Meet the team

John de Souza
President & CEO
A serial entrepreneur, John has founded and held senior management positions in several startup companies. John co-founded Flash Communications, an Internet startup company that developed real-time two-way messaging systems acquired by Microsoft. John was a co-founder and director of Smartleaf, a financial software company providing separate account management solutions. He was also the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at DESoFT, an internet startup company acquired by Merrill Lynch that developed online real-time brokerage systems for retail brokerage firms.
John started his career in healthcare performing research on guidance systems for robotic surgery at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. He also conducted research on virtual reality systems for NASA's Neurolab Space Project and on tools for laparoscopic surgery at the University of Tokyo. Most recently, he was the head of the Technology Practice in Goldman Sachs' Private Equity Group investing in healthcare and technology.
John received a B.S. and an M.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from College des Ingenieurs in France.
Khaled Hassounah
Chief Technology Officer
A visionary technologist, Khaled set up technical teams across multiple early-stage startups and managed them through rapid growth to deliver successful and innovative products. Khaled has proven experience in building and deploying scalable software that has been used and continues to be used by tens of millions of enterprise and online users across multiple verticals. His has also set up and managed teams across India, China and the Middle East.
Prior to MedHelp, Khaled was director of the Middle East and Africa for the One Laptop Per Child initiative where, in addition to contributing to the laptop's technology, he was responsible for identifying and solving technical and operational challenges related to distributing an deploying laptops to millions of children. Prior to that, he was a founding member of IMlogic, an instant messaging security software company acquired by Symantec, where he set up the technical team to deliver three successful product offerings. Khaled was also a founding member of One World Software Solutions, a technical consulting company that grew to span three continents, and was part of the NetDocs team at Microsoft.
Khaled holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan.
Terry Lynn
Chief Financial Officer
Terry has more than 15 years of experience in finance with a particular emphasis in online advertising and health. Prior to joining MedHelp, Terry served as CFO for Imeem, a free streaming music website, and before that, was CFO for HotTopicMedia. Terry has also worked in senior roles for companies such as CBS MarketWatch, Dow Jones and Healthline. Terry began his career at Procter & Gamble before joining IBM in 1998.
In addition to typical CFO responsibilities, Terry has demonstrated strength in financial planning and analysis, strategy, and corporate transactions (over $700MM in M&A deals and fundraising).
Terry holds a B.S. in Mathematics and an MBA in Finance, both from Vanderbilt University.
Cindy Thompson
Co-Founder and Vice President, Medical Partnerships
Cindy co-founded MedHelp with Phil Garfinkel in 1994. The motivating force behind the creation of MedHelp is deeply personal to Cindy, who knows the fear and frustration that a serious medical diagnosis can cause. Cindy and Phil created MedHelp to give people a safe and reliable place to ask medical questions and receive personal answers from leading physicians and medical professionals as well as to connect with others with shared medical interests.
Prior to MedHelp, Cindy was Vice President of Clinical Research with a retained search firm based in New York City, specializing exclusively in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. During this time, she worked with senior-level physicians within these industries and forged strong relationships with world-class medical experts, pharmaceutical companies and leading biotechnology companies.
Cindy is also a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Jeff Stearns
Director, Sales
Jeff brings more than 15 years of experience in sales and business development to MedHelp. He joins MedHelp from IMlogic, a Boston-based internet startup company where he was a pivotal part of the sales strategy from its inception in 2002 until it was acquired by Symantec in February of 2006. Jeff was responsible for IMlogic's first 35 customers and 70 percent of the company's first 150 customers.
Jeff has held senior sales positions with Allaire/Macromedia Corporation where he surpassed sales goals for ten consecutive quarters and grew the mid-Atlantic territory from $9 million to $19 million in one year. He was a member of the President's Club for three years and played a key role in the sales training process as the company more than doubled its sales staff.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Merrimack College in Massachusetts.
Dr. Enoch Choi, MD
Medical Product Manager
Enoch Choi, MD is focused on the intersection of technology and health. He is an expert in electronic medical records (EMRs) and personal health records (PHRs) and has been involved in the integration of new technologies at a number of hospitals and companies, including Sutter Health, Epic and Misys.
In addition to Enoch's role at MedHelp, he is a Family Medicine physician practicing outpatient urgent care medicine and providing virtual medical care at Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Previously he worked at Healthline where he trained doctors and specialists on how to blog and share their medical knowledge with others online. He was also the author of TechMedicine, the most popular medical technology blog. Prior to Healthline, Enoch also worked at Medicalogic where he was the product manager responsible for the patient portal that provided access to the physician-authored medical record.
Last Updated 2/22/2013