These entrepreneurs and researchers are tackling some of the healthcare industry’s biggest challenges, from developing new drugs to building new devices to expanding access to care.
By Katie Jennings, Alex Knapp and Geneviève Bookwalter
NNot all cancers are created equal, which means how you treat them can depend on a variety of factors. But these details are not always easy for doctors to find. Enter Anirudh Joshi and his company, Valar Labs. It uses AI to analyze an image of a tumor in bladder cancer patients, which provides data that doctors can use to determine the best way to move forward. “AI will completely change and create an abundance of healthcare,” he says. “And that applies to all areas, not just what we do. »
So far, 20 hospitals across the country are using Valar Labs’ software, and the next step for the company is to train its models to analyze other types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer and lymphoma. To that end, it has so far raised $26 million from venture capitalists, and Joshi, 29, says Valar Labs could be “the next billion-dollar company in the fight against cancer.”
Tim Tadder for Forbes
Joshi, with his co-founders Damir Vrabac28 years old, and Viswesh Krishna23, are just some of the rising stars on this year’s 30 Under 30 Healthcare list who are working to solve some of the healthcare industry’s biggest challenges, from developing new drugs to building new devices including expanding access to care. For more than a decade, Forbes has highlighted young entrepreneurs and researchers through public nominations. To be considered for this year’s list, all applicants had to be under the age of 30 as of December 31, 2024 and have never been named to a 30 Under 30 list from North America, Asia or of Europe.
The candidates were evaluated by a jury composed of Jim Breyerfounder of Breyer Capital; Kate HavilandCEO of Blueprint Medicines; Megan Mahoneyphysician and professor at the University of California, San Francisco; And Stephanie Fortco-founder and CEO of Boulder Care.
Valar Labs is not the only company applying AI to identify diseases. With his company Dance.ai, Robert Baldoni25, uses deep learning to analyze patient movements to help evaluate patients suffering from neurological diseases such as Parikinson’s. Kanishka Rao29, uses AI to identify patients with high-risk chronic diseases with his company Carenostics. And Akshaya Annapragada27, invented ARTEMIS, an AI system that identified hundreds of new genomic features of different cancers.
Other list creators use software innovations to make daily operations easier for caregivers. There is Ricky Pati26 and Niko Fotopoulos25-year-old Sparx company facilitates physician participation in value-based care programs. Also, Autumn-Kyoko Cushman28 years old, and Léanna Haddad28, co-founded ShiftRx, a startup that helps pharmacy shift workers apply and onboard for short-term contract work.
But software isn’t the only area of healthcare innovation: Several entrepreneurs on the list are developing new hardware to help patients and caregivers. For example, Nadia Ansari21, and Kamran Ansari19, co-founded FluxWear, which developed a wearable cap that serves as a neuromodulation device. Tamara Chayo25, founded MEDU Protection, which developed Level 4 hospital gowns that can be reused multiple times instead of being thrown away after just one wear. Then there is Vishnu Sunil29 and Apoorva Katragadda29 years old, whose company EmerStat developed a device that helps reduce hemorrhage in trauma patients.
These are just a few of the incredible finalists on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list. Be sure to read them all, as well as all the other 30 Under 30 2025 categories.
This year’s list was edited by Katie Jennings, Genevieve Bookwalter and Alex Knapp. For a link to our complete healthcare list, Click hereand for full coverage 30 Under 30, Click here.