Manjiri’s first experience with healthcare design began during her internship, where she conducted a post-occupancy evaluation of a hospital, This experience revealed to her that the true measure of design success lies in the users feeling valued and cared for in the spaces they inhabit. Her commitment to a person-centered approach in health planning and design has been instrumental in delivering impactful projects of various scales and phases, both domestically and internationally. 

Manjiri combines a solid academic foundation from Texas A&M University with 18 years of dedicated experience in healthcare planning, design, and research.  

With an ability to navigate both micro and macro perspectives, Manjiri can break down challenging problems, transforming data and analytics into engaging narratives and compelling scenarios. This empowers clients to make confident decisions that resonate deeply with the communities they influence. 

Priya Cherukuru is a recognized healthcare planner and executive leader at Stanford Healthcare. As a certified land use planner (AICP) with more than 20+ years of experience in strategy and capital improvement planning, she is known for bringing creative, innovative, and consensus-based solutions for space needs in highly constrained and regulated hospitals and clinical environments. 

She currently leads the Facilities Planning and Design Department including facilities strategy and development of plans and initiatives with a construction budget of over $8 billion with programs planned for the next 20 years and covering a portfolio of over 5M square feet, 3 Hospitals over 170+ clinic sites, and 50 admin sites for its 20,000 employees, faculty, fellows, and residents. She has grown to become a valued and trusted leader across the enterprise and works closely with partners and peers in the School of Medicine, Stanford Medicine Children's Health, Stanford University and Stanford Medicine-Tri-Valley through a collaborative and governance-based model of influence and proactive planning 

Priya has a bachelor's in architecture, Masters in Urban and Regional Planning and is a certified planner with the American Planners Association (APA). Priya also serves on the City of Santa Clara's Planning Commission and was Chair of the City of Santa Clara, Planning Commission, Historical Landmarks Commission and the Architectural Site Approval Committee for County of Santa Clara. In her personal world, she tries to be a 'loving wife' dutiful mom and dog parent! 

Zigmund Rubel is a technologist and healthcare architect currently serving as a Senior Project Manager at Stanford Health Care. He brings more than 30 years of experience in project delivery and technology implementation for healthcare capital projects, both nationally and internationally, encompassing over 20 million square feet of built space. 

Prior to joining Stanford, Zigmund co-founded Aditazz and Forsight Digital. Both firms leveraged advanced technology to predict and demonstrate clinical operations of healthcare facilities before the design process began. His work in India enabled the planning and design of thirty-one cancer hospitals through automation. In China, his efforts optimized clinical services to support the development of a larger research facility. In the US, he has led multiple Emergency Department optimization initiatives, demonstrating how smart space planning can significantly improve patient throughput. Zigmund holds six U.S. patents in software and building products. 

Zigmund holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Architecture degrees and is a member of the AIA College of Fellows. He is also a founding board member and Treasurer of the Center for Innovation in Design and Construction. In his personal life, he is a husband, a parent to three teenagers, and a dog owner. 

Frank Thalakotur is a Vice President of Brookwood Group. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and healthcare facilities strategist who operates at the intersection of MEP engineering, owner representation, and applied artificial intelligence. 

Frank specializes in the strategic planning, design, and management of complex capital projects. His experience spans healthcare, science and technology, mission-critical facilities, commercial development, and high-rise construction across the United States. He has served as both Principal-in-Charge on the design side and as owner's representative, giving him a comprehensive understanding of project delivery from multiple perspectives.A champion of technology-driven project delivery, Frank founded TableCalc, an AI platform that automates life-cycle cost analysis and design for MEP building systems. He has authored papers on AI in MEP engineering and the impact of LLMs on managing construction projects. Frank leverages Lean Construction and BIM methodologies to align project delivery with operational excellence. 

Frank holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and is a registered Professional Engineer (PE). He is an active member of ASHE and AMFP, and formerly served as Co-Chair of the Lean Construction Institute's New England Chapter.