Tag Archives: Innovation

Inside the Alzheimer’s Moonshot Impact Board: This Health Moonshot Community Inspires Optimism

Why Dr. Craig Ritchie Brings Optimism to StartUp Health’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot Impact Board



This episode of StartUp Health NOW challenges your perception of Alzheimer’s in another in our series of conversations with our Alzheimer’s Moonshot Impact Board. This week’s guest is Craig Ritchie, MD, PhD, CEO & Founder of Scottish Brain Sciences and a Professor at University of St. Andrews.

  • A new view of Alzheimer’s: Discover the distinction between what Dr. Ritchie calls Alzheimer’s disease vs Alzheimer’s dementia.
  • The invisible threat: Learn how Alzheimer’s can exist without noticeable symptoms, impacting younger individuals.
  • Shifting the research focus: Explore the importance of studying pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s for effective treatment.
  • Unleashing innovation: Gain insights into Dr. Ritchie’s optimism for StartUp Health’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot Community.

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re interested in the latest Alzheimer’s research.
  • You want to understand the different stages of Alzheimer’s.
  • You’re curious about the power of collaboration in tackling Alzheimer’s.

Want even more about Alzheimer’s disease innovation?

Join us as we redefine Alzheimer’s and ignite hope for a future free from dementia!


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Gates Ventures, Kristina Malzbender: Insider the Alzheimer's Moonshot Impact Board

Gates Ventures’ Kristina Malzbender Joins Alzheimer’s Moonshot Impact Board



Hope on the Horizon: A New Era of Alzheimer’s Innovation

This episode of StartUp Health NOW dives deep into the fight against Alzheimer’s disease in the second in our series of conversations with our Alzheimer’s Moonshot Impact Board. Join us as we chat with Kristina Malzbender, the Associate Director, Health & Life Sciences, at Gates Ventures. Hear from this key leader about the concrete realities behind the optimism in Alzheimer’s innovation.

  • A century of relentless pursuit: Learn how the tide is turning after decades of dedicated research.
  • Early detection, slowed progression, and even potential cures: Explore exciting advancements in Alzheimer’s treatment.
  • Gates Ventures and the Diagnostic Accelerator (DxA): Find out how Gates Ventures and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) are supporting companies and academic researchers developing novel biomarkers and diagnostics for Alzheimer’s.
  • Introducing StartUp Health’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot: Discover a powerful collaboration aimed at accelerating progress

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re passionate about Alzheimer’s disease.
  • You’re curious about the latest advancements in dementia research.
  • You want to learn how you can contribute to the fight against Alzheimer’s.

Want even more about Alzheimer’s disease innovation?

Join us as we ignite hope for the future of Alzheimer’s innovation!


 

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Taking a Breath of Fresh Air: Innovation in Respiratory Health



This episode of StartUp Health NOW shines a light on respiratory health with guest Sathya Elumalai, CEO & Co-founder of Aidar Health – a long-time member of the StartUp Health community.

  • The power of breath: Explore how Elumalai’s company, Aidar Health, is revolutionizing respiratory health with their innovative MouthLab device.
  • More than just a breathalyzer: Discover how MouthLab measures over 10 vital signs, opening doors for future biometric applications.
  • Combating COPD: Learn how Aidar Health’s technology tackles chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a debilitating lung condition.

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re interested in healthcare innovation.
  • You’re curious about the future of respiratory health.
  • You want to learn about the power of breath in health monitoring.

Get ready to be inspired by the future of lung health!


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our new Alzheimer’s Moonshot.

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Inside the Health Moonshot Impact Board: A Conversation with Microsoft & the ADA on Global Health Innovation



This StartUp Health NOW episode features two key members of StartUp Health’s Health Moonshot Impact Board: Kimmi Grewal and Chuck Henderson.

Kimmi Grewal, Microsoft:

  • Learn how Microsoft helps startups scale globally, tackle security challenges, and leverage AI.
  • Discover how Kimmi’s experience informs StartUp Health’s approach to supporting early-stage healthcare ventures.

Chuck Henderson, American Diabetes Association:

  • Explore how Chuck’s leadership is shaping StartUp Health’s vision for tackling metabolic disorders.
  • Gain insights into the power of collaboration between established organizations and healthcare startups.

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re interested in healthcare innovation.
  • You’re curious about the role of collaboration in tackling health challenges.
  • You want to learn from inspiring leaders in the healthcare space.

Get ready to be inspired by the future of healthcare!


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our new Alzheimer’s Moonshot.

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AI in Healthcare: Separating Hype from Reality on the Front Lines



Tired of overblown claims about AI in healthcare?
This episode dives into the real, impactful ways AI is transforming patient care.

Join us as we chat with founders in the StartUp Health community who are using AI to improve healthcare for patients and providers:

  • Jerrod Ullah, HealthTalk A.I.: Hear how his experience as an ICU nurse fueled an AI platform that boosts engagement for both patients and providers.
  • Kavi Misri, Hibiscus Health: Discover how their end-to-end solution empowers people with metabolic conditions to take control of their health.

This episode is for you if:

  • You’re curious about the practical applications of AI in healthcare.
  • You want to hear inspiring stories from healthcare entrepreneurs.
  • You’re eager to learn how AI can improve patient outcomes.

Get ready for a refreshing take on AI in healthcare!


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our new Alzheimer’s Moonshot.

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Remote Work, Compensation, and Age Dynamics: Unpacking Digital Health Workforce Trends



In this week’s StartUp Health NOW episode, we’re talking about work. Specifically the digital health workforce, and we’re talking with the one and only Polina Hanin, Senior Principal & Head of Development at Aequitas Partners.

Here at StartUp Health, we had the pleasure of working with Polina for several years, and it’s unlikely anyone has a better grasp on the digital health ecosystem. She’s worked with hundreds of founders and executives across healthcare. When she moved over to Aequitas, an executive recruiting firm in the digital health space, we knew she was going to continue to help a lot of people.

One thing she did, and the reason behind this interview, is launch the industry’s first – and certainly most comprehensive – workforce survey. If you work in digital health, you’ve probably seen information about it in your inbox.

In our conversation, which took place at ViVE in Los Angeles, we get into exactly what Polina has learned after four years of conducting this workforce survey. Particularly of interest were the trends around remote work compensation, attitudes towards hiring remote workers, and how work priorities shift as we age.

Lets get right into it.



Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our new Alzheimer’s Moonshot.

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How Two Founders Raised Millions During a Challenging Funding Market



As a healthcare startup, you can have the best idea in the world, but if you don’t have the capital to hire the right people, build your product, and survive a long sales cycle, you’re unlikely to have a huge impact. To put it simply, raising funds has been challenging for health startups over the last couple years.

In this StartUp Health NOW episode, we dive into the realm of funding challenges – and despite the hurdles, we bring you tales of hope and inspiration from two founders who successfully raised significant early capital.

First up is Matt Swanson, CEO & Co-founder of Reciprocity Health. Reciprocity Health – which joined the StartUp Health community in 2023 shortly after their launch – offers personalized digital programs with financial incentives for completing health actions, aiming to improve patient engagement. Despite being in business for just one year, Swanson and his team secured more than $5 million in funding to expand their innovative financial incentive program. Swanson shares the critical elements that paved the way for their successful first raise.

Next, we sit down with Anton Kittelberger, Co-CEO & Co-founder of 9amHealth. 9amHealth – which joined StartUp Health in 2022 – offers comprehensive care for chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity through a virtual clinic. Kittelberger and his team recently closed a substantial $9.5 million Series A extension, leveraging a unique leadership structure and capitalizing on emerging trends in the healthcare market. Discover how they navigated the challenges and capitalized on opportunities to propel their virtual clinic for cardiometabolic conditions to new heights.

Join us as we uncover the strategies, insights, and stories behind these funding successes. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this episode offers invaluable lessons and inspiration for anyone navigating the healthcare startup landscape. Tune in and get ready to be inspired!


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our new Alzheimer’s Moonshot.

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Inside the Health Moonshot Impact Board: Esther Dyson & Roger Jansen Get Candid on Health Innovation



Welcome back to StartUp Health NOW!

We think it’s fair to say that when people think of StartUp Health, they think about entrepreneurs and founders. Over the last 12 or 13 years we’ve supported more than 500 health tech startups and nearly 1000 founders, many of whom have been featured on this show.

Perhaps less well known is what happens behind the scenes at StartUp Health. In this episode we pull back that curtain a little bit, particularly as it pertains to our Health Moonshot Impact Board. We’ve got this advisory team of about 17 amazing individuals across multiple disciplines. These are people like Dr. Toby Cosgrove, former head of the Cleveland Clinic; Chuck Henderson, the CEO of the American Diabetes Association; and Sue Siegel, former head of GE Ventures – just to name three. You can see the whole Health Moonshot Impact Board here on our website.

Recently, we brought together our Health Moonshot Impact Board in real life at the Lake Nona Impact Forum in Florida. Not only did the team get to learn from luminaries like Jeff Bezos, David Feinberg, and Peter Lee, but they got to go deeper on ideas with one another.

In the spirit of encouraging a more radically collaborative impact board, we decided to flip the script a bit and have members of our board interview one another for this podcast. The hope was that this would lead to some unexpected lines of questioning and some uniquely candid moments.

The first conversation in this series is between Esther Dyson, legendary angel investor and founder of Wellville, and Roger Jansen, PhD, the Chief Innovation & Digital Health Officer at Michigan State University Health Care. The conversation was just as wide-ranging and unstructured as we hoped it would be, and it touched on some incredibly powerful topics.

We hope you enjoy.


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our new Alzheimer’s Moonshot.
Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? Learn how you can get one of the last spots in our T1D Moonshot.

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Qura’s Tiny Implantables Could Revolutionize How We Treat Hypertension



When it comes to health technology, often the next big thing is really, really small.

Our guest on the show this week, Dr. Will Hendren, has seen personally that when it comes to implanting a medical device in the body, size matters.

Dr. Hendren spent decades as a surgeon working with rescue devices like pacemakers, which themselves have evolved from being the size of a pack of cigarettes to being smaller than a triple A battery. It doesn’t take a degree in biomechanical engineering to appreciate that you want a lower profile machine sitting next to your heart.

Now, with his company Qura – a member of the StartUp Health community since 2016 – Dr. Hendren is taking that concept to the next level. He and his team are the leading edge of miniaturizing medical devices to such an extreme degree that it opens up a whole new market for remote patient monitoring.

In our interview we’ll talk about how Dr. Hendren and his team have built an implantable the size of a vitamin that can take blood pressure readings passively and transmit that information to the patient and their caregiver wirelessly. We’ll talk about some of the tiny tech that it was necessary to invent in order to make this breakthrough possible, and we’ll talk about how remote monitoring at scale could be a gamechanger for hypertension and heart disease, which are two of the top causes of death globally.

Let’s get into it!


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our Alzheimer’s Moonshot.
Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? Learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Want more content like this? Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

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Collaborative Innovation Within Health Systems: Wisdom From an EVP & Chief Digital Officer



At StartUp Health, we get the pleasure of talking with many, many founders of healthcare startups. It’s a perk of the job, because each founder, each new idea, inspires us and gives us hope that we’re on the cusp of some major breakthroughs.

Then reality sets in, and we’re reminded just how hard it is to go from an idea – even a brilliant one with validation – to commercialization and broad use. It’s one thing for a founder to find a single clinic to use their platform or device, but a common question is: How do you get your startup adopted at a large hospital, or better yet, a hospital system? Do you just call up the Chief Digital Officer, or Chief Innovation Officer, and they’ll get it sorted?

Not exactly, according to our guest today. For one thing, the role of hospital’s Chief Digital Officer has changed dramatically.

Sara Vaezy is Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Digital Officer for Providence, where she is responsible for system strategy and digital innovation for the integrated delivery network (IDN), which includes 52 hospitals and 1,085 clinics and serves over 5 million unique patients.

So, how can a startup work with a hospital system effectively? What do hospitals look for in a startup and what are some of the red flags for a project that’s going nowhere? And what are the greatest pain points for which hospitals are actively seeking solutions?

To answer these questions, we invited Vaezy onto a Masterclass, which are virtual sessions we hold in front of a live audience of founders from the StartUp Health community. We’ve cut the session down to share the highlights with you, and we’ve included some of the founder questions from the Q&A as well, since they are very practical and relevant.

Let’s dive in!


Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our Alzheimer’s Moonshot.
Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? Learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Want more content like this? Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

FundersBecome a Health Moonshot Champion