Wendy has been the daughter, the wife, and the mother of loved ones managing life with IBD in addition to mental health issues, substance use disorders, and autism spectrum disorder. It is through her caregiver experiences that she has become an unhailed expert in her own little chronic disease community. Having spent her career as a college educator teaching English as a Second Language (domestically and overseas), Wendy has also written several novels, translating them herself into Spanish. She also writes blog posts for Different Brains, an organization that advocates for inclusion, acceptance, and awareness of neurodiversity. Her newest life role is that of Navy mom, offering yet more opportunity to practice living the term Semper Gumby (always flexible). Wendy has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast production from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in education and second language instruction from Florida International University. She has now joined the Lyfebulb team to incorporate her passion for writing, learning, teaching, and connecting with others to focus on her role as IBD Community Manager
Atray Dixit, PhD of Coral Genomics has been selected to receive the $25,000 Innovation Award
NEW YORK, NY, USA – September 10, 2021 – Lyfebulb, a patient-empowerment platform, and Arena Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing innovative therapeutics for immune-mediated conditions, are excited to announce that Atray Dixit, PhD, Co-founder and CEO of Coral Genomics, was selected as the winner of the 2021 Lyfebulb and Arena Pharmaceuticals: Imagining Life Without Limits – An Inflammatory Bowel Disease Innovation Challenge.
Coral Genomics will receive the $25,000 monetary award to further develop its mission of bringing precision medicine to IBD and increasing its applicability in a diverse population. Additionally, Asaf Kraus of Dieta Health was given an honorable mention for pioneering its objective measurement of previously subjective measures of IBD health in its companion app.
“The level of innovation presented by each finalist was impressive and inspiring, and we look forward to seeing their ventures grow and make an impact on the inflammatory bowel disease community,” said Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of Lyfebulb. “There is a significant unmet need within this community for solutions that improve the experience of receiving an accurate diagnosis, effective individualized care, and adequate patient education, and we applaud this group of entrepreneurs for their efforts to ease the burden of living with chronic disease.”
The 2021 Innovation Challenge took place virtually over the past two days and was open to entrepreneurs motivated by a personal connection to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) developing new products and solutions that help patients, care partners, and all those affected by IBD to better manage their health, navigate everyday challenges, and improve overall quality of life.
Ten finalists were selected to compete at the Challenge and pitch their companies’ solutions to a panel of independent judges from a range of industries, including experts in the fields of business, healthcare, and patient advocacy. Finalists’ solutions ranged from biotechnology platforms and diagnostics to virtual clinics, wearables, and other products for consumers and healthcare professionals, and were chosen based on their potential to address the unmet needs of the IBD community and how their relationship to IBD inspired the launch of their ventures.
“Arena is proud to participate in the Challenge and support these entrepreneurs who understand the needs of the IBD community,” said Paul Streck, MD, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, and Chief Medical Officer for Arena Pharmaceuticals. “The finalists showed the bold and innovative thinking needed to create impactful solutions for the millions of patients living with IBD.”
To continue their commitment to patient entrepreneurship and raising awareness about inflammatory bowel disease, Lyfebulb and Arena Pharmaceuticals will be hosting a Fireside Chat with Atray and two members of the jury on Tuesday, September 14 at 4:00pm EDT. This virtual discussion is open to all members of the community, and more information may be found on Lyfebulb.com.
About the Lyfebulb and Arena Partnership
Rooted in the collaborative spirit of the Lyfebulb and Arena partnership and a shared commitment to continuous innovation in patient care, the 2021 Innovation Challenge endeavours to strengthen and engage the IBD community, support the sharing of experiences and insights, identify promising and impactful solutions, and ultimately change lives. The Innovation Challenge is one component of a larger sponsorship between Lyfebulb and Arena to partner directly with IBD patients, support partners and community leaders to accomplish these goals.
About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is an innovation accelerator that bridges the gap between patient communities and the healthcare industry by working directly with patients and care partners to generate insights and build new solutions to reduce the burden of living with chronic disease. Lyfebulb operates across 11 disease states and counting. For more information, see Lyfebulb.com, TransplantLyfe.com, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn.
About Arena Pharmaceuticals
ARENA Pharmaceuticals is a team with a singular purpose – deliver important medicines to patients. In a rapidly changing treatment landscape, we work with a sense of urgency every day to identify the needs of the GI community and identify bold, sometimes disruptive, ideas to get medicines to patients. It’s our determination to help improve the lives of millions of people suffering from GI disorders that inspires us all to relentlessly execute, until it’s done. ARENA – Care More. Act Differently.
For more information:
Lyfebulb Contact:
Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD
CEO & Founder, Lyfebulb
Phone: + 1 917-575-0210
Email: karin@lyfebulb.com
Arena Contact:
Patrick Malloy
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Phone: +1 847-987-4878
Email: pmalloy@arenapharm.com
Tuesday, September 14 @ 4:00 PM EDT
We invite you to meet the 2021 Lyfebulb-Arena Pharmaceuticals Innovation Challenge Award winner, Atray Dixit, PhD, Co-founder and CEO at Coral Genomics, as part of Lyfebulb’s virtual Fireside Chat series. Join us for a dynamic conversation, lightly moderated by Lyfebulb CEO Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD, with Atray and two members of our jury, Tina Aswani Omprakash, Lyfebulb Patient Ambassador, Founder at Own Your Crohn’s, and Co-founder at IBDesis, and Brad Vale, PhD, DVM, Founder and General Partner at Treo Ventures.
Topics will span the importance of entrepreneurship, how lived experience can, and should, spark innovation, and the impact of patient-driven innovation on the inflammatory bowel disease community as a whole. The discussion will also explore today’s research landscape in the field of IBD and promising innovations on the horizon.
Please register below if you are interested in learning about the impact of entrepreneurship and innovation on the IBD community and how individuals with a personal connection to the disease have been inspired to help others.
The Panelists
Tina Aswani Omprakash
Lyfebulb Patient Ambassador and Founder at Own Your Crohn’s
Brad Vale, PhD, DVM
Founder and General Partner at Treo Ventures
Finalists will compete for a $25,000 award
NEW YORK, NY, USA – June 29, 2021 – Lyfebulb, a patient-empowerment platform and innovation accelerator that connects patients with one another and with industry to support user-driven innovation, and Arena Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing innovative therapeutics for immune-mediated conditions, announce the ten patient entrepreneurs selected as finalists for the 2021 Imagining Life Without Limits – An Inflammatory Bowel Disease Innovation Challenge.
- Ali Arjomand, PhD, Co-Founder at Allay Health
- Atray Dixit, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO at Coral Genomics
- Avinoam Dukler, PhD, Managing Partner & President at Glycominds
- Sam Holliday, CEO at Oshi Health
- Vik Kashyap, CEO at Toi Labs
- Iraklis Kourtis, PhD, Co-Founder at Chronicles Health, Inc.
- Asaf Kraus, CEO at Dieta Health
- Elena Mustatea, Co-Founder & CEO at Bold Health
- Sriram Muthukumar, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO at EnLiSense
- David Schoen, Co-Founder & CEO at GI Trak
Lyfebulb and Arena Pharmaceuticals’ goal with this Innovation Challenge is to identify new and meaningful solutions that help patients, support partners, and all those affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to better manage their health, navigate daily life, and improve overall quality of life. The ten finalists selected to compete at the Challenge were chosen based on the potential of their innovative ventures to address these issues as well as their personal stories that sparked the launch of their companies.
“IBD comprises a set of chronic diseases that affect each individual throughout the day, from diet choices to exercise to therapeutic options. Consequentially, monitoring biometrics and more qualitative personal metrics may help in detecting flare-ups early or even prevent some of the comorbidities associated with the condition,” stated Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD, CEO of Lyfebulb. “These innovators have each taken their own path to providing new solutions that address the problems faced by IBD patients – with the goal of improving overall outcomes for patients. We look forward to bringing everyone together at the summit to work toward our shared goal of reducing the burden of living with IBD.”
The finalists will pitch their companies’ solutions to an expert panel of judges comprised of leaders from the healthcare, business, and patient advocacy fields on September 10, 2021. The jury will ultimately select one winner to be awarded a $25,000 monetary grant to further the growth of their company. The judging panel will include:
- Gerard Honig, PhD, Director of Research Innovation at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
- Folasade (Fola) May, MD, PhD, MPhil, Assistant Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Associate Director at the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity
- Tina Aswani Omprakash, Lyfebulb Patient Ambassador, Health and Disability Advocate, Founder at Own Your Crohn’s, and Co-Founder at IBDesis
- Jeiran Otmishi, Managing Director at Havas Health & You
- Brad Vale, PhD, DVM, Founder and General Partner at Treo Ventures
“Arena values bold ideas, relentless thinking, and continuous innovation,” said Lopa Desai, SVP, Head of Global Commercial Operations & Access, Arena Pharmaceuticals. “We are pleased to see the finalists approach the Innovation Challenge with creativity and tenacity to advance ideas with the potential to improve the lives of patients living with IBD.”
Beyond the pitch competition, the Challenge will provide opportunities for the finalists and participating guests to exchange ideas and insights about how to further advance patient innovation in the IBD community and impact change. To learn more about the Challenge, please visit: Lyfebulb.com.
About the Lyfebulb and Arena Partnership
Rooted in the collaborative spirit of the Lyfebulb and Arena partnership and a shared commitment to continuous innovation in patient care, the 2021 Innovation Challenge endeavours to strengthen and engage the IBD community, support the sharing of experiences and insights, identify promising and impactful solutions, and ultimately change lives. The Innovation Challenge is one component of a larger sponsorship between Lyfebulb and Arena to partner directly with IBD patients, support partners and community leaders to accomplish these goals.
About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is an innovation accelerator that bridges the gap between patient communities and the healthcare industry by working directly with patients and care partners to generate insights and build new solutions to reduce the burden of living with chronic disease. Lyfebulb operates across 11 disease states and counting. For more information, see Lyfebulb.com, TransplantLyfe.com, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn.
About Arena Pharmaceuticals
ARENA Pharmaceuticals is a team with a singular purpose – deliver important medicines to patients. In a rapidly changing treatment landscape, we work with a sense of urgency every day to identify the needs of the GI community and identify bold, sometimes disruptive, ideas to get medicines to patients. It’s our determination to help improve the lives of millions of people suffering from GI disorders that inspires us all to relentlessly execute, until it’s done. ARENA – Care More. Act Differently.
For more information:
Lyfebulb Contact:
Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD
CEO & Founder, Lyfebulb
Phone: + 1 917-575-0210
Email: karin@lyfebulb.com
Arena Contact:
Patrick Malloy
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Phone: +1 847-987-4878
Email: pmalloy@arenapharm.com
Jeiran Otmishi brings over 25 years of pharma and biotech experience from both the client and services sides. Jeiran’s background includes leadership of a multibillion-dollar Pfizer franchise, oversight of multiple successful launches, driving worldwide government adoption of a healthcare policy treaty, and P&L ownership of a 120-person integrated healthcare communications Havas agency.
As a co-founder of Rumi Edge consultancy, Jeiran’s current focus is empowering mission driven, commercial excellence. Prior to joining the services side, Jeiran spent 15 years on the client side. Her decade in Pfizer’s marketing organization encompassed experience throughout a variety of brands to include worldwide launches of Revatio, Chantix/Champix, and leadership of Lyrica across its full cross-functional, multi-indication portfolio. Among Jeiran’s most meaningful contributions to the healthcare industry was her involvement in the development and execution of Pfizer’s global tobacco control policy plan through private and public health sector engagement. The staggering results included the commitment by 172 governments around the world to WHO’s healthcare treaty to make the treatment of nicotine dependence available to their populations.
Jeiran graduated with a bachelor’s in Mathematics and a master’s in Medical Sciences in addition to Business Administration. She was born in California and has lived and worked in Iran, the UK, China, and the US. Jeiran has lived in New York City for the past 20 years. She currently resides in Tribeca with her husband, Duke, and AussiePoo, Rumi (named after the Persian poet).
Dr. Fola May is an Assistant Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine and an Associate Director of the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity. She received a B.A. in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale University before obtaining a Masters of Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge (UK) where she studied global health and the obesity epidemic. She attended medical school at Harvard University and trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital before completing a fellowship in gastroenterology at UCLA Health and a PhD in Health Policy and Management from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Dr. May’s research focuses on improving healthcare outcomes and addressing health disparities in multiple clinical settings, including UCLA Health, the Veterans Affairs, and Federally Qualified Health Centers. She has designed and executed multiple studies to examine the impact of patient, provider, and system factors on many chronic disease states, including obesity, colorectal cancer, chronic liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. She utilizes both qualitative and quantitative approaches to design, implement, and evaluate population health strategies to increase access to preventive services and to increase health equity. In the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases at UCLA Health, she is the Director of Quality Improvement in Gastroenterology and Director of the May Health Services Research Laboratory, and she has received funding and recognition from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, American College of Gastroenterology, Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, and Broad Stem Cell Research Center. Dr. May is also involved in advocacy at the state and national level to develop and encourage policy to improve healthcare delivery and health equity.
Dr. Brad Vale is a founder and general partner of Treo Ventures, a Silicon Valley- and Ireland-based medical device and healthcare IT venture fund. Dr. Vale was a Vice President at Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC) starting in 1992 and in 2012 was named Head of JJDC. Dr. Vale’s investments focused mainly on biotech and medical device companies with an emphasis on implantable medical devices. He joined JNJ at Ethicon R&D, moved into the Corporate Science & Technology Office before joining JJDC in 1992, and in 1997 moved to California to establish its Silicon Valley office. He invested in over 30 companies for JJDC, including five that were ultimately acquired by various J&J subsidiaries. Dr. Vale has extensive experience in medical device research and development, including blood-compatible polymers, lasers, microsurgery, novel tissue closure, and hyaluronic acid for adhesion prevention. Dr. Vale has served as a director for many biotech and medtech companies, including Neuropace, CVRx, Nevro, USGI, GI Dynamics, Onehealthbank.com, and Atrionix. Dr. Vale has published in the area of medical device development and laser surgery. He holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Iowa State University and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Washington State University. He completed his BS in Chemistry and Biology at Beloit College in Wisconsin. He currently sits on the boards of Nevro (NYSE: NVRO), Hyalex, Shiratronics, Intuity, Agilvax, and Tramway Ventures.
Dr. Gerard Honig is Director of Research Innovation at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, a patient advocacy organization and leading funder of research in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). He launched and currently manages a venture philanthropy fund, IBD Ventures, focused on investing in investigational products with potential to address the critical unmet needs of patients with IBD. He also is responsible for advancing biomarkers and precision medicine solutions in the IBD field through internal and external research programs and consortium activities, including serving as co-chair for the Mucosal Healing project team of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium and leading the development of a prognostic test for pediatric Crohn’s in partnership with LifeArc.
Gerard received his PhD in neuroscience at the University of California San Francisco as a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and subsequently trained in immunology and microbiome research. In 2013, Gerard developed and implemented a novel clinical-stage therapeutic modality for the treatment of C. difficile infection; he subsequently launched a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel drug delivery systems for gastrointestinal diseases. Gerard serves on numerous boards and committees, including the board of directors and scientific advisory committee of the Peggy Lillis Foundation; the steering committee for the AGA Fecal Microbiota Transplantation National Registry; the Health Research Alliance Program Committee and the mentorship committee for Entrepreneurship Lab NYC. In his spare time, Gerard enjoys Japanese martial arts, kayaking, and cooking.
Dr. Ali Arjomand is a nutrition scientist, entrepreneur, and mission-driven business executive delivering impact through translational science. Ali is the founder of Modulla Health, an IBD-focused nutrition clinic, where he develops and delivers personalized nutritional interventions to IBD patients. These science-based nutritional interventions have transformed the disease course of Modulla’s clients, as they did to Ali’s own disease.
As a Crohn’s disease patient for 20 years, Ali received the best-in-class medical care, including steroids, biologic therapy, and two GI surgeries. None of this achieved sustained results, and, after failing his medications again in 2016, Ali decided to take complete ownership of his disease. He applied his science training in nutrition to successfully achieve remarkable, medication-free, long-lasting success. Ali is publishing these findings in gastroenterology peer-reviewed journals.
Before these personal transformations, Ali’s career path included scientific, strategic, and executive leadership roles at innovative, vision-driven organizations, including working directly with Bill Gates on global health, nutrition, agriculture, and infectious disease challenges. Prior to that, Ali founded Accium BioSciences, a first-of-its-kind research laboratory that commercialized innovations he developed in graduate school. Ali designed and conducted over 50 Phase 1 clinical studies for FDA review in partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and led an NIH-funded clinical study in glioblastoma patients.
Ali received his PhD in Nutrition and his BS in Genetics, both from the University of California, Davis. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and twin daughters.