Healthy Returns Nolan Shah

Show Notes:
The connection between the gut and brain has been well-established in science. After all, 90% of serotonin, the “feel good” chemical, is produced in the gut.
Recent findings, however, have also proven a link between the human microbiome and bone health, immune health, eye health, and even muscular health—making gut and gastrointestinal health extremely important for overall wellbeing.
As healthcare and social media alike fuel the gut health movement, I’m excited to sit down with Jeff Glueck, Founder & CEO of Salvo Health.
Salvo Health is a chronic metabolic and gastroenterology company targeting the over 60 million Americans with chronic gut and GI conditions, providing them with digital wraparound care. Salvo partners with physician practices, supporting patients via an app, specialized virtual care team, and a “whole-person” approach to gut care. Interventions include personalized diets, microbiome restoration, reducing toxic exposures, GI-directed psychology, and lifestyle coaching.
In today’s episode, we talk about the need for digitization in healthcare, the microbiome in health and disease, and Salvo’s whole-person approach to treating chronic metabolic, gut, and GI conditions.
Timestamps:
[1:37]: Digitization in Healthcare
[9:44]: Microbiome Health for Mental and Physical Wellbeing
[15:49] Salvo Health’s Continuous, Whole-Person Care
[23:22]: Expanding Partnerships and Offerings
[32:43]: Salvo’s Recent Capital Raise
[34:08]: Low Cost Interventions



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Show Notes:
Prescribing medications is hard.
Clinical guidelines are constantly changing, new drugs come onto the market every day, and today’s patients require personalized treatments.
That’s why today’s guest, Athena Doshi, created Celeste. Celeste is an AI-enabled pharmacist co-pilot for clinicians, supporting personalized drug selection, dose optimization, and medication therapy management for patients. Athena graduated from UC San Diego only a few years ago during the pandemic, but this is already her second healthcare venture; she previously built and sold a public health SaaS company while still in school.
Today’s episode is all about how Celeste came to be, marketing to healthcare enterprise customers, and how Athena is tackling the almost $2T prescription drug market.
Timestamps:
[1:46]: Celeste’s backstory
[6:26]: Marketing to enterprise customers
[11:10]: How Celeste works
[16:13]: Personalized lifestyle prescriptions
[18:04]: Market size and pitching investors
[24:50]: Celeste’s roadmap
[26:30]: Future challenges



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Show Notes:
What does health insurance have to do with the innovation? According to today’s guest,—Amanda Joseph—everything!
Amanda is a Principal at American Family Ventures where she invests at the intersection of healthcare, insurance, and startups. She brings years of healthcare experience to her current role, having worked at insurance behemoth HCSC and value-based care startup Lumeris.
Today’s episode covers value-based care, navigating the digital point solution landscape, and how companies like TCARE and Chamber Cardio are transforming the future of health insurance.
Amanda also shares her thoughts on the blurry incentives of modern-day healthcare and why there is a huge push to move care outside of the four walls of a hospital.
About American Family Ventures: AFV is an early-stage VC fund investing in high-potential startups innovating in the future of insurance.
Timestamps:
[1:11]: Life before American Family Ventures
[7:54]: Health insurance explained
[11:45]: Innovation in health insurance
[18:02]: Consumer-centric healthcare
[23:27]: Assessing health insurance startups
[28:28]: Navigating the point solution market
[31:43]: Portfolio companies leading the future of health insurance
[34:05]: Challenges facing value-based care

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Show Notes:
Dan Gluck knows a thing or two about health and wellness. He’s a former Division I collegiate tennis player, co-founder of superfood CPG company Health Warrior, and frequent Iron Man and Spartan Race athlete.
Bridging his experience in institutional investing and operating in the health and wellness space, Dan is currently the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GroundForce Capital. GroundForce is a growth equity firm investing in food and beverage-related companies tackling the biggest challenges in human and planetary health.
Since rebranding from PowerPlant Ventures last year, Dan and his team have expanded their investment thesis to consider sectors beyond plant-based foods such as ag-tech, supply chain, low-emission manufacturing and production, and decarbonization.
Today’s episode covers the evolution of GroundForce Capital, emerging health and wellness trends, and the biggest challenges facing human and planetary health.
About GroundForce Capital: GroundForce Capital is a growth equity firm investing in food and beverage-related companies tackling the biggest issues tied to human and planetary health.
Timestamps:
[1:30]: College tennis, endurance sports, Health Warrior
[6:57]: From PowerPlant Ventures to GroundForce Capital
[11:53]: Evolving thesis and rebranding
[16:53]: Evaluating prospective companies
[21:53]: Liquid Death investment
[23:51]: Human and planetary health outcomes
[26:19] Emerging health and wellness trends
[32:30]: Bearish or Bullish?
Resources:
* Born to Run - Christopher McDougall
* Start With Why - Simon Sinek
* Rebranding to GroundForce Capital
* Health Warrior

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Show Notes:
At just seven months old, Phil Southerland was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes. At the time, this was the youngest recorded case of diabetes and his parents were told he’d be dead or blind by 2025.
Fast forward to today: He is the Founder and CEO of Supersapiens—a continuous glucose monitoring platform built to optimize glucose regulation for performance. After seeing the power of constant glucose visibility in his own athletic pursuits, Phil transformed his personal challenges into a global solution.
He’s spent the last few years pioneering glucose monitoring technology for athletes, along the way breaking misconceptions and stigma about glucose, diabetes, and performance through data. His latest venture—Supersapiens Diabetes— brings the Supersapiens platform to the diabetes population in the U.S.
Today’s episode covers glucose as a proxy for health and performance, using sport as a platform for inspiration and change, and how the narrative around glucose monitoring has evolved.
Timestamps:
[1:25]: Supersapiens and continuous glucose monitoring
[3:44]: How the narrative around glucose has evolved
[11:09]: Sports as a platform for change
[21:29]: Launching Supersapiens Diabetes in the US
[31:14]: 10-year outlook
Resources:
* Team Novo Nordisk (Team Type-1)
* Republic (Crowd Funding Campaign)
* Race Across America 2024
* Association between pre-exercise food ingestion timing and reactive hypoglycemia: Insights from a large database of continuous glucose monitoring data (European Journal of Sport Science)

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Show Notes:
A decade ago, digital health was synonymous with telemedicine but today, digital health is so much more. Today’s guest, Dr. Ami Bhatt, has spearheaded this evolution, reshaping cardiovascular medicine through health innovation.
Dr. Bhatt is the Chief Innovation Officer for the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Since launching her first virtual care program in 2013, she has been leading the creation of personalized virtual cardiovascular care delivery models for improving heart health. Dr. Bhatt also champions the idea of collaborative intelligence, reflecting a future where AI enables clinicians to be the best they can be.
Today’s episode covers the evolution of digital health, applications for generative AI and machine learning in healthcare, consumer wearables and patient empowerment, and the last mile of digital healthcare delivery.
We also discuss the recent partnership between Dispatch Health and Instacart to tackle food insecurity.
Timestamps:
[0:48]: What does a Chief Innovation Officer do anyway?
[2:24]: Evolution of Digital Health and Telemedicine
[6:39]: Expanding Scope of Digital Health in Cardiology
[10:30]: At Home Care, Dispatch Health, Food-as-Medicine
[15:40]: Generative AI, Machine Learning, Collaborative Intelligence
[25:24]: Consumer Wearables and Patient Empowerment
[30:39]: Last Mile of Digital Healthcare Delivery
Resources:
* Dispatch Health x Instacart
* Food-is-Medicine @ Tufts University
* Consumer Wearable Health and Fitness Technology in Cardiovascular Medicine (JACC)
* The Rise of Collaborative Intelligence in Healthcare | Ami Bhatt | TEDxBoston
* Collaborative Intelligence to catalyze the digital transformation of healthcare (Nature)
* Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nolanshah.substack.com