What happens when two innovators take on a condition no one talks about - but that quietly shapes how people connect? 

In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Véronique Peiffer, PhD engineer, former McKinsey consultant, Stanford Biodesign fellowship alum, and co-founder of Palm. Together with her co-founder, she set out to solve excessive hand sweating, or hyperhidrosis - a condition that can make everyday moments of connection feel heavy with self-consciousness. 

Véronique shares how late-night brainstorms turned into a real prototype, how they built a glove-based therapy that worked, and what it took to navigate the realities of funding, regulation, and knowing when to pause.

We also talk about her next chapter: distilling those lessons into The Scrappy Entrepreneur, a book for early-stage founders learning to build with heart and grit. 

If you’ve ever wondered what innovation really looks like behind the scenes - the human problems many of us face, and the courage it takes to solve them - this conversation will stay with you.

Ever wondered how to talk about your invention without your idea being stolen? In this episode of First in Human, we sit down with Jessica Hudak - mechanical engineer turned patent attorney and now VP of Corporate Counsel at Edwards Lifesciences = to unpack how innovators can safely move from idea to impact.

You’ll hear Jessica’s journey from Stanford Biodesign to the Federal Circuit, and learn practical, plain-English answers to the biggest questions in health tech and medical devices: when to file a provisional patent, how “first to file” really works, what counts as public disclosure, and what to know about AI inventorship.

Whether you’re a clinician, engineer, or founder building your first product, you’ll walk away knowing exactly how to protect what you’re creating—and why it matters.

What happens when you combine clinical credibility, a patient problem that’s flown under the radar, and a founder mindset? In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Ben Thompson (Au.D.), founder of health-tech enabled telehealth startup Treble Health - and a YouTube creator whose tinnitus-focused videos have been viewed over 10 million times. 

Ben shares how he noticed an accessibility gap for tinnitus care, leveraged content creation and community building, and made the leap from 100 % clinical practice into startup mode without an MBA or device-manufacturing background. We go deep into how he uses technology, telehealth, personalized treatment, and patient-first design to deliver high-value care. 

Along the way, we'll touch on the clinical insights that have driven his YouTube growth - and the insights from his YouTube content that have fed directly into his company. 

If you’re a doctor, designer, engineer, or founder looking to get started in health-tech or build something meaningful in healthcare, this is your episode. You’ll walk away with actionable lessons on spotting unmet needs, building credibility through content, bootstrapping a practice, deciding when to scale, and what really happens when you shift from clinician to health-tech builder.

What happens when you bring Silicon Valley thinking into the operating room? In this episode of First in Human, host Dr. David Hindin sits down with Nick Damiano, co-founder and CEO of Andromeda Surgical, to explore how his team is building the world’s first autonomous surgical robot—a platform designed to make surgery safer, faster, and more precise.

Nick shares his journey from pre-med at Stanford to med-tech founder, how the Stanford Biodesign process shaped his path, and why he believes the next revolution in health tech will come from AI-powered surgical systems. Together, they dive into what it really takes to turn a clinical insight into a startup, how to avoid confirmation bias when validating needs, and the practical realities of fundraising in med tech.

You’ll hear how Andromeda is tackling complex procedures like HoLEP (holmium laser enucleation of the prostate), what “human-in-the-loop autonomy” means for surgeons, and why AI in healthcare isn’t about replacing clinicians—it’s about multiplying their impact.

Whether you’re a founder, surgeon, engineer, or anyone just curious about the frontier of robotic surgery, this conversation offers a rare look at how cutting-edge technology, design thinking, and clinical insight come together to redefine what’s possible in the OR.

#004 What does it take for a physician to cross the bridge from medicine into health tech innovation? In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Dr. Farzad Azimpour - cardiologist, Stanford Biodesign alum, and global health innovator - whose career has spanned device development, design thinking at IDEO, and now Head of Innovation in Structural Heart at Edwards Lifesciences.

Farzad shares his journey from a young cardiology fellow scribbling ideas on index cards to working at the front lines of medical device innovation. We explore the lessons he’s learned about creativity, collaboration, and unlearning some of medicine’s ingrained habits in order to thrive in interdisciplinary teams. Along the way, we talk Biodesign, intellectual property, structural heart therapies, and what it means to balance falling in love with an idea with knowing when to let it go.

If you’ve ever wondered how doctors, designers, and engineers can come together to change patient care, this conversation offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the medtech world. Whether you’re a physician with a creative spark, a founder navigating early-stage health innovation, or just curious about how ideas move from the clinic to real-world impact, you’ll walk away inspired.

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 or wherever you get your podcasts.

What happens when a text from a stranger changes your career?In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Dr. Austin Chiang, Chief Medical Officer at Medtronic and one of the most influential physician voices on social media. We unpack his remarkable journey—from practicing gastroenterologist to becoming the first CMO of Medtronic’s endoscopy business, a role created specifically for him.
Austin shares:- How he built credibility on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok long before most doctors embraced digital platforms.
- The rise of misinformation in healthcare and why physicians need to lead online.
- What he’s learned inside one of the world’s largest medical device companies about innovation, commercialization, and the people behind medtech.
- The challenge of balancing ethics, transparency, and influence while shaping the future of healthcare.
- Why AI, digital health, and hybrid careers are redefining medicine for the next generation of doctors.

If you’ve ever wondered how clinicians break out of the traditional path, bridge the gap between medicine and technology, or use social media to impact public health, Austin’s story is both inspiring and practical. 

Austin's Twitter: https://x.com/AustinChiangMD
Austin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinchiangmd/ 
Austin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinchiangmd/ 

Follow along at firstinhumanpodcast.com or subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Maya Yiadom and Dr. Gabrielle Bunney to unpack how real AI gets built, tested, and safely deployed in health care. We go inside the emergency department to tackle one of the most time-critical problems in medicine: early heart attack (MI) detection and door-to-ECG performance. Drs. Yiadom and Bunney share the origin story of SmartCare AI, why small delays lead to higher mortality and heart failure, and how “upskilling” front-door staff with an augmenting intelligence can improve equity and outcomes. 

We cover:- When to stay in academia vs when to spin out your startup
- What “good” clinical workflow integration actually looks like in the ED
- The silent pilot method to prove safety and impact before go-live
- The challenges of protecting IP for AI systems 
- Human vs AI performance, and why human+AI wins

Whether you’re a clinician, founder, engineer, or health-tech curious, you’ll hear a practical blueprint for AI in healthcare that moves past hype into measurable patient safety and clinical impact. 

Dr. Yiadom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maame-yaa-maya-a-b-yiadom-36725b13b/
Dr. Yiadom's lab: https://yiadom-hsrdcc.com/ 
Dr. Bunney on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielle-bunney-md-mba-ms-831a46249/

Subscribe and follow at firstinhumanpodcast.com or wherever you listen.

#001 Ever wonder how people actually break into health tech? Not the buzzwords or corporate decks - but the real stories. The moments of spark, uncertainty, and bold action. 

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to be a CEO or have an MBA to build something meaningful in health care. In this first episode, I’ll share why I started First in Human, what this show is really about, and how it’s designed to help people like you - doctors, designers, engineers, founders - get inspired, get smarter, and get started. 

You’ll hear my own story, from operating room to innovation lab, and the patterns I’ve noticed after years of working with health tech builders across the country. Whether you're health-tech curious or already building, you’ll walk away with a clearer sense of what’s possible - and what’s next. 

Subscribe, share, and follow along at firstinhumanpodcast.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.