NOVEMBER

ISSUE 04

0
2021

#Closingthegap Most
The Gradual Rise
of Women in
Admirable
STEM Fields
Women
New Horizons Leaders in
Top Tech Trends
Shaping the Biotech Biotech
Industry for 2021

LEE ANN
KIMAK
Committed to Saving Lives through Exemplary Leadership
 Whenever Suppressed,
'She' Rose!
I
“ do not know what I may appear to the world, but to
myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on
the sea-shore and diverting myself in now and then
finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me.”
In this quote, Sir Isaac Newton believes that even though
our knowledge of the universe has expanded, it still stands
on the shore of the 'Great Ocean of Truth'. We are yet to
uncover the tiniest part of the wonders the universe holds.
But more importantly, there seems to be a strong desire in
humans to constantly expand this body of knowledge
because of the historical scientific wonders achieved so far.
From cloning of 'Dolly the Sleep' to 'Resurrection of
Species,' biotechnology has made it possible to discover
great marvels of science to be specific.
One such wonder was the discovery of mobile genetic
elements done by Dr Barbara McClintock in the year 1951.
Her research on plant breeding and genetic engineering
made her win the noble prize in Physiology, in 1983.
That's around three decades later!
Well, why do you think so?
Dr McClintock's work was 'ignored' for many years by her
peers in the scientific community. In the face of such
resistance, she stopped trying to convince people about her
discoveries but never stopped pursuing her theories.
Until a decade after her discovery, the scientific community
began to come up with the same conclusions and validated
her findings by giving her the credits that were long due.
She was a woman who changed science.
Likewise, multiple women are fighting against the odds and
making a big difference in the biotech industry. They have
ensured that the momentum doesn't die out. Women have
worked with passion, zeal, and an innovative approach.
As this awareness is growing, the biotech industry is taking
strides to encourage and represent women within the
industry.
In this edition, 10 Most Admirable Women Leaders in
Biotech for 2021, Insights Care has enlisted women who
have significantly impacted the biotech industry. By
highlighting this, I believe it is important to note that
women are not just demanding space in the industry
anymore. They are taking it.
We're proud to present these 10 women who inspire, lead,
and rebuild the Biotech industry. To know more about them,
kindly scroll through.
Also, don't forget to go through the articles written by our
in-house editorial team and a piece of CXO advice.
Dive in to have a happy read!
-Shrutika Khedekar
 Editor’s Note

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 Articles
24 38
CONTENTS
#Closingthegap New Horizons
The Gradual Rise of Top Tech Trends Shaping
Women in STEM Fields the Biotech Industry

Chia Chia Sun

16 Mindfully Driving the

Revolu on in Women's
Healthcare

Maree Beare

20 An Ardent Advocate of
Digital Transforma on
of the Healthcare Industry

Natalie Bartlett
28 Chauffeur of Modern Change
in the Biotech Industry

Noor Shaker

34 An Ardent Advocate
of AI-driven Drug
Discovery
 Cover Story

08
Lee Ann Kimak
Commi ed to Saving Lives through
Exemplary Leadership
CXO

Top 5 trends
in Radiology and
Imaging 44
 Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar

Senior Editor Anish Miller

Managing Editor Abhishaj Sajeev
Assisting Editors Trishika, Shrutika

Visualiser David King

Art & Design Head Rohil Shinganapurkar
Co-designer Paul Belin
Art & Picture Editor Mrunalinee Deshmukh

Business Development Manager Amy Jones

Marketing Manager John Smith
Business Development Executives Sarah Wilson, John Smith, Alex Vincent
Sales Executives Kelli, Bill, Anna

Technical Head Jacob Smile

Assistant Technical Head Pratiksha Patil
Technical Consultants David, Robert

Digital Marketing Manager Alina Sege

Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Amol Wadekar
SME-SMO Executives Atul, Gemson

Research Analyst Eric Smith

Circulation Manager Tanaji

sales@insightscare.com
November, 2021
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 10 Most Admirable Women Leaders in Biotech for 2021

Featuring Company Name Description

Vor Biopharma is a cell therapy company that combines a

Amy Mendel, novel patient engineering approach with targeted therapies
Vor Biopharma
Chief Legal Officer to provide a solution for patients suffering from
hematological malignancies.

Korro Bio’s team of experts is working to overcome the

Anna Barry, COO Korro Bio, Inc. challenges that have limited existing gene editing and gene
therapy approaches, and treat diseases that have previously
been unreachable by other methods.

Turning Point Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision

Athena M. Turning Point oncology company with a pipeline of internally discovered
Countouriotis, CEO Therapeutics, Inc investigational drugs designed to address key limitations of
existing cancer therapies.

Damiva is the women's health company that makes 100%

Chia Chia Sun, natural products for women’s health and beauty at any
Damiva
CEO and Co-founder age.

Bloody Good Period is now a charity, with a vision to

achieve menstrual equity - where the simple fact of bleeding
Gabby Edlin, CEO Bloody Good Period doesn't stop anyone from participating fully in society or
life.

Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated vaccine company

Lee Ann Kimak, focused on the development, manufacturing and
Bavarian Nordic
US Commercial Lead commercialization of life-saving vaccines.

Wanngi is a health management app that allows you to track

Maree Beare, symptoms, immunisations, set medication reminders and
Wanngi
Founder and CEO manage medical and fitness information, in one secure HIPAA
Compliant online location

Natalie Bartlett, ZAGENO is on a mission to accelerate scientific innovation

Enterprise Business Zageno by streamlining biotech purchasing processes with its award-
Development winning, first-of-its-kind e-commerce platform.

Noor Shaker, Senior

GlamorousAI is bringing drugs to every target though its
Vice President, Glamorous AI
AI-first SaaS platform for drug discovery, RosalindAI.
and General Manager

Mesa Biotech is a healthcare test and data company that

Vipul Singh,
Mesa Biotech provides actionable information through trusted, PCR-based
Director and COO
infectious disease testing—anytime, anywhere.*
ed or

td.
 10 Most Admirable Women Leaders in Biotech for 2021

LEE ANN
KIMAK
Committed to Saving Lives through Exemplary Leadership

“
“ Our industry is fueled on a constant stream of
discovery which requires talented and creative
research teams as well as the functions needed to
bring new products to market.
hip
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Lee Ann Kimak

US Commercial Lead
Bavarian Nordic
A s the business world continues to evolve and
disrupt, so does the need for efficient and impactful
leadership. As evident as it could be, leadership is
crucial to a company’s ascension towards the zeniths of
success.
Leadership is an integral part of running any successful
organisation – large or small. The type of leadership needed
may differ depending on what industry you’re in. Still, the
qualities of a good leader remain similar
regardless—having strong interpersonal skills, being
decisive yet open-minded, knowing when to delegate
responsibility appropriately, and leading through example.
We at Insights Care are on a ceaseless endeavour to seek
such impactful leaders. In this edition—10 Most Admirable
Women Leaders in Biotech for 2021—we came across
some of the most accomplished women who’ve left no
stones unturned when it comes to inspiring the world
through their journey towards excellence.
One prominent name among such leaders is Lee Ann
Kimak, the US Commercial Lead at Bavarian Nordic.
Lee Ann joined Bavarian Nordic in January 2020 as the US
Commercial Lead following the acquisition of two
marketed vaccines from GSK. The ability to leverage her
previous experience in vaccines and the integration of
vaccines into a company made this an interesting
opportunity for her.
“Having the opportunity to build a US organisation from
the beginning—building a team, establishing the processes
and infrastructure needed to be successful—was an exciting
challenge for me. The company leadership and culture are
inclusive, collaborative, and agile, which makes it an
enriching working environment,” says Lee Ann.
“ Good business is about hiring good people;
without them, it is hard to grow and sustain
momentum over time.
Setting Benchmarks
Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated vaccines company
focused on developing, manufacturing, and
commercialising life-saving vaccines. The company’s
fundamental mission is to save and improve lives by
unlocking the immune system’s power.
“We have established a bold vision and aspiration to
become one of the largest pure-play vaccine companies by
2025,” says Lee Ann.
Bavarian Nordic has a strong heritage in vaccine research
and development and proven successful technology.
Innovation remains a cornerstone in developing a strong
product pipeline to help fight existing and emerging
diseases around the globe.
Overcoming Adversities
We asked Lee Ann about the challenges that the COVID-19
pandemic imposed on the global biotech industry and
Bavarian Nordic and how she and her team pivoted to
surpass those challenges. Her response: The pandemic has
spurred global leadership to look to biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies for solutions to the pandemic,
including diagnostics, assays, therapeutics, and vaccines.
Our industry is uniquely suited for this task as we have
invested in scientific acumen and the regulatory, clinical,
and manufacturing capabilities to deliver these needed
solutions.
“The global COVID-19 pandemic did, unfortunately,
impact many parts of our business. However, a highlight
earlier this year is that Bavarian Nordic reported
encouraging preclinical data for a COVID-19 vaccine
candidate ahead of first-in-human trials.”
“The pandemic also caused business challenges to
collaboration, hiring and of course travel and interactions
with customers. Bavarian Nordic took complete care to
assure that appropriate precautionary measures are in place
and consistent communication and check-ins with our team
members occur.”
“Our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of our team
members, customers, and communities we serve. We
immediately moved to remote working, and like many
companies, became accomplished at leveraging team
platforms to collaborate, hire talent, and interact with
customers. Several working groups across the globe were
formed to evaluate areas of business, including the outlook
for our future workplaces and more flexible ways of
working,” Lee Ann added.
Opinions that Matter
We asked Lee Ann for her opinion on the necessity for
biotech companies to align their offerings with newer
technological developments, which she answered saying,
“As I mentioned before, Bavarian Nordic has a strong
heritage in vaccine research and development, and with a
proven technology, innovation remains a cornerstone in the
development of a strong product pipeline to help fight
existing and emerging diseases around the globe.”
“We are experts in live virus vaccine manufacturing, and
with the recent addition of fill and finish capabilities, we
have enabled end-to-end commercial-scale manufacturing.
Lowering the risk of infectious disease for the greater good
of our global community is our main mission,” she
expressed.
Sharing her opinion on the probable future of the biotech
sector post the pandemic, Lee Ann says, “Our industry is
fuelled on a constant stream of discovery which requires
talented and creative research teams as well as the functions
“ We have established a bold vision and aspiration
to become one of the largest pure-play vaccine
companies by 2025.
needed to bring new products to market. Our organisation is Voy
learning how to identify the most creative and talented
teams to focus on bringing innovative products to market, Talk
like an RSV vaccine and COVID booster. When you give a ope
great team the job of working on these life-saving products Bav
and the tools to do it, they can change the world! You’re vacc
doing something useful for society, which is an incredible mar
thing.” year
dise
A Necessary Change RSV
When asked, what would be things she would change about “Go
the global biotech industry, Lee Ann expressed, “The it is
pandemic spurred intense government, media, and public goa
attention on biotech. Maintaining a high level of innovation outs
and development is critical to the success of our industry, effe
but we also need to have highly skilled talent in other areas for t
beyond discovery and development.” con
“We need to focus on building and retaining good talent,
managing complexity, and improving commercial and
development execution. Bringing good products and
vaccines to approval is only part of the process. We need to
make sure that we are doing the market development and
otherwise providing the commercial support to assure that
valuable products are accessible to the patients who can
benefit from them.”
Bequeathing the Keys to Excellence
As an excerpt from her professional journey, Lee Ann
shares valuable advice to those aspiring to venture into the
Biotechnology space, saying, “Don’t give up easily is one
piece of advice. Working in small or start-up biotech’s can
be challenging, and there is a new problem to be solved
every day. Resilience needs to be developed as well as a
willingness to operate with a high level of ambiguity and
not a lot of processes.”
n is Voyaging towards New Horizons

t, Talking about her vision for scaling Bavarian Nordic’s

ea operations and competency, Lee Ann says, “Currently,
cts Bavarian Nordic’s RabAvert is the market leader in rabies
vaccination, and we look forward to adding additional
e market-leading products to our portfolio in the coming
years. We have multiple product candidates for infectious
diseases and cancer, including candidates for COVID and
RSV, which are large scale programs.”

out “Good business is about hiring good people; without them,

it is hard to grow and sustain momentum over time. My
c goal is to build on our existing team by adding more
ion outstanding talent that can make sure we
y, effectively deliver these products to the market
eas for the patients who need them,” Lee Ann
concludes.

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 Stay in touch.
Subscribe to Insightscare Get Insightssuccess
Magazine in print, & digital on www.insightscare.com

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 M
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16|November 2021|www.insightscare.com

M odern science and the
perseverance and
contribution of several
individuals towards women’s health
have made some significant discoveries
in the sector. The negligence and
ignorance regarding women’s health
and wellness are now being slowly
overcome as people have begun to talk
about it and break the stigma around
the topic.
One prominent name on the list of
people striving relentlessly to improve
women’s health by leveraging science
is Chia Chia Sun, the CEO and Co-
founder of Damiva Inc.
In the following interview, Chia Chia
s Sun talks about her inspiring journey in
the women’s health arena, how she
faced the challenges arising from the
pandemic and the prospects of her
firm.
Give us a brief overview of your
journey as the CEO of Damiva and
tell us what inspired you to venture
into the women's health space.
About ten years ago, when I was
perimenopausal - I'm menopausal now
- I realized that there was so much I
didn't know about myself and my
future menopause. I was stunned by
the lack of information - and my lack
of knowledge - about the stages of a
woman's life, our hormonal fluxes, and
our bodily changes.
I started Damiva after a trip to the
drugstore, looking for a product for
vaginal dryness. What I found was that
there was absolutely nothing I wanted
to use because all the products
contained so many chemicals and
toxins. After formulating a 100%
natural product - called Mae by
Damiva - with several partners,
including my husband Gardiner Smith,
who is a protein chemist and lawyer by
training, and a couple of stints on
reality TV shows, Damiva came into
existence.
17|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
10 Most Admirable Women Leaders in Biotech for 2021
It became my passion and life mission
to develop products for women that are
good for us for a lifetime, and we can
use them at any age. I decided that, due
to the dire unmet need, I would only
work in women's health for the rest of
my career.
Tell us more about Damiva, its
vision, and the key aspects of its
expertise in health and wellness.
The core vision for Damiva is to create
products that are good for women. To
us, this means 100% natural feminine
care and skincare products that are pH
balanced for each stage of life and - as
a priority - do not contain any
chemicals that are toxic, disrupt
hormones, and contribute to the
climate crisis.
Creating an all-natural, shelf-stable
product is much harder than you might
imagine (think Buzzfeed's Burger
Experiment). So, we have proprietary
formulations and patents that speak the
unique nature of our health and
wellness products. For example, by
removing water from our formulations,
we don't need to use chemical
preservatives and can still maintain a
shelf life of three to five years without
bacterial growth.
From a leadership perspective, what
is your opinion on the impact of the
pandemic on the global healthcare
sector, and how did you aid your
organization to overcome the
challenges rooting from the
pandemic?
The pandemic focused a lot of
attention on the global healthcare
sector and helped create more
awareness of the need for health care
innovation. On the plus side, there is
more capital and consumer acceptance
and adoption of new health
technologies. On the downside, larger
companies benefited from the massive
shift in public opinion and government
funding more than smaller companies.
Our retail revenues were impacted by
COVID-19 due to the drop in-store
traffic by our retailers such as CVS,
Target, and Rite-Aid. We were already
expanding our online sales, and we put
much more effort into the endeavor as
the pandemic unfolded. We realized
immediately that the pandemic gave us
an opportunity to connect much more
closely with our customers, and the
learnings have significantly impacted
our business and improved our product
development.
What is your opinion on the
necessity for health and wellness
companies to align their offerings
with newer technological
developments, especially when it
comes to catering to the ever-
evolving needs of the industry?
A significant lesson from our
expansion of online sales was that our
customer is highly sensitive, not just to
toxic chemicals in formulations but
also to the changing world around us,
including technology, information, and
macroeconomic factors such as climate
change.
Our philosophy at Damiva is to listen
to our customers and their needs.
Accordingly, we packaged our
next-generation products in discrete
sachets (instead of a large bottle),
reducing our packaging footprint by
over 50%.
We also developed a customer-centric
educational membership program that
is entirely online and geared to specific
life stages.
Regarding the alignment of health and
wellness companies with advances in
technology, while I'm personally
invested in innovation, as the
co-inventor on several patents, I
believe that the field of women's health
needs more than innovation; it needs
innovation communication.
We need to try harder to understand
women's needs, even if these
conversations are awkward or
uncomfortable. We need to break down
the taboos that prevent women from
expressing their needs. Vera Rubin,
who is one of my heroines and should
have won the Nobel Prize for Physics
as the physicist who discovered dark
matter, said it best when she said,
"Don't shoot for the stars; we already
know what's there. Shoot for the space
in between because that's where the
real mystery lies."
What efforts did you and your team
at Damiva take during the pandemic
to sustain operations and ensure the
safety of your employees at the same
time?
Our team is in Canada, the United
States, Europe, and India. While we
were accustomed to virtual business
already, we made the switch from
working exclusively in our Toronto
offices to the entire staff working
virtually from home during the
pandemic.
In your opinion, what could be the
future of the women's health space
post the pandemic? And how are you
strategizing Dative’s operations for
that future?
Women are already the ‘Chief Medical
Officers’ of our households as 80% of
us make the medical decisions for our
families. The women's health space is
already changing post-pandemic as
households are increasingly
accustomed to at-home testing,
diagnostics, and preventive medicine,
with women leading the charge.
The new norm will continue to be
more technology, less travel, and more
local support for women's well-being.
The cons of a post-pandemic era for
women's health are that, while women
took on more of a role at home with
respect to childcare, children's
schooling, and family health, areas
18|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
such as career growth and mental
health have suffered. To remedy this,
we women need to spend some time
putting ourselves and our health first.
At Damiva, our future operations post-
pandemic will focus on prevention,
self-care, and the use of technology to
deliver highly informative and
specialized content.
Our mission is to develop products that
are helping, not harming, women with
a focus on prevention. As our products
are completely natural and pH
balanced, they help preserve the skin
microbiome and include preventive
ingredients such as probiotics that are
stable at room temperature.
With respect to self-care, our strategy
for 2022 and beyond is to continue to
have fun with our products while
creating a supportive environment with
our online content membership
program. For example, we will always
have cheeky slogans such as "lip balm
for your other lips" for our labial balm.
Now, we will help women understand
the different parts of the labia and
genital regions and how they change
over time.
In response to inquiries from health
professionals, we have also started a
collaborative Professional Program to
work with pelvic health experts, such
as menopause practitioners, nurses,
physicians, and physiotherapists, to
educate women about our products.
If given a chance, what is the one
thing that you would change about
the global healthcare industry?
I would change the ratio of male to
female leaders in the industry.
Depending on the area, female CEOs
comprise 3% to 6% of the total
number, and this is an appalling
statistic.
To quote Vera Rubin again,
"Worldwide, half of all brains are in
women," and another great quote: "We
all need permission to do science, but
for reasons that are deeply ingrained in
history, this permission is more often
given to men than to women."
As an established leader, what would
be your advice to the budding
entrepreneurs aspiring to venture
into the women's health space?
Just go for it! Feet first, as fast as you
can. We need many more women to
expand this important industry that
affects half the human race.
Pertaining to your role as Damiva's
CEO, how do you envision scaling
your company's operations and
offerings in 2022 and beyond?
One of the major initiatives we put into
place during the pandemic was to
redesign our packaging to withstand a
variety of extreme temperatures that
we are experiencing with global
warming and climate change. This
redesign will enable us to grow quickly
and scale our operations in North
America and beyond. We are
partnering at home here in the U.S.
with our manufacturer to be the largest
100% natural women's health company
globally.
First and foremost, as always, our
offerings continue to put women first
by giving women what we need and
want: completely natural, vegan,
ethical, and sustainable products that
are free of hormone disruptors and
toxins.
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20|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
 10 Most Admirable Women Leaders in Biotech for 2021

M odern hospitals and clinical

institutions have become
increasingly reliant on
healthcare software systems. Touch
screens, tablets, and internet reports
have quickly replaced paper-based files
and written patient information. All of
this has been made possible by huge
advances in the realms of information
technology. Technological
improvements have made life easier
for hospital administrators around the
world.
The requirement for a comprehensive
patient information system spawned
the concept of healthcare management
platforms. The primary focus of these
platforms is managing patient records.
The demand for healthcare
management solution is attracting
many entrepreneurs to develop such
platforms. To cater to this demand,
Maree Baeree an enthusiastic
entrepreneur established her companies
Wanngi and Clinials, to track and
communicate the health of people.
Maree Beare is a sector leader in
HealthTech, Femtech, and Biotech, and
has been listed by Forbes in the top 50
women-led startups disrupting
Healthtech. She has over 30 years
innovation experience, navigating
global software companies and
executed many large and high-profile
projects to meet company and
government strategy. Maree now
brings this leadership to the Startup
and Innovation sector and the
healthtech, femtech, and biotechnology
I imagine a world
where people could
improve their
chances of being
diagnosed by providing
their health history
to the various doctors
and hospitals they
might see during
their life.
imagined a world where people could
improve their chances of being
diagnosed by providing their health
history to the various doctors and
hospitals they might see during their
life,” says Maree.
Maree is of the opinion that hospitals
and doctor’s health systems are not
connected, resulting in people having
to repeat their health history over and
over at each health appointment
leading to miscommunication and
misdiagnosis.
Fast forward to 2020, Maree’s husband
went on a clinical trial and was
required to report any adverse events
by completing a paper form. Opening
Maree’s eyes to the issues with
participating on clinical trials where
lifesaving treatments are not making it
to market as 80% research trials fail to
find enough people.
In 2021, Maree launched Clinials,
providing efficiencies in the $47
Billion clinical trials market by
disrupting the existing study
participant recruitment process, so
people are getting access to more
effective treatment sooner. “We aim to
Enhance patent recruitment per clinical
trial to improve site economics for
clinical trials leading to Improved
treatment and patient outcomes and for
many, this means improving life
quality (QALY),” shared Maree.
Braving the Pandemic
During the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic, Maree and her team
switched to working from home and
returned to the office only when
officials allowed. Maree believes that
the pandemic has sped up innovation in
healthcare due to the dire necessity. It
led to the increased use of telehealth
for safety and convenience of
continued care.

e
sectors globally.

The Inception Story of Wanngi and

Clinials

In 2017, Maree created Wanngi when

of she realized that it was a problem for
consumers to make decisions about
ry their own health when they had no
access to their own health data. “I

21|November 2021|www.insightscare.com

The pandemic has escalated the need
for decisions around a person’s health
status and the requirement for access to
COVID-19 test results and vaccination
status. There’s a great deal of noise and
uncertainty about accessing this data
for consumers.
However, Wanngi is fit for purpose as a
consumer personal health record, so it
was ready and able to store and
provide evidence of COVID-19 tests
and continues to help people provide
their health history during a telehealth
appointment.
However, with the focus on COVID-
19, the health management of people
with chronic illness declines and the
aftermath of pandemic will see a
burden of late-stage chronic illness on
the healthcare system. Clinials will
provide the platform to connect these
22|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
patients to any clinical trial relevant to
their health conditions, where they
meet the inclusions and exclusions of
the study.
Leveraging Technology
When asked for her opinion on the
importance of technology in the
healthcare industry, Maree says,
“Companies seek to be economically
sustainable, and healthcare is no
exception. Technology will drive
efficiencies in healthcare as well as
improving patient outcomes with AI
and innovation, and in the future, it
will continue to develop in dramatic
ways.”
“While we can take a glimpse and
debate the details of future trends in
healthcare, we need to be clear about
the drivers so we can align with them
and actively work to ensure the best
outcomes for society as a whole,” adds
Maree.
Maree aspires to overthrow the
misconception that investment cycles
in healthcare are the same as traditional
investments. “History tells us that it
takes 10 years to be an overnight
success in Healthtech,” she added.
Envisaging Future Endeavors
Clinials is uniquely positioned to
secure product led growth moving
forward into 2022 and beyond. Having
raised pre-seed funding in 2021 and
preparing for a larger raise in early
2022, the company is ready to expand
the team to support its customers. It is
focused on building the innovation
roadmap to decrease cost of trial
marketing, recruitment and leveraging
Machine learning and AI to accelerate
product-led growth and continue
Clinials customer retention.
“I have already delivered on the future
strategy by launching Clinials this year
in response to the opportunities of
Australia being relatively COVID-19
free, and there being a verified problem
to solve with participant recruitment in
clinical trials to enable Australia to be
globally competitive in research of
new treatments,” concludes Maree.
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24|November 2021|www.insightscare.com

Gradual Rise
Women
STEM Fields
S cience, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) fields are significantly important to power
innovative advancements and enhance technological
developments. These are the factors that in turn are seen as
drivers of social and economical growth.
As a result, researchers and policymakers are paying
substantial attention to analyse and promote high-growth
ventures in STEM fields. The consistent analysis has
resulted in making STEM a valuable part of education in
universities and also in the accommodation of jobs in
developing countries.
As every coin has two sides, one of the major criticisms of
STEM has to do with the gender disparity in students who
graduate with STEM degrees and enter career mainstreams
related to these fields.
Research data has conventionally displayed that 'women are
far less likely to graduate with a STEM degree or enter a
mainstream career in this field,' when compared to their
male opposite number.
25|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
#Closingthegap
The
of
in
Vanquishing a Gender Gap
Proponents of closing this gender gap in the STEM field
points out that this gap not only reflects unfair conditions
and poor treatment of women in this field. Furthermore, it
also reduces the quality of work and innovations being
extracted from these fields.
It is a subject of recommendation and facts that indicate
scientific progress relies on unique solutions that are
emerging from different perspectives. Closing the gender
gap make STEM fields more diverse, also, redefines the
assurance of problem-solving approaches with a variety of
different perspectives.
Although the broad gender gap that exists across the STEM
fields becomes a topic of discussion, there is a great deal of
variety among different STEM subfields when it comes to
the exact scale and nature of this gap.
Some subfields have no gap at all and favour women in
graduation, and job placement. In subjects like social
science, there is a greater number of women if compared to
men, and it remains strongly favourable towards women.
Enabling Innovations
It is a fact of assurance that women would benefit from the
creation of more inclusive atmospheres in STEM fields,
these fields as a whole can become more engaging.
A field like science works and functions at its best when it
considers a wide range of diverse perspectives. By
excluding women, such fields not only exclude a wide
range of extremely talented future leaders but also fresh
perspectives that could be used to create innovative
approaches to resolve problems.
Engaging women in stem fields has improved the quality of
work being executed in those fields and it has opened up
distinguished career opportunities for women.
In general, research has displayed that, 'diverse workplaces
are happier in nature and more productive,' indicating that
STEM organizations could do better for themselves by
being more inclusive.
Breaking the Stereotypes
The idea of the gender equality paradox is not without its
problems. Critics point out that countries with poor
representation in STEM fields have a long history of
excluding women from science and mathematics, which has
been deeply embedded into the culture that surrounds
young girls as they are growing up.
They also point out that there is no gap in ability since
researchers found that girls performed as well or better than
boys on STEM tests in most countries.
True solutions to the gender gap in STEM fields work on
multiple levels. Exclusion begins in childhood, when young
girls have been pushed away from creative fields like
science, and mathematics, and are encouraged to adopt
more care-oriented work.
This scenario is drastically changing as parents are
encouraging and reminding their children that they can
grow up to do anything that they want. Parents are also
providing a wide range of opportunities for children to
explore their interests, including those related to STEM,
such as coding camps and science fairs.
In education, scholarships and grants are striving hard to
bring women into STEM departments. However, these
departments must do everything in their power to prevent
discrimination and sexism against female students to
improve preservation rates.
In the workplace, employees must identify and address the
discrimination in their hiring practices so they can generate
a diverse workplace that enhances productivity among their
employees.
26|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
Outside of school and the workplace, broader societal
changes are also called for. Women are often harder hit by a
couple's decision to raise a family, forcing them to take
more time off of work during critical periods in their
careers, such as early on at a new job or even during their
doctoral studies.
Despite these situations, women are making noteworthy
progress not only in STEM fields, but also in their
profession, and are breaking the stereotypes.
The Profound Leaders in STEM
Many women have made significant contributions to our
understanding of the world and these contributions are now
being recognized as an example for the young generation.
Below are just a few of the women who have changed the
world with their knowledge and expertise in STEM fields.
Ada Lovelace
Ada was one of the early computer scientists. Her work was
instrumental to the advancements of early computer science
as she developed an algorithm for Charles Baggage's
analytical engine that would output Bernoulli numbers.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie is recognized as the most inspirational female
scientist of all time. She was the first person to win the
Noble Price twice in her career. Marie's work involved
radioactivity, including the discovery of a few radioactive
elements.
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind was an English chemist whose work on molecular
structures established a foundation of our comprehension of
the fundamental workings of things like DNA, RNA, and
viruses.
Sally Ride
Sally Ride was an astronaut, engineer, and physicist. Sally's
position as the first American female astronaut and the third
woman to travel into space, as well as her science books
aimed at children, have created the legacy of an
inspirational figure for many young women and girls
interested in STEM fields.
The Journey Ahead...
Although increasing comprehensiveness for women in
STEM has recently become a trending topic, women have
been making waves in STEM fields since humans began to
examine the natural world.
One way to bolster the ranks of future women in STEM is
to acknowledge the contributions women have made in the
subfields of STEM in the past.
- Abhishek Joshi
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Chauffeur of Modern Change in the Biotech Industry
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P harma R&D is one of the most

booming industries that always
supported the world even when
the pandemic hit it; thanks to its
bloodline, the leaders of lab supply
chain companies have always kept it
running. In the last few years, the
biotechnology industry has witnessed
digitalization and enhancement of
technology in its every code of conduct
as people are looking for an advanced
way of coxswaining everything.

The demand for digitalization in the

biotechnology supply sector is very
I fou
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28|November 2021|www.insightscare.com

high as many are still following the
same outdated method of purchasing
lab supplies with catalogs, fax,
telephones, and so on, and buyers are
looking for a better alternative.
To fulfill this need of the
biotechnology industry, one of the
prominent leaders Natalie Bartlett, the
Enterprise Business Development
of ZAGENO, has worked very hard to
solve many issues through the
company's in-depth solutions. These
include online monthly spending data,
comparison of products, best
alternatives, tracking order status, etc.,
making the industry's procedures
extremely convenient. Also, by
eliminating various steps, Natalie
Bartlett has given her best to save her
client's time and money potential by
developing the company's top services.
In the following interview, Natalie tells
us about the various challenges she
sailed through to provide ZAGENO's
clients with excellent services.
Following are the highlights of the
interview:
Give us a brief overview of your
journey through your role at
ZAGENO, and also tell us what
inspired you to venture into the
biotechnology sector.
I started working in venture capital and
t focused on early-stage startups within
life sciences and software. Growing up
in a family of healthcare providers, this
was a good fit because I always had an
interest in the space. While at General
Catalyst, I sourced and invested in
ZAGENO, a startup reimagining life
sciences commerce with an initial
focus on R&D supplies.
ed
I found myself intrigued by how
outdated purchasing products for lab
e supplies was and how a team and
technology like ZAGENO's could help
29|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
10 Most Admirable Women Leader in Biotech for 2021
. subscription economy has redefined the
solve this. I decided to roll up my
sleeves and help make a direct impact
on myself. Today, I work on
ZAGENO's enterprise business
development team, focusing on helping
large pharma organizations improve
their research efficiency when ordering
supplies.
Tell us more about ZAGENO, its
vision, and the key aspects of its
stronghold in the global
biotechnology space.
ZAGENO's vision is to accelerate the
time between scientific milestones.
While simple to articulate, it is quite
complex in executing this vision. It
begins by completely rethinking the
industry's lifecycle, which begins with
identifying where other business
markets have successfully transformed,
modernized, and automated. We
sometimes take the kernel of other
innovations and customize them for
biotechnology.
Our interpretation of the well-
established subscriber model is
experienced through ZAGENO's
marketplace and services. Through it,
our subscribers benefit from various
unique advantages such as data on
historical spending, detailed product
comparisons, and alternatives to
products on backorder or with long
lead times.
At a high level, ZAGENO seeks to
democratize the buyer-seller
relationship through lab supplies - the
very lifeblood of scientific discovery.
Historically, this part of the industry
was dictated by manufacturers and
distributors. Without an alternative,
scientists had little choice but to accept
this status quo. But just as the
buyer-seller relationship in consumer
markets, so is it changing these
relationships in biotechnology.
The future of the industry will be a
more harmonious one, equally dictated
by manufacturers and users. Because
ZAGENO provides a platform to
support this evolution, we are at the
epicenter of this change.
From the business development
perspective, what is your opinion on
the impact of the pandemic on the
biotech space? How did you aid your
organization to overcome the
challenges rooting from the
pandemic?
From ZAGENO's perspective, the
pandemic has divided the industry into
groups of haves and have nots. The
thing that is often overlooked is the
running cost of biotech, which can
range from $10,000-40,000 per day.
So, any downtime in productivity can
have profound business implications to
the bottom line.
COVID's impact on the supply chain
caused some labs to go dark and their
scientists to be furloughed. But
biotechs that subscribe to ZAGENO
benefit from access to a marketplace

where they are able to forecast
accurately and manage supply levels
and face challenges like backorders
and extended lead times with suitable
alternatives to ensure labs remain open
and productive.
What is your opinion on the
necessity for biotech companies to
align their offerings with newer
technological developments,
especially when catering to the ever-
evolving healthcare needs?
While focusing on investing in early-
stage startups at the intersection of life
sciences and software at General
Catalyst, I witnessed the burgeoning of
startups looking to accelerate the drug
discovery process from R&D through
clinical and beyond.
In my opinion, the software has not
impacted the life sciences field in the
same way it has in other industries, so
the opportunity to accelerate the drug
discovery process (which today
averages ten years) through the use of
the software is immense.
For R&D purchasing in particular
(ZAGENO's focus), a vast majority of
30|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
research scientists are still purchasing
supplies in the same way consumers
purchased goods in the 1970s! They
are still phoning and faxing in orders
via paper catalogs. While today's
consumers can buy groceries in one
click and have them arrive the same
day, scientists spend 4-8 hours just
finding and purchasing supplies. If
technology can reduce wait times from
weeks to days and even hours, imagine
the savings potential, both in time and
money, of the drug development
process at large!
Through your role as Enterprise
Business Development, what efforts
did you and your team at ZAGENO
take during the pandemic to sustain
operations and ensure the safety of
your employees at the same time?
As you may imagine, the demand for
R&D supplies during COVID has been
immense. As our team transitioned to a
work-from-home setup, our order
volume simultaneously skyrocketed.
Personally speaking, I cannot imagine
starting a new role or even a first job
completely remote! But with half of
ZAGENO based in Berlin, we were
We
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already accustomed to remote even
collaboration through video meetings,
slack, and other web-based tools. To ZAG
further support a work-from-home to e
environment, our team also focused on mob
several initiatives, such as new daily into
and weekly stand-up meetings. Mea
cust
We also provided our leadership with to su
resources for remote management and they
guidelines for remote work to all
employees. To provide additional
support for new employees, we
established a buddy system so that new
hires had a dedicated ZAGENO alum
as a resource. For all employees,
ZAGENO also sent care packages to
ensure everyone had proper at-home
office and technology setups.
Despite a majority of ZAGENO never
having met one another, as a company,
we have been quite productive, which
is evidenced by a doubling in revenue
over the past year.
In your opinion, what could be the
future of the biotech sector post the
pandemic? And how are you
strategizing your organization's
operations for that future?
 We have witnessed a few trends during
the pandemic for remote lab work,
which I believe will continue in the
future.
After the initial closure of research
labs, we saw that research scientists
began to return for critical work only,
splitting into teams to reduce risk and
performing all operational
management remotely.
It became even more critical that
supplies were there for research
scientists when they did spend time in
the lab, especially amidst an increase
in product backorder rates. I believe
that remote lab management will be a
long-lasting effect of the pandemic,
even beyond just ordering supplies.
gs,
o ZAGENO is strategizing its operations
to enhance these capabilities through
on mobile optimization and integration
y into inventory management solutions.
Meanwhile, our operations and
customer success teams are equipped
th to support research scientists whether
nd they are at the bench or at home.
new
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he
31|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
As an established leader, what would
be your advice to the entrepreneurs
aspiring to venture into the biotech
space?
For entrepreneurs looking to build
software companies in the life sciences
space, in particular, my biggest advice
would be to create a well-rounded team
with experience from both the life
sciences and software industries.
Given that startups in this space are
still emerging identifying and hiring
individuals with blended expertise is
quite challenging. However, there is
unique knowledge from both sides that
needs to be combined in order to build
a successful company, so instilling this
balance through your team from the
start as well as while you grow is
essential.
How do you envision contributing
towards the goal of sustaining your
company's stronghold in 2021?
I have recently taken on a role in
enterprise business development, with
a particular focus on enhancing their
purchasing experience for the
industry's largest pharmaceutical
companies.
In this time, I've witnessed the huge
trend happening across pharma R&D
to provide a superior user experience,
consolidate buying channels, and drive
digital adoption for both time savings
for research scientists and cost savings
for the research team at large.
Building supply and demand are
crucial to winning the market with any
new subscriber service (e.g., a
marketplace). I believe that working
with large pharma will not only drive
our stronghold within the market to
realize our company's full potential but
will also simultaneously bring
efficiency to the lengthy R&D drug
development process. It's a true win-
win, which aligns with ZAGENO's
greater mission to accelerate life
sciences.
 Noor Shaker,
Senior Vice President,
and General Manager

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34|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
 10 Most Admirable Women Leaders in Biotech for 2021
Noor
Shaker
A midst the ongoing pandemic, AI-driven drug
discovery has been at the forefront of the
healthcare sector, consisting of molecular features,
interactions, and behavior in order to build better materials,
processes, and systems for specific purposes. Traditional
processes require clinical trials on patients to investigate the
efficacy and optimum combination of drugs or dosage in
developing viable therapies. But an AI-based drug
combination therapy is proving to be a critical technique for
identifying optimum and effective regimens.
AI accelerates the drug development process along with
saving time, money, and human efforts. In short, it is a
catalyst that speeds up drug discovery. Hence, the
implementation of AI in the healthcare space has become a
go-to option for pharmaceutical companies and their leaders
who are aspiring to dominate the drug discovery market.
While many such health leaders are charting strategies for
the healthcare sector, we came across Noor Shaker, the
Senior Vice President and General Manager of
GlamorousAI, who chose to take the unbeaten path.
In an interview with Insights Care, Noor sheds light on the
journey of her company, its services, and how the adoption
of AI is transforming the healthcare sector.
Noor, give us a brief overview of your journey through
your role at GlamorousAI and also tell us what inspired
you to venture into the biotechnology sector.
35|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
An Ardent Advocate of
AI-driven Drug Discovery
My journey started as a computer science engineer in my
home country, Syria. I got fascinated by Artificial
Intelligence early on, and I realized that the field would
have a great impact on so many aspects of our lives. I,
therefore, decided to pursue a career in AI, and that led to
my assistant professorship in AI from the Aalborg
University of Copenhagen.
The time at which I got my assistant professorship
coincided with the heartbreaking passing of my mother
after a long fight with lung cancer. Shortly after, I decided
to drop my academic position and focus on the translation
of AI research to the drug discovery space. I co-founded
Glamorous AI in 2020 to deliver on my mission to cure
diseases with the power of AI.
Tell us more about GlamorousAI, its vision, and the key
aspects of its stronghold in the global biotechnology
space.
GlamorousAI’s vision is to bring drugs to every disease. We
are doing this through innovative AI solutions that are
data-efficient and through putting these tools in the hands of
drug hunters. Our AI allows us to extract information and
patterns about the disease and potential drugs from
challenging datasets.
This is a key in biomedical research where data is usually
noisy, unbalanced, and small. We’ve recently joined forces
with X-Chem, a leading service provider in the
DNA-Encoded Library space, and we believe that together,
we can bring AI, data, and expertise under one roof to
provide the best services to the pharmaceutical industry.
What is your opinion on the impact of the pandemic on
the biotech space, and how did you aid your
organization to overcome the challenges rooting from
the pandemic?
I think the pandemic had a positive impact on the biotech
sector; it certainly increased the public awareness of the
field and the difficulties associated with the discovery of
new medicines. Glamorous AI’s inception was just after
COVID-19 hit, and that meant that we had to build a remote
working environment and culture from the get-go. That has
actually helped us build a global hiring strategy and tap into
the international talent market.
What is your opinion on the necessity for biotech
companies to align their offerings with newer
technological developments, especially when it comes to
catering to the ever-evolving healthcare needs?
I think the biotech industry needs to keep up with the fast
pace of innovation to ensure the best outcomes for patients.
Startups and small businesses in this sector are leading the
way with innovative solutions that will soon become the
mainstream to how we discover and treat patients.
Through your role as SVP and General Manager, what
efforts did you and your team at GlamorousAI take
during the pandemic to sustain operations and ensure
the safety of your employees at the same time?
We have a great multidisciplinary team of international
experts located in different geographies. We have been
hiring for remote positions since the company’s inception,
and that meant that we needed to put processes in place to
ensure clear communication and a healthy, scalable culture.
36|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
Our focus on hiring self-motivated, highly productive
individuals has certainly helped us scale while sustaining
healthy growth.
In your opinion, what could be the future of the biotech
sector post the pandemic? And how are you strategizing
your organization’s operations for that future?
It became evident just over the past year, or so that AI will
play a big role in how we develop new cures. AI innovation
and adoption in the biotech sector are set to increase over
the next few years. I believe success in this sector will be
led by organizations who understand the multidisciplinary
nature of innovation required and, therefore, the need to
build cohesive multidisciplinary teams.
I’m also a believer in open innovation and that AI tools and
advancements should be integrated with every drug
discovery program. We are therefore focused on not only
building best-in-class AI but also on democratizing access
to our AI solutions through our SaaS platform, RosalindAI.
As an established leader, what would be your advice to
the entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the biotech
space?
Personally, I find the biotech sector one of the most, if not
the most, exciting fields to be in. It combines the social
drive of improving human lives with the intellectual cursory
necessary to find innovative ways to advance science.
How do you envision scaling your company’s operations
and offerings in 2022 and beyond?
We are looking to enable every drug hunter with the best-
in-class AI solutions to drive the discovery of more
effective medicines. To deliver on this, we are hiring the
best talent and expanding our customer base to enable the
democratization of AI in drug discovery.
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 Top

Tech Trends
Shaping the

Biotech
Industry
B iotech Innovations: Casting a new net

Pandemic brought Biotech from the shadows to the

limelight. The industry which was earlier catering mostly to
worldwide. And US is again casting a new net of Biotech
Innovation, with huge investment pouring in from both
public and private sources.

Biotech Trends: Shaping an Industry

trait
canc

Furt
anal
medicine, biopharma, and healthcare, is now opening for The novel innovative threads (read trends) of this net are, leve
consumers of Biotech and customers of Biotech. plat
#AI (Artificial Intelligence): Start-ups are using
They have already been re-casted by scaleups and start-ups Automation for discovering the treasure of new drugs, Wh
in developing repurposed drugs, rapid testing kits and products, and processes and screening biomarkers. They are anal
vaccines. US remains the main Biotech Innovator also using Image classification algorithm to detect different a tra

38|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
h traits (like crop disease symptoms from leaf images and
cancer cells from medical scans) quickly.

Furthermore, start-ups are developing rapid diagnostics,

analyzing microbiomes, and screening phenotypes by
, leveraging deep learning. Firms are also developing RNA
platform which are guiding therapeutic development.

While others are identifying genetic markers which

are analyzes genomic data to understand genetic mechanism of
ent a trait and then developing applications for novel drug

39|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
design, plant and livestock breeding, and diagnostic
development.
#Big Data and Analytics: This solution is enabling start-
ups to tap into ever growing wealth of data coming in from
omics tech, sensors integration, and IoT (Internet of Things)
devices. This allows such firms to recruit patients and
perform clinical trials on them more effectively. It can
further find out suitable and safer treatment regimens as
well as develop such regimens from disparate and
unstructured data sources. They can also deploy such
solutions to develop better feed, explore yet undiscovered
microbes and improve varieties of crop and livestock.
Firms have developed a platform of genomic data analytics,
by using a data library, to manage all data, samples, and
modules, and run bioinformatic pipelines via cloud
computing.
#Gene Editing: Today instead of genetically modifying
organisms, gene editing can precisely and efficiently edit
genome, leveraging developments in CRISPR (as molecular
scissors), and engineered nucleases to treat genetic
disorders by editing (adding, replacing, and/or silencing)
that gene. This can also create genome edited and
transgenic plants, and animals.
There is also a next generation delivery tech, where
chloroplast engineered traits are integrated into breeding
processes suitable for engineering of metabolic pathways
and modification of photosynthetic pathways.
#Precision Medicine: Biotech start-ups are leveraging this
solution to discover new drugs, identify novel targets,
develop new drug delivery tech, and offer gene therapies.
There are also patient-centric, AI-powered gene therapies
and drug development programs for non-invasive, precise,
and personalized drug delivery mechanisms and gene
therapy vectors.
#Gene Sequencing: The reduced cost of gene sequencing
has opened a wide range of applications like large cohort
setups with extensive phenotyping, identification of
pediatric disorders, personalized treatments, detecting
microbes' presence (pathogens in clinical, beneficial soil
microbes).
By using defined input sequences, start-ups are providing a
solution for the quick and accurate identification of active
COVID-19 infections.
#Biomanufacturing: Utilizing biological systems it
produces medical products and therapies, food and
beverages, biomaterials, and specialty chemicals. To make
40|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
it inexpensive and scalable, startups are advancing
recombinant production technologies, fermentation, and
different cell culture.
The sustainability is enhanced by using biological raw
materials. The industry's production models are also
adopting machine learning and automation. Integrating
Industry 4.0 models of automation and machine learning,
startups are offering bioprocessing 4.0 to optimize each
stage of the production process.
#Bioprinting: By utilizing bioprinters which work with
bio-inks developed from bio-based and biomaterials
extracted from patients own cells, start-ups are enabling
skin, bone, personalized medicines, and vascular grafts
development.
#Synthetic Biology: It offers increased standardization and
reproducibility, allowing organisms manipulation at the
gene networks level. A high yield of valuable biochemicals
is provided by bacterial cell factories with applications in
food, pharma, and materials. Moving beyond microbes,
mammalian synthetic biology solutions are also in
development.
#Microfluidics: LOC or lab-on-a-chip devices needs
microfluidics. These miniature labs facilitate POC or point-
of-care diagnostics, quick and inexpensive testing of
infectious diseases.
For diagnostics and environmental monitoring, start-ups are
also developing paper-based microfluidics. The tech finds
more biopharma applications in OOC or organ-on-a-chip
devices, which simulate the physiology of organs/organ
types on little chips. OOC systems are useful in disease
modeling and drug screening.
#Tissue Engineering: Due to developments in Bioprinting,
Synthetic Biology and Microfluidics, Tissue engineering
enables regenerative medicines, treatment of burns, and
organ transplant by creating grafts of autologous tissues. To
create sustainable alternatives to meat, leather and such
animal products, start-ups are using tissue engineering
widening its scope from limited biomedical applications.
Touching New Horizons:
The most impactful trends from the list are AI (with 26% of
the Biotech sector impacted), Big Data and Analytics
(19%), Gene Editing (12%), and Precision medicine (10%).
The remaining 33% shows impact of the rest from Gene
Sequencing to Tissue Engineering. Surely Biotech is rapidly
touching new horizons of our modern life.
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 Radiology
5
W
Imaging
and
- by Meenakshi Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Synapsica
ith the growing popularity of minimally
invasive procedures, there is a rising demand
for accurate and efficient imaging technologies
in both developed and developing countries. Radiology is
one branch of diagnostic imaging that has kept up to date
with the technological advances.
In this year's conference of Radiological Society of North
America, a society formed by radiologists and health
scientists around the world, the discussions mainly revolved
around technology and its adoption. The general trend is
that Healthcare as an industry is quick when it comes to
adapting to innovations and radiology as a subfield leads
this change.
Technological advancements, in the past few years, have
led to major changes in the radiology industry and delivered
crucial advantages to both the radiologists and the patients.
Many radiologists and radiology centers today are
employing AI to assist them for faster, more accurate and
subjective reports.
AI can easily spot a difference, as small as .001
micrometers, something which is not possible for the
human eye to detect. It is because of this reason that
radiologists and radiology centers that provide AI generated
reports are seeing an uptick in the number of doctors
approaching them for more reliable reports in the fastest
possible time. In fact, when it comes to emergency and
44|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
trends in
trauma cases, a 3X jump has been seen for AI powered
reporting requests over the last few years.
Other than the benefits of subjectivity, speed, remote
reporting and more accuracy that AI is bringing in the
radiology reporting, AI is also making it possible to detect a
number of health issues precisely that are difficult to predict
via traditional routes, like breast cancer, hemorrhagic stroke
and lung cancer and spine degenerative diseases in advance
and researches are on to detect more health issues that get
missed especially at early stages.
Also, thanks to technology, more and more radiologists are
able to work remotely and handle almost 3X more caseload.
Earlier, a lot of their time used to get lost in travelling to at
least 3-4 centers in a day. It's a great support to the
healthcare infrastructure in the country especially during
the ongoing COVID pandemic when everyone must remain
home to contain the spread.
With these ongoing advancements and the potential in the
field, lets look at a few trends in the Radiology and Imaging
industry that we can expect in 2022.
Trend #1 - AI in healthcare
The pandemic accelerated the clinical adoption of AI. AI
applications which were considered experimental
applications pre-pandemic are now an integral part of
y
About the Author
Meenakshi Singh is the Co-founder
and CEO at Synapsica, a health-tech
platform for automating clinical and
back-office radiology processes.
Synapsica's AI based solutions

g
automatically generate clinical
interpretations of radiology scans
right after the image capture, without
any radiologist intervention.

Meenakshi founded Synapsica in 2019

along with her co-founders, Kuldeep
Singh Chauhan (CTO) and Dr Cherian
(COO). She is responsible for
fundraising, marketing and leads
efforts for clinical validation and
sica international regulatory compliance of
the company's products. Under her
aegis, Synapsica has helped in
examining more than ten lakh
patients.

Before starting her entrepreneurial

ct a journey, Meenakshi worked with
dict
multiple giants including - Google,
oke
nce
LoanIQ, Manhattan associates and
et Goldman Sachs. During her four years
stint at Goldman Sachs, Meenakshi
was instrumental in building quant-fin
are data analytics solutions to detect and
oad. prevent fraud and manipulation in the
at US financial markets for fixed income
securities and complex derivatives.
Time after time, Meenakshi has
ain proven her tech acumen by
implementing technology led changes
in multiple companies.
e
ging
Meenakshi is a postgraduate from IIM
Ahmedabad and pursued B.E
Computer Science from Manipal
Institute of Technology. She is an
ardent mountaineer, and her goal is to
climb mountains 6000 meters and
above.

45|November 2021|www.insightscare.com

clinical reporting flows in several large-scale medical
centers.
AI can be used for various functions such as diagnosis,
triaging and workflow automation. Many organizations are
looking to integrate AI and accelerate its usage for
diagnosis.
Trend #2 - Advances in imaging scanners and
Hyperautomation
Imaging scanners today are providing much in-depth
information about a patient's body. For instance, Siemens
PCD (Photon Counting Detector) CT machine, which was
unveiled at this year's RSNA conference, can provide
substantially better contrast and spatial resolution for near-
realistic, cross-sectional images – a which means the
system can capture even the most minute anatomical
structures in a patient's body like- the smaller bronchi of the
lungs or metastases in bones.
This technology further reduces radiation exposure for
patients while providing better diagnoses and hence
opening up more use cases for CT scans. This is something
which was unthinkable till just four years ago.
Similarly, MRI and x-rays motion scanners today are using
46|November 2021|www.insightscare.com
AI-based image reconstruction techniques which makes it
much more economical and uncomplicated to maintain.
Usage of advanced modalities has already increased by
43% and these advancements promise to further support
this trend and further entrench diagnostic imaging in patient
management protocols.
Hyperautomation
India has only 10,000 radiologists for a billion people. This
shortage means that radiologists work overtime to report.
However, technology has brought in an easier way for
healthcare professionals to reduce their work by automating
tasks. This is known as Hyperautomation.
Advanced technologies such as AI and ML automate
numerous tasks bringing down the rate of error and
allowing professionals to concentrate on important cases. In
fact, it is expected that by 2024, organizations can bring
down their operational costs by 30% through the
combination of Hyperautomation and redesigned
operational processes.
Trend #3 - Cross-discipline Collaboration Within
Departments
The internet has forever changed the healthcare landscape.
It allows data to be shared through web APIs, enabling
cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge pooling.
With specialists collaborating with other healthcare experts,
radiologists can apply integrated diagnostics using digital
technology and move towards digitally reviewing images.
Trend #4 - Telemedicine and teleradiology
COVID-19 has created a need for telemedicine and
teleradiology with even in-house panels reporting remotely.
Traditional in-house PACS are being replaced with imaging
systems that allow for collaboration remotely. There is an
increasing need in healthcare for professionals to be able to
access the patients records remotely and from across
departments.
Trend #5 - AI Orchestration
AI orchestrations are the newest addition to the suite of
software solutions available for the radiology industry. AI
orchestration provides organizations with intelligence to
automate the daily operations of the business. This helps
reduce repetitive tasks and the workload of professionals
enabling them to focus on specific cases.
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