Richard Berlin
Co-Director of PDG Physician Partnership Integration

Richard Berlin is Co-Director of PDG’s Integration Team. He is the co-developer of PDG’s Integration practice model and transition protocols. Richard brings more than 30 years of experience and expertise in business and management consulting with numerous client projects in change and culture management, organization design, merger integration, strategic planning, organization development, executive coaching, team building, leadership development, and new business start-ups.

Richard worked for Avanade, a division of Accenture, as the North American Market Lead for Change Enablement, and Accenture in their Management Consulting practice specializing in Organizational Effectiveness. His work supported clients across numerous industries, notably Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Health Insurance P.P.O.s, and H.M.O.s, Private Equity, Professional Services.

Richard currently serves on the faculty in the Organization and Management area of Emory University Goizueta Business School. His education includes an MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a JD and a Bachelor’s from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. He is also licensed to practice law in Georgia.

Barry Etra
Investing | Healthcare Technology

Mr. Etra is President of the Atlanta Chapter of the Keiretsu Forum, the largest and most active Angel Investment Group in the world. Keiretsu was the top Angel Investor in the medical device industry in 2017 and 2018. Mr. Etra directs business development for Kickr Design since August of 2016. Kickr Design is an engineer-led prototyping and Design Group in West Midtown Atlanta. Since 2014, Mr. Etra is the Founder of RAISE Forum which works with Emory University to create local funding for in-revenue companies. Since 2007, Mr. Etra has served as Principal of Etra Advisory Group, a capital access and strategic planning company specializing in nonprofit debt funding. Mr. Etra received his BA from Columbia University in the City of New York and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Columbia University – Columbia Business School.

Roderick Gilkey, PhD
Co-Director of PDG Physician Partnership Integration

Dr. Rick Gilkey is a leading university professor, published author and sought-after speaker and consultant. Dr. Gilkey is the Co-Director of PDG’s Integration Team and the co-developer of PDG’s Integration practice model and transition protocols. Professor Gilkey holds a joint appointment at Emory University, where he serves on the faculty of the Goizueta Business School as a Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management, and the School of Medicine, where he is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He also served as the Executive Director of the Center for Healthcare Leadership at Emory School of Medicine. He is the recipient of the university's highest teaching honor, the Emory Williams Award. He is also the recipient of the Albert Levy award for Distinguished Medical Research granted by the Emory University School of Medicine.

Rick has served in both consulting roles with a variety of global clients in areas including leadership, strategy and post-merger integration. He has also served on the faculty of HEC Paris and INSEAD as well as Duke Corporate Education.

Rick Gilkey's articles have appeared in several leading professional journals, and he has served as an editorial consultant to The New York Times and Fortune Magazine. Rick is co-author of a book on post- merger management entitled "Joining Forces: Creating and Managing Successful Mergers and Acquisitions", (Prentice-Hall). He is a graduate of Western Michigan University, Harvard University (Master of Divinity Psychology and Religion), and The University of Michigan (Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology).

His diverse clients include: Air France / KLM, King Faisal Hospital and Research Center, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Eli Lilly, The Mayo Clinic, IBM Healthcare, Bertelsmann Music Group, Beiersdorf AG, the US Department of State and the Department of Defense (IDB). He has also served on the faculty of HEC Paris and INSEAD as well as Duke Corporate Education.

Rick Gilkey's articles have appeared several leading professional journals, and he has served as an editorial consultant to The New York Times and Fortune Magazine. Rick is co-author of a book on post- merger management entitled "Joining Forces: Creating and Managing Successful Mergers and Acquisitions", (Prentice-Hall), among many others. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University, Harvard University (Master of Divinity Psychology and Religion), and The University of Michigan (Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology).

Reid Maclellan, MD
Healthcare, Healthcare Technology and Telemedicine

Dr. Reid Maclellan, M.D. is the Founder and CEO of Cortina Health, Inc, an artificial intelligence company with a mission to restore the care in healthcare and improve quality of life for both patients and physicians. Dr. Maclellan also is an Instructor of Surgery at both Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital where he practices and teaches translational medical research. As a key opinion leader in the fields of healthcare technology, artificial intelligence, vascular anomalies, and lymphedema, Dr. Maclellan frequently is invited to lecture both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Maclellan completed a general surgery internship at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga. He then completed plastic surgery clinical and research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Maclellan graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his M.D. from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He earned a post-doctoral Master in Medical Sciences Degree in translational medical research from Harvard Medical School.

Marwan El Khoury
Strategy | Business Development

Mr. El Khoury is Managing Director of Integrale Advisors, LLC, a private alternative Investment firm focused on global real estate investment, asset management and business development. Marwan oversees the firm’s planning, investments and partner alliances in Europe. Marwan founded FAMA Investissements SA, a Swiss-based investment company in 2012, which manages real estate and other financial assets globally. Marwan has a doctorate degree in international economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and a doctorate degree in mathematics from Paris-VI-VII University in France. He also holds an MA in International Affairs from Fletcher University and the Kennedy School at Harvard.

James G. Wetrich
Recruiting, Executive Coaching, Consulting

Mr. Wetrich, FACHE, is the CEO of The Wetrich Group of Companies. Founded in 2001, The Wetrich Group offers a wide variety of health care management advisory services including management consulting, executive coaching, executive search, talent assessment, leadership development and outplacement. Mr. Wetrich currently serves on the boards of Optomeditech, Movi Medical, and Debra of America. He is on the Board of Visitors as well as the School of Nursing’s Dean’s Advisory Board of Emory University, the health care advisory board of the Vistria Fund and Radius Ventures, the advisory board of the USC Price School at the University of Southern California and the USC Marshall School of Business Supply Chain Institute. In addition, Mr. Wetrich was recently named to the Board of Councilors at The Carter Center.

Kurt Weingarten, PhD
Healthcare Technology | Entrepreneurship

Dr. Weingarten is a technology entrepreneur in lasers and photonics of both VC-funded and self-funded start-ups. He founded and led Time-Bandwidth Products, a producer of ultrafast laser products, through the acquisition by Lumentum (Nasdaq LITE, previously JDSU) in 2014. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford University, developing an ultrafast picosecond laser to measure high-speed integrated circuit performance. After Stanford, Dr. Weingarten worked at Lightwave Electronics in Silicon Valley from 1988 to 1993, pioneering one of the first commercial diode-pumped picosecond lasers. He then founded Time-Bandwidth Products in Zurich, Switzerland in the mid-1990's to develop simple, robust ultrafast mode-locked lasers for scientific and industrial applications based on SESAM technology. The company was acquired by JDSU in January 2014 to accelerate the adoption of these products into the growing industrial market for ultrafast lasers. Dr. Weingarten’s experience includes company financing including venture capital, company M&A, technology licensing, team building, production scale-up, go-to-market strategies for high-end photonics products, global customer and supply chain approaches. He currently works out of Zurich, Switzerland, helping to catalyze start-ups in technology and photonics in Europe and worldwide.

Simmy Pappachen
Chief of Staff

Simmy Pappachen is the Chief of Staff for PDG’s Leadership Team. She is responsible for planning and directing all administrative, financial, and operational activities. Simmy organizes and prioritizes critical issues and required information for the executive team to facilitate efficient decision making.

Ms. Pappachen has a BBA in Management from Berkeley College.