These entrepreneurs and researchers are tackling some of the healthcare industry's biggest challenges, from developing new drugs to building new devices to expanding access to care.
Written by Katie Jennings, Alex Knapp, Genevieve Bookwalter
Not all cancers are created equal, so how cancer is treated depends on a variety of factors. But finding these details isn't always easy for doctors. Enter Anirudh Joshi and his company, Valar Labs. It uses AI to analyze images of bladder cancer patients' tumors, providing data that doctors can use to decide the best way forward. “AI will completely transform and enrich healthcare,” he says. “This applies to all areas, not just our business.”
So far, 20 hospitals across the country are using Valar Labs' software, and the company's next goal is to train the model to analyze other types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer and lymphoma. That's it. To this end, the company has raised $26 million from venture capitalists so far, and Joshi, 29, believes Valar Labs has the potential to become “the next billion-dollar company in cancer.” He says there is.
Tim Tadder writes for Forbes
Joshi and co-founders Damir Vrabak, 28, and Vishwesh Krishna, 23, are just a few of the rising stars on this year's Healthcare 30 Under 30 list. From developing new drugs to developing new devices, we're working to solve some of healthcare's biggest challenges. Expand access to care. For more than a decade, Forbes has spotlighted young entrepreneurs and researchers with the help of nominations from the public. To be considered for this year's list, all candidates must be under the age of 30 as of December 31, 2024 and have previously appeared on the 30 Under 30 list in North America, Asia, and Europe. The condition was that he had never been there before.
Candidates were evaluated by a panel of judges led by Jim Breyer, founder of Breyer Capital. Kate Haviland, CEO of Blueprint Medicines. Megan Mahoney, physician and professor at the University of California, San Francisco; and Stephanie Strong, co-founder and CEO of Boulder Care.
Valar Labs is not alone in applying AI to disease identification. Rob Baldoni, 25, uses deep learning at his company Dance.ai to analyze patient movements to help assess patients with neurological diseases such as Pallikinson's disease. Kanishka Rao, 29, uses AI to identify high-risk chronically ill patients at his company Carenostics. And Akshaya Annapragada, 27, invented ARTEMIS, an AI system that has identified hundreds of new genomic features in various cancers.
Other listing companies are leveraging software innovations to make caregivers' daily tasks easier. Ricky Patti, 26, and Niko Fotopoulos, 25, work at Sparks, a company that makes it easier for doctors to participate in value-based care programs. Additionally, Autumn Kyoko Cushman, 28, and Leanna Haddad, 28, co-founded ShiftRx, a startup that helps pharmacy shift workers apply for and get hired for short-term contract jobs. Established.
But software is not the only area of medical innovation. Several entrepreneurs on the list are developing new hardware to assist patients and caregivers. For example, Nadia Ansari, 21, and Kamran Ansari, 19, co-founded Fluxwear, a company that has developed a wearable cap that acts as a neuromodulator. Meanwhile, Tamara Chayo, 25, founded MEDU Protection, which developed Level 4 hospital gowns. Rather than being discarded after being worn once, they are reused over and over again. Next are Vishnu Sunil (29) and Apoorva Katragadda (29). Their company, Emmerstat, has developed a device that helps reduce bleeding in trauma patients.
These are just a few of the incredible finalists selected for this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare list. In addition to all this, be sure to read all the other categories of 30 Under 30 in 2025.
This year's list was compiled by Katie Jennings, Genevieve Bookwalter, and Alex Knapp. Click here for a link to the complete healthcare list. You can also click here for full coverage of insurance for under 30s.
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