OUR TEAM
Megan has 25 years of experience developing and launching innovative programs in multiple fields including criminal justice, child welfare, mental health, and eldercare, as a senior executive at the Vera Institute of Justice and at the Institute for Child Success. Significant projects include helping South Carolina use Pay for Success financing to fund a $30 million expansion of early childhood services to low-income families (the largest Pay for Success project in the world), leading a major reform of New Orleans’ criminal justice system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and creating a successful alternative to detention for people in immigration proceedings.
Megan has also published extensively on Pay for Success financing and performance measurement. She served on McKinsey & Company’s advisory group for its work on Social Impact Bonds, and as a Fellow at the New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where she taught performance management and directed the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service.
In 1994, Megan was awarded a White House Fellowship. She has a BA in political science from Brown University and a JD, magna cum laude, from the New York University School of Law.
She has extensive experience in strategically leading and bringing scientific and clinical programs to success. Prior to joining Mission: Cure, she was the Director of Scientific and clinical affairs at Cancer Commons, where she led the development and implementing of a Virtual Tumor Board (VTB) program with a knowledge base learning system for pancreatic cancer patients.
At the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, she led scientific research and initiatives including a molecular profiling program, a patient registry, and an early detection initiative. In addition, she has authored many publications that have contributed to the field of pancreatic cancer.
She also spent a few years in the private sector as a scientist for multiple biotech companies. Lola has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and an MS and PhD in biomedical engineering from UCLA.

Prior to joining Mission: Cure, Sofia worked in communications and social media for Next Generation Men & Women, a nonprofit in Atlanta that helps under-resourced students gain access to exposure and support so they can achieve their post-secondary goals.
Sofia is a graduate of Emory University, where she earned a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Linguistics. She is passionate about creating a more equitable world and helping underserved communities.

Professionally, Eric is the Founder and Managing Director of Fluential Partners, a boutique investment bank, Chairman of mobility startup Exokinetics, and a board member of several other ventures. Previously, he has served in roles ranging from CEO of a startup to General Counsel of Panavision and the Washington Football Team. Eric earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. from Brown University.
In mid-2017, Linda’s daughter was diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis and Linda began researching available treatments and cures. She quickly discovered that pancreatitis is not widely understood and that there is a need for new approaches and models to discover more effective treatments with better outcomes. Linda also saw an urgent need for advocacy, funding, research, education and collaboration in the mission to find a cure to enable pancreatitis patients to live better, healthier lives.
Dr. Bloom became an Ashoka Social Entrepreneur Fellow for his system-changing solutions to finding new treatments for unsolved diseases. He is the Patient Advisory Board Chair for the Institute for Translational Medicine, Board member of the Drug Discovery Center at the University of Illinois, the Director of Scientific Affairs for Vision for Tomorrow, on the Science Advisory Boards of Rediscovery Life Sciences, the GARROD AKU Consortium, the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust Awards Programs, the Findacure Fundamental Disease Charity, and Healx, LTD, is the Chair of the Governance Committee of the Kendall College Charitable Trust, is a member of the Board of Councilors of Midwestern University, and a member of the editorial board of ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies. Dr. Bloom holds a Juris Doctor degree from the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from University of Illinois Medical Center, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from University of Illinois. He is an adjunct faculty member at Kendall College, has been a lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago since 1990, and was a senior lecturer at Northwestern University Dental School for 6 years.

Mickey has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Emmis Communications, Director of Human Resources for Apple, and Executive Director for Organizational Effectiveness at Cummins Inc., building world-class workplaces recognized in numerous “Best Places to Work” awards. Mickey’s early career was spent with Peace Corps in Africa and directing the Save the Children program in Thailand. Returning from overseas, Mickey served as a White House Fellow, working in the office of the Vice President.
Mickey received his Bachelor of Arts with high distinction from Dartmouth College. He attended Stanford University and earned an MBA from the Graduate School of Business, an MA from the Stanford Food Research Institute and was selected by his MBA classmates as the Arbuckle Award winner for outstanding contribution. In addition to speaking a wee bit of English, Mickey has gained fluency in four other languages: French, Thai, Bengali, and Wolof.
OUR ADVISORS
Dr. Aronow earned his BS in Chemistry at Stanford University in 1976 and his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1986. He completed his Research Fellowship at the Division of Basic Science Research, Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation from 1986 to 1989. His patents include CFTR modifier genes and expressed polypeptides useful in treating cystic fibrosis and methods and products for detecting and/or identifying same and Altered gene expression profiles in stable versus acute childhood asthma.





Dr. Saluja has published more than 160 original research papers in peer-reviewed international journals along with several review articles and book chapters. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and several biotechnology companies in addition to philanthropic support. Additionally, he is an inventor on several patents. He is one of the largest NIH-funded investigators at the University of Miami. He also is CSO and co-founder of a start-up biotechnology company Minneamrita Therapeutics. Over the years Dr. Saluja has been invited to give numerous state-of-the art lectures and keynote addresses at national and international meetings. He has served on NIH panels and the editorial boards of several scientific journals. He is currently Associate Editor of Gastroenterology. He is the past president of American Pancreatic Association (APA) and International Association of Pancreatology (IAP). He is currently Secretary-Treasurer of American Pancreatic Association. Dr. Saluja was honored with the prestigious George Palade Award by IAP in 2013, a lifetime achievement award by the APA in 2014, and a medal from the Australian Society of Medical Research in 2015.
