Team

Our Team

Art Wallace, M.D. Ph.D.

Vinona Bhatia, MD, MPH

Marc J. Fine

Kai Kuck

John Almon

Alfred Wallace

Anusha Badathala, M.D.

Derek Tan, MD

Tim Heintz

Dr. Barry Unger

Professor Maury Peiperl

About Us

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Arthur Wallace, M.D. PhD.

Arthur Wallace, M.D., Ph.D. is the founder and chief science officer of Atapir. He is also a professor of anesthesiology and perioperative care at the University of California, San Francisco and chief of the anesthesiology service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco. His clinical practice includes cardiac and non-cardiac anesthesiology.

Vinona Bhatia, MD, MPH

Vinona Bhatia, MD, MPH, is a seasoned investor and healthtech advisor based in San Francisco. With a decade of experience as a practicing Hematologist/Oncologist at UCSF and Kaiser Permanente, she transitioned to industry to broaden her impact. At Genentech in South San Francisco and later Roche in Basel, Vinona spearheaded initiatives to enhance cancer care and diagnostics access in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, she shifted to the digital healthcare space as Chief Medical Officer at the Paris-based remote patient monitoring startup, Tilak Healthcare. Since 2020, she has excelled as a Medical Director at biotech companies, including Silverback Therapeutics and 23andMe, while also advising digital health innovators like Biofourmis, Prosoma, and Sidekick Health. Vinona has joined Atapir leading fundraising and operational initiatives.

Marc J. Fine

Marc J. Fine is a serial entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience bringing medical devices to market. He has played a major role in leading teams through several breakthrough initiatives, including: Interson’s SeeMore USB ultrasound probe, Diasonics (first digital ultrasound imaging system), Teknar (first bi-plane prostate imaging system), SRI international (da Vinci Robotic Surgery System), Siemens (first 3D C-Arm), and Biosound/Esaote TEE system. His experience working with medical device companies has included the full life cycle of product development, from conception to prototype; from clinical testing, regulatory clearance, product launch, and successful exit through acquisition. All the work I’ve done for the past 30 years, as a nurse, hospital/clinical administrator, product developer or marketing manager has revolved around improving patient health and safety. I recall coming into work on morning at UC hospital and learning one of my patients had died during the night. A Code Blue was called, but they were unable to resuscitate him. The “found dead in bed” syndrome is real, and I believe Atapir can do something about this. An additional benefit is that our AVD-M device will be an incredible boon to overworked nursing staff, by providing vital sign information to them in real time.

Kai Kuck, Ph.D.

Dr. Kuck is Director of Bioengineering and Professor of Anesthesiology, University of Utah, and is a former head of research at Dräger and past-president of the Society for Technology in Anesthesia. He has been involved since 1991 with technology innovation in anesthesia and critical care.

John Almon

John Almon is a leader in digital transformation and global strategy, specializing in Internet, Cloud, High Bandwidth/Low Latency, and GPU systems. Expert in deep learning, neural networks, algorithmic optimization, and financial trading arbitrage. Broad experience includes Microservices Architecture, Node.js, WebGL, RabbitMQ, VxWorks, embedded systems, and Genetic Algorithms. Proficient in AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and Pub/Sub IoT systems. Developed real-time 3D IoT visualizations with C#/OpenGL. Built crypto AI trading systems; mined Bitcoin in 2009. Architected HPC clusters with CUDA and Infiniband. Holds US Patent 9160606. Led database integrations with Perl, PL/SQL, and Microstrategy BI. Skilled in scientific programming and mobile app development. Languages and platforms include Python, C++, Java, Swift, OpenCL, Angular, and Linux/Unix systems. John has joined Atapir to lead technology efforts and help with fundraising.

Dr. Barry Unger

Professor Unger’s academic and business focus is on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, and strategies and models for business growth. As a founder of several successful businesses, teacher (at Harvard, MIT, and Boston University), researcher, and U.S. Presidential Executive appointee (Senior Advisor on Science and Technology), his career has concentrated on technology-based business creation and venture capital, the management of innovation and new product development, and national government policies and programs that impact this. His educational background includes two interdisciplinary Bachelor degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (where he was a National Merit Scholar and Bodman Fellow), one in Electrical Engineering and Humanities, and another Bachelor’s from its Sloan School of Management In Behavioral Science and The Management Of R&D; and a C.A.S. and Doctorate from Harvard University (where he was an HEW Fellow) in Administration and Planning focusing on organizational behavior, new business creation, and technology management.

Professor Maury Peiperl

Dr. Peiperl is a Senior Fellow and Professor, George Mason University. He recently completed 5 years as Dean of Business at George Mason. He is an authority on change, talent, and leadership, particularly across markets and borders. His books include the market-leading Managing Change (McGraw-Hill), as well as The Handbook of Career Studies (Sage). His work has appeared in Harvard Business Review and multiple other outlets. He has advised Adecco, Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, EY, GlaxoSmithKline, IATA, Otis, and Santander, among many others, and is a member of multiple boards. Maury holds a BS in Engineering from Princeton and an MBA and PhD from Harvard. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.