, and was integral to the growth of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health from 2013 through 2022. Today Jefferson comprises 18 hospitals and approximately 7,400 Nurses, 6,600 Physicians, 4,400 faculty, 8,000 students, two major campuses, 63,000 alumni and Health Partners Plans, an award-winning health maintenance organization with 291,000 members in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.
As Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, John oversaw enterprise-wide public and government affairs, presidential priorities and board of trustee’s governance and operations.
Major projects included development of federal research funding strategies, the creation of the Jefferson Innovation Pillar, and the launch of Global Jefferson with major initiatives in Italy, India and the European Union.
As COO at USF Health and the Morsani College of Medicine, John helped lead a $500 million enterprise (with research awards in excess of $200 million) comprised of the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health, and the Schools of Physical Therapy and Biomedical Sciences, as well as a 425 physician practice group and the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulations (CAMLS).
John’s earlier roles included: Associate Dean for External Relations and Strategic Development at Drexel University’s College of Medicine; Vice President of Public and Government Affairs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and Associate Deputy State Treasurer for the State of New Jersey under Governor Christine Todd Whitman. He is a graduate of American University.
Rajesh Aggarwal MBBS, MA, PhD, FRCS, FACS
Dr. Aggarwal is a physician entrepreneur with an exceptional track record of success, in areas of education, innovation, patient safety and service quality, transforming clinical care delivery across complex academic and community health systems. He has extensive clinical, scientific and technological expertise with healthcare innovations, encompassing digital applications and health IT platforms, virtual and augmented reality solutions, medical devices and interventional robotics, and advanced analytics. In addition, Dr. Aggarwal has vast experience leading venture, strategic, research and commercial partnership deals with health systems.
As a surgeon, scientist and innovator, Dr. Aggarwal has a distributed and inclusive leadership style. He is driven by creativity and a collaborative vision across disciplines and structures, and is committed to significant shared and sustained impact.
In his role as Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at Panda Health, Dr. Aggarwal has lead the engagement of health systems and efforts to define and source digital health vendors in addition to building the operational team, executing partnership deals and raising $11M in funding.
Prior to joining Panda Health, Dr. Aggarwal served as Senior Vice President and then Executive Vice President of Strategic Ventures and Professor, Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University & Jefferson Health from 2017 to 2020; Director, Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning (SCSIL) and Associate Professor, Department of Surgery at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec from 2014 to 2017; Instructor, Department of Surgery at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine in Philadelphia from 2012 to 2014; Department of Surgey, Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, UK.
Aman Bhullar, MD, MBA
Aman Bhullar is a physician and entrepreneur who has successfully applied his real-life experience towards advising and investing in early-stage startups.
With a clinician’s perspective he has also provided tailored solutions for healthcare organizations addressing the challenges of today.
Dr. Bhullar completed his Internal Medicine training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Montefiore Medical Center and has a MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Aman is also a lead for the WEMBA38 Investment Club.
Michael Hoad, MA
Born in Guyana, raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Michael earned his master’s in journalism at Stanford University. He’s lead communications offices at universities and health systems, and became a specialist in values-based messaging for CEOs. He has taught social marketing in public health, news media training, and written about issues of race and equity. He is co-author of two books with Stephen Klasko.
Larry Merlis, MBA
Larry Merlis is a seasoned health care executive with over 40 plus years of hospital and health system leadership including 28 years as CEO. Over his career Mr. Merlis has had responsibility for leading organizations including an academic medical center, teaching hospitals, and community organizations in New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania in both urban and suburban settings.
From 2015-2018 Mr. Merlis served as the Executive Vice President at Thomas Jefferson University and COO for Jefferson Health where he led the clinical enterprise and operations. Jefferson is a $9 billion, 18 hospital, 40K employee integrated delivery and financing system based in Philadelphia. Also from 2015-2021 he was responsible for overseeing the strategic partnerships and M&A functions that resulted in the addition of 13 hospitals through 7 transactions from 2015-2021.
Mr. Merlis also led the strategic ventures and innovation function at Jefferson from 2018-2021 that focused on working with startups and innovative companies to create new products and solutions that would generate value for both Jefferson and its partners.
Prior to Jefferson Mr. Merlis was appointed CEO of Abington Health in 2010, an ~$800M, 2 hospital system, in Pennsylvania; CEO of GBMC in 1999, a ~$500M organization in Maryland; EVP of Meridian Health System, a 4 hospital system in New Jersey upon its formation in 1997 responsible for the hospitals and clinical operations; and was CEO of two other hospitals in NJ prior to Meridian.
M. Merlis has an MBA from The George Washington University and a Bachelor’s from Union College.
