BME Industry Perspective: Founding multiple companies as a chief medical officer

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 19:54:49 +0000

BME Industry Perspective: Founding multiple companies as a chief medical officer Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/11/2022 - 13:54

Rachel Leuthauser

Murdoc Khaleghi

With a career spanning two-decades, Murdoc Khaleghi has become a career chief medical officer and board member with five exits.

Khaleghi began his biomedical career at the University of California San Diego, where he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in bioengineering. He then earned an MD at UC San Diego, followed by three graduate degrees in business and computer science from Columbia, UC Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania.

His career has been spent in both hospitals and start-ups. After becoming the founding Chief Medical Officer of the start-up Everly Health, Khaleghi proceeded to continue getting involved in health tech start-ups, often as the co-founder. Many of those start-ups have gone public or become unicorns.

Khaleghi is also a member of the Biomedical Engineering Program Industry Advisory Board at the ��«��Ƶ.

What inspired you to enter the biomedical engineering field?

Most innovation happens at the intersection of disciplines, which is what bioengineering is! In addition, I love understanding the human body from the perspective of engineering. So, I chose to go to one of the top universities in the world in bioengineering at the time, UC San Diego.

What obstacles did you face along the way and how did you overcome them?

While earning degrees is not easy, actually translating them to industry is much harder. We can have great knowledge or ideas, and then when pursuing them, practically get punched in the face. I've been lucky to be able to work with folks who have had the tenacity to overcome those obstacles, and then focus on how I can support those people, even if it meant I was doing the quickbooks accounting, etc.

How has combining your engineering, medicine and business skills helped you succeed as a founding CMO?

Again, most innovation happens at the intersection of disciplines. In addition, early-stage companies need to have knowledge sets from a lot of areas, but don't have the resources for large teams. So having one person that can speak all these languages, and translate, adds a value beyond the sum of the parts. I've been able to subsequently add the skillset that develops from being part of companies from the very early stages to exit.

What advice do you have for current biomedical engineering students?

Live on as little as reasonably possible. Everyone thinks they live modestly or frugally, including those who live on six figures. Instead, cling to the lowest cost lifestyle you can, take the savings and buy assets that will earn income. As you develop financial independence, you then have a far better chance of discovering and pursuing what is most meaningful. In addition, you have the flexibility to focus on experience over compensation, including being part-time and/or equity based. Being able to take those risks has ultimately led to far greater reward, both financially and personally. You'll never find your calling or pursue your passion while worrying about a mortgage.

There are a lot of bioengineers in the world, so if you want to stand out, consider what additional knowledge and experience you can develop. Prioritize your development over title or money.

BME Industry Perspective is a series of articles highlighting professionals in the biomedical engineering field who have a breadth of experience, knowledge and advice to share with our future biomedical engineers. Follow along to learn about their work and how each of these engineers are helping impact society.

Murdoc Khaleghi is a career chief medical officer and board member with five exits. His career has been spent in both hospitals and start-ups. After becoming the founding Chief Medical Officer of the start-up Everly Health, Khaleghi proceeded to continue getting involved in health tech start-ups, often as the co-founder. Many of those start-ups have gone public or become unicorns.

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Student Spotlight: Chad Healy

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 19:32:25 +0000

Student Spotlight: Chad Healy Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/11/2022 - 13:32

Rachel Leuthauser

PhD student Chad Healy.

Chad Healy is a PhD student researching how the brain controls movement in Professor Alaa Ahmed’s lab. He returned to finish his PhD in 2021 after taking a break from his studies to complete an internship with SpaceX.

What brought you to the ��«��Ƶ and attracted you to the BME program?

I initially joined CU ��«��Ƶ in 2009 for a master’s degree in aerospace engineering. The wonderful town, great people and caliber of education drew me back to CU ��«��Ƶ to continue my education in 2013 and again in 2021. Most recently, I was attracted to join the BME program because of the unique opportunity to be part of a new department under the guidance and leadership of my longtime mentor and advisor, Professor Alaa Ahmed. The chance to directly contribute to the early growth and development of the BME program was a huge draw for me.

Explain the research you are doing in Professor Ahmed’s lab.

In Professor Ahmed’s lab, we are focused on understanding how the brain controls movement. We take a modeling approach to describe human movement that combines neuroeconomic frameworks, dynamical models, control algorithms and machine learning techniques to describe human movement decisions. My research focuses on how we represent physical effort in our movement decisions.

How would you like your work to help society?

With a better understanding of the process of human movement, we can develop more effective treatments for movement disorders and improve rehabilitation techniques. We can also develop more human-like robotics and prosthetics.

Healy worked in Mission Control while at SpaceX.

What was your role at SpaceX and how was that internship experience?

I led the Human Factors team, which focused on astronaut integration with our various spacecraft, including conducting all human-in-the-loop tests. I was also given the opportunity to work in Mission Control as the Crew Operations and Resources Engineer (CORE).

I really enjoyed my time at SpaceX! It was very motivating to work with so many bright, hard-working engineers and to make a measurable impact every day. When I took the internship in 2016, I was given the opportunity for a full-time role, but I always intended to finish my PhD. In 2021, the timing was right, and I was lucky enough to be able to continue my PhD where I had left off.

What’s your favorite part about being a Buff?

I feel like I could talk all day about the wonderful things about being a Buff, so it’s hard to choose a favorite. First and foremost, you get a world-class education in a world-class environment. The access to year-round outdoor adventure is something I think all Buffs appreciate about CU ��«��Ƶ. Beyond that, it’s being a part of a supportive community that provides opportunities to learn and explore.

On a personal note, we recently got a puppy, Isabella or “Isa” – a five-month old GSP/Blue Heeler mix. Another thing I appreciate about the ��«��Ƶ community is how dog-friendly it is. Looking forward to taking her out on trail runs this summer!

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BME Industry Perspective: Founding multiple companies as a chief medical officer

Student Spotlight: Chad Healy