Health2Tech Atlanta, July 23, 2026

Kirk Barnes is the founder of the TransPharMed Commercialization Lab, a platform built to address one of healthcare innovation’s most persistent challenges: the commercialization gap in digital health. An award-winning sales professional and leader at Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Takeda, Kirk developed his foundation driving performance in highly complex, regulated markets and contributed to the commercialization of two healthcare products that scaled to over $1B in revenue. He later became a senior leader at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech, where he designed and launched the first healthtech program in ATDC’s 40-year history. He also served as former Co-Chair of Together.Health, helping convene global leaders across health systems, startups, investors, and policy to accelerate innovation.

Today, through TransPharMed’s Commercialization Lab, Kirk founded what is positioned as the world’s first Digital Health Sales Institute—bringing structure, discipline, and repeatability to digital health commercialization and building the commercial workforce pipeline the industry will depend on for the next decade. He serves as an advisor to MATTER, MassChallenge, and Phoenix Bioscience Core XLR8, and is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He also serves on the board of several digital health startups. Kirk has served as a startup coach for the Engage Venture Fund, helping portfolio companies crack the code on selling to large corporations, and led a startup initiative for the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)—equipping underrepresented founders with the commercial frameworks needed to compete and scale in the U.S. market. Over the course of his career, he has coached hundreds of founders and thousands of sales professionals—bridging corporate leadership, venture advisory, startup execution, and ecosystem development to help healthcare companies move from innovation to predictable revenue. He is currently expanding TransPharMed’s footprint across Latin America and Canada, working with innovation ecosystems, startups, and government partners to accelerate digital health commercialization in high-growth markets.

Outside of work, Kirk is a passionate traveler, outdoor enthusiast, and self-proclaimed music lover who believes the right playlist can solve almost any problem. He is married with two children, and credits his family as the foundation behind everything he builds.