John Hornberger, CEO & President/Project Lead
Dr. Hornberger received his M.D from the University of Rochester, New York, and his M.S. in Health Services Research from Stanford University. His Master’s dissertation was a technology assessment of high-flux dialysis, the findings of which were quoted in studies leading up to the first randomized trial sponsored by the NIH (The HEMO study). He trained as a general internist and nephrologist. Dr. Hornberger specializes in health outcomes and economic research. His methodological expertise is in designing and conducting decision analyses and data analyses to examine the clinical and economic consequences of novel healthcare interventions. He has received federal funding for studies in renal medicine, and has worked on projects in HIV, HCV, influenza, obesity, renal dialysis, transplantation, and cancer. He is a Board Certified Internist and a staff physician at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Hospital. As an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, Dr. Hornberger teaches and supervises resident and postdoctoral physicians at the Stanford-sponsored Willow Clinic, Menlo Park. He is Co-Editor of Value in Health and on the Editorial Board of Medical Decision Making, two of the leading international journals in health outcomes and economics.

Ashwini Shewade, Sr. Research Analyst
Ashwini Shewade has over four years experience working as a statistician researcher in both the health care and consumer goods industries. As part of her responsibilities at Cedar, she has been working on various economic and statistical analyses for leading pharmaceuticals. As a graduate student at the University of Texas, School of Public Health in Houston, Texas, Ashwini contributed to two National Cancer Institute funded studies, estimating the repeated prevalence rates of non-responders for the mammography screening of women veterans, and evaluating the economics of behavioral intervention in colorectal cancer screening. Before moving to the Unites States, Ashwini worked as a Consumer Science Officer in the Hindustan Lever Ltd, a leading consumer goods company. Ashwini holds a MS in Biostatistics and Health Economics, from the University of Texas School Public Health, and an MSc in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Mumbai.

Richard Hornberger, Project Manager / Business Management
Richard Hornberger has over twenty-five years of experience as a practicing architect, with extensive project experience with financial institutions and high-tech research and engineering campus development. His experience in the field of architecture gives him unique skills for managing complex projects to bring them in on time, on budget and with a high level of quality control. Since joining Cedar Associates, he has managed projects such as a diagnostic for lung cancer based on a genetic biomarker and a diagnostic for schizophrenia based on a genetic biomarker. Richard holds a BA in Environmental Design with a major in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mark Friedmann, Project Manager / Business Development
Mark Friedmann came to Cedar Associates after over 30 years at Abbott Laboratories where he served in a variety of sales and marketing related functions including managed care sales. In this role, he facilitated technology assessments and coverage policy development, and negotiated provider contracts including coding and reimbursement rates with UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Kaiser, numerous BCBS, regional and local health plans and IPAs in the western states. His managed care responsibilities also extended to state capitol representation to facilitate MediCaid reimbursement. Mark’s experience includes managing the launch of diagnostics, molecular diagnostics and biologicals in the managed care environment and anti-infectives and lung surfactant as a sales manager. He also coordinated partnership relationships with Adeza Biomedical, Genentech, and MedImmune. Mark received a BBA (Management) and minored in biology and chemistry at the University of Cincinnati.

James Wu, Data & Analytics
James Wu, MSc, MPH, brings to Cedar over 20 years of healthcare experience from a variety of perspectives. He has a background in basic science, holding a Bachelor’s of Science in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), and a Master’s in Immunology from Brown University (Providence, RI), followed by both bench and clinical research. He earned his Master’s in Public Health from New York Medical College (Valhalla, NY), where his thesis described early versions of today’s electronic medical record (EMR), and discussed public policy implications of those systems. He has broad managed care experience, having held a variety of operations, reporting/auditing and medical services roles for one of the largest physician-owned organizations on the West Coast. His recent experience has been in the biotechnology arena, where he worked in the commercial groups at Genentech and Elan Pharmaceuticals, providing analysis and strategy/tactics for launch/pre-launch, product marketing/sales, pricing/contracting, reporting, and market dynamics/competitive intelligence evaluations. James has published in top tier medical journals, guest lectured at Columbia School of Public Health (New York, NY) and has also coauthored a book on managed care while a graduate student.

Rebecca Chien, Research Analyst
Rebecca Chien joined Cedar in 2008 and specializes in literature and data analyses for the development of health technology manuscripts, and supports economic modeling for clients in the field of molecular therapeutics and biomedical devices. She has a special interest in the area of bio-molecular and genomic-based pharmacology. Rebecca majored in Molecular Cell Biology, with an emphasis in genetics and genomics, and minored in the History of the Arts, at the University of California, Berkeley. As an undergraduate, she taught Field Research Laboratory under the Department of Integrative Biology, where she mentored students in experimental research designs and data analyses. She was a Copy Editor of the Public Health Advocate (PHA), Berkeley's only undergraduate public health magazine and the winner of Berkeley’s title for "Best New Publication” for 2005 to 2006. Additionally, Rebecca volunteers her time with the Student Health Service Center and enjoys tutoring Biology.

Hialy Gutierrez, Research Analyst
With a background in medical device design, Hialy Gutierrez adds to the firm's epidemiological research capacity and business development. Before joining Cedar, Hialy served on the Research and Development team at Cardica, Inc., where she helped develop devices designed to automate the anastomoses of blood vessels in cardiac surgery. Hialy has also collaborated with the VA Hospital to patent an orthopedic instrument which resolves the challenges of standard hip replacement retractors. Her prior research experience also includes work in biophysics, ophthalmology, and psychology. Most recently, she has assisted the World Health Organization in conducting systematic literature reviews for their Global Burden of Disease Project. Hialy holds a BS in Engineering (Product Design) from Stanford University.

Leona Chan, Research Analyst
A graduate of UC Berkeley’s rigorous Public Health Policy and Management program, as well as a former reimbursement counselor for the Lash Group, Leona Chan brings a strong background in health policy and reimbursement. Under the Goldman School of Public Policy, Leona crafted a public policy analysis on the purpose and impact of Proposition 63 (Mental Health Services Expansion/Funding). She was also responsible for producing Public Health Infectious Disease fact sheets for UC Berkeley’s Tang Center, focusing on symptoms, target population, prevention measures, and available primary treatment for such diseases as bacterial meningitis. As a reimbursement counselor, Leona investigated regional Medicare appeals and conducted independent research on health policy developments. Leona Chan holds a BA in Public Health Policy and Management from UC Berkeley.

Mona Mohindra, Research Analyst
Mona Mohindra joined Cedar in 2010, bringing with her a background in life science and healthcare reimbursement. Before joining Cedar, Mona was an associate at Triage Consulting Group, where she performed managed care payment reviews for hospitals in California, Texas and Colorado. Her work consisted of analyzing the hospitals’ current reimbursement landscape and providing them with recommendations for future contract negations. Prior to her work at Triage, Mona was an undergraduate at Stanford, where she worked as a research assistant at the Stanford Center for Bioethics assessing gene vs. environmental factors in the causation of Autism. In her spare time, she volunteers as a research assistant in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology performing clinical research. Mona holds a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University, with a focus in Biotechnology.

Consultants/Contractors
Cedar also partners with an group of consultants/contractors with expertise in clinical science, statistics, clinical trial research, and economic modeling. All Cedar contractors have advanced MD and/or PhD degrees. Some work as sole proprietors, having usually worked in the life science industry for more than 20 years each; they now provide consulting services to many of the life science companies in the Bay Area. Others are employed as faculty by either Stanford or UCSF, providing contract work to Cedar in addition to their primary positions.