Paper 2 · Qualitative Study

Healthcare AI Innovation Study

A multi-stakeholder qualitative study on strategic perspectives in healthcare AI innovation. We're interviewing leading builders, researchers, and system leaders across the US, China, and Asia-Pacific.

Method: Semi-structured Interviews Target: 15-20 Industry Leaders Timeline: 4-6 Weeks

21

Target Leaders

5

Warm Intros Ready

0

Interviewed

6

Research Clusters

Research Questions

  1. How do healthcare AI industry leaders conceptualize the key risks, opportunities, and value drivers influencing AI innovation in healthcare?
  2. How do current AI product strategies reflect perceived market demand and unmet needs within healthcare systems?

This qualitative study interviews builders, strategists, and investors in healthcare AI to understand how decisions are made, what influences priorities, and how innovation trajectories are shaped.

Team & Responsibilities

Samandika Saparamadu

Principal Investigator · Johns Hopkins
  • Primary writing for both papers
  • Outreach to interviewees
  • IRB/Ethics coordination
  • Interview conducting
  • Qualitative analysis
  • JHU connection to Suchi Saria!

Dr. Dominik Dotzauer

Co-Investigator · APJLM Editor
  • Technical solutions & AI workflow
  • Ideas, frameworks, review
  • Network introductions (China, muShanghai)
  • Cultural decoding contacts
  • Email research system
  • Website & tools

Healthcare AI Leaders Database

21 target leaders across startups, big tech, academia, investors, and China market.

Name Organization Type Why Important Links
Shiv Rao, MD
Founder & CEO
Abridge Startup Cardiologist who built $5.3B AI scribe. TIME 100 AI 2024. Still takes hospital shifts.
Munjal Shah
Co-Founder & CEO
Hippocratic AI Startup Serial entrepreneur (sold to Google & Alibaba). $126M Series C at $3.5B. Safety-first.
Chris Mansi, MD
CEO & Co-Founder
Viz.ai Startup Neurosurgeon. Eric Schmidt was his professor. 13 FDA-approved algorithms. TIME 100 AI.
Daphne Koller, PhD
Founder & CEO
insitro Startup Stanford's first ML hire. Co-founded Coursera. MacArthur Fellow. TIME 100 2012.
Demis Hassabis, PhD
Co-Founder & CEO
Google DeepMind Big Tech 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for AlphaFold. 2M+ scientists use it.
Karan Singhal
Head of Health AI
OpenAI Big Tech Created Med-PaLM at Google. Building "ChatGPT for Healthcare" and HealthBench.
Eric Topol, MD
Executive VP
Scripps Research Academic "Dean of Digital Medicine." 1,300+ papers, 300k citations. 675k Twitter followers.
Nigam Shah, PhD
Chief Data Scientist
Stanford Health Academic h-index 88. 350+ publications. Founded CHAI. Papers in JAMA, Lancet, Nature, NEJM.
Suchi Saria, PhD
Director, ML Healthcare Lab
Johns Hopkins Academic ⭐ SAME INSTITUTION AS SAM! Sepsis AI reduces mortality 18%. TIME Best Inventions.
Micky Tripathi, PhD
Chief AI Officer
Mayo Clinic Health System Former US National Coordinator for Health IT. Former HHS Chief AI Officer.
Vinod Khosla
Founder
Khosla Ventures Investor Controversial "80% of doctors" prediction. Sun Microsystems co-founder.
Kuan Chen (CK)
Founder & CEO
Infervision China Leading medical imaging AI in China. COVID-19 deployment. Largest radiology AI.

Outreach Tracker

🤝 Warm Intros (Phase 1)

Avi Roy (Longevity Alliance)
Via Olivier's WhatsApp · Already active in chat
Dom
Olivier Zolman
Bryan Johnson's Arzt · Ask for more contacts
Dom
Suchi Saria (JHU)
Internal connection · Same institution!
Sam
muShanghai Network
China AI · Event-Orga connections
Dom

📨 Cold Outreach (Phase 2)

Eric Topol (@EricTopol)
Twitter DM · Very active, responds to research
Both
Karan Singhal
LinkedIn · Ex-academia, paper-friendly
Both
Nigam Shah (Stanford)
Email · Academic collaboration angle
Sam
Vinod Khosla
Twitter DM · Public, vocal, likes attention
Both

Research Clusters & Paper Angles

Six clusters of companies/research areas with potential paper angles for each.

📝 Ambient Scribes

Abridge, Ambience, Nabla, Microsoft DAX
"Impact of Ambient AI on Physician Burnout: A Multi-Site Study"

🔬 Diagnostic AI

Viz.ai, Regard, OpenEvidence, Med-Gemini
"Diagnostic AI in Emergency Settings: Barriers and Facilitators"

🤖 Patient-Facing Agents

Hippocratic AI, K Health, Ping An
"Safety Frameworks for Patient-Facing AI"

💊 Drug Discovery

Isomorphic Labs, insitro, Insilico, XtalPi
"AI Drug Discovery: US vs China Approaches"

🏥 Health System AI

Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser
"AI Governance in Academic Medical Centers"

🇨🇳 China Market

Infervision, XtalPi, Tencent AIMIS
"US-China Healthcare AI: A Comparative Analysis"

Speed Strategy Options

Three paths to publication - choose based on Sam's visa timeline needs.

Option A: Minimal Viable Paper

4 Weeks

8-10 text-based interviews, 2 cluster focus, pre-print on medRxiv

  • Google Form (10-15 min) statt 45 min
  • 30 parallel outreach in einem Tag
  • AI-assisted thematic analysis
  • medRxiv = kein Peer Review

Option C: Commentary

2 Weeks

Perspective piece based on existing research

  • 2000-3000 Wörter
  • Keine neue Datenerhebung
  • APJLM = schneller Review
  • Garantierte Publikation

Next Actions

Email Outreach System is ready!

15 personalized messages for Sam to review and send.

Open Email System →
Sam: Email Suchi Saria this week
Internal JHU connection · Highest priority warm intro
Dom: Message Avi Roy in WhatsApp
Already active in Olivier's group · Quick win
Dom: Export LinkedIn connections
Run social graph analysis for second-degree intros
Both: Decide on Speed Strategy (A, B, or C)
Recommendation: Option B + C parallel
Sam: IRB submission at Hopkins
Needed for formal interviews if Option A chosen