Exploring Innovations in Chronic Disease Management

Transcript

Bryce

Welcome to the Digital Health Transformers, a podcast series. In this podcast, I’ll explore the dynamic world of healthcare innovation one conversation at a time. I’m your host, Bryce Barger, and today, we have an awe-inspiring guest at the forefront of transforming the healthcare landscape.

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Leboeuf to our podcast today. Dr. Stephen Leboeuf is a visionary leader and the president and co-founder of Valencell. He has had a remarkable 18 years at the helm of and at the edge of digital health solutions under his leadership. Hold on, let me start that over.

I missed a line. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Stephen Leboeuf to our podcast today. Dr. Stephen Leboeuf is a visionary leader and the president and co-founder of Valencell. With a remarkable 18 years at the helm, Dr. Leboeuf has driven Valencell’s mission to empower individuals to live healthier lives through cutting-edge digital health solutions. Under his leadership, Valencell has pioneered groundbreaking advancements, including the world’s first cuffless, calibration-free blood pressure monitoring solution and an array of accurate biometrics for wearables and wearables. Valencell’s proprietary biometric sensor technology, guarded by 150 plus award-winning patents, leverages machine learning analytics for machine-grade physiological monitoring.

Dr. Leboeuf’s commitment to better health measurement has garnered collaboration or collaborations with industry leaders. With publicly announced licensed customers such as Junto, Samsung, Sony, and more beyond Valencell, Dr. Leboeuf has left an intelligible mark on the tech and healthcare landscape, serving as an advisor to dot-metrics technologies, a trailblazing UV LED technology spinoff and contributing significantly during his tenure at GE Research as a biosensor project manager and device scientist. In today’s episode, we look forward to diving into Dr. Leboeuf’s insights on technology, health, and innovations in chronic disease management. Thank you for joining us today, Stephen. How are you?

Dr. Steven

I’m doing all right. You know, trying to make a living in this dog-eat-dog capitalist world. What about yourself?

Bryce

If you know what I mean, I hear you’re trying to get through another podcast intro. So, I appreciate you joining me today. Like always, we want to start with your personal and professional story.

Can you share a personal experience or moment that inspired you to dedicate your career to technology and healthcare?

Dr. Steven

Yes, I can. And my story is a weird one. Are you sure you want to hear this story, Bryce?

Bryce

We’re ready. We’re ready. This is what we want.

This is what we want in the podcast.

Dr. Steven

So, have you ever visited the Austin City Limits Festival as a native Texan?

Bryce

I have. I have an ACL.

Dr. Steven

I was in the Austin City Limits Festival 2004 as a young Chelovac and 29 years old or so, working as a scientist for General Electric. And, you know, that festival is awesome. It’s outdoors, the hottest time of the year, but they got things to cool you down in, you know.

Many concerts are going on at a launch, from some of the smallest people who one day will have a name to some of the biggest people who have a name that is probably more familiar than the president’s last name. So, there I was at that festival with some friends, and I could not wait to hear the Breeders. Now, the Breeders at the time were doing this little offshoot with the Pixies, and I didn’t mind that.

I just wanted to see the Breeders. So, I’m there watching the Breeders and having a great time. Some friends grabbed me and said we got to see Cheryl Crow. She’s playing at a big stage down here.

We’re all going. Now, you know Cheryl Crow, she’s a great musician. People know, of course, she’s famous, right?

But, I mean, the Breeders, it’s the Breeders. I don’t want to; Cheryl Crow, I could turn the radio on any time and listen to her, right?

Bryce

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Dr. Steven

So, I decided to go with my friends because that’s where the momentum was, and I decided I would join and give them company. So, there I am—Cheryl Crow’s on stage, and a bunch of people there.

She gets on, and I start thinking, I say, Self, would you ever want to be Cheryl Crow? And the thing is, there she was, you know, one of the most famous musicians in the world. She was extremely wealthy, and her music albums were all over-distributed.

At the time, she was dating someone we believed was the world’s greatest athlete, Lance Armstrong. She had all these things going for her. Why, why would I not want to be her?

And I realized I didn’t want to be her. And I realized that I didn’t want to be her because she didn’t create a revolution around anything. She didn’t do anything game-changing.

Her music is pop, awesome pop, yeah, but she didn’t create anything that you’d look at and go, oh, how did she come up with that? And I realized that’s what I wanted to devote my life to, things that people look back and say, how the hell did this ever get started?

Bryce

Right. Yeah, I love that. And that’s really who, it’s really, and it’s why we reached out to you in the first place, and why we started this Digital Health Transformers is meeting people exactly like yourself who are pushing the boundaries further, right?

It’s like not settling for healthcare as it’s been the last two decades. It’s like, hey, let’s, all this technology we have around us, AI, all these things, all of these, just all of these great tools, let’s use it to better ourselves instead of only making money, which, which we can make money at the same time, right? But also, let’s better ourselves.

Let’s help the world out. And let’s make a difference. Like you just mentioned, that’s so incredible.

What were some of the most significant challenges you faced pioneering innovations in digital health? How did you overcome those?

Dr. Steven

The challenges, you know, Valence Hill’s been around for a while. And so the challenges we face are really interesting. Some of them have been the same, some of them have changed.

So when we started the company in 2006, we realized we had this vision of things people wear regularly that they don’t even think about. Can we embed a solution inside those things they wear that collects accurate information that can guide targeted health solutions to make them uniquely healthier based on the data we collect from them? That was the big vision.

The thing about it at that time was that there were no iPhones or Fitbit devices, and none of them existed. And here we are, this company forming out of Raleigh, North Carolina, with this idea. And so the big resistance we had and the big challenges we had were convincing.

We knew we would need money to get to where we wanted. The challenge was convincing investors that this market was ever going to exist. You know, we had folks come into us very rightly that, this is not to belittle the investors.

These investors were dead right about not wanting to invest in us early on. They said, Hey, the market doesn’t exist. And 10, maybe 20 million chest straps sell in the world.

And that’s all that existed for wearables: a chest strap, this painful thing, and an ECG nobody wanted to wear. Even the people who bought it didn’t want to wear it. And, like, how, what would you even talk about?

The market doesn’t exist. You’re telling me there’s going to be a market. And we said, Hey, when we show you that we can make heart rate super easy to measure just as accurately as a chest strap, that market will explode.

Now, we turned out to be right about that. You know, 10 to 20 million chest straps were sold in 2010. Fast forward ten years and hundreds of millions of heart rate monitoring wearables are on the market. So we were right about that, but their reasons made sense.

So that battle that we had to do was hard there. As time went by, the wearables market became more mature, and it was convincing investors that a wearable opportunity was no longer the challenge. Investors will generally welcome a wearable opportunity now because the market is there.

But the challenge now is that there’s much more garbage in the media. So if, for example, you had a game-changing solution for a wearable device that could truly non-invasively, without any penetration into the skin at all, uh, accurately track your glucose well enough to be good enough to dose insulin. So you had that right now.

So you had gain, and that would be the revolutionary technology. It doesn’t exist today at all. Period.

No matter what anybody says, go online and look for that. You’re going to find 25 that you could buy right now. None of them are regulated.

The FDA can’t turn them all off. You can go to Amazon, and you can buy one now. It’s complete garbage.

So now you’re an entrepreneur with that capability. Let’s say you have that. You’re battling all this garbage.

So, the nature of that problem has changed over time.

Bryce

For sure. I know. Um, and speaking, um, to ensure the wearable information is accurate.

I mean, I am a type one diabetic using a, um, Dexcom G7, which is the closed loop system with the insulin pump. And I’ve been diabetic since I was ten years old. I’m 30 years old now, and I started using this closed-loop system less than a year ago.

How are you doing? I love it. It’s like life-changing.

It’s like, I feel like sometimes I’ll forget I’m not, forget I’m diabetic at every right. But like, in a way, I mean, um, my, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s like, I was already a well-controlled diabetic. I was on an insulin pump when I was a child.

Um, but they got it. I got off of it, but just because of all the hassle. But now, with these, but why, what I’m getting at is, um, you’re a hundred percent, but correct where it’s like, is this information accurate? Okay, the technology might be there, but is this true?

Is it accurate? Is it enough that when you’re dealing with someone’s life or like a person with type one diabetes where they’re giving it’s life or death? Um, very much so.

Dr. Steven

So Bryce, um, uh, I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you, but on the point of what you’re talking about, um, here’s an example. Okay. So, if you’re going to tell someone you have a solution that could say it’s glucose, okay.

Yeah. Where you can accurately determine the glucose level, truly non-invasive, no mental invasiveness. Right.

And enough to dose their insulin. That’s a big freaking claim.

Bryce

Oh yeah.

Welcome to the Digital Health Transformers, a podcast series. This podcast will explore the dynamic world of healthcare innovation one conversation at a time. I’m your host, Bryce Barger, and today, we have an awe-inspiring guest at the forefront of transforming the healthcare landscape.

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Leboeuf to our podcast today. Dr. Stephen Leboeuf is a visionary leader and the president and co-founder of Valencell. He has had a remarkable 18 years at the helm of and at the edge of digital health solutions under his leadership. Hold on, let me start that over.

I missed a line. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Stephen Leboeuf to our podcast today. Dr. Stephen Leboeuf is a visionary leader and the president and co-founder of Valencell. With a remarkable 18 years at the helm, Dr. Leboeuf has driven Valencell’s mission to empower individuals to live healthier lives through cutting-edge digital health solutions. Under his leadership, Valencell has pioneered groundbreaking advancements, including the world’s first cuffless, calibration-free blood pressure monitoring solution and an array of accurate biometrics for wearables and wearables. Valencell’s proprietary biometric sensor technology, guarded by 150 plus award-winning patents, leverages machine learning analytics for machine-grade physiological monitoring.

Dr. Leboeuf’s commitment to better health measurement has garnered collaboration or collaborations with industry leaders. With publicly announced licensed customers such as Junto, Samsung, Sony, and more beyond Valencell, Dr. Leboeuf has left an intelligible mark on the tech and healthcare landscape, serving as an advisor to dot-metrics technologies, a trailblazing UV LED technology spinoff and contributing significantly during his tenure at GE Research as a biosensor project manager and device scientist. In today’s episode, we look forward to diving into Dr. Leboeuf’s insights on technology, health, and innovations in chronic disease management. Thank you for joining us today, Stephen. How are you?

Dr. Steven

I’m doing all right. You know, trying to make a living in this dog-eat-dog capitalist world. What about yourself?

Bryce

If you know what I mean, I hear you’re trying to get through another podcast intro. So, I appreciate you joining me today. Like always, we want to start with your personal and professional story.

Can you share a personal experience or moment that inspired you to dedicate your career to technology and healthcare?

Dr. Steven

Yes, I can. And my story is a weird one. Are you sure you want to hear this story, Bryce?

Bryce

We’re ready. We’re ready. This is what we want. This is what we want in the podcast.

Dr. Steven

So, have you ever visited the Austin City Limits Festival as a native Texan?

Bryce

I have. I have ACL.

Dr. Steven

I was in the Austin City Limits Festival 2004 as a young Chelovac and 29 years old or so, working as a scientist for General Electric. And, you know, that festival is awesome. It’s outdoors, the hottest time of the year, but they got things to cool you down in, you know.

Many concerts are going on at a launch, from some of the smallest people who one day will have a name to some of the biggest people with a name that is probably more familiar than the president’s last name. So, there I was at that festival with some friends, and I could not wait to hear the Breeders. Now, the Breeders at the time were doing this little offshoot with the Pixies, and I didn’t mind that.

I just wanted to see the Breeders. So, I’m there watching the Breeders and having a great time. Some of my friends grabbed me and said we got to see Cheryl Crow. She’s playing at a big stage down here.

We’re all going. Now, you know Cheryl Crow, she’s a great musician. People know, of course, she’s famous, right?

But, I mean, the Breeders, it’s the Breeders. I don’t want to; Cheryl Crow, I could turn the radio on at any time and listen to her, right?

Bryce

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Dr. Steven

So, I decided to go with my friends because that’s where the momentum was, and I decided I would join and give them company. So, there I am—Cheryl Crow’s on stage, and a bunch of people there.

She gets on, and I start thinking, I say, Self, would you ever want to be Cheryl Crow? And the thing is, there she was, you know, one of the most famous musicians in the world. She was extremely wealthy, and her music albums were all over-distributed.

At the time, she was dating someone we believed was the world’s greatest athlete, Lance Armstrong. She had all these things going for her. Why, why would I not want to be her?

And I realized I didn’t want to be her. And I realized that I didn’t want to be her because she didn’t create a revolution around anything. She didn’t do anything game-changing.

Her music is pop, awesome pop, yeah, but she didn’t create anything that you’d look at and go, oh, how did she come up with that? And I realized that’s what I wanted to devote my life to, things that people look back and say, how the hell did this ever get started?

Bryce

Right. Yeah, I love that. And that’s really who, it’s really, and it’s why we reached out to you in the first place, and why we started this Digital Health Transformers is meeting people exactly like yourself who are pushing the boundaries further, right?

It’s like not settling for healthcare as it’s been the last two decades. It’s like, hey, let’s, all this technology we have around us, AI, all these things, all of these, just all of these great tools, let’s use it to better ourselves instead of only making money, which, which we can make money at the same time, right? But also, let’s better ourselves.

Let’s help the world out. And let’s make a difference. Like you just mentioned, that’s so incredible.

What were some of the most significant challenges you faced pioneering innovations in digital health? How did you overcome those?

Dr. Steven

The challenges, you know, Valence Hill’s been around for a while. And so the challenges we face are really interesting. Some of them have been the same, some of them have changed.

So when we started the company in 2006, we realized we had this vision of things that people wear regularly that they don’t even think about. Can we embed a solution inside those things they wear that collects accurate information that can guide targeted health solutions to make them uniquely healthier based on the data we collect from them? That was the big vision.

And, so the thing about it at that time was that there were no iPhones or Fitbit devices, and all of that didn’t exist. And here we are, this company forming out of Raleigh, North Carolina, with this idea. And so the big resistance we had and the big challenges we had were convincing.

We knew we would need money to get to where we wanted. The challenge was convincing investors that this market was ever going to exist. You know, we had folks come into us very rightly that, this is not to belittle the investors.

These investors were dead right about not wanting to invest in us early on. They said, Hey, the market doesn’t exist. And 10, maybe 20 million chest straps sell in the world.

And that’s all that existed for wearables: a chest strap, this painful thing, and an ECG nobody wanted to wear. Even the people who bought it didn’t want to wear it. And, like, how, what would you even talk about?

The market doesn’t exist. You’re telling me there’s going to be a market. And we said, Hey, when we show you that we can make heart rate super easy to measure just as accurately as a chest strap, that market will explode.

Now, we turned out to be right about that. You know, 10 to 20 million chest straps were sold in 2010 or so. Fast forward ten years later, and hundreds of millions of heart rate monitoring wearables are on the market. So we were right about that, but their reasons made sense.

So that battle that we had to do was hard there. As time goes on, the wearables market has become more mature, convincing investors that a wearable opportunity is no longer the challenge. Investors will generally welcome a wearable opportunity now because the market is there.

But the challenge now is that there’s much more garbage in the media. So if, for example, you had a game-changing solution for a wearable device that could truly non-invasively without any penetration into the skin at all, uh, accurately track your glucose well enough to be good enough to dose insulin. So you had that right now.

So you had gain, and that would be the revolutionary technology. It doesn’t exist today at all. Period.

No matter what anybody says, go online and look for that. You’re going to find 25 that you could buy right now. None of them are regulated.

The FDA can’t turn them all off. You can go to Amazon, and you can buy one now. It’s complete garbage.

So now you’re an entrepreneur with that capability. Let’s say you have that. You’re battling all this garbage.

So, the nature of that problem has changed over time.

Bryce

For sure. I know. Um, and speaking, um, to ensure the wearable information is accurate.

I mean, I am a type one diabetic using a, um, Dexcom G7, which is the closed loop system with the insulin pump. And I’ve been diabetic since I was ten years old. I’m 30 years old now, and I started using this closed-loop system less than a year ago.

How are you doing? I love it. It’s like life-changing.

It’s like, I feel like sometimes I’ll forget I’m not, forget I’m diabetic at every right. But like, in a way, I mean, um, my, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s like, I was already a well-controlled diabetic. I was on an insulin pump when I was a child.

Um, but they got it. I got off of it, but just because of all the hassle. But now, with these, but why, what I’m getting at is, um, you’re a hundred percent, but correct where it’s like, is this information accurate? Okay, the technology might be there, but is this true?

Is it accurate? Is it enough that when you’re dealing with someone’s life or like a person with type one diabetes where they’re giving it’s life or death? Um, very much so.

Dr. Steven

So Bryce, um, uh, I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you, but on the point of what you’re talking about, um, here’s an example. Okay. So, if you’re going to tell someone you have a solution that could say it’s glucose, okay.

Yeah. Where you can accurately determine the glucose level, it is non-invasive, with no mental invasiveness. Right.

And enough to dose their insulin. That’s a big, freaking claim.

Bryce

Oh yeah.