Houston, TX, January 21, 2020 – Last week at the annual JP Morgan Health Conference in San Francisco, Dr. Kimon Angelides, Vivante Health founder and CEO, was named Disruptive Founder of the Year by the Top 50 in Digital Health committee.
The Top 50 selection committee is composed of digital health visionaries from diverse industries. Each year, the panel recognizes the most influential changemakers in digital health with its list of 50 honorees across a range of categories: Most Beloved CEO, Reporter of the Year, Brightest Mind, Most Tech-Savvy Doctor and others.
In his acceptance speech for Disruptive Founder of the Year, Dr. Angelides thanked the committee and shined a light on chronic conditions that are invisible, neglected and stigmatized, particularly digestive disorders:
“Thank you. I’m humbled to have been selected from the so many accomplished entrepreneurs. I’m particularly pleased that I have finally extended my 30-plus-year streak as disruptive member of my family to my professional life. I guess it’s good to be consistent!
I’m excited about what we are doing in digital health at Vivante, going beyond monitoring to advancing digital medicine and therapeutics.
In my previous companies, I was always puzzled by the category labeled “Other” that accompanied the major chronic disease reports I got from consultants, employers and health plans. So after Livongo, I decided to dig in. I was struck that this category included people and conditions that had fallen through the cracks. “Other” was essentially a collection of invisible, neglected and stigmatized diseases—inflammatory and immune-based conditions where people are told, ‘You don’t look sick… it’s all in your head.’ The truth is, people with these conditions have chronic symptoms, long diagnostic odysseys, diagnostic delays, and often end up just wandering through the healthcare system. I couldn’t think of a better application of digital medicine than to decode these diseases, to use rich data and clinical tools to predict, intercept and intervene with proven therapies matched to each person.
And not only could we use digital medicine to alter the trajectory of these diseases, but we could also expose and address the hidden costs of these conditions to employers and health plans.
We’ve started with digestive diseases, a rather broad and diverse clinical category, affecting more than 70 million people in the US. The broad needs require a broad multidisciplinary approach, but through this we are learning so much more about chronic conditions (that I never saw in my previous work). I’ve been lucky to bring on individuals, both management and board partners, who share my passion and excitement. I look forward to seeing where it takes us.”
Vivante Health is Kimon’s fourth healthcare startup. Prior to Vivante, he founded EosHealth (which became Livongo), a leader in digital therapeutics for diabetes; DiabetesAmerica, a national network of diabetes centers for excellence; and mABGen, a cancer biotech company formed in collaboration the with world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center.
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About Vivante Health
Vivante Health is the leader in digital medicine for gut health and disease. Our all-in-one digestive health program, GIThrive, empowers people—through brilliant technology, advanced science, and on-demand human support—to improve digestive health, while lowering their cost of care. To learn how employers and health plans are saving money with GIThrive, visit vivantehealth.com or email info@vivantehealth.com.
