{{short description|American CEO and app developer}} {{Use American English|date=February 2018}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Natasha Gajewski | image = | caption = | birth_name = {{nowrap|Natasha Rana}} | birth_date = | birth_place = | education = Rutgers University {{small|(BA)}} | occupation = {{Hlist|CEO|Director|Business Owner}} | spouse = Mark Gajewski<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?n=florence-biruta-roy&pid=16725879&fhid=4087|title=Florence Biruta Roy Obituary (2006) Hartford Courant|website=Legacy.com }}</ref> | children = 2 | relatives = Christopher Emery {{small|(stepbrother)}}<br/> Richard Kind {{small|(stepbrother)}} | honors = TedMED Frontline Scholar, Stanford MedX ePatient Scholar }} '''Natasha Gajewski''' ({{nee|'''Rana'''}}) is the CEO and founder of Symple Health.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Startup leadership: how savvy entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful enterprises|author=Lidow, Derek|isbn=978-1-118-84565-3|edition=First|location=San Francisco|oclc=858362028|date = February 18, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rwjf.org/en/culture-of-health/2014/03/if_patients_are_flip.html|title=If Patients Are Flipped Out by Today's Physician Encounters, Why Not "Flip" The Clinic?|last=Dentzer|first=Susan|date=2014-03-03|work=Robert Wood Johnson Foundation|access-date=2017-10-26|language=en}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Gajewski was born to Dana Roy and Riaz Hussein Rana.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Her father, Rana, was a commercial pilot and later statistician. Rana immigrated to the United States from Zafar Chowk, Pakistan, in 1960.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/riaz-h-rana-company-founder/2012/11/15/9c7ad770-2ea2-11e2-9ac2-1c61452669c3_story.html|title=Riaz H. Rana, company founder|last=Schudel|first=Matt|date=2012-11-15|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2017-10-18|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Gajewski has one sister, Holly Bossard. Gajewski has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Statistics from Rutgers University.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}
== Career == After being diagnosed in 2010 with the rare condition mixed connective tissue disease (MTCD), Gajewski was told by her physician to keep track of her symptoms between medical appointments.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/generalprofessionalissues/50553|title=Transparency Summit: Patients vs. Doctors|last=Firth|first=Shannon|date=2015-03-18|work=MedPage Today|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en}}</ref> This motivated her to improve health prospects for patients.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://medicinex.stanford.edu/conf/conference/user/1045|title=Natasha Gajewski|website=Medicinex - Stanford University|language=en-US|access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://prescribedesign.com/hacking-my-patient-experience/|title=D-Patient Series: Hacking My Patient Experience – Prescribe Design|website=Prescribe Design|language=en-US|access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://homecaretechreport.com/article.asp?id=1643|title=New Tools Help Patients Self-Manage Health, Chronic Conditions|last=Kinsella|first=Audrey|website=Home Care Tech Report|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref> This led to the idea to create a mobile symptom journal.<ref name=":5" /> Gajewski was initially faced with the prohibitive costs of developing a mobile app after approaching developers from the United States and India.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://njtechweekly.com/art/1372-growing-princeton-tech-meetup-features-networking-speakers/|title=Growing Princeton Tech Meetup Features Networking, Speakers|last=Surden|first=Esther|date=2012-05-30|website=New Jersey Tech Weekly|language=en|access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref> To evaluate the feasibility and validity of the app, she attended Eric Ries's 2011 Lean startup – San Francisco where her idea was the second-place winner and was voted "most fundable" and "most likely to succeed."<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gust.com/companies/symple_health|title=Symple Health|website=Gust|access-date=2017-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026214743/https://gust.com/companies/symple_health|archive-date=October 26, 2017}}</ref> In a February 2017 Heart Sisters interview, Gajewksi said of her experience designing a mobile app:<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://myheartsisters.org/2017/02/12/clueless/|title=If you're clueless and you know it . . .|last=Thomas|first=Carolyn|date=2017-02-12|work=Heart Sisters|access-date=2017-10-26|language=en-US}}</ref>{{cquote|But there wasn't [already a mobile app], so I went about making my own. Because I was actively sick at the time, I knew certain things that a healthy person might completely miss – something as simple as not using sliders on a screen because they're harder to activate (and require more thought) than a button. }} She has been described as a "revolutionary" in the engaged patient movement along with Dave deBronkart and Jamie Heywood.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://clearhealthcosts.com/blog/2013/02/a-few-thoughts-about-the-health-care-marketplace/|title=A few thoughts about the health-care marketplace|last=Pinder|first=Jeanne|date=2013-02-27|work=Clear Health Costs|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2014, the Symple App had 60,000 users.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://pixelhealth.net/2014/07/18/friday-interview-natasha-gajewski-founder-symple-app/|title=The Friday Interview: Natasha Gajewski, Founder of Symple App {{!}} Pixel Health|last=Clare|first=David|date=2014-07-18|website=Pixel Health|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref> It is distributed through the iOS App Store.<ref name=":2" /> In 2016, Symple was recommended by a National Health Service general practitioner, Dr. Golda Parker, for patients to use to create lists of symptoms so they come prepared to appointments.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/dont-come-on-mondays-and-google-your-symptoms-first---gps-tips-o/|title=Forget Mondays and Google your symptoms first - GPs' tips on getting more from your appointment|last=Magee|first=Anna|date=2017-06-01|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2017-10-28|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Gajewski's Symple app has been the subject of research in academic journals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Masterson Creber|first1=Ruth M|last2=Maurer|first2=Mathew S|last3=Reading|first3=Meghan|last4=Hiraldo|first4=Grenny|last5=Hickey|first5=Kathleen T|last6=Iribarren|first6=Sarah|date=2016-06-14|title=Review and Analysis of Existing Mobile Phone Apps to Support Heart Failure Symptom Monitoring and Self-Care Management Using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS)|journal=JMIR mHealth and uHealth|volume=4|issue=2|pages=e74|doi=10.2196/mhealth.5882|issn=2291-5222|pmc=4925936|pmid=27302310 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A 2017 academic study rated her mobile app as one of the "highest performing apps" for heart failure monitoring.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Athilingam|first1=Ponrathi|last2=Jenkins|first2=Bradlee|last3=Johansson|first3=Marcia|last4=Labrador|first4=Miguel|date=2017|title=A Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Self-Care in Patients With Heart Failure: Pilot Randomized Control Trial|journal=JMIR Cardio|language=en|volume=1|issue=2|pages=e3|doi=10.2196/cardio.7848|pmid=31758759|pmc=6834206 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Gajewski provided input on point of care patient decisions in a 2016 study.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=O'Malley|first1=Ann S.|last2=Collins|first2=Anna|last3=Contreary|first3=Kara|last4=Rich|first4=Eugene C.|date=2016-07-01|title=Barriers to and Facilitators of Evidence-Based Decision Making at the Point of Care: Implications for Delivery Systems, Payers, and Policy Makers|journal=MDM Policy & Practice|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|article-number=2381468316660375|doi=10.1177/2381468316660375|pmid=30288403|issn=2381-4683|pmc=6125042}}</ref> Danny Gorog of Macworld had positive remarks on the app, stating that it "is a powerful iPhone app that lets users track up to 20 different symptoms at once. It also functions as a health diary, to let you note the things you eat, daily exercise and medications you take."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.macworld.com.au/app-guide/3-of-a-kind-ios-health-apps-113650/#.WkWhe1Q-fsk|title=3 of a kind: iOS health apps - Macworld Australia|work=Macworld Australia|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229112739/http://www.macworld.com.au/app-guide/3-of-a-kind-ios-health-apps-113650/#.WkWhe1Q-fsk#.WkWhe1Q-fsk|archive-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref>
== Advisory boards == Gajewski serves as an Advisor for Princeton University's Keller Center eLab Summer Accelerator.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://kellercenter.princeton.edu/create/elab-summer-accelerator/people/advisors|title=Advisors|date=2016-03-31|work=Keller Center|access-date=2017-10-26|publisher=Board of Trustees Princeton University|language=en-US}}</ref> She is also a member of University of California, San Diego and Irvine's Health Data Exploration Project.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hdexplore.calit2.net/hdedirectory/name/natasha-gajewki-_/|title=Natasha Gajewki _ » Network Directory – Health Data Exploration|website=hdexplore.calit2.net|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-29}}</ref> In December 2011, Gajewski was one of the Princeton alumni and women entrepreneurs and business leaders who served as a panelist for the event entitled "Women in Entrepreneurship" hosted by the Keller Center.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2011/12/09/princeton-alumni-examine-barriers-women-entrepreneurship|title=Princeton alumni examine barriers for women in entrepreneurship|last=Sullivan|first=John|date=2011-12-09|work=Princeton University|access-date=2017-10-29|language=en}}</ref> The panel explored the underrepresentation of women in venture capital and startup ventures to which Gajewski reported, "I just never imagined limitations based on my sex,"<ref name=":3" /> later remarking, "It just never occurred to me."<ref name=":3" /> Gajewski is a faculty member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored National Health Care Transparency Summit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hctransparencysummit.com/|title=The National Healthcare Healthcare Transparency Summit|last=Robert Wood Johnson Foundation|website=Healthcare Healthcare Transparency Summit|access-date=2017-10-29}}</ref> Gajewski serves on the Advisory Board of Flip the Clinic, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fliptheclinic.org/about/|title=About - Flip the Clinic|work=Flip the Clinic|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Personal life == Gajewski resides in Princeton, New Jersey.<ref name=":0" /> To combat her autoimmune disease, Gajewski practices Zumba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.healthmgttech.com/taking-patient-advocacy-to-a-whole-new-level.php|title=Taking Patient Advocacy to a Whole New Level|date=2011-09-01|website=Health Management Technology Magazine|access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref> Gajewski's parents later divorced, and her father remarried Jacqueline Nicole Marchal of Paris, through which, Gajewski gained three step-siblings including Christopher Emery.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-post/20100219/283583806543506|title=Jacqueline Rana|date=2010-02-19|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref> Gajewski's mother remarried jeweler Samuel Kind, through which, she gained two step-siblings, actor and voice actor Richard Kind and Joanne Hinton.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/23/classified/paid-notice-deaths-kind-samuel-m.html|title=Paid Notice: Deaths KIND, SAMUEL M.|date=1997-07-23|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-10-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Awards and recognition == * TedMED Frontline scholar{{Needs citation|date=November 2024}} * "1 of 10 Innovators to Follow" - Partners HealthCare Center for Connected Health{{Needs citation|date=November 2024}} * 2013 Stanford MedX ePatient scholar{{Needs citation|date=November 2024}} * Member - Startup Health Showcase, mHealth Summit, Washington, D.C.{{Needs citation|date=November 2024}} * Competition winners - Lean startup, Eric Ries, IMVU, and Thomas Eisenmann of the Harvard Business School<ref name=":1" />
== See also ==
* mHealth {{Portal|Biography|Technology|Medicine|New Jersey|}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.sympleapp.com/blog/aboutme Official Website]
{{Portal bar|Biography|Technology|Medicine|Biology|Science|New Jersey}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gajewski, Natasha}} Category:Living people Category:Businesspeople from Princeton, New Jersey Category:Rutgers University alumni Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American women chief executives Category:American people of Pakistani descent Category:21st-century American businesswomen Category:21st-century American businesspeople Category:American chief executives in the health care industry