asher hasan

Brainstormer, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Connector, Doctor, Global soul, Idea generator, Philanthropist, Social entrepreneur, World traveler

Dr. Asher Hasan is a digital health innovator and serial entrepreneur. Asher is the CoFounder & Executive Chairman of doctHERs (http://www.docthers.com), the emerging world's first women-centred, gender-inclusive telemedicine company. Asher is also the Founder of NAYA JEEVAN (http://www.njfk.org), a hybrid social enterprise dedicated to providing socio-economically disadvantaged families throughout the emerging world with affordable access to quality, catastrophic healthcare. Asher served on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Social Innovation for 2012-2014. He is a 2011 World Economic Forum/Schwab Foundation Asian Social Entrepreneur of the Year, a 2013 Synergos Senior Fellow, a 2009 TED India fellow, a 2011 Ashoka US fellow, a 2011 Ariane de Rothschild fellow and an invited member of the Clinton Global Initiative for 2014, 2010 and 2009. He has also been selected as an Asia 21 young leader in 2010. In addition, doctHERs is a winning finalist of the 2017 MIT SOLVE competition in the women & tech category and the winner of the Start-up Track at the 2017 World Health Summit (Berlin) . In 2016, doctHERs was a recipient the Judge's Choice Award in the MIT Inclusive Innovation Competition. In 2013, NAYA JEEVAN was recognised with the prestigious, Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award and the Asia Society Public Service Award. Prior to launching NAYA JEEVAN, Asher served in the capacity of Senior Director and Head of the US Medical Affairs team (Obesity drugs portfolio) for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company in San Diego, CA. He spent six years at Sanofi as a Medical Director in their US headquarters. During his tenure in New York City, Asher also completed an MBA in Global Business & Leadership from New York University’s Stern School of Business. In his hey-dey, Asher attended Oberlin College where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and biology with an additional concentration in international relations. This was followed by research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital followed by training in general surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center. Asher can often be seen hurtling down alpine ski slopes, is a voracious reader and loves to cruise the Caribbean. Istanbul, Bali, Bellagio and Rio de Janeiro are his favourite destinations for spiritual rejuvenation.

[1] NAYA JEEVAN, the emerging world’s first “HMO for the Marginalised”, a social enterprise that provides low-income families in the emerging world with affordable access to quality healthcare. [2] doctHERs: a digital health platform that matches the underutilized capacity of female doctors (who otherwise would be excluded from the global health workforce) to the unmet needs of health seekers.

The exclusion of women in the workforce in both developing countries and mature markets has resulted in not only a massive loss of human potential but also loss of human life - especially in countries (including the US) where millions of people continue to lack access to quality, affordable healthcare. In Pakistan, the good news is that 60% of medical school graduates are women. The bad news is that 3 out every 4 of these graduates are not participating in the workforce - largely due to sociocultural barriers that prevent them from achieving their professional aspirations with their family responsibilities. At doctHERs we match the underutilized capacity of female doctors (who otherwise would be excluded from the workforce) to the unmet needs of health seekers. Lower-middle income frontline health workers (community health promoters, nurses and midwives) are recruited, trained and equipped with technology - hardware, software and wifi/broadband connectivity. They are then deployed in corporate offices, factories, retail clinics and ambulances where they are able to connect health consumers (especially female workers who otherwise have highly restricted access to women's health) to remotely located female doctors. These trusted intermediaries are trained to conduct sophisticated diagnostic and interventional procedures under the supervision and guidance of a remotely located (home-based) female doctor. By 2030, doctHERs will impact over 200 million lives across 5 continents in partnership with iconic, multinational corporations while reintegrating 50,000 women into the workforce - enabling them to achieve their full socioeconomic potential.

Biotechnology, Cardiovascular Diseases, Compassionate Capitalism, diabetes, Diagonal Thinking, Human-Centred Design Thinking, Impact Investing, Medicine and Surgery, Pharmaceutical development, Social entrepreneurship, Triple Bottom LIne

Allow me to tell you a short story about a young woman called Raabia. The first time I met Raabia was at the tender age of 14 when she was an 8th grader, effervescent and full of zest and optimism for the future. Tragically, Raabia became her family’s primary breadwinner at the age of 19 when her father, a sedentary man with chronic, debilitating, high blood pressure, suffered a massive stroke, became paralyzed and therefore was no longer able to provide for his family. As a consequence, Raabia and her six siblings were forced to drop out of school and enter the urban child labor market. There are millions of Raabia’s and Maria’s throughout Pakistan and in many other countries throughout the emerging world. Their stories remain unheard of and untold. They symbolize the anonymous, countless children whose dreams are shattered on the altar of poverty.

Tiddlywinks, shower-singing and leaving toothpaste tubes uncapped.