MINNETONKA, Minn. and NEW YORK, June 28, 2018 — Lyfebulb LLC and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) have selected 11 Patient Entrepreneur finalists who will compete in the “Empowering Patients: An Innovation Challenge” to earn the Lyfebulb and UnitedHealth Group Innovation Award.
After a thorough screening and review of the dozens of applications submitted, Lyfebulb and UnitedHealth Group are pleased to announce the final contenders: Steve Axelrod of G-Tech Medical; Daniel Bernstein of metaMe Health; Cindy Frei of Caleb’s Cooking Company; Phyllis “PJ” Johnson of eFundYourHealth.com; Vik Kashyap of Toi Labs; Jon Margalit of Complete Start; Kishore Pardasani of Buddha Technologies (OstoBuddy); Marc Ramer of Regentys; Scott Sundvor of Nima Labs; Brett Tripp of Tripp Design; and Daniel Weinstein of Oshi Health.
The Innovation Challenge was announced April 23 and was open to established companies of all sizes whose founders have been affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), whether as a patient or through a loved one, and who have created a product or service to address an issue encountered by IBD patients. The 11 finalists will attend the Challenge in Minnetonka July 24-25 at UnitedHealth Group’s headquarters. At the event, the judges will award three Patient Entrepreneurs with the most innovative and impactful solutions with prizes of $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000 for first, second and third place, respectively.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) covers a group of disorders in which the intestines become inflamed, probably as a result of an immune reaction of the body against its own intestinal tissue. The disease category covers Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. About 3 million adults nationwide reported being diagnosed with IBD as of 2015 compared with 2 million adults in 1999.
“Lyfebulb is thrilled to partner with UnitedHealth Group to bring such an exceptional group of Patient Entrepreneurs together to find new and more effective ways to address issues encountered by patients with IBD,” said Dr. Karin Hehenberger, Founder, and CEO of Lyfebulb. “We have assembled an esteemed panel of judges who will use their expertise to adjudicate the winners and provide unique insights into the businesses presented to help the entrepreneurs turn their ideas into viable healthcare solutions and potential business opportunities.”
The panel includes experts from the patient, business and medical communities including Rebecca Babcock, a Patient Ambassador at Lyfebulb; Shomit Ghose, General Partner at ONSET Ventures; Dr. Karin Hehenberger, Founder and CEO of Lyfebulb; Dr. Gerard Honig, Translational Research Manager at Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation; Dr. Scott Ketover, President and CEO at Minnesota Gastroenterology, P.A.; and Dr. Deneen Vojta, Executive Vice President of Research & Development at UnitedHealth Group.
“Through this innovation challenge, we are learning from patients and caretakers in the IBD community about specific unmet needs in the day-to-day management of IBD,” said Dr. Vojta. “At the Challenge, entrepreneurs, health care providers, patient advocates and business leaders will share information and ideas to better understand the needs of people living with IBD and discuss new and more effective ways to address a condition that is often painful and debilitating and can lead to life-threatening complications. Together, we can help bring the most innovative, effective tools – inspired by personal experiences – into the IBD marketplace.”\
About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is a chronic disease focused, patient empowerment platform that connects patients, industry (manufacturers and payers) and investors to support user-driven innovation. Lyfebulb promotes a healthy, take-charge lifestyle for those affected by chronic disease. Grounded with its strong foundation in Diabetes, the company has expanded disease states covered into Cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
See Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn, and Lyfebulb LinkedIn.
About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and helping make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through two distinct platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health care coverage and benefits services; and Optum, which provides information and technology-enabled health services. For more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/ or follow @UnitedHealthGrp on Twitter.
Contact:
Lyfebulb
Karin Hehenberger, M.D., Ph.D., CEO
917-575-0210; Karin@lyfebulb.com
UnitedHealth Group
Tyler Mason
424-333-6122; tyler.mason@uhg.com
Havas Health & You has announced a strategic partnership Lyfebulb that will provide a unique, differentiated means of putting the voice and needs of the patient at the center of everything Havas Health & You does for its clients
NEW YORK (PRWEB) MARCH 06, 2018
Havas Health & You, a global leader in health-and-wellness communications, announced today a strategic partnership with Lyfebulb, a patient empowerment platform that promotes a healthy, take-charge lifestyle for those affected by chronic disease. The mission of Havas Health & You is to support its clients in promoting healthy-living decisions across the entire health ecosystem.
“The Havas Health & You and Lyfebulb partnership further strengthens our shared commitment to creating meaningful connections that inspire healthy living,” said Dennis Urbaniak, chief digital officer of Havas Health & You. “By leveraging Lyfebulb’s successful track record of delivering innovative solutions for some of the most complex chronic conditions, we are demonstrating our focus on real-life results that matter.”
Lyfebulb connects patients, industry, and investors to support user-driven innovation. It has built communities of patients with chronic diseases and supported leaders in these communities through its Patient Ambassador and Patient Entrepreneur programs. By bringing Lyfebulb’s community into the Havas Health & You network offering, this partnership will provide a unique, differentiated means of putting the voice and needs of the patient at the center of everything Havas Health & You does for its clients.
“Our goal is to reduce the burden of disease in patients by bringing user-driven innovation at a large scale,” said Karin Hehenberger, M.D., Ph.D., the CEO, and founder of Lyfebulb. “Together with Havas Health & You and its broad network of clients, we will accelerate our ability to bring more comprehensive, patient-focused solutions to the marketplace.”
Presenting the full picture of any disease, from patient insights to their solutions, is a key differentiator for Havas Health & You in this new partnership. The relationships that Havas Health & You have with multinational healthcare companies, in turn, will enhance Lyfebulb’s ability to execute upon its mission to reduce disease burden for people with chronic disease.
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About Havas Health & You
Havas Health & You join together the agencies and companies of Havas Health with the consumer health-and-wellness marketing communications practices across Havas companies around the world. The broadened entity and new name reflect the group’s future-forward positioning and expanded capability. Havas Health & You have built out best-in-class disciplines and integrated the many products and services the Havas agencies and companies offer across the health and wellness continuum, from Rx and OTC to health solutions.
About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is a chronic-disease focused patient empowerment platform that connects patients, industry (manufacturers and payers) and investors to support user-driven innovation. Lyfebulb promotes a healthy, take-charge lifestyle for those affected by chronic disease. Grounded with its strong foundation in diabetes, the company has expanded disease states covered into cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and other autoimmune diseases.
“How Patients are Driving Innovation in the Future Healthcare Environment ”
Dr. Karin Hehenberger is the founder of Lyfebulb, a business focused on bridging patient communities with industry and providing a strong voice to people living with chronic disease by empowering patient entre-preneurs. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at an early age, Dr. Hehen-berger has dedicated her life to helping others impacted by chronic ill-nesses. Her personal history with diabetes as well as its consequences, which required kidney and pancreas transplants, provide Dr. Hehen-berger with an understanding from a patient perspective as well as a med-ical professional. It is from those experiences both as a patient and as a doctor, that Dr. Hehenberger was motivated to create Lyfebulb.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
8:00pm
Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute (GCCRI); 8403 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229
Source: UT Health San Antonio
Press Contact for Lyfebulb: Shepard Doniger BDCG, Inc. 561-637-5750 sdoniger@bdcginc.com
Lyfebulb brings healthier lifestyle curated gifts to shoppers this holiday season
NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lyfebulb, an organization focused on bringing innovative products and solutions to market for those living with chronic disease and creator of the global Lyfebulb-Novo Nordisk Innovation Award, today announced the availability of its 2016 Online Holiday Gift Guide. The Holiday Gift Guide is a curated selection of the best online products for those living with diabetes and those who want to lead a healthier lifestyle in general. Many of the items were developed by “patient entrepreneurs,” who themselves live with diabetes. This concept was coined by Lyfebulb describing those who have been diagnosed with a chronic disease, or are close to someone who has, and have used this experience to create an entrepreneurial enterprise aimed at solving one or more problems their experience with chronic illness has highlighted.
We have also curated special gifts in a wide range of prices and choices for Women and Men by talented designers we admire, available at http://lyfebulbprod.staging.wpengine.com/2016/12/15/karins-2016-holiday-gift-guide/ for women and at http://lyfebulbprod.staging.wpengine.com/2016/12/16/karins-2016-holiday-gift-guide-2/ for men.
“The holiday season is here and we all love indulging our friends and family with gifts that bring joy and pleasure, but can also provide function and true benefits for those with diabetes! Our specially curated Gift Guide includes some of the most innovative yet fabulous diabetes gifts on the market!” said Dr. Karin Hehenberger, CEO and Founder of Lyfebulb.
The Diabetes Gift Guide includes a wide variety of better-for-you lifestyle and health related items ranging from the limited edition Happy Socks created by two Russian artist brothers, to the FitBit fitness tracker. The Guide also includes items such as the Sugar Sucks Sloppy Joe Sweat Shirt, and the Type One Type Happy Mug, fractions of some of these items will be donated to type 1 diabetes research.
The Women’s Gift Guide features special designer selections featuring a variety of brands ranging from such Diptyque holiday candles, an Isabel Marant sweater and a vintage Hermès bag. The Men’s guide includes items such as a Lionel Messi Barcelona Home Soccer Jersey, Orrefors tumblers, Incotex trousers, and a vintage Rolex Daytona Stainless Steel Watch.
More information about the Gift Guides, the Innovation Award, and Lyfebulb can be found on the Lyfebulb Website.
About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is an organization focused on bringing innovative products and solutions focused on chronic disease to market. Lyfebulb serves as a bridge between patients and industry, and its mission is to improve the quality of life of those living with chronic disease NOW.
See www.lyfebulbprod.staging.wpengine.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn, and Lyfebulb LinkedIn.
Press Contact for Lyfebulb:
Shepard Doniger
BDCG, Inc.
561-637-5750
sdoniger@bdcginc.com
We are so proud to announce the ten finalists that will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, to compete for the 2016 Lyfebulb-Novo Nordisk Innovation Award!!!
We received a ton of great applications from amazing patient entrepreneurs, but were tasked to narrow them down to ten. We thank everyone that applied and admire the efforts of all patient entrepreneurs out there.
We formally made the announcement of the ten finalists this morning, and love the entrepreneurship, innovation, strength, and dedication they have shown throughout their careers to improve their lives, or the lives of loved ones, living with diabetes.
