On Transitions

Yesterday was officially my last day at Qure. And it has been a brilliant 4 years of learnings, un-learnings, and some more. Met some great partners, clinicians, colleagues, and clients along the way. Had wonderful team members join as we went from 20 odd to 200 across the world in that time. But all good things must come to an end! I intended to write this note seriously in tonality. Despite it being a fun ride! From Bombay to Boston, Malawi to Montreal, Singapore to Switzerland, had the privilege of learning how healthcare is nuanced in every corner of the world.

Over the past few days, scrolling through the history of my inbox, hunting all the corners of the world where emails had been sent, upholding the traditional custom of thank you notes, I had the bandwidth for reflection. Mentors tell you - A periodic reflection once a year, is an exercise with much to gain, but when done once in 4 years, it makes you crave to go back to the personal mission you had set for yourself. It teaches you how you’ve evolved along the way, with everyone contributing to the path you took. And it makes you reminisce why all those years ago, you picked the problems to solve. In my case, deeply personal with my family impacted.

As the world came together in 2020 in the wake of a virus, we also became the most apart, behind our closed doors than ever before. Virtual meets afforded a fix, but as humans, we crave deals over handshakes, not emojis on screens. I spoke to many teachers in that phase because education faced the hardest challenges. Virtual classrooms kept the curriculum moving, but they couldn’t supplement the joy that games and strolls in the playground brought. But we tread on - Vaccinations, lockdowns, reopening, lockdowns again, and back to school.

Years of investments into tackling neglected tropical diseases, Tuberculosis, HIV, and similar chronic infections got hurt with the spread of the Covid-19 virus. And while I put energy and time into thinking about respiratory conditions with my work at Qure, subconsciously I craved to get back to what I started my career with at Biosense - NCDs. After all, the pandemic had taught the world the value of preventative health. But yet, they thrive with over 2B individuals impacted, and mortality at 41M globally as per WHO estimates. It had to be soon, not for the global momentum, market sentiment, magnificent AI models, or superior edge computing capacity. It had to be to reverse morbidity of NCDs to a minor adjustment in life for many millions. It had to be now!

If you’ve noticed the curious italicisation, do reach out if you find the problem statement interesting.

Again after 8 long years, Today is Day 1. Now back to research!