The Scalpels & Spreadsheets Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Aman Desai

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Latest episode

Sep 2026

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EN-US

About the show

The Scalpels & Spreadsheets Podcast explores the future of healthcare through conversations with the builders, investors, operators, and clinicians shaping the industry. Scalpels & Spreadsheets brings together the global healthcare community through media, curated events, and meaningful connections. The podcast extends that mission beyond the room, amplifying the people and ideas driving healthcare forward when we’re not facilitating them in person.

Listen to episodes

40 recent

September 15, 2026Episode 3940 min

#39 Building the Next Generation of Biomarker Testing. Brooks Leitner.

What if one of the most important measures of long-term health could come from a blood test instead of a performance lab? Brooks Leitner (Founder & CEO, VO Health ) joins Aman for a conversation about building the next generation of biomarker testing around functional measures of health. Drawing on his experiences in medicine, scientific research, and venture capital, Brooks explains how VO Health is using multi-omics technology to make gold-standard measures of human function more accessible. The conversation explores how the company narrowed thousands of measurable proteins into a smaller set of reliable signals, and the tradeoffs involved in turning complex biological data into something people can actually understand and use. Beyond the technology, Brooks and Aman discuss a broader question facing consumer health: how much information is actually useful? From clinician interpretation and coaching to AI-generated insights, they explore how biomarker testing could become more accessible while still giving people meaningful guidance about what to do with their results.

August 6, 2026Episode 3856 min

#38 Population Health: Chronic Care Coordination to AI-Driven Outcomes

Population health has always depended on data. The challenge now is determining where AI creates the most value and where human judgment still matters. Rich Hofbauer (CEO, Alopex ), Stephen Kelly (Growth & Business Development, Cityblock Health ), Joe Honcz (Principal, C4i), and Dave Bliss (Sales, Alopex ) discuss how AI is being applied across population health, care delivery, and payer organizations. The conversation explores where AI is already reducing administrative burden, improving patient engagement, and turning fragmented data into actionable insights, while examining the importance of trust, auditable AI, and structured data. They also discuss the realities of serving vulnerable populations, why clinicians must remain central to medical decision-making, and how providers, payers, and technology companies can work together to improve outcomes at scale. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

August 4, 2026Episode 3748 min

#37 The Great Lab Exit: From Academia to Funded Ventures.

Great science rarely becomes a great company on its own. The challenge is turning research into something customers, investors, and partners believe in. Aykut Aksit (Co-Founder & CEO, Haystack Medical ), Demetri Maxim (Co-Founder & CEO, Nephrogen ), and Jonathan Scheiman (Co-Founder & CEO, FitBiomics ) join moderator Scott Alpizar (Managing Partner, Emerging Innovations Consulting ) to share what it really takes to build a company from academic research. The conversation explores the transition from scientist to entrepreneur, covering technology transfer, licensing, fundraising, customer discovery, team building, and the commercialization strategies that transform promising research into venture-backed companies. Along the way, the founders share practical lessons on navigating university IP, raising capital, and why commercial thinking often matters as much as scientific excellence. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 30, 2026Episode 3647 min

#36 Part 2: Health Systems, Clinicians, & the Consumer Health Era

Patients are no longer walking into the clinic with just symptoms. They're arriving with wearable data, lab results, GLP-1 prescriptions, peptide protocols, and AI-generated health advice already shaping how they think about their care. What does that mean for the clinicians meeting them on the other side of the exam room? David Kessler, MD, MSc (Vice Chair of Innovation and Professor of Pediatrics in Emergency Medicine, Columbia University ), George Matthew, MD, MBA, FACP (Chief Medical Officer, Times AI Health ), and Peter Rezkalla, MD (Pediatrician & Founder, Doctor Disney ) join moderators Aakash Saraiya (Emergency Medicine Physician, Investor & Co-Chair, NXGN ) and Athena Yao (Biotech Operator & Co-Chair, NXGN ) for a conversation on how medicine is evolving as patients become more informed, data-driven, and technology-enabled. The conversation explores how patient-physician interactions are changing in an era of unlimited online health information, what makes patient-generated health data truly valuable, the rise of longevity and optimization culture, and how clinicians are adapting to patients who increasingly arrive informed, empowered, and expecting to play a more active role in their care. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 29, 2026Episode 3536 min

#35 Part 1: Health Systems, Clinicians, & the Consumer Health Era

Patients are no longer starting their healthcare journey inside the health system. Increasingly, it begins with a wearable, a direct-to-consumer service, or an AI-powered tool long before a clinician is involved. Dr. Devin Mann (Director of the Section of Digitally Enabled Care, NYU Langone Health ), Daniel Marchalik, MD, MBA (Medical Director of Business Innovation & Executive Director, MedStar Health Center for Wellbeing ), and Holden Groves, MD (Critical Care Anesthesiologist & Lead for Inpatient AI and Mobile Solutions, NewYork-Presbyterian ) join John Joshua, RRT, MHA and Addison Montiel, RN, MBA (Co-Founders, One Health Collective ) to explore how health systems are adapting as consumers build their own front door to healthcare. The conversation explores how health systems should respond to the rise of AI-powered care, wearables, and consumer health platforms, what organizations can't afford to get wrong as patient expectations evolve, and why the future of care depends on combining trusted clinical relationships with technology that improves access, engagement, and outcomes. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 28, 2026Episode 3431 min

#34 EKGs as a Biomarker. Moin Hussaini. Ambreen Mohamed.

The ECG has been a cornerstone of cardiology for more than a century. AI is revealing that it may contain far more information than clinicians ever realized. Moin Hussaini (Head of Product, AccurKardia ) joins Ambreen Mohamed, MD (Cardiologist, Heartbeat Health ) to explore how AI is reshaping one of medicine's most familiar diagnostic tools from both the technology and clinical perspectives. The conversation explores what it takes to move AI-powered diagnostics from algorithm to clinical practice, why physician trust and workflow integration are essential for adoption, and how AI could fundamentally change the role of the ECG in modern medicine. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 23, 2026Episode 3343 min

#33 Ugly Talk: The GTM Founder Playbook. Kanika Agarwal. Osama Usmani.

Finding product-market fit in healthcare is a balancing act between customer needs, pricing, distribution, ROI, and countless other variables. Those tradeoffs look different depending on the market you're serving and the stage of the company you're building. Kanika Agarwal (Founder, MindPeers ) and Osama Usmani (Founder & CEO, Salubrum ) join Aman for a conversation on what it really takes to build healthcare startups. While they're at very different stages of their entrepreneurial journeys, both are working toward a similar vision, creating an opportunity to compare how founders approach product-market fit, customer discovery, pivots, and growth at different points in a company's lifecycle. The conversation explores B2B vs B2C as a model, international expansion & replication beyond borders, what it takes to prove the value of a predictive healthcare score, and why staying close to customers while continuously challenging your assumptions is often the biggest driver of long-term success. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 21, 2026Episode 3250 min

#32 The Investor’s Playbook: Inside the Healthcare Fundraising Process. Sean Day. Daniella Cohen. Ruth Segall. Stephanie Mouchbahani-Constance.

How do healthcare investors evaluate companies at different stages of growth? In this panel, Daniella Cohen (Principal at 2048 Ventures ), Ruth Segall (Associate at Windham Capital Partners ), and Sean Day (Venture Principal at Rock Health Capital ) join Stephanie Mouchbahani-Constance (Principal at Kli Capital ) to pull back the curtain on what actually happens throughout the venture fundraising process. With perspectives spanning pre-seed to growth-stage investing, they share how investors assess opportunities at different phases of company building. From standing out in a crowded inbox to navigating diligence, regulatory risk, reimbursement, and competitive positioning, the discussion offers an honest look at how healthcare investors assess companies throughout the fundraising journey. The panel explores why relationships matter, the signals investors look for beyond the pitch deck, common mistakes that derail deals, and how founders should think about traction, commercialization, and building defensible businesses in the age of AI. They also share practical advice for founders in a lively Q&A. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 17, 2026Episode 3139 min

#31 She Speaks Health: What Great Operators Do. Melody Yao. Amanda Kichline. France Ovalle.

Building a healthcare startup is one challenge. Building the systems that allow it to scale is another. Melody Yao (Strategy & Operations, Ambience Healthcare ) and Amanda Kichline (Founder & CEO, Tavia Health ) join France Ovalle (NY Events, Scalpels & Spreadsheets ) for She Speaks Health Vol. 2 to discuss what it takes to turn early traction into lasting growth. Drawing from their experiences building healthcare startups, they share lessons on scaling operations, hiring the right teams, navigating ambiguity, and making better decisions as companies evolve. The conversation explores how AI is changing the role of operators, where automation creates the most value, and why judgment, customer understanding, and strong operational foundations remain essential for building healthcare companies that last. Recorded live during Scalpels & Spreadsheets' Healthtech Week during NY Tech Week.

July 14, 2026Episode 307 min

#30 How Takeda Is Reinventing Pharma with AI. Gabriele Ricci.

AI is reshaping every stage of the pharmaceutical value chain, from discovering new medicines to delivering better outcomes for patients. The companies that lead won't simply adopt better models. They'll rethink how they operate. Gabriele Ricci (Chief Data & Technology Officer, Takeda ) joins Aman Desai to discuss how one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies is scaling AI, data, and digital technologies across the entire value chain. He shares how Takeda is using AI to accelerate drug discovery, modernize research and manufacturing, improve decision-making, and rethink how new capabilities are integrated through partnerships and acquisitions. The conversation also touches on Takeda's acquisition of Nimbus Therapeutics' zasocitinib program and what it reveals about building AI-enabled innovation through a combination of internal capabilities and strategic partnerships. The conversation explores why AI acts more like a mirror than a magic wand, exposing broken processes, poor-quality data, and organizational bottlenecks that must be addressed before technology can deliver its full potential. Gabriele also discusses how AI has reduced drug target identification from months to weeks, shortened development timelines, enabled more personalized care, and why trust, judgment, and organizational change will ultimately determine which companies lead the next era of pharmaceutical innovation. Recorded live at HLTH Europe in June 2026.