Latest news with #Encompass
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Health
- Forbes
How Two Fathers Turned Personal Crisis Into Preeclampsia Innovation
Left to right: Mirvie management team: Maneesh Jain, cofounder and CEO, Michal Elovitz, MD and Chief ... More Medical Advisor, Steve Quake, PhD and cofounder When Maneesh Jain's wife went into what was supposed to be routine labor nearly 20 years ago, he was shocked by how quickly everything unraveled. 'It went from a normal pregnancy to an emergency C-section in a matter of minutes,' he recalled. 'And I was left wondering, how is it that we know so little about something that matters so much?' For Dr. Steve Quake, a similar moment came when his first daughter was born a month early. 'It really shook me,' he said. 'That's what drew me into maternal and fetal health. At the time, we had an amniocentesis done—and that's what started me down the path to develop non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT).' Both men, scientists by training and fathers by life experience, were driven by their daughters' births to solve one of medicine's most neglected problems: the inability to predict serious pregnancy complications before they strike. In 2018, they co-founded Mirvie, a company that uses RNA technology to anticipate and prevent preeclampsia, a condition that affects one in 12 pregnancies and can lead to seizures, organ failure, and even death. Their work has helped shift the model of maternal care from a reactive to a proactive approach. Despite advancements in maternal care, preeclampsia remains one of the most dangerous pregnancy complications in the U.S. and globally. The global preeclampsia diagnostics market is expected to grow substantially, rising from $2.2 billion in 2024 to $5.8 billion by 2034. The preeclampsia laboratory testing market is valued at $16.3 billion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double to $31.4 billion by 2032. The current screening tools rely heavily on maternal age, BMI, race, and family history—imprecise proxies that leave both patients and physicians 'flying blind,' said Jain, CEO at Mirvie. The consequences are not just short-term. Research shows that preeclampsia can result in long-term health complications for both mothers and babies, including increased risks of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and developmental challenges in children. preeclampsia-related medical costs in the U.S. alone total an estimated $2.18 billion in the first year after birth—$1.03 billion for maternal care and $1.15 billion for infant care. 'It's nearly impossible to pinpoint who will develop preeclampsia,' said Dr. Dallas Reed, a medical geneticist at Tufts Medicine and a member of Mirvie's clinical advisory board. 'The risk factors are too broad to be meaningful. As a result, care physicians struggle to have focused, proactive conversations about this serious condition, because nearly every pregnant woman qualifies as 'at risk.'' Mirvie's solution is Encompass, a simple blood test that can be taken at home around 18 weeks of gestation, aligned with the fetal anatomy scan, to detect molecular signatures that predict preeclampsia well before symptoms emerge. In a groundbreaking study involving over 10,000 pregnancies, Encompass was able to identify 91% of women who went on to develop preterm preeclampsia. Those identified as low-risk had a 99.7% likelihood of not developing the condition. 'What's revolutionary here is that the signal comes from RNA, which tells us what's happening in real-time during pregnancy—not what you inherited, but what your body is doing,' said Quake. 'It gives us a biological window into the future.' Reed added, 'That's why I'm so excited about Mirvie's Encompass test. For the first time, we can offer pregnant people a clear, personalized assessment of their preeclampsia risk—early enough to make a real difference. Encompass empowers us to deliver timely, individualized care to the patients who need it most.' Recognizing that diagnosis is only the first step, Mirvie took it a step further. The company sponsored the first multi-stakeholder, patient-centered care plan to prevent preeclampsia, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2023. Created with input from OB-GYNs, midwives, doulas, nurses, and patients, the care plan outlines practical, evidence-based steps—such as taking low-dose aspirin, monitoring blood pressure, and making key lifestyle adjustments. It's designed to help both patients and providers feel more prepared and confident when managing the risks associated with preeclampsia. 'We heard from OBs that the test alone wasn't enough—they needed to know what to do with the results,' said Jain. 'So we created a comprehensive action plan that brings everyone to the table.' While Jain and Quake acknowledge the historical imbalance in who gets heard in healthcare conversations, they view their role not as replacing women's voices but amplifying them. 'One of the challenges in women's health is that it's often marginalized—treated as a niche,' said Jain. 'But this isn't just a women's issue. It's a family issue. If a mom has preeclampsia, that affects the baby's lifelong health, too.' Quake added: 'This is a problem that touched both of our lives. We didn't take it on out of theory. We took it on for the sake of our families.' They've built Mirvie with that philosophy in mind: The company is majority women, empathy is a core corporate value, and product development involves constant feedback from patients and OB-GYNs. 'We've spoken with thousands of pregnant people and providers,' said Jain. 'Everything we've built reflects what they told us they needed.' Mirvie has raised over $75 million in venture capital funding. It also received a $4.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study the effectiveness of RNA-based testing in Sub-Saharan Africa, with research sites in Ghana, Cameroon, and Zambia. 'Being impacted by serious complications in both my pregnancies, it was just so clear to me that a company like Mirvie needs to exist,' said Holly Maloney, managing director at General Catalyst. 'We must shift the paradigm from reactive to proactive prenatal care to improve outcomes.' Still, maternal health remains vastly underfunded. Between 2019 and 2024, investment in women's health grew by 200%, but it still accounts for only about 2% of all healthcare investment. Jain believes that's starting to change. 'We've seen that when you present hard data and real-world impact, investors take notice,' he said. 'But we still need to make the case that this isn't niche—it's fundamental. It's about healthier families and healthier futures.' This Father's Day, Jain and Quake are proof that parenthood doesn't just change lives—it can help save them. What began as fear in a delivery room has turned into a mission to protect millions of families from the dangers of preeclampsia. With science, empathy, and a deep commitment to change, these two dads are giving maternal health the attention—and innovation—it deserves.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Better Appoints Leah Price to Lead Tinman® AI Platform — Tinman® to Disrupt Encompass and Entire Mortgage Software Stack
NEW YORK, June 10, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Better Home & Finance Holding Company (NASDAQ: BETR) (" the AI-powered digital homeownership company, announced it has hired Leah Price to lead the Tinman™ AI Platform as it offers its technology platform and software to lenders across the country. Tinman® is an AI-driven automated rules-based decision engine and software platform that removes bottlenecks from the traditional home transaction process. The platform connects, automates, and optimizes mortgage origination and homeownership services to deliver an end-to-end solution for customers. This software platform and engine enables a range of loan and financial services, combining a point-of-sale system, CRM system, pricing engine, document engine, loan origination software, and underwriting calculation engine. Price joins Better and the Tinman® team from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) where she led the Office of Fintech and the Office of the Chief AI Officer. One of the driving forces behind the Agency's regulatory TechSprint on Generative AI, Leah established the FHFA as a forward-thinking leader on GenAI in the mortgage industry and among regulatory peers. "Tinman's AI Platform is democratizing access to cutting-edge artificial intelligence. Lenders of all sizes can now harness the speed, efficiency, and automated risk management capabilities that previously were exclusive to the industry's largest, most tech-savvy lenders. We've reached a pivotal moment in the history of technology, and Tinman is leading the charge in the mortgage industry," said Price of Better's technology. Tinman is the first fully AI-driven platform built to empower consumers, and now, the first to empower local mortgage brokers and banks with the technology to serve their customers at scale in the mortgage industry. Vishal Garg, CEO and founder of added, "Through Tinman, Better Mortgage has automated time and labor-intensive components of the mortgage process — reducing our cost to originate by over 40% compared to the industry average. Our loan officers have compressed a staggering 80% of their back-office costs using our platform. Leah is a recognized leader, and we're excited to have her aboard the Better team as we bring our disruptive technology to market, allowing other lenders to realize those same benefits for themselves." A large addressable market exists within the mortgage ecosystem for the holistic one-stop software solution powered by Tinman. Over 5 million mortgages were built on the Encompass platform in 2024. Prior to the FHFA, Price worked at Figure Technologies as Vice President of Lending Ecosystem, and at Fannie Mae she led product development for Day 1 Certainty pilots, led a technology distribution team, and founded the Sales Engineer Center of Excellence. Leah is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, appearing at Mortgage Bankers Association, MISMO, DC Fintech Week, Women in Housing Finance, Five Star and Digital Mortgage conferences, covering topics such as AI and blockchain, and has served MISMO as a Senior Advisor and as Co-Chair of the Emerging Technology Community of Practice. Leah received her BA from Georgetown University and her MBA from New York University Stern School of Business. About Better Home & Finance Holding Company (NASDAQ: BETR; BETRW) is the first AI-powered mortgage lender and first fintech to fund more than $100 billion in mortgage volume. Since 2016, Better has leveraged its industry-leading AI platform, Tinman™, to achieve a singular mission of making homeownership cheaper, faster, and easier for Americans. Tinman™ allows customers to see their rate options in seconds, get pre-approved in minutes, lock in rates, and close their loan in as little as three weeks. In addition, Betsy™, the first voice-based AI loan assistant built exclusively for the mortgage industry, revolutionizes the homebuying journey by delivering timely application status updates to consumers, answering questions, and moving their loan application along 24/7/365. Better's mortgage offerings include GSE-conforming mortgage loans, FHA and VA loans, and jumbo mortgage loans. In January 2023, Better launched "One Day Mortgage," allowing eligible customers to go from click to Commitment Letter within 24 hours. Better won the 2025 Fintech Breakthrough Awards for Digital Mortgage Innovation, and was named Best Online Mortgage Lender by Forbes and Best Mortgage Lender for Affordability by WSJ in 2023, ranked #1 on LinkedIn's Top Startups List for 2021 and 2020, #1 on Fortune's Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York, #15 on CNBC's Disruptor 50 2020 list, and was listed on Forbes FinTech 50 for 2020. Better serves customers in all 50 US states and the United Kingdom. For more information, follow @betterdotcom on Instagram and TikTok. View source version on Contacts better@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Powys County Times
28-05-2025
- Health
- Powys County Times
NI could have one of the best health systems in the world, says new chief
The new leader of Northern Ireland's Department of Health says there is potential for the region to have one of the best health systems in the world. Mike Farrar took up the position of permanent secretary in mid April, having previously held senior positions within the NHS in England. Earlier on Wednesday, Stormont Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said his department is facing a projected budget shortfall of £600 million. He said his permanent secretary is currently finalising financial plans that will be unprecedented in their scale and ambition, and involve an extremely difficult and, indeed, painful series of savings measures for HSC Trusts. Mr Farrar emphasised while there are several big immediate challenges in the health service, he is optimistic about the future for the health service. He said about half of the £600 million is in the health trusts where they have been running deficits, while £200 million is to meet recommended pay increases for health workers and £66 million for increased national insurance contributions. 'That's come about largely because the budget that was voted for health this year really didn't have an allowance at the scale of the pay awards we're facing, and we haven't in the past I think, really pushed as hard as we are now pushing to get real efficiency out of the system,' he said. 'On my watch, we're going to take a stand and we're going to try to live within our means but that takes a while to do. 'In the short term, I need some support.' He said they hope to reduce costs and improve services in some areas and said cuts which will impact services will be kept as a 'last resort'. However, he voiced optimism that with a 'full reset' the situation can be turned around. 'When you look at the investment which has been made in our information system, Encompass, I don't know another country that has got all their providers on the same data platform, and we know data is going to be so important to us in the future,' he said. 'If you look at our universities and their work on life sciences, it is world leading. 'We have some fantastic assets, we just have to get through these immediate challenges, reset our health system so we're not always coming back for more money, and then I think we have a brilliant chance at having a great health system.'
Western Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Health
- Western Telegraph
NI could have one of the best health systems in the world, says new chief
Mike Farrar took up the position of permanent secretary in mid April, having previously held senior positions within the NHS in England. Earlier on Wednesday, Stormont Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said his department is facing a projected budget shortfall of £600 million. He said his permanent secretary is currently finalising financial plans that will be unprecedented in their scale and ambition, and involve an extremely difficult and, indeed, painful series of savings measures for HSC Trusts. More Stories Health Minister Mike Nesbitt (Liam McBurney/PA) Mr Farrar emphasised while there are several big immediate challenges in the health service, he is optimistic about the future for the health service. He said about half of the £600 million is in the health trusts where they have been running deficits, while £200 million is to meet recommended pay increases for health workers and £66 million for increased national insurance contributions. 'That's come about largely because the budget that was voted for health this year really didn't have an allowance at the scale of the pay awards we're facing, and we haven't in the past I think, really pushed as hard as we are now pushing to get real efficiency out of the system,' he said. 'On my watch, we're going to take a stand and we're going to try to live within our means but that takes a while to do. 'In the short term, I need some support.' He said they hope to reduce costs and improve services in some areas and said cuts which will impact services will be kept as a 'last resort'. However, he voiced optimism that with a 'full reset' the situation can be turned around. 'When you look at the investment which has been made in our information system, Encompass, I don't know another country that has got all their providers on the same data platform, and we know data is going to be so important to us in the future,' he said. 'If you look at our universities and their work on life sciences, it is world leading. 'We have some fantastic assets, we just have to get through these immediate challenges, reset our health system so we're not always coming back for more money, and then I think we have a brilliant chance at having a great health system.'
Rhyl Journal
28-05-2025
- Health
- Rhyl Journal
NI could have one of the best health systems in the world, says new chief
Mike Farrar took up the position of permanent secretary in mid April, having previously held senior positions within the NHS in England. Earlier on Wednesday, Stormont Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said his department is facing a projected budget shortfall of £600 million. He said his permanent secretary is currently finalising financial plans that will be unprecedented in their scale and ambition, and involve an extremely difficult and, indeed, painful series of savings measures for HSC Trusts. Mr Farrar emphasised while there are several big immediate challenges in the health service, he is optimistic about the future for the health service. He said about half of the £600 million is in the health trusts where they have been running deficits, while £200 million is to meet recommended pay increases for health workers and £66 million for increased national insurance contributions. 'That's come about largely because the budget that was voted for health this year really didn't have an allowance at the scale of the pay awards we're facing, and we haven't in the past I think, really pushed as hard as we are now pushing to get real efficiency out of the system,' he said. 'On my watch, we're going to take a stand and we're going to try to live within our means but that takes a while to do. 'In the short term, I need some support.' He said they hope to reduce costs and improve services in some areas and said cuts which will impact services will be kept as a 'last resort'. However, he voiced optimism that with a 'full reset' the situation can be turned around. 'When you look at the investment which has been made in our information system, Encompass, I don't know another country that has got all their providers on the same data platform, and we know data is going to be so important to us in the future,' he said. 'If you look at our universities and their work on life sciences, it is world leading. 'We have some fantastic assets, we just have to get through these immediate challenges, reset our health system so we're not always coming back for more money, and then I think we have a brilliant chance at having a great health system.'
