David Shaywitz

Like no other event in our collective experience, the pandemic reminded us of the need for an integrative view of wellbeing beyond traditional measures of physical health. Focusing exclusively on cholesterol level and bone density, for example, would be hopelessly inadequate for the needs of today.  I continued to be haunted by Zak Kohane’s description of the many children’s hospitals... Read More

As we enter the holiday eating season – quickly followed by the New Year get-in-shape resolution season – let’s look at obesity challenge head-on.  Expert physicians who study obesity recognize the condition as a complex disease associated with profound health consequences. It also represents, for many health tech entrepreneurs, a high-value problem to be solved. Obesity has been ratcheting upward... Read More

Humility may not be the first word you associate with “genetics,” “precision medicine,” and “Harvard,” but it was unquestionably the theme of the day at a fascinating panel this week convened by the Harvard Data Science Initiative. The discussion (video here), was remarkably grounded. It reflected hard-earned learnings from experts who have tried to implement data-driven, “precision” health solutions outside the... Read More

“It’s been a busy few weeks for product announcements in the world of fitness,” industry observer Anthony Vennare recently commented, citing the latest offerings from the Peloton, Mirror, Tempo, and other digital fitness platforms. On the one hand, these developments are encouraging, offering customers pursuing fitness — and who are willing and able to afford the steep premiums — a... Read More

The best concise summary I’ve seen of tech industry travails in healthcare comes from Blake Dodge, a reporter at Business Insider. Dodge had just written a piece about Apple Health, and took to LinkedIn to share an additional quote that didn’t quite make the final copy.  “I think they came to it pure of heart, really thinking that they could... Read More

When it comes to emerging digital and data technologies, most pharma CEOs today are singing from the same hymnal. They all emphasize their commitment to digital transformation, and assert that the adoption of digital processes are key to their companies’ success, and vital for the industry’s future.  A recent Lazard survey of healthcare leaders echoes this message. The investment bank... Read More

In today’s Wall Street Journal, I discuss Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale, a new book by the renowned Silicon Valley entrepreneur (PayPal, LinkedIn), investor (Facebook, Airbnb), and podcast host that proposes to distill the secrets of successful business and social entrepreneurs.  The review speaks for itself, of course, but Hoffman’s account, and others like it (there are many – for... Read More

This is a story about the tension between what we desperately want to believe and what the data suggest we should believe, and — surprise! — this isn’t about the contentious recent approval of the Biogen drug aducanumab for Alzheimer’s Disease. Rather, it’s about a powerful and important study just published in Health Affairs, examining the outcomes of a workplace wellness program in a... Read More

Wearable devices have an ability to capture lots of data, in real-time and over long periods of time, that may reflect aspects of an individual person’s health. But (and this is a common theme in the application of data science to healthcare), gathering volumes of data is one thing – deriving meaning from these data in a way that significantly... Read More

Sometimes the most relevant digital health companies have the least elaborate technology. More than a decade ago, I discussed UpToDate, a fairly basic medicine e-textbook, served through a web-based app. It was then, and still remains, a go-to site for timely, high-quality medical information relevant to clinicians. There’s nothing fancy about it, it just works. Recently, I discovered a similar... Read More

A frequent – and frequently correct – critique of entrepreneurs bearing technology is “your solution is not my problem.”  Healthcare – among many other domains, perhaps all domains – has been beset by “solutionism,” the idea that my clever technology will solve your hideously complex problem.  But perhaps it makes no more sense to instinctively reject this mindset as it... Read More

Many of us first experience exercise as kids playing sports. Think back to the coach yelling at you and your teammates to run the extra lap. Maybe this helps explain why fitness and competition seem inextricably linked to so many adults, so many years later.  Digital fitness companies know this. Many digital fitness offerings lean heavily into the competitive aspect,... Read More

The first iteration of the “Quantified Self” movement largely fizzled out about five years ago. Avid self-trackers, at the time, started to worry they were drowning in data, but lacking in insight.  Today, we seem to be entering Quantified Self 2.0. Once again, an expanding assortment of consumer devices promises to measure every parameter of our health and well-being.  The... Read More

We’re drawn to stories. We understand the world through stories – both the narratives we read, and those we create and develop for ourselves. It’s the very power – the unreasonable effectiveness? – of stories that also leaves us so vulnerable to deception, including self-deception. This is a key message from “Super Founders,” Ali Tamaseb’s soon-to-be-published analysis of the factors... Read More

A comprehensive 2018 review of the scientific literature commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services reported that physical activity not only helps you “sleep better, feel better, and function better,” but also “reduces the risk of a large number of diseases and conditions,” including dementia, hypertension, diabetes, and a range of cancers. The report specifically highlights the benefits... Read More

Digital platforms such as Peloton and Tonal have clearly learned how to use emerging technologies to cultivate healthy exercise habits and a loyal base of fitness-focused customers. These same technologies would seem ideally suited – if presented in the right way – to coax more people off the couch in the first place.  This represents an enormous health — and... Read More

Astute TR readers might have noticed that I’ve been writing a lot about digital fitness lately, in contrast to digital pharma.  This is deliberate, and represents an evolution of my thinking. I was first drawn to digital health over a decade ago, in the context of a translational medicine training program for medical scientists that I developed with Dr. Denny... Read More