The Scalpels & Spreadsheets Podcast

Most healthcare AI conversations focus on what was built. This one focused on what it actually takes to get it into the hands of people who need it. Kerry Weinberg (Founder & CEO of PhenoML ), Vitalay Fomin (Co-Founder & CEO of Numenos AI ), Timothy Martens (Co-Founder of Vaark Ventures ; Chief Medical Officer of uCTRL), and Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda (Founder & CEO of Vital Audio ) join...

What does it take to move healthcare AI from theory to operation? Martin Seneviratne, Co-CEO of R37 at R1 , joins Brittany Sigler, Founder of Bright Signal Consulting, for a fireside conversation exploring what it takes to deploy AI inside one of healthcare's most complex operational environments. After leaving DeepMind to co-found an AI-native healthcare startup, Martin now helps bring cutti...

Building one of Canada's leading AI-driven genetic medicines platform companies didn't happen without hard decisions, failed bets, and the willingness to pivot. Tom Masterson, Chief Operating Officer at Deep Genomics , joins Aman Desai to share the company's journey from early machine learning models to becoming a leader in AI-powered drug discovery. He reflects on the pivotal decis...

Bettina Xue Griffen, a Commercial Lawyer at Fasken, joins for a fireside chat on the legal and commercial realities of selling into healthcare. Drawing from her experience helping startups and scaleups navigate enterprise contracts, Bettina shares practical strategies for structuring pilot agreements, negotiating with healthcare organizations, pricing pilots, and avoiding the "pilot purgatory...

AI has become the biggest conversation in healthcare, but what does it mean if you already have a product in the market? Do you pivot to compete with AI native companies or stay steady? On the other side, will the speed and adaptability of AI-first startups remain an advantage as the technology matures? Bruno Ferrari (Head of Innovation at Light-it ), Otto Sipe (Co-Founder & CEO of Photon Heal...

CEO of HealthAI, Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite joins the S&S Podcast at Web Summit for a Special Edition to discuss the transformative role of AI in healthcare. Medical Doctor and former lawmaker, Dr. Ricardo Leite is the Founder and President of UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health and Chair of NOVA Center for Global Health.  In this podcast with Vijesh Vijayan, Ricardo discusses dru...

Nadav Shimoni, a physician turned investor is the Managing Partner at A-Squared Ventures, an early-stage digital health fund spanning Tel Aviv & NYC. He joins Moran Snir, a serial genomics entrepreneur and currently the co-founder & CEO of Nest Genomics, on stage for a fireside where both share their perspectives of a journey between a founder and investor of a growing healthcare company. ...

Miriam Paramore, Founder & CEO of RxUtility sits down with us to chat about why drug prices should be more affordable and why she is building in this space. In this conversation, Miriam covers the evolution of healthcare technology and its impact on prescription affordability, including what drives out-of-pocket drug costs. Miriam also discusses the launch of Mimi, the RxUtility AI companion,...

Kathleen Eva, Investor at StandUp Ventures, is joined by Stephanie Mouchbahani-Constance, Principal at KLI Capital, for a live conversation on what founders need to know about fundraising in 2026. Together, they unpack shifting investor expectations, AI-driven startup economics, changing growth benchmarks, defensibility, and the mistakes founders still make when raising capital. This episode offer...

Anmol Nagpal is the founder and CEO of Nospharma , a pre-clinical therapeutics company developing innovative treatments for rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorders.  Prior to this, Anmol was a founder in residence at District 3 where he coached several early-stage founders and worked with them on their venture’s strategy plans.  In this episode, Anmol shares how he spun out research from McGill...

Shafiq Vallani (Head of Canada at Redesign Health) is a seasoned venture capital investor, now supporting the next generation of healthcare ventures in Canada. He has built a reputation for identifying high-potential startups and driving them towards operational excellence and market leadership with his work at Redesign Health, a venture studio. In this episode, Shafiq shares a candid look at what...

Tim Clarke (CEO of tc Health Consulting) is a former Chief Innovation Officer at Aon Hewitt for Health & Benefits. He now draws from 20 years of experience to support local and international healthcare ventures looking to grow revenue streams in private healthcare. In this episode, Tim shares key lessons for early-stage healthtech founders on identifying the right customers, engaging payers, p...

Kristen Valdes, Founder & CEO of b.well Connected Health shares her extensive journey in healthcare, highlighting her experiences from being a healthcare executive to founding b.well and more. She shares pivotal moments in healthcare innovation, particularly the impact of interoperability rules and the role of AI in transforming healthcare delivery. Hosted by Vijesh Vijayan.

As part of the Montreal Healthtech Social held on November 27, we were joined by Naomi Goldapple, the Senior Vice President of Data and Intelligence at AlayaCare, where she leads AI and data strategy to transform home healthcare.  With a non-linear career spanning IBM, multiple startups, and even a community cafe, she’s known for making bold moves that drive real impact in health tech. She talks a...

As part of the NYC Healthtech Social held on October 27, Vinodh Balaraman, a serial entrepreneur and Founder of Kolate AI, joined us for a fireside chat on how AI can improve clinical development and drug decision-making. Kolate AI is a precision medicine platform that predicts patient-level clinical events and therapy responses. The conversation explores why nearly 90% of clinical development fai...

As part of the NYC Healthtech Social held in October 2025, Jomi Cubol, Head of Design at Photon Health, joined us for a thoughtful conversation on why good design isn’t optional — even in healthcare. Jomi breaks down how he thinks about design by drawing parallels with the hospitality industry, exploring how empathy, anticipation, and user delight can transform healthcare experiences. He dives int...

As part of the Ctrl+Cure event held in Toronto August 2025, Mahshid Yassaei Joined us for a powerful fireside chat to share how Tali Ai is using AI to enhance a physician's workflow.  Mahshid talks about what she things the future of AI scribes looks like, how to navigate among noise and larger incumbents in a competive market and how finding your specific customers can help you grow. Check o...

Fireside chat from the She Speaks Health event held in Toronto July 2025. Caitlin McCabe brings deep expertise in customer success, with a focus on driving growth and long-term retention. She currently leads customer success at one of Canada’s top digital health companies, overseeing enterprise-level partnerships and helping teams scale sustainably by keeping customers engaged. She’s joined by Nee...

Fireside chat from the She Speaks Helath event held in Toronto July 2025. Francesca Passudetti a senior marketing manager at ALK Canada, where she shapes strategies that bring allergy care innovations to patients and providers. Previously, she was a product manager at Novo Nordisk, leading patient strategy. She’s joined by Tayler Hoffart, who brings deep experience in business operations and growt...

As part of the She Speaks Health event held in Toronto July 2025, Orchid Jahanshahi delivered a powerful keynote on how Canadians can lead the next big wave in pharma. Orchid is the founder of ThinkrBelle, an advisory firm bridging pharma and healthtech to drive smarter, faster innovation. With nearly 30 years in global pharma and a successful pivot into AI startups, she brings a rare blend of dee...

In this live panel episode, three leading VCs share how they evaluate and fund companies across healthtech, medtech, and biopharma — from pre-seed through Series C. Zeeshan Ali (MaRS IAF), Suman Rao (Lumira Ventures), and Timothy Sung (Esplanade Ventures) dive into storytelling for fundraising, what investors are looking for, how to prepare and make the most of your calls with investors, and how t...

Brian Gordon is the Senior Innovation Advisor at Innovation Canada (part of ISED Canada). Innovation canada works with canadian businesses on scaling within and outside of canada through various programs and non-dilutive funding. Brian has extensive experience helping healthtech and medtech companies grow, in corporate and advisory roles, and shares his insights and advice for current entrepreneur...

Marco Benitez is the CEO & Founder of ROOK. ROOK solves the challenge of wearable health data integration by providing its clients with clean and structured data sets through API. The implications are massive for insurance, digital health and pharmaceutical companies as ROOK enables them to focus on generating value for their end-users. Tune in to hear about how ROOK is looking to improve pred...

Kseniya Ponomareva is the Business Development Manager at EMedSupport. EMedSupport helps physicians make evidence-based decisions to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases and has offices in Cyprus and the UAE. Kseniya joined EMedSupport about a year ago after having had a career as a Product Manager at Sanofi. Kseniya moved to the UAE two years ago, and she shares her learnings about the scope...

Lauren Barker is the CEO of Uresta. Uresta is a Canadian female health organization that is looking to solve bladder leaks and urinary incontinence with an innovative health product. Lauren joined Uresta after having had a career in Investment Banking and Private Equity intrigued by positive impact Uresta could have on women’s health. Tune in to learn about Lauren’s journey into entrepreneurship a...