The Chance to Make a Difference
Dec 4, 2024
Envision a world where everyone, no matter where they live, has access to personalized, quality healthcare. A world where individuals feel empowered to take charge of their health—preventing, managing, and alleviating chronic conditions. Currently, according to the World Health Organization, over half of the global population lacks access to essential health services (World Health Organization, 2023a). In many low-resource and developed countries, this lack of access to affordable, high-quality healthcare is a profound barrier, preventing communities from achieving universal health coverage and improving overall quality of life (United Nations, 2019). At the Self Research Institute, we are dedicated to changing this reality for individuals globally.
The Potential Impact of Our Mission
Millions of people worldwide continue to be affected by chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. One in three adults globally are battling multiple chronic conditions (Hajat & Kishore, 2018). In 2023, the World Health Organization reported that 74% of deaths were caused by noncommunicable diseases (World Health Organization, 2023b). Traditional healthcare systems struggle to provide effective, continuous care, often leading to poor health outcomes and higher healthcare costs (Kruk et al., 2018). Moreover, patients frequently lack access to their comprehensive health data, which prevents them from being proactive about their health and well-being.
We believe digital health innovations—like our Self Profile app—can revolutionize and provide a sustainable solution for managing health and wellness. The Self Profile app is a digital health wallet that integrates patient data from wearables, EHR systems, and patient-reported data to provide personalized care, empowering individuals to take control of their health.
Imagine a cancer patient who visits three practitioners a week, no longer needing to worry about sharing clinician notes, medical imaging, and lab results, since it's all stored in one place. A diabetes patient using the app to seamlessly integrate blood glucose data from a wearable device with their electronic health records (EHR), generating personalized dietary and medication reminders. Or an individual that needs to relocate nationally or internationally, who maintains seamless access to their complete medical history, thanks to the app's interoperability with diverse healthcare systems.
This groundbreaking technology has the potential to reshape healthcare, but this requires more than just a vision; it calls for dedicated resources and investment.
The Power of Early Support
Early funding is essential to move beyond the development phase and turn our vision into reality. Your support will help us:
Cover Operating Costs: It is crucial to secure funding for the operating costs of our existing team so that we can continue our work without interruption.
Expand our Team: To accelerate our development, we need to expand and strengthen our research and technical teams by bringing on more expertise in healthcare, ontology, and software engineering.
Develop and Test our App: Funding will allow us to conduct field testing, validate our technology, and optimize it based on real-life feedback.
IP Protection: Securing intellectual property protection is crucial for safeguarding our innovations and remaining competitive in the marketplace.
Execute our GTM strategy: Early funding will allow us to implement a comprehensive go-to-market (GTM) strategy, which includes targeted marketing, growth initiatives, and innovative growth hacking tactics.
What We've Accomplished Thus Far
Initial Partnerships: We've established a partnership with a leading hospital in India that has pioneered stem cell research and therapies worldwide that is excited to pilot our technology. This collaboration will allow us to test Self Profile on real patient data from individuals across 100 countries, providing invaluable insights for further development and refinement.
Support from Thought Leaders: We've received input and mentorship from esteemed Advisory Board Members, healthcare practitioners, and industry experts, allowing us to align our innovations with the latest developments and best practices in the field.
Foundations ready: SelfChain, our proprietary blockchain platform, is designed for high performance and top-tier security standards, with a comprehensive service blueprint already in place.
Use Case Data Acquired: We have acquired real patient data from a diverse set of individuals, covering 12 different chronic conditions, enabling us to validate and refine our approach.
Papers published: We have published five peer-reviewed articles in top-tier scientific journals, validating the research and innovations that underpin our applications.
How You Can Support Us
Donations, Grants, and Sponsorship: Funding early development allows us to pursue our vision of accessible, personalized, and data-driven care. It will enable us to fine-tune our technology, conduct pilot studies, and enhance our outreach and public engagement efforts.
Collaborations: If you represent a healthcare organization or ministry of health, consider piloting our app to help deliver impactful, patient-centered care outcomes. If you're a technology company, public health policymaker, or research institution, we would be excited to form a strategic partnership and leverage our combined expertise to create a meaningful impact.
In-Kind Support: We welcome contributions of technical expertise, research resources, or mentorship. Your support in these areas is invaluable to our mission.
References
Achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030 Hinges on ‘Bold National Leadership’, Secretary-General Tells General Assembly, as World Leaders Commit to Declaration | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2024, from https://press.un.org/en/2019/ga12181.doc.htm
Billions left behind on the path to universal health coverage. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2024, from https://www.who.int/news/item/18-09-2023-billions-left-behind-on-the-path-to-universal-health-coverage
Climate change and noncommunicable diseases: connections. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2024, from https://www.who.int/news/item/02-11-2023-climate-change-and-noncommunicable-diseases-connections
Hajat, C., & Kishore, S. P. (2018). The case for a global focus on multiple chronic conditions. BMJ Global Health, 3(3), e000874. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000874
Kruk, M. E., Gage, A. D., Arsenault, C., Jordan, K., Leslie, H. H., Roder-DeWan, S., Adeyi, O., Barker, P., Daelmans, B., Doubova, S. V., English, M., Elorrio, E. G., Guanais, F., Gureje, O., Hirschhorn, L. R., Jiang, L., Kelley, E., Lemango, E. T., Liljestrand, J., … Pate, M. (2018). High-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: time for a revolution. The Lancet. Global Health, 6, e1196–e1252. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30386-3