Meet the 2023 Sustainable Health Initiative Fellows

The YIGH Sustainable Health Initiative (SHI) strives to solve complex global health challenges through business-minded approaches, creative problem-solving methods, and international collaboration. Launched in 2019, the goal of SHI is to bring about positive change by investing in entrepreneurs as they build solutions that create sustainable impact in healthcare in the world's emerging economies. A key component of the program is the SHI Fellowship. The SHI Fellowship serves as a bridge between the initiative and the students, facilitating access to a variety of resources on campus. SHI student fellows work with the SHI team and Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale staff to support student teams working on health innovation startups and NGOs. Fellows are peer coaches to student innovator teams and liaisons between teams, program staff, and SHI Mentors-in-Residence.

Meet the 2023-2024 SHI Fellows

Rod Bravo is an MD, MPH candidate, and life sciences entrepreneur passionate about clinical modality innovation, using big data to integrate medicine, and spurring the humanization of the healthcare business. He is an advisor in the life sciences. He has worked at several startups (his own and for others) in industries ranging across biotech, drug development, neurotechnology, holistic medicine, and education – engaging with founders from across the Ivy League, the Harvard Innovation Labs, and Forbes awardees. In addition to having co-run his marketing accelerator for early-stage ventures, he has mentored startups at Harvard University (his undergraduate alma mater). Rod believes that success comes from connection and developing one's intuition, which he's excited to share with Yale's startup ecosystem.

"Success comes from listening to one's intuition and creating luck through connection – all of which require we pull in bold thinkers, disciplines, and walks of life from across the Yale community!" - Rod Bravo.

Lucas Lu is an MBA/MPH joint degree candidate at Yale. He has years of experience at leading global pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies with an unwavering commitment to fostering sustainable health entrepreneurship among students. Driven by a vision to integrate sustainability with healthcare innovation seamlessly, he hopes to empower the next generation of health leaders through the Sustainable Health Initiative. Lucas worked with institutions across Yale's entrepreneurial ecosystem, including Tsai CITY, Yale Ventures, and Yale Venture Club.

"Entrepreneurial success hinges on health and empowerment: a sturdy foundation of well-being fuels innovation, while supportive networks amplify our collective strength and resilience."

If you're a student founder who could use support with your health innovation, please reach out to Fatema Basrai, the Managing Director of SHI.