Interview
In conversation with
Ervin Ukaj
Ervin Ukaj leads Newel Health, a tech-bio company building evidence-based digital therapeutics on its h.Core platform. Think chronic-care programs grounded in behavioral science and medicine—engineered for adherence, reimbursement, and integration across patient, clinician, and payer workflows. His stance is clear: real progress comes from adoption in lived contexts, not from feature lists—close structural gaps, earn trust, and let evidence compound.
Innovation without adoption is a dead end.
Ukaj’s arc—finance and digital identity (Euronovate), first steps in health at Oppimi, investing with Wygu/Jida, digital portfolio work at Novartis, and now Newel—shaped a systems view: technology only matters if it fits care pathways and incentives. He warns new leaders to ignore “quick wins” advice, design for reimbursement and workflow integration, and measure success by patient use and outcomes. Recent high-profile DTx collapses, he argues, were less about science than about missing reimbursement and coordinated adoption; meanwhile, users judge health apps against the best consumer software on their phones. His operating principles: listen to patients and clinicians first, build products that co-create with the system, and treat equity, explainability, and trustworthy data use as non-negotiables—so digital tools become companions across the therapy journey rather than isolated pilots.
Lessons from Cross-Sector Building:
Adoption Over Features
What we cover
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How Newel’s h.Core turns behavioral science and medicine into scalable digital therapeutics
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Why adoption hinges on reimbursement clarity, workflow integration, and consumer-grade usability
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What new CxOs should prioritize—problem-first focus, collaboration, and patience over “quick wins”
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Where capital and markets differ by stage—and when to look to U.S. investors early
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Which ethical guardrails—equity, inclusion, explainability, and governed data use—sustain trust and scale
Ervin Ukaj is the CEO of newel health, where he leads the development of AI-driven, regulatory-grade digital therapeutics across neuroscience, cardiometabolic care, and pain management. His work focuses on harnessing real-world data, behavioral science, and adaptive algorithms to deliver clinically validated, personalized interventions at scale. Prior to joining newel health, he was founder and CEO of Oppimi Group, a digital health company focused on neurodevelopment disorders, and held senior management roles at Novartis, where he led strategic initiatives in digital health and AI innovation.
About
Ervin Ukaj
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