Meet our team

We are a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare leaders, scientists, and clinicians dedicated to creating the future of healthcare through effective, collaborative work. Inception team works with stakeholders across the spectrum of healthcare. And we are very proud to partner with the most innovative and forward thinking leaders worldwide to harness the power of digital to transform health.

Management Team

David Chao

Emerging Technology Principal

David comes to Inception Health with over 20 years of technology experience, of which 17 years were invested in the health care field. David's passion is forward thinking technology and being able to link it to clinicians in a meaningful and innovative way.

Brad Crotty

President & Chief Digital Officer

Brad is driven to make health a more seamless part of people's lives. An important focus is how to design care experiences in tandem with technology.

Caitlin Dunn

Director of Population Health

Caitlin is eager to implement technology to transform today's health care delivery system and improve the health status of patients. She is especially interested in the application of 'big data' and of technology that empowers individuals to independently manage medical conditions.

Karen Fickel MD

Medical Director, Virtual Care

Karen comes to Inception Health with over 20 years in the health care industry. She started her medical career at the Medical College of Wisconsin and spent over 15 years in physician group leadership roles including Regional Medical Officer, operations, quality, process improvement and physician coaching. Her passion is to help design improved systems of patient-centered, high quality, cost-effective care.

Erin Green

Executive Director, Virtual Care Operations

Erin comes to Inception Health with over 15 years of health care experience ranging from practicing as an RN in both Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, to leading current Digital Health operations, including the Virtual Intensive Care Unit, Telemetry and TeleObservation.

Jeff Mark

Legal Counsel

Jeff Mark is a Shareholder in the Health and Business Sections at Von Brieson. Jeff has extensive experience advising hospitals, multi-institutional health care systems, physician groups and specialty providers regarding a variety of transactional health care related matters including affiliations, joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures; fraud and abuse; Stark; physician agreements; and equipment and office space leasing arrangements.

Mike Maschek

Director

Mike is a Director at Inception Health. In his role he provides leadership for the Inception Health Investment Fund. As the venture capital arm of the F&MCW health network, the Inception Health Investment Fund makes strategic investments in early-stage digital health companies that help us solve the real problems facing the F&MCW health network by finding innovative solutions for our staff, clinicians and patients.

Jennifer Moore

Implementation Manager

Jen is passionate about leveraging technology to improve care for patients and care teams. She has a background in Clinic Operations, and holds a MHA from St. Francis University and a certificate in Advanced Lean Training from the Virginia Mason Institute.

Natalie Mortensen

Manger, Clinical Platform

Natalie is passionate about alternative and innovative modes of care delivery that offer high quality care at lower costs. Increasing the patient-centered consumer experience is what she hopes will encourage patients to be active participants in their health care. Natalie has been with Froedtert Health for 10 years and joined the Inception Health team in October 2018.

Adam Smith

Executive Director, Decision Support & Financial Planning

Adam Smith brings 15 years of diverse health care experience to Inception Health. This experience includes budget and long-range financial planning, operational analytics and benchmarking, financial modeling, operations leadership in a clinical department of a medical school, strategic planning and business development.

Patricia Smith

Executive Assistant

Patti is on a quest to be part of the team that will break through the barriers that come with the adoption of technology in health care. She comes from a diverse background with 30+ years experience having attended University of Maryland while serving in the United States Navy.

Melek Somai

Vice President & Chief Technology and Product Officer

Melek Somai is the principal in digital health engineering at Inception Health. He holds also the position of Assistant Professor of Medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr Somai's expertise is in health informatics and data engineering.

Product Engineering Team

Shawna Donnelly

Senior Software Engineer

Shawna is a software developer with 10 years of experience in a wide range of industries. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2008 with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. She received her Master's degree in Software Engineering from SMU in 2012. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her three kids, reading, and trying to be good at running.

Uliana Heron

Software Engineer

Uliana has always been interested in healthcare and technology and is excited to combine the two areas to develop innovative solutions in medicine. Uliana graduated from Carroll University in 2021 with the highest honors and is looking forward to continue her education in a software field to boost professional performance and to benefit Inception Health.

Derek Keith

Senior Software Engineer

Derek Keith is a software engineer with 17 years of experience in crafting innovative web and mobile applications. His passion lies in creating user experiences that leave a lasting impact on people's daily lives. Beyond the world of coding, Derek finds joy in quality time spent with his wife and daughter.

Dale Painter

Senior Product Designer

With 17 years of experience in designing and developing web-based properties, I am a seasoned UX/UI Designer. Over the past 7 years, my focus has been on leveraging UX methodologies to create customer-centric solutions. Throughout the design process, I am dedicated to contributing and collaborating, striving to continuously improve digital experiences.

Varun Raj

Product Manager

Varun comes to Inception Health with 15 years of experience in Information Technology. His areas of expertise include Software Engineering, Product Management and Systems Integration. He is passionate about improving the quality of Healthcare using technology especially on building solutions around what patients need (instead of around what providers do).

Paul Salmon

Senior Software Engineer

I'm a Senior Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience in backend technology and progressive architecture. I've worked with startups and international teams, demonstrating self-motivation, effective communication, and a passion for continuous learning. Ready for new challenges in software engineering.

Will Sanders

Staff Software Engineer

Will's focus is in the Cloud... specifically with AWS Serverless Solutions. He comes from a Consulting and Start Up background. In his spare time he can be found camping, spending time with his family, including two kids and a dog or tinkering with computers.

Melek Somai

Vice President & Chief Technology and Product Officer

Melek Somai is the principal in digital health engineering at Inception Health. He holds also the position of Assistant Professor of Medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr Somai's expertise is in health informatics and data engineering.

Aussie Warren

Senior Software Engineer

I get my motivation from seeing my work improve the lives of those around me whether that be through applications, thorough documentation, mentorship, enabling others, automation, etc.

Board of Directors

Steve Basilotto

Senior Vice President, Chief Experience Officer

Steve Basilotto serves as chief experience officer for Froedtert Health, charged with identifying and executing leading edge opportunities to provide customers, patients and staff with an experience they want and value.

Scott Hawig

Senior Vice President of Finance

Scott Hawig, CPA, CMA, MBA, executive vice president of Finance, chief financial and administrative officer and treasurer, is responsible for all strategic and operational matters related to finance and administration for the health system including financial planning and budgeting, financial reporting, decision support, revenue cycle management, managed care contracting, insurance products and risk, supply chain operations, facilities planning and plant operations, information technology and strategic initiatives.

Sony Jacob

Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Sony Jacob, MS, MBA, is senior vice president and chief information officer for Froedtert Health. Sony joined Froedtert Health in 2020. He has more than two decades of information technology leadership, most recently as chief information officer for SSM Health Care in St. Louis, where he oversaw the consolidation of four separate IT organizations and built an electronic health record hosting system that served 21 community hospitals.

Cathy Jacobson

President and Chief Executive Officer

Catherine Jacobson serves as president and CEO of Froedtert Health, a regional health care system based in Milwaukee, Wis. Jacobson joined Froedtert Health in 2010 as executive vice president of finance and strategy, chief financial officer and chief strategy officer. She was promoted in 2011, becoming president and in 2012, she assumed the CEO role. Prior to joining Froedtert Health, Jacobson spent 22 years at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago in various leadership roles.

Joe Kerschner MD

Dean, School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President

Dr. Joseph Kerschner became the Dean of the School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in November 2011 following 10 months as Interim Dean. Dr. Kerschner assumed the additional role of Provost of the MCW Health Science University in 2017. He also is Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Microbiology & Immunology.

David Olson

Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Dr. Joseph Kerschner became the Dean of the School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in November 2011 following 10 months as Interim Dean. Dr. Kerschner assumed the additional role of Provost of the MCW Health Science University in 2017. He also is Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Microbiology & Immunology.