By Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick
Twitter: @drnic1
Host of Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist – #TheIncrementalist
On this episode I talked to Jeff Ruby, Founder of Newtopia (@newtopia), a company using a combination of genetic testing, nutrition, and personal, technology-enabled coaching can change habits that modify life-impacting behavior as a critical part of the solution.
Episode NOW on Demand
Jeff shares his origin story of when his father was diagnosed with abdominal cancer and how this experience pushed him to move into the healthcare space focused on lifestyle and genetics and how we turn our sick care system into a well-care system.
We talk about the importance of habits and changing people’s behavior and how difficult this is given the weight of thousands of years of adaptation that has made us select many of unhealthy options because we now live in a world of comparative plenty. As he describes it we are humans in a casino and the house is currently winning but we need to start tipping the odds back in favor of our health.
Newtopia is a habit-changing company that has managed to customize its approach to each individual, learning about each individual, and their social environment, social determinants, and behaviorally from a personality, motivation, and readiness to change perspective. They have a novel and interesting approach to the genetic component pioneering an area they call genetic engagements, which is not using genes to identify ancestry, or disease risk but answering the question for the individual, do have they inherited factors from their parents that could be impacting their weight and lifestyle, so they can stop blaming themselves.
Listen in to hear Jeff talk about their ‘Inspirators’ and how they manage to achieve success by capturing attention by providing the nudges and insights at the right time to effect change.
About the Show
For years Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick, has served as a voice on the impact of new technologies on healthcare, earning a reputation as a leading authority on where the future of medicine is going. Combining powers of observation and real world experience, Dr. Nick has seen many predictions come true and makes the case that innovations in healthcare can be accomplished incrementally, not just by moonshot events. Tune in to hear Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist and his guests discuss what the future of healthcare looks like, how we will get there, and what it will take to improve healthcare for all.
This article was originally published on the Dr. Nick – The Incrementalist blog and is republished here with permission.