Founders' series- Kendra Batchelder

Today we talk to Kendra Batchelder CEO of WAVED medical who started the company as she completed her PhD. They recognised a real need and set about trying to develop a solution for the early detection of breast cancer. Hear how Kendra has found this in her first few months.

What did you do in the corporate world?

I was never part of the corporate world.?My start-up was developed during the last year of my PhD program, and I will be transitioning to my business role directly from academics.

What made you decide to make this change and why now?

After speaking with medical professionals across the globe over the past two years, I heard repeatedly there was a need for improvement in breast cancer screening and risk assessments. Now that breast cancer is the most common cancer globally, I saw an opportunity to enhance breast cancer risk assessments using my image analysis background with the help of my co-founder, and business and medical mentors. I have heard too many stories from women around the world affected by the disease to not do anything.

How have you found the transition from academia to working for yourself? Any learns you can share with others?

I have found the transition to working for myself exciting, but also intimidating. The freedom to make decisions and act on them is incredible, but also comes with the responsibility to ensure the company is heading in the right direction. I’ve learned that advice from mentors and advisors is extremely valuable. It is important to find mentors and advisors who understand your goals, listen to them, and trust their guidance.

After 3 months of doing this, we hope you are still enjoying this, what if anything would you have done differently?

After 3 months of being in my role, the only thing I wish is that I had started working with mentors and advisors even earlier. Other than bringing in outside guidance sooner, I have been in my role for such a short time and the team’s momentum keeps growing that it is hard to say what I would do differently. I know the future will hold missteps and missed opportunities. Then I can reflect on how things could have been done differently.

?Share a fact or misconception about your sector?

A misconception about my sector is that artificial intelligence software can be developed using any large dataset, some knowledge about computational approaches, and be successful when used in the healthcare system. Healthcare is very complex. First, the data used for developing artificial intelligence approaches needs to be diverse enough so that it is generalizable to the larger population. Second, the methods and results need to be interpretable and explainable for clinical acceptance. Third, finding the product market fit and commercializing novel technology is challenging. Someone can make a great artificial intelligence product, but it must fill a need and add value for the customer, which can be more difficult than it appears.

About WAVED Medical

WAVED Medical was set up just 3 months ago and is building an image-based breast cancer risk assessment technology for breast care facilities to identify high-risk patients needing supplemental screening or preventive care. We hope to be able to play a significant role in the early detection of breast cancer in the near future.