the team

Nola Masterson is the founder and Managing Director of Science Futures.

She founded Science Futures in 1983 to provide investment advisory services to venture capital and Wall Street in the field of biotechnology.

Working with San Francisco based venture firms she helped create and

invest in Biotechnology companies, acquired by Biogen, InSight, NASDAQ INCS, and ReSound. She is the co-founder of Sequenom, which after going public on NASDAQ in 2000 (acquired by Lab Corp in 2021) and Agena Biosciences, acquired by Mesa Labs in 2021. She joined the

venture capital firm of TVM Capital in 2000 and opened their San

Francisco office. She has served on boards of directors of many private

and public companies. She was Chair of the board of Repros

Therapeutics acquired by Allegan.

She currently is a venture partner at www.Portfolia.co where she leads

the investments in the three Femtech Funds. She has an BS and an MT (ASCP) from Fordham Marymount College, and an MS from George Washington University and did post graduate work at the University of

Florida.

Emily Hu is a Biomedical Engineer, Clinical Operations Consultant, Startup Advisor, Angel Investor, and 4-Time All-Time World Record Holder in Powerlifting. She brings expertise in Clinical Operations for FDA and consumer product trials, particularly in the medical device, health and wellness, supplement, and human performance sectors. She has led clinical studies for all classes of medical devices, including those that secured Verily’s first FDA clearance. Currently, Emily is the Senior Director of Clinical Trials at Unilever, overseeing studies in nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and wellness. Emily has extensive experience with Silicon Valley medical device startups, often as the first clinical hire. Over 15 years, she led the clinical efforts for 4 FDA 510(k) clearances, an SBIR grant, 5 consumer product launches, and Nutrafol’s acquisition by Unilever. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Irvine and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University.

Professor (Dr) Wai Chiong LOKE's passion is impact investment and ecosystem building in health. He has held the highest-level responsibilities in organizations across private, public and people sectors. His track record is that of healthcare practitioner, business leader, national policymaker, administrator; executive director of TEMASEK, director at Singapore’s Economic Development Board; global Director and regional Partner of Global Big4 Advisory firms KPMG and Deloitte. 

He has experience advising global investors, governments, NGOs, hospitals and life sciences companies: to innovate business models, enter new markets, strategize and execute M&A, raise growth capital; effect business transformation to future-proof companies; test-bed and deploy new technology or processes. His last public sector role was with the national healthcare transformation office of Singapore. Currently he serves on various boards and advisory panels across private and people sectors, teaches with National University of Singapore’s NUS Cities and is building Singapore Institute of Technology’s Health Living Lab.

Nikki Sims is a seasoned business strategist and venture leader with deep experience in fund management, strategic partnerships, and business operations. In her current role, she oversees the Urgent Care service line performance at Sutter Health, guiding operational strategy and cross-sector innovation with a focus on financial performance. As Senior Associate at Growth Factory Ventures, she oversaw fund operations and portfolio performance across 60+ startups and led sector-focused programming in health and life sciences. Her background includes executive leadership roles in biotech and healthcare, where she launched large-scale programs and strategic initiatives. 

Nikki holds a Master of Science in Health Law from McGeorge School of Law. Her expertise in scaling systems and driving innovation in alignment with business performance makes her uniquely insightful in the venture capital and healthcare ecosystems.

Vinitha is the CEO and Chief Scientist of Perceive Now, Inc., where she leads the development of AI-driven platforms that transform patent, market, regulatory, and clinical data into decision-ready intelligence for healthcare and biotech innovators. With more than seven years of experience at the intersection of artificial intelligence, diagnostics, and intellectual property strategy, she has built automated systems used by over 50 biotech clients to accelerate product development, strengthen IP portfolios, and improve regulatory readiness. Her work has resulted in significant reductions in research and reporting timelines, measurable increases in patent filings, and faster time-to-market for diagnostic technologies across infectious disease, point-of-care, and biomarker-based platforms. Previously, Vinitha held senior scientific and product leadership roles at Zoetis and Karmacheck, where she advanced next-generation diagnostic technologies, led cross-functional teams, and brought multiple diagnostic products to market. She holds a Ph.D. with extensive research experience in microfluidics, BioMEMS, and lab-on-a-chip diagnostics, funded by the CDC and the University of Cincinnati, and has developed high-sensitivity point-of-care assays with proven clinical impact.  She has been recognized with multiple awards for diagnostic innovation and service and remains committed to advancing scalable, data-driven solutions that improve healthcare outcomes globally.