Title: Product Lead
Company: Ramona Optics
Education: Master of Business Administration & Master of Public Health – Columbia University; BS in Business Administration – UNC Chapel Hill
Vertical: Digital Health, Technology & Health Innovation
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Prior Experience: Finance: Investment Banking (Consumer & Retail); Strategy, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations (Financial Services/Insurance); Operations and Quality Improvement (Healthcare – Health System Administration)
Career Switcher: Yes (switched to healthcare post MBA and MPH)
Ask me about: Switching careers into healthcare, working at large academic medical centers, working in health tech startups
Fun fact: I spent a semester abroad in Singapore during my undergrad at KFBS (and I miss the food daily)!
Biography: Natalie graduated with a BSBA from Kenan-Flagler in 2011 and started her career on Wall Street, first in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley and then in Strategy, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations at ING U.S. (now Voya Financial). In these roles she worked alongside senior management to develop and execute financial and strategic initiatives including two initial public offerings, a continuous improvement transformation, a divestiture, and a full rebranding.
Eager to pursue her longstanding interest in healthcare, she earned an MBA and MPH from Columbia University and went on to deliver business development and operational improvement plans at large academic medical centers including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, UCLA Health, and Emory Healthcare.
Most recently, she has held leadership roles in early-stage healthcare technology companies. She scaled and led client operations at Radix Health, a patient access software company, as the first non-founder executive and served as VP of Corporate Development at Lumagenics, where she focused on developing the commercial strategy for an ultraviolet surface disinfection tool for healthcare facilities. After a spinoff and subsequent acquisition of that company, she continues to consult for healthcare technology founders and investors. She enjoys living in Durham, NC with her husband and two young sons and staying active in the local community.