Monthly Archives: June 2020

Sandro Galea, Md

Dr. Sandro Galea: Changing the Conversation Around Health



To improve health, not just healthcare, we have to do the hard work of building a healthier world. And that, says Sandro Galea, MD, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, starts with investing in preventative care infrastructures, not just in treatments. In this episode of StartUp Health NOW, Galea shares the inspiration for his book Well: What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Health and urges us to think more deeply about the interconnected forces around us—from money and power to love and hate, compassion, fairness, and justice—and how they can lead to sustainable health.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content. Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.


MedHaul CEO & founder Erica Plybeah and Nathalie Occean, Director of Quality and Community Engagement

MedHaul’s Leaders Break Down What’s Needed to Create Racial Equity in Silicon Valley and Beyond



At MedHaul, CEO & founder Erica Plybeah and Director of Quality and Community Engagement Nathalie Occean are solving one of the oldest challenges in health: transportation. Each year, nearly four million adults and children with chronic conditions miss or delay medical appointments because they don’t have a ride. At MedHaul, the Memphis-based entrepreneurs have developed an Uber-like platform that books non-emergency transportation for people with special needs in low-income communities across 10 U.S. cities, and counting. In this StartUp Health NOW podcast episode, Plybeah and Occean share how they’ve continued to scale during COVID-19 and break down the core challenges that ultimately set the stage for why Black founders receive less than 1% of venture capital.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content. Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.


Toyin Ajayi

Cityblock Scales Up to Meet the Needs of NYC’s Hardest Hit During COVID-19



When the pandemic first hit, Toyin Ajayi, MD, Chief Health Officer & Co-founder of Cityblock, says her team knew, instinctively, that the patients Cityblock serves would be some of the hardest hit. Their patients are people without a financial or social safety net who live in communities where, because of poverty and racial health inequities, they experience poorer outcomes from the virus. “We want people to know that it is both possible and necessary that we serve these populations and that we do it well.” In an interview for StartUp Health NOW, Ajayi shares how Cityblock adapted and scaled their community-based health services to meet covid-specific needs, from on-demand in-home visits that follow COVID-19 safety guidelines, to one-on-one outreach to their most vulnerable members through culturally-competent telehealth visits and SMS communication.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content. Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.