The Health Technology Podcast

If you’re an investor in biotechnology and MedTech companies, two things should always be at the top of your mind: trends and team dynamics. According to Andrew Farquharson , companies must be hitting relevant trends that will drive innovation and return for investors. They also have to exhibit good team collaboration, chemistry, and commitment.  As the Managing Director at InCube Venture , Andrew...

If you're intrigued by the intersection of healthcare and technology, two crucial elements should guide your attention: innovation and adaptability. Sean Mehra , with his unique blend of a biomedical engineering and pre-medicine background from Yale, coupled with an MBA from Stanford, perfectly embodies these traits. As a co-founder of HealthTap , a groundbreaking virtual healthcare platform, Sean...

When Rosalind Picard joined the MIT Media Lab faculty in 1991, she was given crucial advice—take risks. As a female engineer in a male-dominated field, Rosalind found the idea of venturing into the emotion-technology space | daunting, but she decided to take the risk anyways.  Since then, Rosalind has co-founded two companies and written a book about affective computing. Also known as artificial e...

When Sam Holliday embarked on his journey as the Co-founder & CEO of Oshi Health , he was driven by a powerful motivation—redefining healthcare around genuine patient needs. With personal ties to digestive health issues in his family, Sam saw the profound impact of quality, whole-person care firsthand. In today's episode, Sam shared his role in shaping a patient-centric future in GI care, disc...

A running theme on our podcast is how health technology can best improve the patient experience. At Ribbon Health , Nate Maslak brings a one-size-fits-all solution to the table: increasing patient access to information.  Costs, quality, and availability are just some of the factors influencing patients’ everyday healthcare decisions that remain widely unavailable in the system. By providing patien...

Brain-computer interfaces allow people with neurological diseases to control external devices, such as a robotic arm, using their minds alone. While the technology has existed for over twenty years, it has only recently moved into mainstream medical practice.  A company called Precision Neuroscience is pioneering this transition. Precision President and Chief Product Officer Craig Mermel understan...

What is the optimal level of intervention for a child with autism? How can we predict the outcome of the intervention? How many hours a week should we be spending on treatment? While these questions are often easily answered for predictable conditions like diabetes, they are much harder to pinpoint for behavioral health disabilities.  Co-founder and CEO of RethinkFirst , Daniel Etra , has identifi...

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, lawyer, or even an engineer, knowing how to tell your story can be critical to your success. Having worked in all these professions at one point in his life, Peter Socarras firmly believes this—and, he can attest to it. From patent attorney to Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Nevro, Peter’s multifaceted career trajectory has had one common deno...

While many of us have quickly adapted to a post-pandemic world, others are still reeling from its effects. For working parents, the pandemic revealed how juggling work with caregiving responsibilities can often be more of a burden than a joy.   At Magnify Ventures , Joanna Drake , the Co-Founder and Managing Partner, is shifting some of this burden to the care economy. She and her team invest in t...

Translating complex medical technology into usable products often requires a simplification process. It involves asking yourself the question: can this device be used by your average provider or patient?  While there’s no shortage of life-changing technologies in healthcare, not all of them have undergone the simplification process. That said, Sandeep Akkaraju is the Co-Founder and CEO of Exo Imag...

In today’s highly regulated privacy landscape, figuring out how to access personal healthcare data while ensuring privacy protection is almost impossible. As a result, innovative companies are severely limited in developing breakthrough clinical solutions dependent on data.  Luckily, Riddhiman Das came up with a solution. As the Co-founder of Triple Blind , Das enables companies to access data wit...

As a female founder, investor, and advisor, Yasi Baiani sets the standard for women across industries. Yasi started investing in healthtech after realizing that money wasn't her only driver. Since then, she's helped to change millions of people's lives through radical technological innovations. Yasi is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Raya and previously worked as the SVP of Product at...

As healthcare moves away from its traditional brick-and-mortar roots, experts are redefining how they measure and improve health. One such expert is Deb Kilpatrick , Board Executive Chair of Evidation Health.  At Evidation, Deb takes health assessment out of the clinic and integrates it into people’s daily lives. With a focus on person-generated health data (PGHD), Evidation empowers individuals t...

How is it that opioid overdose is the number one cause of death for Americans under 50, but over 80% of people struggling with opioid addiction can't get access to care? Zack Gray calls this the treatment gap. To him, the problem isn't a lack of quality treatment but a lack of access to treatment. At Ophelia , Zack places evidence-based care in the hands of those who need it the most. By lowering...

The road to recovery doesn’t always end in the hospital for patients with neu – rO-  logic- al diseases. In fact, their time in rehab centers and at home are critical for long-term improvement.  At MindMaze , Patricia Bradley brings her leadership and marketing expertise to the health tech arena. With a diverse background in Pharma and digital health, Patricia is scaling a comprehensive solution f...

What is the best antidote for behavioral health? How do we measure progress on our intangible roadblocks of our emotional, psychological, and social well-being? My guest today is Alon Joffe , co-founder and CEO of Eleos Health . They aim to empower providers by providing them with a clinical summarization of behavioral care sessions. Using Natural Language Understanding (NLU) technology, Eleos Hea...

Imagine if all medications worked like Tylenol: their prices stayed the same for all customers regardless of insurance type or employer. Co-founder and CEO of Capital Rx , A. J. Loiacono , is making this a reality by revolutionizing the role of PBMs.  Loiacono realizes the complexity of the drug pricing market for average consumers. He understands that many lack transparency and take advantage of...

Undoubtedly, women are chronically underrepresented in technology and venture capital. At Pivotal Ventures, Erin Harkless Moore seeks to fill the gender gap we know all too well.  Throughout her investing career, Erin has consistently aligned her values with her work. Social impact has always been a priority but became especially urgent when she transitioned to venture. As the Investments Director...

ChatGPT is bringing artificial intelligence to the forefront of the conversation. David Hanson , founder and CEO of Hanson Robotics , is with us today to discuss a different but equally-as-important application for AI.  David is on a quest to humanize his robots by making them more accessible to the average consumer. He believes that robots as general-purpose platforms are critical for the future...

Health insurance can be a complicated topic. With years of experience working in the health insurance market, our guest, Richard Lungen, is here to answer our questions about the complexities of the provider network side of healthcare. Richard founded Leverage Health Solutions and is a General Partner at HC9 Ventures. His extensive background in the healthcare industry and vast knowledge of US hea...

We all know that waiting in line for your medication can be a slow and frustrating process. But with the rise of specialty pharmacies, we are beginning to see faster and easier access to certain medications.   Co-Founder and CEO of House Rx, Ogi Kavazovic , is here with us to explain the inner workings of this 250 billion-plus dollar market. With twenty years of experience working in tech startups...

Getting startups off the ground is a challenging task. Founder of Companion Medical and CEO of Beta Bionics, Sean Saint , tells us how he became a successful health tech founder in the diabetes care industry. From graduating with a mechanical engineering degree to founding companies with radical diabetes solutions, Sean made a lasting mark with the first insulin smart pen. Along the way, he’s lear...

Dr. David Mou is the CEO of Cerebral, a leading tele-mental health company devoted to improving access to quality care. Despite a recent lawsuit involving its former CEO, Cerebral remains steadfast in its mission. In addition to leading Cerebral, David is a Harvard Medical School faculty member and Director of the Innovations Council for Massachusetts General Hospital's Psychiatry Department. In t...

What do you get when you mix a doctor’s caring heart and a businessman's entrepreneurial mind? Well, you would get Brad Hirsch , a medical oncologist who is now the Head of Product & Implementation, at Verily, a healthcare technology solutions company. From serving as Senior Medical Director at Flatiron Health to serving on faculty at Duke University, Brad has really done it all. Brad has put toge...

Have you ever wondered what the medical billing codes behind your healthcare bills were? How was your bill determined? Well, you’re in luck! Our guest int his episode is Tamar Thompson , Avidity Bioscience Director and Vice President, Head of Corporate Affairs of Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, who is the expert on medical billing codes. Tamar talks about her journey toward her current position...