Anna Sizova

Founder

Anna Sizova is the founder and executive director of Ginkgo Health Fund, where she leads efforts to advance healthcare innovation by funding, mentoring, and connecting the founders and researchers building the future of medicine.

As a trained pediatrician and endocrinologist, her firsthand experience caring for patients has fueled her commitment to accelerating solutions that improve health outcomes.

Anna's leadership at Ginkgo Health Fund has focused on grant-making, mentorship, and building community across the Texas Healthtech ecosystem to unlock new approaches to patient care. She brings over 20 years of clinical trial experience - managing clinical trials worldwide, scaling startups and advising founders.

Medicine taught her empathy. Clinical research taught her scale. Austin taught that her purpose is bigger than her profession. Today, she has become an entrepreneur, host, and public speaker.

Osvaldo "Ozzie" Cortes

Board Director

Osvaldo "Ozzie" Cortes is an investor, entrepreneur, and executive leader with extensive experience in organizational growth, operational transformation, and people-centered leadership across startups, private equity, human resources, and emerging technology.

An active angel investor, Ozzie focuses on life sciences, artificial intelligence, and innovative technologies that improve health outcomes and accelerate commercialization. He is passionate about connecting founders, investors, researchers, and community organizations to strengthen the life sciences ecosystem.

Through his work with businesses and nonprofit organizations, Ozzie advocates for collaboration, innovation, and expanding opportunities that create meaningful and lasting impact.

Cynthia is an accomplished business and operations executive with extensive experience helping organizations turn vision into action. As Chief Operating Officer of Productside, she brings expertise in strategic planning, financial stewardship, organizational development, operational efficiency, and building strong, accountable teams.

Throughout her career, Cynthia has been drawn to organizations and initiatives where thoughtful leadership can create meaningful and lasting impact. She brings a practical, big-picture perspective to the boardroom, with a particular strength in identifying opportunities, navigating change, solving complex challenges, and ensuring resources are aligned with an organization’s mission and priorities.

Cynthia believes strong organizations are built through collaboration, transparency, responsible stewardship, and a willingness to evolve. She values bringing together people with different experiences and perspectives to make thoughtful decisions and create sustainable results.

As a board member, Cynthia brings both an executive and community-minded perspective, with a commitment to supporting the organization’s leadership, strengthening its long-term sustainability, and advancing its mission in the communities it serves.

Cynthia Petti

Board Director

Nicholas Diaz-Appolonia

Vice Chair, Board of Directors | Strategy, Programs and Health Innovation

Nicholas “Nick” Diaz-Appolonia is a healthcare technology executive, clinical informaticist, entrepreneur, and service-disabled U.S. Army veteran with more than 20 years of experience spanning healthcare delivery, government health information technology, health policy, and advanced systems architecture. He specializes in developing secure, interoperable, mission-critical solutions that improve clinical readiness, operational efficiency, care delivery, and population health outcomes.

As Vice Chair of the Ginkgo Health Fund Board of Directors, Nick provides strategic leadership in health innovation, program development, clinical informatics, institutional partnerships, community engagement, and emerging technology. He supports the organization’s mission to advance healthcare and life sciences innovation through education, research collaboration, startup development, mentorship, and inclusive access to resources and funding networks.

Nick is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of HIT GROUP, where he serves as a senior healthcare architect, executive advisor, and cross-functional clinical informatics and IMIT subject matter expert. His work has supported major initiatives across the Military Health System, Veterans Health Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and state and commercial healthcare organizations. His experience includes some of the nation’s most complex electronic health record, systems integration, interoperability, cybersecurity, and healthcare modernization programs.

Nick began his career as a clinician in the U.S. Army, serving as an Operating Room Nursing Specialist and later as an Official Command Trainer supporting combat medic and convoy medical operations. This clinical foundation, combined with expertise in technology architecture, secure data integration, emergency management, and operational planning, enables him to bridge clinical, technical, business, and executive priorities.

Previously, Nick served as Chief Medical Information Officer and Principal of Healthcare Informatics at SAIC Health Solutions. In that capacity, he advised senior leaders within the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs on enterprise health IT strategy, interagency interoperability, clinical transformation, and modernization of mission-critical healthcare systems.

Nick is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Apolon Investment & Development Group, an emerging development and investment organization focused on commercial and government infrastructure initiatives. Through this work, he brings strategic, operational, and risk-aware leadership to projects that address long-term community, institutional, and mission-driven needs.

His professional and community leadership includes service on the HIMSS Central Texas Advisory Board and as an SXSW Ambassador. His mission is to advance responsible innovation and develop integrated solutions that strengthen healthcare delivery, security, decision-making, and sustainable community impact.