Natasha Gajewski
Born
Natasha Rana
EducationRutgers University (BA)
Occupations
  • CEO
  • Director
  • Business Owner
SpouseMark Gajewski[1]
Children2
RelativesChristopher Emery (stepbrother)
Richard Kind (stepbrother)
HonorsTedMED Frontline Scholar, Stanford MedX ePatient Scholar

Natasha Gajewski (née Rana) is the CEO and Founder of Symple Health.[2][3]

Early life and education

Gajewski was born to Dana Roy and Riaz Hussein Rana. Her father, Rana, was a commercial pilot and later statistician. Rana immigrated to the United States from Zafar Chowk, Pakistan in 1960.[4] Gajewski has one sister, Holly Bossard. Gajewski has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Statistics from Rutgers University.

Career

After being diagnosed, in 2010, with the rare condition, Mixed connective tissue disease (MTCD), Gajewski was told by her physician to keep track of her symptoms between medical appointments.[5] This motivated her to improve health prospects for patients.[6][7][8] This led to the idea to create a mobile symptom journal.[7] Gajewski was initially faced with the prohibitive costs of developing a Mobile app after approaching developers from the United States and India.[9] To evaluate the feasibility and validity of the app, she attend Eric Ries's 2011 Lean startup - San Francisco where her idea was the 2nd-place winner and was voted "most fundable" and "most likely to succeed."[9][10] In a February 2017 Heart Sisters interview, Gajewksi said of her experience designing a mobile app:[11]

But there wasn’t [already a mobile app], so I went about making my own. Because I was actively sick at the time, I knew certain things that a healthy person might completely miss – something as simple as not using sliders on a screen because they’re harder to activate (and require more thought) than a button.

She has been described as a "revolutionary" in the engaged patient movement along with Dave deBronkart and Jamie Heywood.[12] In 2014, the Symple App had 60,000 users.[13] It is distributed through the App Store (iOS).[13] In 2016, Symple was recommended by a National Health Service general practitioner, Dr. Golda Parker, for patients to use to create lists of symptoms so they come prepared to appointments.[14] Gajewski's Symple app has been the subject of research in academic journals.[15] A 2017 academic study rated her mobile app as one of the "highest performing apps" for heart failure monitoring.[16] Gajewski provided input on point of care patient decisions in a 2016 study.[17] Danny Gorog of Macworld had positive remarks on the App, stating that it " is a powerful iPhone app that lets users track up to 20 different symptoms at once. It also functions as a health diary, to let you note the things you eat, daily exercise and medications you take."[18]

Advisory boards

Gajewski serves as an Advisor for Princeton University's Keller Center eLab Summer Accelerator.[19] She is also a member of University of California, San Diego and Irvine's Health Data Exploration Project.[20] In December 2011, Gajewski was one of the Princeton alumni and women entrepreneurs and business leaders who served as a panelist for the event entitled "Women in Entrepreneurship" hosted by the Keller Center.[21] The panel explored the underrepresentation of women in venture capital and startup ventures to which, Gajewski reported "I just never imagined limitations based on my sex.”[21] Later remarking, “It just never occurred to me."[21] Gajewski is a faculty member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored National Health Care Transparency Summit.[22] Gajewski serves on the Advisory Board of Flip the Clinic, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.[23]

Personal life

Gajewski resides in Princeton, New Jersey.[4] To combat her autoimmune disease, Gajewski practices Zumba.[24] Gajewski's parents later divorced, and her father remarried Jacqueline Nicole Marchal of Paris, through which, Gajewski gained three step-siblings including Christopher Emery.[25] Gajewski's mother remarried jeweler Samuel Kind, through which, she gained two step-siblings, actor and voice actor Richard Kind and Joanne Hinton.[26]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. "Florence Biruta Roy Obituary (2006) Hartford Courant". Legacy.com.
  2. Lidow, Derek (February 18, 2014). Startup leadership : how savvy entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful enterprises (First ed.). San Francisco. ISBN 9781118845653. OCLC 858362028.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Dentzer, Susan (March 3, 2014). "If Patients Are Flipped Out by Today's Physician Encounters, Why Not "Flip" The Clinic?". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Schudel, Matt (November 15, 2012). "Riaz H. Rana, company founder". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  5. Firth, Shannon (March 18, 2015). "Transparency Summit: Patients vs. Doctors". MedPage Today. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Natasha Gajewski". Medicinex - Stanford University. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "D-Patient Series: Hacking My Patient Experience – Prescribe Design". Prescribe Design. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  8. Kinsella, Audrey. "New Tools Help Patients Self-Manage Health, Chronic Conditions". Home Care Tech Report. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Surden, Esther (May 30, 2012). "Growing Princeton Tech Meetup Features Networking, Speakers". New Jersey Tech Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  10. "Symple Health". Gust. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  11. Thomas, Carolyn (February 12, 2017). "If you're clueless and you know it . . ". Heart Sisters. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  12. Pinder, Jeanne (February 27, 2013). "A few thoughts about the health-care marketplace". Clear Health Costs. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  13. 1 2 Clare, David (July 18, 2014). "The Friday Interview: Natasha Gajewski, Founder of Symple App | Pixel Health". Pixel Health. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  14. Magee, Anna (June 1, 2017). "Forget Mondays and Google your symptoms first - GPs' tips on getting more from your appointment". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  15. Masterson Creber, Ruth M; Maurer, Mathew S; Reading, Meghan; Hiraldo, Grenny; Hickey, Kathleen T; Iribarren, Sarah (June 14, 2016). "Review and Analysis of Existing Mobile Phone Apps to Support Heart Failure Symptom Monitoring and Self-Care Management Using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS)". JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 4 (2): e74. doi:10.2196/mhealth.5882. ISSN 2291-5222. PMC 4925936. PMID 27302310.
  16. Athilingam, Ponrathi; Jenkins, Bradlee; Johansson, Marcia; Labrador, Miguel (2017). "A Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Self-Care in Patients With Heart Failure: Pilot Randomized Control Trial". JMIR Cardio. 1 (2): e3. doi:10.2196/cardio.7848. PMC 6834206. PMID 31758759.
  17. O’Malley, Ann S.; Collins, Anna; Contreary, Kara; Rich, Eugene C. (July 1, 2016). "Barriers to and Facilitators of Evidence-Based Decision Making at the Point of Care: Implications for Delivery Systems, Payers, and Policy Makers". MDM Policy & Practice. 1 (1): 2381468316660375. doi:10.1177/2381468316660375. ISSN 2381-4683. PMC 6125042. PMID 30288403.
  18. "3 of a kind: iOS health apps - Macworld Australia". Macworld Australia. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  19. "Advisors". Keller Center. Board of Trustees Princeton University. March 31, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  20. "Natasha Gajewki _ » Network Directory – Health Data Exploration". hdexplore.calit2.net. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 Sullivan, John (December 9, 2011). "Princeton alumni examine barriers for women in entrepreneurship". Princeton University. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  22. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "The National Healthcare Healthcare Transparency Summit". Healthcare Healthcare Transparency Summit. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  23. "About - Flip the Clinic". Flip the Clinic. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  24. "Taking Patient Advocacy to a Whole New Level". Health Management Technology Magazine. September 1, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  25. "Jacqueline Rana". Washington Post. February 19, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  26. "Paid Notice: Deaths KIND, SAMUEL M." The New York Times. July 23, 1997. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
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