Doctors in Business

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Siyu Shi, MD, MBA. Dr. Shi is an investor at venture capital firm F-Prime Capital. She has over 10 portfolio companies, across healthcare sub sectors including MedTech, IT, and therapeutics, in which she led or co-led the investment. She also collaborates with Eight Roads, F-Prime’s sister company, based in Asia to work with Chinese startups. She talks about her experience both as an internal operator and an outside investor and why she ultimately chose F-Prime. This episode ought to be of interest to anyone interested in becoming a physician entrepreneur and in understanding how a hard science background can be useful for a career in finance.

Follow us on Twitter @doctorsinbiz to meet more creative doctors!

This episode was hosted and edited by David Park.

Timestamps

(01:10) Why choose a business career over residency?

(02:25) Working as a founder vs. investor

(03:40) Transferable skills of science to venture capital investing

(05:10) F-Prime’s investment capabilities and range

(06:04) Eight Roads and working with Chinese startups

(07:59) Sourcing startups

(08:40) F-Prime’s differentiator within the VC industry

(09:51) AI hype

(11:11) Engrail Therapeutics: most recent investment

(13:10) Startup accelerators at Stanford

(15:52) Assessing entrepreneurial DNA

(16:44) IPO successes

(19:02) Advice for future investors and founders

(19:55) Weightlifting

In this episode, our guest is Dr. John Whyte, MD, MPH, and CMO of WebMD. Dr. Whyte brings years of experience from working for the FDA, CMS, and Discovery Channel to WebMD and helps create high level strategy. Focusing on healthcare mis/information, we discussed the role of AI, drug advertising, challenges during the pandemic, and consumerism in healthcare. This episode ought to be of interest to anyone interested in taking agency over their health information or becoming a physician-businessperson.

Follow us on Twitter @doctorsinbiz to meet more creative doctors!

This episode was hosted and edited by David Park.

Timestamps

(01:08) Role of CMO at WebMD

(02:17) Balancing corporate and clinical work

(06:10) Med school to health policy space

(08:45) Choosing the right content for WebMD

(11:35) AI in healthcare delivery

(14:35) Health is wealth

(15:30) Growth strategies and initiatives

(18:31) Direct-to-consumer drug advertising

(21:55) Misinformation and transparency

(24:23) Data trends from search engines

(26:29) Challenges and opportunities during the pandemic

(27:45) Controlling social media algorithms

(33:03) Retail healthcare and consumerism

(36:10) Personal goals

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Reid Waldman, M.D., Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2024, dermatologist, and founder and CEO of Veradermics. With over $40 million raised, Veradermics is looking to change the fact that there has been little to no innovation in dermatology in recent years. Dr. Waldman took a huge risk by jumping from medicine to the startup space. He talks about how he can make a much larger impact on patients’ lives through Veradermics than by being an individual physician. This episode ought to be of interest to anyone interested in becoming a physician entrepreneur and understanding how a medical background can provide an edge in starting and growing a successful business.

Follow us on Twitter @doctorsinbiz to meet more creative

This episode was hosted and edited by David Park.

(01:16) Background

(02:45) Hacking Dermatology to $40M raised

(04:23) Meeting his lead investor during Series A

(05:10) Why has there been little innovation in dermatology?

(07:07) Physician entrepreneur

(08:42) Taking risks: from medicine to startup

(10:49) Goal of Veradermics

(11:39) Veradermics differentiator

(13:40) Challenges

(14:51) Learning on the job

(19:49) Thought partners

In this episode, our guest is Dr. David L. Nathan, M.D., psychiatrist, founder of Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR), and co-designer of the universal cannabis symbol. We talk about his motivation behind founding a non-profit and the challenges that came with it. We also explore what it’s like working with politicians to make physician voices heard and to create evidence-based policies. In 2019, Dr. Nathan testified in front of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee regarding cannabis regulation and legalization. He professes his love for graphic designing and labeling which, with the help of his son, Eli, led to them designing the International Intoxicating Cannabis Products Symbol (IICPS), adopted by four states now. This episode ought to be of interest to anyone interested in advocacy work in healthcare and understanding a doctor’s perspective on drug legalization and regulation in the U.S.

Follow us on Twitter @doctorsinbiz to meet more creative doctors! This episode was hosted and edited by David Park. Music for this episode is credited to Nightfloat.

Timestamps

(00:57) What’s D4DPR?

(02:08) What does D4DPR do?

(05:17) Biden pardons Marijuana users

(07:44) Starting a non-profit

(14:30) Testifying in front of Congress

(16:00) Increase in ER visits by children in newly legalized states?

(21:40) Evidence-based public health policy

(26:13) Risks of underage use of cannabis

(32:40) Designing the universal cannabis symbol

(37:37) Destigmatizing cannabis use

(40:50) Hit’em where they ain’t

In this episode, join Dr. Lucy McBride as we unravel the intricate tapestry of what true health entails. She is the host of the podcast “Beyond the Prescription,” where she brings on guests ranging from musicians to politicians, discussing how their life challenges allowed them to view holistic health differently. She shares her personal motivation behind creating the podcast and the health challenges she faced as a young adult. Dr. McBride is currently a practicing primary care physician based in D.C.

Follow us on Twitter @doctorscreate to hear more from creative

Timestamps

(01:28) Origins of “Beyond the Prescription” podcast

(06:13) Writing a newsletter “Are You Okay?”

(10:16) Problems with the current primary care doctor

(16:37) Conversations you should have with your primary care doctor

(19:21) Getting from intention to execution

(23:22) A teenage girl’s problems

(26:17) Managing stress in college   

(31:12) Normalizing the human condition

In this episode, Dr. Shilpa Darivemula shares about how her experiences as both a dancer and a doctor led her to create the Aseemkala Initiative. This group is dedicated to harnessing the power of traditional dance to perform modern stories about healthcare inequities. Dr. Darivemula is trained in a form of Indian classical dance known as Kuchipudi. She is also an OB/GYN, currently completing a General Obstetrics and Gynecology Reproductive Health Fellowship at UNC. You can learn more about the Aseemkala Initative at https://aseemkala.org.

Dr. Darivemula was also involved in the Re-imagining Medicine Festival, which we covered in Episode #49. You can also watch the performances from the 2023 Reimagining Medicine Festival here.

This episode was hosted and edited by Mekala Neelakantan. Check out https://www.doctorswhocreate.com/about for the full podcast team. Music for this episode is credited to the band, Nightfloat. As always, please tweet us (@doctorscreate) with any questions, comments, or feedback!

In this episode, learn more how to harness the power of technology to improve mental health, from digital psychiatrist and creative extraordinaire Dr. Nina Vasan. She shares about her experiences as the founder and executive director of Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation, designing new tools for Pinterest and TikTok, as the chief medical officer of Real, a startup dedicated to expanding online access to psychiatric treatment, and as the author of Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation.

Follow us on Twitter @doctorscreate to hear more from creative doctors! This episode was hosted and edited by David Park. Music for this episode is credited to Nightfloat.

Timestamps

(06:42) Screen time and depression

(07:46) Interdisciplinary team at Brainstorm

(10:12) Mental health help on Pinterest

(13:09) Brainstorm x Pinterest

(20:05) Brainstorm x TikTok

(26:16) Modern therapy through Real

(32:43) Does Real actually help you get better?

(36:25) First generation mental health apps

(40:06) Lack of mental health professionals

(44:47) Creativity in medicine

In this episode, learn more about the Reimagining Medicine Festival, a traveling, virtual festival exploring the intersection of arts with justice in medicine. The theme of this year's festival, hosted by Weill Cornell and sponsored by the American Medical Women's Association Dance and Theater Task Force, is "Metamorphosis." We hear from members of the planning committee, Kate Cox, Andrea Samson, Jasmine Thomas, and Sophia Salingaros about the process of creating this community space and how they have bridged their personal experiences with dance, art, and medicine! 

Check out https://www.reimaginingmedicinefestival.org/ for information about how to participate!

This episode was hosted and edited by Darlina Liu. Check out https://www.doctorswhocreate.com/about for the full podcast team. Music for this episode is credited to the band, Nightfloat. As always, please tweet us (@doctorscreate) with any questions, comments, or feedback!

We will be back with our regularly, monthly podcasts in Spring 2023!

Dr. Evan Ashkin is the director and founder of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition (NC FIT) program, which helps connect chronically ill formerly incarcerated individuals to primary care medical services. He currently serves as a professor of family medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, teaching in the underserved track of the residency program, and sees patients at Piedmont Health Services, which serves vulnerable populations.

You can reach Dr. Ashkin with questions or comments at [email protected]. If you’re interested in hearing more about the program, please visit their website at ncfitprogram.org.

To hear more about the Transitions Clinic Network upon which the NC FIT program was based, please visit their website at https://transitionsclinic.org/.

If you’re interested in an overview of post-release healthcare and re-entry programming, you can read more about it in an article co-authored by Dr. Ashkin, called “Prison And Jail Reentry And Health”: https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20210928.343531/.

References of interest:

•    The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (https://newjimcrow.com/)

•    13th by Ava Duvernay (a documentary viewable on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80091741)

This episode was hosted and produced by Margaret Wang. Check out https://www.doctorswhocreate.com/about for the full podcast team. Music for this episode is credited to the band, Nightfloat. As always, please tweet us (@doctorscreate) with any questions, comments, or feedback!