ViTAL is an interdisciplinary collaborative of Northeastern University students from all academic backgrounds united around healthcare innovation, growing together to develop in knowledge, connections, and skills outside of the classroom.
Welcome to ViTAL, Northeastern's healthcare innovation core. We are an interdisciplinary organization that aims to inspire innovation, entrepreneurship, and exploration of non-traditional paths in healthcare. Students have the opportunity to come together with their shared interest in healthcare, growing their knowledge and network. The name 'ViTAL' embodies our mission: to empower the 'i', the impact each individual can make in healthcare. Our events include speaker panels, social events, and collaborations with other Northeastern organizations. Students from all academic backgrounds have the opportunity to develop their professional skills, participate in volunteering around the Boston area, network with prominent figures in healthcare, and connect with other members in the ViTAL community. We also promote education of various healthcare topics through Medium articles and our podcast, as well as offer the opportunity to practice these skills through our consulting team, ViTAL Ventures Consulting (VVC), and our annual case competition, Husky Health Innovation Challenge (HHIC).
Theexecutivedirectorsdrivethegrowthoftheclub,ensuresatisfactionof clubande-boardmembers andmaintainViTAL'srelationshipwithMosaic.
VVCworkswithgrowth-stagecompaniestohelpclientsgrowtheircompanies whileallowingstudentstogainexperienceinhealthcareconsu
ThemarketingteammanagesViTAL’sbrandandcontentthroughslack,LinkedIn, Instagram(@vitalnortheastern),weeklynewsletters,ourwebsite Mediumarticles LChatspodcast
MEGHA VARGHESE Co-Executive Director
GIANCARLO NERO Co-Executive Director
Theoperationsteamhelpseducateandconnectourstudentsbyorganizing speakereventsandworkshops;theyworkonincreasingcommunityengagement andmanagingclubfinances.
TheHHICteamorganizesourannualhealthcarecasecompetition,theHuskyHealth InnovationChallenge,toincreaseengagementwiththehealthcareentrepreneurship spaceamongstudentsfromNortheasternandotheruniversitieswithintheBostonarea.
KEYA SHAH Community & Member Engagement Co-lead
SARAH BRIEN Community & Member Engagement Co-lead
SANJITA BHATTACHARYA Research & Education Co-lead
NICK MOSCARDELLI Communication & Logistics Lead
ADAM KWOH Research & Education Co-lead
SARA LOWELL Director of HHIC
MAISHA FOYEZ ProfessionalOutreach Co-lead
RUPSA JANA Professional Outreach Co-lead
ALANA CALUWE Marketing & Promotion Lead
RIKU YAMAJI Director of Operations
MICHELLE WANG SpeakerOutreachLead
JASLEEN UBEROI FInance Lead
ViTAL Connect
Speaker panels throughout the semester giving members the opportunity to individually network with professionals after a guided Q&A
This event focused on postCOVID shifts in digital health. Our speakers discussed the increase in remote virtual care and rapid adoption of digital solutions due to the pandemic, yet also touched on the inequities of this shift.
Our Medical Ethics panel explored emerging technological trends that impact medical ethics and pose as a threat to data privacy, as well as potential solutions to solve these issues and protect patient safety.
ViTAL Meet
Workshops where students can develop pre-professional and academic skills while getting to know their peers and doing teambased activities
DR. TAHIR HAQUE Medical Director Biofourmis CHEN CAO Digital Health Strategy Brigham and Women's Hospital
DR. ANURAG GUPTA CEO and Founder Tembo Health
PRIYANKA SANTIKARY
Data
Privacy Analyst
Click Therapeutics
BEN JONE
Product & Engineering MiraOur Behavioral Health panel explored stigmas and barriers to behavioral healthcare. They analyzed how disparities perpetuated due to the increase in technology usage, ranging from telehealth to social media portrayals.
CHRIS WOODS Founder Even Mental Health
DR. LAURA DUDLEY, PHD, BCBA-D, LABA
Associate Clinical Professor
Dept. of Applied Psychology
DR. ELIZABETH GLOWACKI Assistant Teaching Professor Dept. of Health Sciences
The Social Determinants of Health panel showcased 3 different professions and demonstrated how each role works to minimize health disparities for community health. This event was a collaboration with NUAID.
DEBORAH MILBAUER, MPH, MSW
CYNTHIA OROFO, BSN, RN Cofounder Culture Care Collective Senior Lecturer Dept. of Health Science
PUSHKAR GODBOLE Healthcare & Public Sectors McKinsey & Company
Our Preventative Medicine speakers are from 3 companies that work to proactively care for patients, ranging from treating behavioral health issues to maintaining occupational health in the workplace.
NITA AKOH Research Assistant PEN Laboratory
CARIN BENNETT-RIZZO
Director of Occupational Health Boston Children's Hospital
SUMIT NAGPAL Chairman
and
CEO, Founder Cherish
Our Global Health panel addressed how students can broaden their horizons and learn more about health from a global perspective, and how they can get involved in these opportunities starting at Northeastern.
The Personalized Medicine panel discussed upcoming advancements in this field, such as leveraging EHR data, running biomarker experiments, improving medical devices, and integrating health systems.
23 37 451 EVENTS SPEAKERS ATTENDEES
MATTHEW SWENSON Co-Founder SmartyPill, LLC SIM KAHLON Founder Even Mental Health Vice President, Clinical Science Curis DR. MAUREEN E. LANE, PH.D., CPM DR. RICHARD WAMAI, PHD Associate Professor Dept. of Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies DR. HOOMAN KASHI, PHARMD Postdoctoral Fellow Global Medical Information Assistant Director Center for Global Surgery Evaluation DR. BLAKE ALKIRE, MD, MPHViTAL Inspire Program (VIP) is ViTAL's mentorship program for 1st and 2nd-year students mentored by upperclassmen to help navigate their journey through ViTAL, Northeastern, and the healthcare realm.
This year, there was a total of 64 pairings in the ViTAL Inspire Program. Each semester, mentors and mentees would have multiple workshops, from meet-and-greets to resume reviews to interview preparations. In their meetings, mentees can discuss their professional goals and seek advice from their mentors. Ultimately, mentees are able to learn about themselves as well as the vast opportunities within the healthcare realm.
“Very beneficial. My mentor gave me helpful feedback and advice for my resume and applying to co-ops!”
“It was rewarding for me to share the advice I received from my older mentors to my new mentees”
ViTAL's annual health in the Greate pose innova re.
d around Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBIs) and their effects on young adult lifestyle. Framed around the potential of digital solutions to address this issue, the case was designed to directly highlight the interconnectedness of DGBIs on elements of patient lifestyles such as mental health and stress, nutrition and microbiome diversity, social environment, and costs of care.
63 18
4 PARTICIPANTS TEAMS UNIVERSITIES
Students worked in teams to create and present their solutions, then finalists present a pitch deck to final round judges on Pitch Day to compete for monetary prizes! HHIC 2023 was an amazing opportunity to meet new students from around the Boston area, network with employers (in healthcare, business, biotech, consulting, +more), and build business skills like presenting and financial projections.
Caroline Yang Attending Physician Brigham & Women's Hospital
Jim Doscher CEO Digital Health Advisors
Cassie Choi Co-founder / COO Pair Team
GutWise is an app created to help students affected by GI issues. This community-oriented app offers personalized recommendations, resources, and networking opportunities to improve students' overall health and well-being. The app features three tabs: one for dining halls, one for personal cooking/grocery, and one for community engagement, ensuring that all users have access to the resources they need, regardless of their dining situation.
ViTAL Venture Consulting (VVC) is ViTAL's pro-bono healthcare consulting initiative. VVC provide insights and advice to startups and growth-stage companies in the healthcare industry through collaborative undergraduate students consulting teams. VVC aims to lead impactful healthcare consulting projects for clients while providing a learning experience for our consultants.
This year, VVC had 3 engagement managers and 12 associate consultants, who were split up into 3 teams and assigned to work with one of two companies, Alternova and myBiometry.
Alternova is a humancentered software design company aimed at creating applications and software for healthcare startups, pharmaceuticals, medical device companies,, academia, and health systems.
myBiometry is a platform to remotely monitor patients with chronic conditions using software and biomarker data. Their goal is to revolutionize asthma treatment in hopes of improving the quality of life for asthma patients.
C Donated to Boston Children's Hospital to help bring patients long-term care for recovery, fund programs that comfort and heal patients coming through the hospital
Fundr Works, an o s to prevent social isolation and enhance the life of the senior population. Donations went towards funding their 5 programs
Collected funds for donations to distribute to communities, field workers, translators, and others in a village in Uganda, including medical supplies, first aid kits and clean clothing
60 +266 OSTS
