Healthy Returns

Show Notes: Young Futures (YF) was started with one goal in mind: to provide a social compass for young people and their families navigating the digital age. Backed by Melinda Gates’s Pivotal Ventures , the Susan Crown Exchange , and The Goodness Web , Katya Hancock and her team at YF support non-profits and grassroots organizations working to help teens thrive in our tech-driven world. Each year,...

Show Notes: Healthcare is fragmented—for women, children, chronic condition patients, and for teens. In the U.S., there are approximately 70 million adolescents, yet only about 500 active professionals specialize in adolescent medicine. With so few specialists available, teens are often forced to piece together their own health, receiving fragmented care from school nurses, sports teams, pediatric...

Show Notes: The connection between the gut and brain has been well-established in science. After all, 90% of serotonin, the “feel good” chemical, is produced in the gut. Recent findings, however, have also proven a link between the human microbiome and bone health, immune health, eye health, and even muscular health—making gut and gastrointestinal health extremely important for overall wellbeing....

Show Notes: Prescribing medications is hard. Clinical guidelines are constantly changing, new drugs come onto the market every day, and today’s patients require personalized treatments. That’s why today’s guest, Athena Doshi , created Celeste . Celeste is an AI-enabled pharmacist co-pilot for clinicians, supporting personalized drug selection, dose optimization, and medication therapy management f...

Show Notes: What does health insurance have to do with the innovation? According to today’s guest,— Amanda Joseph —everything! Amanda is a Principal at American Family Ventures where she invests at the intersection of healthcare, insurance, and startups. She brings years of healthcare experience to her current role, having worked at insurance behemoth HCSC and value-based care startup Lumeris. Tod...

Show Notes: Dan Gluck knows a thing or two about health and wellness. He’s a former Division I collegiate tennis player, co-founder of superfood CPG company Health Warrior , and frequent Iron Man and Spartan Race athlete. Bridging his experience in institutional investing and operating in the health and wellness space, Dan is currently the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GroundForce Capital . G...

Show Notes: At just seven months old, Phil Southerland was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes. At the time, this was the youngest recorded case of diabetes and his parents were told he’d be dead or blind by 2025. Fast forward to today: He is the Founder and CEO of Supersapiens —a continuous glucose monitoring platform built to optimize glucose regulation for performance. After seeing the power of cons...

Show Notes: A decade ago, digital health was synonymous with telemedicine but today, digital health is so much more. Today’s guest, Dr. Ami Bhatt , has spearheaded this evolution, reshaping cardiovascular medicine through health innovation. Dr. Bhatt is the Chief Innovation Officer for the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Since launching her first virtual care program in 2013, she has been le...

Show Notes: The market for health-centric consumer packaged goods (CPGs) is both vast and confusing. Some products claim wellness, yet lack basic clinical evidence. Other products are genuinely healthy but struggle to curate messaging that resonates with consumers. Today’s guest Daniel Faierman —GP of Vitality Ventures and Director of Finance at Forum Brands —reveals what he looks for when investi...

Show Notes: Are preventive cancer screenings cost-effective? Why don’t certain providers treat poor patients? What’s the deal with whole-body MRIs? Does private equity make healthcare better or worse? Do not-for-profit hospitals make a profit? In today’s episode, Howard Forman, M.D., MBA —a healthcare economist and practicing clinician at Yale University —answers all these questions and more. He h...

Show Notes: Thousands of venture firms invest in biotech and healthcare startups, but very few have an investment thesis around public health. Chronic underfunding by the government and the private sector has left populations suffering poor health outcomes largely determined by factors upstream of a doctor’s office. Today’s guest Gurdane Bhutani , Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MBX Capital inv...

Show Notes: Whether through wearables, health apps, or at-home testing kits, we have the potential to collect many unique data points about our bodies. Still, 1 in 5 women report feeling ignored by their doctors and their symptoms dismissed. Noelle Acosta , Co-founder and CEO of Noula , found herself to be that 1 in 5. After spending months reading research papers and ordering home testing kits, s...

Show Notes: “You don’t need healthcare unless you are sexually active”. That’s the message young women receive from women's healthcare once they age out of pediatrics. What has resulted is a patient population of over 21 million women overlooked and left to navigate a system primarily centered around preventing or managing pregnancy on their own. Today’s guest, Jennifer Newell built Betty's Co. to...

Show Notes: The media paints a polarizing picture of GLP-1 drugs, sometimes at the cost of obese patients who may actually benefit from medications. Today’s guest, Dr. Katherine Saunders , Co-Founder of Intellihealth , sets the record straight on all things pharmacology, lifestyle interventions, and insurance coverage. 42% of Americans are obese, yet Dr. Saunders is one of less than 120 obesity fe...

Show Notes: Healthcare is broken, and legacy incumbents have been notoriously slow to make changes. Seeing promising solutions in the startup ecosystem, today’s guest Jess Schram chose a career in venture capital to be closest to the companies at the cusp of healthcare innovation. Jess is currently the Director of Investments & Incubations at Remedy Product Studio , having previously worked at Swi...

Show Notes: Even as a primary care physician, Dr. Tara Bishop always knew she wanted to do something to improve healthcare beyond seeing patients. For her, that meant moving from her medical practice into the health innovation ecosystem, becoming Chief Clinical Officer at health insurance startup Surest, and most recently launching her own venture fund. With a background in engineering, Dr. Bishop...

Show Notes: Millennials are accessing care very differently from previous generations. They want healthcare on their schedule that is destigmatized, holistic, and affordable. hims & hers is meeting that demand by providing comprehensive care for formerly stigmatized conditions like sexual health, mental health, hair loss, and dermatology. Younger demographics are also becoming more proactive about...

Show Notes: Joshua Bonhotal doesn’t set goals, he makes declarations. His willingness to color outside the lines has shaped his unconventional career path, going from an intern at the Chicago Bulls to a founding member of Future to Head of Human Performance Investing at TXV. While building Future , Josh brought his expertise in cultivating a strong client-coach relationship to the user experience....

Show Notes: A former D1 tennis player, CrossFitter, and strength coach, Jim Crowell has always understood his “why” for living a healthy lifestyle. He is now leveraging these unique experiences and skill sets to fund innovation in the fitness and wellness industry. As Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The SageHouse, Jim helps fitness companies “Go farther, faster”. Structured as a holding company...

Show Notes: People don’t like going to the doctor’s office. Dr. Ryan Greene of Monarch Athletic Club is changing that by re-inventing the primary care experience. Monarch is a wellness club with a board-certified care team that supports members through all aspects of health. With a background in allopathic and osteopathic medicine, Dr. Ryan Greene brings expertise in both clinical and lifestyle me...

Show Notes: Playing the US Open at only 15 years old, CiCi Bellis is no stranger to performing under pressure. She brings these experiences as a professional tennis player — leading a team, weighing risks and returns, focusing on optimizing health and performance — to her new role as Managing Partner at Cartan Capital . Eyeing the sports and health tech markets, Cartan Capital invests in companies...

Show Notes: Calley Means, Founder of TrueMed , has an education in policy that informs his understanding of incentives in modern-day healthcare. While hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and insurers rely on patients getting sick, Calley hopes to change this backward system by prescribing food, exercise, and sleep as medicine. His company leverages HSA/FSA funds to subsidize healthy brands, creat...

Show Notes: For Brian Ferguson, CEO of Arena Labs , patient safety means supporting clinician wellbeing. Brian’s career has been dedicated to service, highlighted by his time at the White House as an appointee in the office of the Secretary of Defense as well as 7 years as an officer in the Navy. Influenced by the insights gained from biometrics and wearable technologies while in the military, Are...