Tag Archives: mental health

Unpluq Helps People Get Off Their Screens and Back into Life

May 3, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedDigital Health, Health Moonshots, Health Transformers, Innovation, Logan Plaster, mental health, Mental Health & Happiness, Mental Health and Happiness, mental wellness, Wellbeing, wellnessNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:10 — 22.1MB)

Our StartUp Health NOW guest this week is Caroline Cadwell, the CEO and Co-founder of Unpluq – a Dutch company that joined StartUp Health in 2021.

Unpluq is on a mission to empower people to change their digital habits and improve their wellbeing.

Cadwell and her team have designed a consumer-facing device and platform that helps people regain control and intentionality with their time. They’re pushing back against a world where attention span is eroding, which has contributed to lower feelings of wellbeing and a decline in executive function.

Listen in to hear how they’ve tackled the problem.

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Affectifi’s ThinkHuman Platform Uses Streaming TV to Make Emotional Regulation Easy, Fun, and Accessible

August 30, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedAffectifi, Health Moonshot, Health Transformers, Ilya Lyashevsky, Logan Plaster, Melissa Cesarano, mental health, Mental Health & Happiness, ThinkHumanNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:47 — 49.2MB)

Emotional regulation. It’s a fancy term for something very simple, and something we often take for granted. Emotional regulation is a person’s ability to effectively manage and respond to an emotional experience. We do this work unconsciously all day long, deciding how to respond when we’re cut off in traffic or when we see something we disagree with on social media.

How we respond to emotional situations can have massive ramifications for our lives, yet we don’t typically spend much time thinking about it or trying to improve.

Our guests this week, Melissa Cesarano and Ilya Lyashevsky, got their PhDs at Columbia University studying the science of this field, called social-emotional learning. Now, they’ve poured their academic work into a startup called Affectifi, which StartUp Health backed last year.

In this conversation, we’ll hear from Mel and Ilya about their unique methodology for teaching emotional regulation to young people. It’s a platform called ThinkHuman and it actually piggy-backs training modules on top of popular content on streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+.

Listen in to hear how it works.

Learn more and connect with the team at Affectifi.

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Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary of Wise Therapeutics Shares How to Use Your Anxiety to Thrive

July 26, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Startupsanxiety, Dr Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Health Moonshots, Health Transformer, Logan Plaster, mental health, Moonshots, Personal Zen, Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Wise Therapeutics, Wise TxNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:55 — 16.8MB)

Our guest this week, Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, PhD, doesn’t pull any punches. She’s the co-founder of Wise Therapeutics, which joined StartUp Health last year, and author of the new book Why Anxiety is Good for You (Even Though it Feels Bad).

As you’ll hear in the interview, Dr. Dennis-Tiwary is on a bold mission to change how society thinks about anxiety, so that millions of people can thrive in the face of adversity rather than settling for being comfortably numb. She’ll also explain how her work in digital therapeutics uses simple mobile games to help people rewire their brains. Wise Therapeutics’ research-backed app – called Personal Zen – trains users to make more positive subconscious choices, one swipe at a time.

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Learn more and connect with the team at Wise Therapeutics.

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Health Transformers Live: Gray Oncology Solutions, Gennev, AvoMD, Valera Health

April 5, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups2022 StartUp Health Festival, Access to care, Cancer, Cure Disease, End Cancer, Health Moonshots, Lauren Schafer, mental health, Moonshots, StartUp Health @ ViVE, StartUp Health Festival, ViVE 2022, ViVE Miami, womens healthNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:29 — 17.9MB)

This week we wanted to break from our typical format and introduce you to four inspiring founders from the StartUp Health portfolio.

This episode is excerpted from an on-stage Health Transformer discussion that was held at the StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE in Miami Beach in March. You’ll hear from André Diamant, PhD, CEO & Founder of Gray Oncology Solutions, about how they’re improving efficiency in cancer care. Jill Angelo, CEO & Founder of Gennev, talks about how they’re improving women’s health in their post-reproductive years. Yair Saperstein, MD, CEO & Co-founder of AvoMD, explains how they’re crowdsourcing knowledge in order to put the best decision support tools in the palm of the physician’s hand. And finally, Tom Tsang, MD, CEO & Co-founder of Valera Health, explains how his company is bringing comprehensive mental health services to the virtual healthcare ecosystem.

The session was hosted by Lauren Schafer from StartUp Health. In addition to sharing the moonshot missions of each of their companies, they talk about changes seen in health innovation due to COVID’s impact, their biggest messages for partners and investors, and more.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

These Three Founders Are Upgrading the Mental Health Toolkit

July 27, 2021Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups, UncategorizedAreva Martin, Butterflly Health, Health Moonshot Series, India Edwards, kavi misri, Logan Plaster, mental health, Mental Health & Happiness, Richard Hanbury, Rose Health, Sana HealthStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:17 — 34.7MB)

This episode is part of our monthly Health Moonshot series. Last month it was all about brain health, today, we’re talking about founders and companies rethinking mental health and happiness. Areva Martin, CEO & Co-founder of Butterflly Health, has built a behavioral health platform that provides users with peer-to-peer support, therapist matching, access to coaching, and more. Kavi Misri, CEO & Founder of Rose Health, provides evidence-based mental health care for patients and providers on a platform built with tools and technology designed with the patient in mind. Lastly, Richard Hanbury, CEO & Founder of Sana Health, has developed a non-addictive simple mask and headphones that uses audiovisual stimulation to increase the balance between the left and right sides of the brain leading to greater relaxation.

In this episode, co-hosted by Logan Plaster and India Edwards, the three entrepreneurs break down their innovative solutions and how they’re advancing mental healthcare.

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For Margaret Laws, Innovation Springs From Co-Creation

May 4, 2021Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups, UncategorizedAdolescent Health, adolescents, California Health Care Foundation, child health, HopeLab, Margaret Laws, mental health, mental illness, Steven KreinStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:29 — 73.5MB)

Longtime friend of StartUp Health Margaret Laws has built a career on cross-sector, interdisciplinary partnerships. For 17 years, she served as the Director of Public Financing and Policy and the Director of Innovation for the Underserved program at the California Health Care Foundation. Today, as CEO and President of HopeLab, a social innovation lab founded and funded by the creators of eBay, she’s shifted her focus toward improving the health and wellbeing of adolescents. HopeLab’s multifactorial approach seeks to broach the many systemic and structural causes of mental illness in young people: “If there’s one thing that really requires multi-sectoral collaboration, this is it,” Laws says. At a recent Fireside Chat with StartUp Health co-founder Steven Krein, Laws explained how HopeLab’s uniquely holistic approach allows the company to tackle challenges from every angle.

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Former NFL Wide Receiver Torrey Smith Partners With Rose Health to Promote Mental Health Resilience

December 2, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsBaltimore Ravens, Eagles, Football, Logan Plaster, mental health, NFL, Niners, Panthers, Ravens, Rose, Rose app, Rose Health, Rose Smarter Health, StartUp Health, Super Bowl, Torrey SmithStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:23 — 26.6MB)

This week, two-time Super Bowl Champion and former Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith announced that he was joining mental health startup Rose Health as an ambassador and investor. On this episode, StartUp Health’s Logan Plaster catches up with Torrey to learn about life after the NFL, and why it was important for him to become an advocate for mental health resilience.

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How LifeBio Is Using the Power of Storytelling to Improve Mental Health for Seniors

November 10, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedBeth Sanders, coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19, elder care, Healthy Longevity, LifeBio, Logan Plaster, Loneliness, Longevity, memory care, mental health, Pandemic Response, senior, StartUp HealthStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:52 — 42.4MB)

In 2020, the coronavirus caused a societal lock-down like this generation has never seen before. Many who were already isolated and lonely — like seniors – were put into a desperate situation. Beth Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of LifeBio, a startup that’s been with StartUp Health since 2014, has always had a heart for isolated and lonely seniors. She’d worked with them for years, helping them to tell their stories, using what’s called reminiscence therapy. But COVID-19 put LifeBio and this important work into overdrive. Not only was the work needed more than ever, but LifeBio was able to connect the dots between fighting loneliness and improving health outcomes. Turns out a phone call with a trained conversationalist can fight depression, anxiety and keep you mentally nimble. Their findings got the attention of health systems, insurance companies, and even won them a coveted SBIR grant. Logan Plaster, Media Director at StartUp Health, caught up with Sanders to learn more about how LifeBio works and the critical role of storytelling in healthcare in a post-COVID world.

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Kavi Misri on Rose’s High Tech Approach to Predicting Depression and Expanding Access to Mental Health Services

September 22, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups#mentalhealthawarenessmonth, anxiety, depression, Health Startup, kavi misri, Logan Plaster, mental health, mental wellness, mood, mood disorder, Rose, Rose Smarter Health, StartUp Health, StartUp Health NowStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:47 — 26.6MB)

Working 80 to 100 hours a week for 7 years in healthcare investment banking finally caught up to Kavi Misri, founder and CEO of Rose. Like many, he found himself burned out, depressed and in need of help. Looking for answers, Kavi was struck by how difficult it was for him to get basic mental health care. Knowing there had to be a better way, he founded Rose. Using natural language processing and deep learning to predict depression and mood disorder symptoms, Kavi and his team have created a high tech approach to assessing and predicting a patient’s mental health faster.

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One Health Transformer’s Decades-Long Journey to Cure Chronic Pain

August 18, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAddiction, chronic pain, Cure Disease, Logan Plaster, mental health, neuromodulation, Richard Hanbury, Sana Health, Startup, StartUp Health, wearablesStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:30 — 25.9MB)

23 years ago a car accident left Richard Hanbury with debilitating nerve pain that was so bad he was given just five years to live. While in recovery, he realized that a film was doing something to his brain that was providing greater pain relief than the morphine he was prescribed. It was this accidental discovery that inspired Hanbury to learn how he could use external neuromodulation to hack his own brain and cure his chronic pain. In this episode, StartUp Health’s Editor-in-Chief Logan Plaster sits down with Hanbury, CEO & Founder of Sana Health, to discuss his wearable device that reproduces that same neuromodulation in an effort to end all chronic pain.

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