Telehealth-enabled, habit changing platform
appoints new board and advisory teams
TORONTO, May 27, 2020 /CNW/ - Newtopia, Inc. (TSXV: NEWU),
a habit change platform for disease prevention, today announced its
appointment of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board.
Newtopia, Inc. (Newtopia) offers a telehealth-enabled platform
that works closely with employers to deliver a highly personalized
and targeted disease prevention solution that is proven to reduce
healthcare costs. Newtopia's platform is designed for individuals
at risk of developing obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
The newly appointed Board of Directors is comprised of thought
leaders from across the U.S. and Canada. The Board includes:
- Karen Basian, principal, KB
Capital Management Inc. and former Newtopia Managing Director
- Carleen Hawn, Founder and CEO,
Healthspottr
- Michael Palmer, CEO, Exhale
Advisors, and former Chief Innovation and Digital Officer at
Aetna
- Jeff Ruby, Founder and CEO,
Newtopia
Newtopia has also announced an Advisory Board with leaders
across clinical research, benefits, and commercialization. The
Advisory Board includes:
- Hassan Azar, head of Global
Total Rewards, JLL
- Mike Payne, chief growth
officer, ZOOM+Care, former head of commercial and policy at Virta
Health and former chief commercial officer and head of medical
affairs at Omada Health
- Greg Steinberg, MD, former head
of clinical innovation at Aetna
"Now more than ever, it is vital for organizations to ensure the
health and safety of their employees. I am confident that our newly
appointed Board and Advisory teams will provide excellent guidance
as we continue to execute our goals of making populations healthier
and more productive through proven habit changing technologies,"
said Jeff Ruby, founder and CEO,
Newtopia. "We are thrilled to welcome such a distinguished group of
healthcare and business leaders to the Newtopia family and we look
forward to working together to improve our platform, scale our
business, and drive value for our clients and shareholders."
About Karen Basian
Karen Basian is a proven,
international board director, strategist and advisor, with over 25
years' in the consumer products and services, financial services,
travel and technology sectors. Karen is President of KB
Capital Management Inc. and a Partner with 3NP Realty Inc. Karen
serves on the Board of Directors of goeasy (TSE:GSY) where she
chairs the HR and Compensation Committee, The Flowr Corporation as
Board and Audit Committee Chair, BookJane where she Chairs the
Audit Committee, Kognitiv and was a Managing Director of Newtopia.
Previously, Karen was Chief Global Strategy and Business
Development Officer for McCain Foods Ltd. In 2000, Karen was
recognized as one of Canada's 'Top
40 Under 40' for her work as the CFO & SVP, Corporate Services
for 724 Solutions (NASDAQ/TSX). Prior roles include SVP Strategy
for Frito-Lay North America, Manager
with Bain and Company, and International Tax Specialist with
Deloitte's. Karen is a CPA, CA, an MBA from IMEDE, Lausanne,
Switzerland and Honors Business
Administration from the University of Western
Ontario.
About Carleen Hawn
Carleen Hawn is an experienced
founder with a demonstrated history of working in the media,
consulting, and networking industries. Hawn is the CEO and
Co-Founder of Healthspottr. Previously, she was an associate editor
with Forbes and later senior writer and West Coast Bureau Chief for
Fast Company magazine. She also served on the Editorial Advisory
Board of TEDMED. Hawn currently sits on the board of directors of
CureSearch, a national non-profit foundation that accelerates the
search for cures for children's cancers. Hawn earned a bachelor's
degree in Political Science from Barnard
College, a master's degree from Columbia Journalism School
and she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia Business School in New York.
About Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer is a lifelong
healthcare and technology enthusiast and the founding CEO of Exhale
Advisors, focused on healthcare strategy, M&A, digital
transformation and innovation commercialization. Prior to
that he served as Aetna's chief
innovation and digital officer where he launched the Aetna
Innovation Labs – driving clinical, technology, and digital
innovations to improve the healthcare ecosystem. Palmer played key
roles in envisioning the strategy and launching Aetna's new $1B
Consumer Business and reinvented Aetna's digital landscape to make healthcare
simpler and easier for consumers to navigate. Prior to Aetna, Palmer was a Partner at Accenture,
where for nearly 20 years he served health clients in information
technology strategy, post-merger integration, and global
transformation programs. He also ran Accenture's global medical
technology practice P&L. Palmer earned a bachelor's
degree in Computer Science from the University
of Maryland, College Park in Maryland.
About Jeff Ruby
Jeff Ruby is a health innovator
with an extensive entrepreneurial track record in preventive
health. Prior to founding Newtopia, Ruby was co-founder and chief
operating officer of Cleveland Clinic Canada, a collaboration
between the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Canyon Ranch, and
Canada's leading destination for
preventive health and lifestyle management. Before that, he served
as co-founder and chief operating officer of Life Screening
Centers, a cancer screening and prevention company. Prior to Life
Screening, Ruby was a co-founder and head of operations of Genetic
Diagnostics Inc., an early stage biotechnology company
commercializing a new genetic diagnostic testing platform. Ruby has
a joint Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration
(JD/MBA) from Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of
Business in Toronto and a
bachelor's degree from Western
University in London,
Ontario.
About Hassan Azar
Hassan Azar has over 25 years of
experience as a leader and innovator in global corporate benefits
programs and advisor to healthcare companies. He has successfully
led several corporate health and benefit programs, including his
current role as head of global total rewards at Jones Lang LaSalle.
He has served in similar roles for other large corporations
including at US Foods, Mondelez International, Kraft Foods, Delphi
Automotive and The Ford Motor Company. Hassan has worked as a
healthcare consultant with Towers Perrin and has held management
roles at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Ascension St. John Hospital in
Detroit, Mich. He is a member of
the Health Affairs Journal Council on Health Care Spending and
Value and serves as an advisor to the Employer Health Innovation
Roundtable. He has an MHA, MBA, MA, and a BA from the University of Michigan, and a JD from the
University of Detroit School of
Law.
About Mike Payne
Mike Payne has a 20-year career
in healthcare, working across almost every sector and with
companies of all sizes. He is known as an innovator in the
commercialization of evidence-based, digitally-empowered health
interventions. Payne is currently the chief growth officer at
ZOOM+Care, responsible for market-share and revenue growth. Prior
to ZOOM+Care, he was vice president of health strategy and business
development for Ancestry, overseeing development of long-term
health genomics strategy as well as formation of partnerships that
enhance the AncestryHealth product portfolio. Prior to Ancestry,
Payne was the head of commercial and policy at Virta Health, whose
online clinic provides the first treatment proven to reverse Type 2
diabetes without medications or surgery. Prior to Virta, he created
and grew the commercial strategy and operations of Omada Health,
the country's largest digital diabetes prevention program. Payne
previously worked at Gilead Sciences and McKinsey & Company and
holds an MBA from Stanford Business School as well as an MSci in
Health Services Research from Stanford Medical School.
About Greg Steinberg,
MD
Dr. Greg Steinberg is a seasoned
physician executive who is Board Certified in both Internal
Medicine and Cardiology with substantial experience in varied
healthcare settings. He began his career as the associate director
of medicine and director of medical education at St.
Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, a major teaching affiliate of
Columbia University College of Physicians and
Surgeons. Steinberg later went on to become the chief
medical officer and later the chief executive officer at
ActiveHealth Management (AHM), a startup population health
management and clinical decision support company. After AHM was
purchased in 2005 by Aetna,
Steinberg was the first head of clinical innovation where he built
a new clinical research and development capability that rigorously
evaluates novel care management and digital health solutions by
subjecting them to well designed, real world pilots with clearly
pre-defined success metrics, including clinical outcomes,
utilization and costs.
About Newtopia
Newtopia is a habit change platform focused on disease
prevention that delivers a 1:1 individualized approach by
understanding social, psychological, and genetic insights. Our
approach is proven to deliver value on investment for risk bearing
insurers in the form of reduced metabolic syndrome risk factors,
medical claims savings and increased quality of life, productivity,
and morale for at-risk individuals. Our mission is to inspire
people to live healthier. To learn more, visit newtopia.com.
SOURCE Newtopia Inc.