The Gates of Health Alliance

Dr. Sotirios G. Stergiopoulos is a Physician Executive with leading expertise in the field of pharmaceutical biotechnology. He holds appointment of President and Chief Executive Officer of A2A Pharmaceuticals and maintains a seat on the Board of Directors. He has held the position as Founder and Chairman of the Board since 2016. Dr. Stergiopoulos is a co-founder and former Independent Director of the Board for Biomea Fusion (BMEA) as well Director on the Board of Ricovr Healthcare. Dr. Stergiopoulos is also a Mentor at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship "Archimedes" at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Dr. Stergiopoulos previous experience includes Chief Medical Officer and SVP and Head of Global Medical Affairs at Ipsen and leading roles in Oncology R&D in companies such as Bayer, Celgene and Novartis. He has held appointments as an Attending Physician and trained in institutions such as Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health. He earned a master's in biotechnology enterprise and entrepreneurship (MBEE) from The Johns Hopkins University and a Medical Degree from Poznan University of Medical Sciences (Poland). Dr. Stergiopoulos has been elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine as well as the Fellow Royal Society of Medicine (UK), Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) and Sigma Xi Research Honor Society. He is also a Member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Dr. Stergiopoulos has held the role of Chairman of Scholarships for the Hellenic Medical Society since 2016 as well as President and Chairman of Medical Scholarships for the Order of AHEPA, Delphi Chapter No. 25.

Dr. Stergiopoulos has been awarded by the American Cancer Society (ACS) for his "Longstanding Dedication and Commitment to Fighting Cancer."

Heather is an experienced Nurse Practitioner with a passion for patient care. She believes that high-quality, supportive care can truly change the course of a patient's experience, facilitating a smoother journey as they work towards their treatment goals. After obtaining her Master's degree from Molloy University and Nurse Practitioner Certification in 2005, Heather has worked the last 18 years for NYU Langone at Arena Oncology with Dr. Francis Arena, a thought leader, nationally recognized for his cutting edge research and tailored approach to superior patient care. Prior to this, she worked for 8 years at Long Island Jewish Medical Center as a Registered Nurse in both a critical care setting as well as an inpatient oncology and stem cell transplantation unit, training under Dr. Kanti Rai and his team. Heather holds an Advanced Oncology Certification which requires her to stay current in a constantly evolving specialty. She is an Adjunct Clinical Instructor at Adelphi University where she enjoys teaching the next generation of nurses. Professor Sulzbach leads clinical groups on medical-surgical, oncology- hematology, neurology and intensive care units at large medical centers such as NYU Winthrop, Northwell Manhasset and Mount Sinai South Nassau.

After receiving formal media training by The Zeno Group, Heather has led multiple nationwide AM radio tours to promote new websites and raise awareness for Metastatic Breast Cancer and Genetic Testing in Ovarian Cancer. She was nominated as Nurse Navigator//Speaker for Astra Zeneca in 2017 by pharmaceutical representatives in office territory. Heather currently speaks for Bristol Myers Squibbs' oncology division, promoting new indications and educating nurses and mid-level clinicians on safety of biologic therapy as well as Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy combinations.

An educator and an active learner, Heather loves integrative wellness, travel, and is a podcast enthusiast. She thoroughly enjoys coaching her daughter's soccer team and spends most of her free time at a lacrosse, soccer or regatta sideline with her husband and three children.

Heather Sulzbach, MSN, ANP-C, AOCNP

A licensed Pharmacist in New York State, Marc is a dynamic business professional with over 40 years of experience working in the pharmacy services industry. Entrepreneurial market builder with extensive experience in launching, building and growing four pharmaceutical services organizations. Proven ability to deliver successful results to transform organizational initiatives and enhance financial performance.

Mary Jimenez started her sales career in health care in 1991 at Caulk Dentsply as a District Sales representative calling on dentists, academics and distributors. Her passion for working in sales grew and received her first sales award "Rep of the Year" in 1993. Shortly after she joined Caremark where she had the opportunity to work in many areas of healthcare including Sales, Disease Management, Contracting and Managed Care. Although she was privileged to learn and work in a variety of roles her passion was drawn to Disease Management in Paediatric Oncology Transplant where they were one of the first teams in the country to take babies home post 7 days. As her interest continued to grow in Oncology in 1998 she joined the initial sales force at Genentech Bio Oncology where she held various leadership roles and managed the field resources and provided business analytics for the leadership team for half the country. She felt fortunate to have sold game changing products in multiple oncology disease states that have changed the way they treat cancer and has received several national awards along the way. Her experience at Genentech provided her the opportunity to grow and develop in many areas both inside and outside the company. In 2021 she joined Caris Life Sciences as VP, Strategic Account Management where she worked with c-suite cancer centres, hospital networks and group practice organizations on comprehensive molecular profiling, standardization of workflows and protocols. Mary recently served on a national panel for Women Who Conquer Cancer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology and was recognized as one of San Antonio 's Top 25 Technology Leaders in 2022.

She is the Past President of the Health Cell, UT Mays Cancer Center Advisory Board and ThriveWell board member. Her past board positions include Genentech Women's Professionals, Vice President, Healthcare Business Women's Association, Alamo City Cancer Council, American Cancer Society and The Montessori School of San Antonio.

She is happily married for 29 years to Charlie Jimenez and has three amazing kids John Carlo, Lorenzo and Isabella. Her hobbies include running with her running group, vacationing with her family and shopping wherever ...whenever.

Dr. Maria Theodoulou is the Program Director of the Breast Medicine Service at New York Oncology Hematology. She is recognized nationally and internationally for her breast cancer research and patient advocacy. Prior to joining New York Oncology Hematology, she was an attending physician in the department of medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Breast Medicine Service and a professor of medicine at the Joan and Sanford Weill Medical College of Cornell University, both in New York City. Her research has included HER2neu directed clinical research, conjugated antibody research, androgen receptor positive triple negative targeted clinical trials, feasibility and phase 3 trials in the elderly in the early breast cancer setting and novel molecules in advanced breast cancer.

She has mentored multiple residents and fellows and has lectured extensively in the United States and at International Symposiums in Thailand, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Chile, Austria, Greece, Germany and Cyprus . She has received multiple awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the country of Cyprus, the Hally Steiner Award from Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, lifetime achievement award from the Hellenic Medical Society in New York in 2016 and has been named by The Leading Physicians in 2019. In 2022 Dr. Theodoulou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor from the Republic of Cyprus. Dr. Theodoulou is presently developing a breast cancer program in Albany New York and the regional areas. She has initiated the breast cancer survivorship program as well as the educational lecture series for patients and medical staff. Dr. Theodoulou is the program director and moderator of the annual CME accredited Breast Cancer Symposium in Hudson, NY, hosting National and International thought leaders in the various breast cancer subspecialties.

Francis P. Arena, MD, FACP received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Fordham University and his Medical Degree from Cornell University Medical College. His internship and residency were carried out at New York Hospital/Memorial Hospital, after which Dr. Arena served as Chief Medical Resident and later as Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was also assistant to Chairman of Medicine for education at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and in Medical Oncology. Today Dr. Arena is Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cornell University Medical College. He is the Director of the NYU Langone Arena Oncology Center in Lake Success, NY. Because of his keen interest in cancer research, Dr. Arena helped establish and is the president of the SASS Foundation for Medical Research, which supports medical fellows at a number of hospitals. He is on the Advisory Board of "1 in 9", the Breast Cancer Coalition, and serves as a consultant for numerous pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Arena is widely published and has lectured extensively in his field. He is an Assistant Editor of the journal Oncology and previously on the Editorial Board of the Community Oncology journal. Dr. Arena has been the recipient of multiple awards and citations for his work in oncology and breast cancer. Some of these awards include the David award given by Networking magazine, The Eileen Dryer Award by the Sass Foundation, the Il Leone de San Marco award in medicine by the Italian -American league of Westchester and the Bronx and has been cited in repeated years as one of the top oncologists in the New York Metropolitan area by the Castle Connelly magazines and Newsday. Frank lives with his wife and wonderful children in Long Island, NY.