Page 27 - Avendus Huran Flipbook 2026
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How did your upbringing, education and any family influences As one of the few women leading a deep-tech health startup, do
shape your appetite for building deep-tech healthcare products you think your perspective or leadership style has influenced the
and was there a childhood memory or early exposure that company’s approach to inclusion or innovation?
nudged you toward diagnostics?
Absolutely. I have always believed that leadership is about
I grew up surrounded by healthcare. It’s the only world I have presence and participation. Not hierarchy. I am very hands-on
really known. Conversations around patients, technology and and I try to lead by example whether it’s in product discussions,
innovation were always a part of everyday life in my family, so strategy meetings or day-to-day problem solving.
building in this space felt like a natural progression rather than My global perspective has also helped shape OptraSCAN’s
a choice.
culture in a big way. Having lived, studied and worked across
Studying Biomedical Engineering at Boston University gave me different parts of the world, I have been able to bring together
the technical foundation to understand the science behind the best practices I have seen from innovation cultures in the
healthcare innovation, while my MBA from Columbia Business US to the resourcefulness of Indian teams. That diversity of
School taught me how to scale those ideas into real-world experience has made us a company that values inclusion,
impact. That blend of science and strategy shaped my appetite curiosity and constant learning.
for creating products that are both deeply technical and
genuinely transformative.
Who outside the company, mentors, academic collaborators,
clinicians or investors, played the most important role in shaping
Building a med-tech company isn’t an easy road. What personal OptraSCAN’s product strategy, and what specific advice from
value or belief keeps you grounded when experiments fail, or them changed your course?
when funding or clinical validation takes longer than expected?
We have been incredibly fortunate to have a world-class board
For me, it always comes back to purpose. There’s a patient at of advisors, including Chairs of Pathology from Stanford, Duke,
the end of every decision we make, every experiment we run Yale and USC. From the very beginning, our philosophy has been
and every product we launch. That belief keeps me grounded clear: Build for pathologists, by pathologists.
and resilient, no matter how challenging the process becomes.
Their guidance has kept our products grounded in real-world
It’s easy to get caught up in the setbacks, the timelines, the clinical workflows and patient needs. One piece of advice that
trials, the funding, but when you remember that your work really stayed with me was, ‘Technology in healthcare must adapt
could change or even save someone’s life, it re-centers you to the clinician, not the other way around.’ That mindset has
instantly. That clarity of purpose is what fuels me and our defined how we design every product: intuitive, accessible and
entire team. built around the pathologist’s experience.
Uth Series 2025 • U30 Business Leaders | 25
