First in Human

What does it take to reinvent one of the most iconic tools in medicine? In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Connor Landgraf, co-founder and CEO of Eko Health, to trace the unlikely journey from childhood tinkerer to building a digital-enabled stethoscope that’s quietly reshaping how clinicians listen, learn, and diagnose. Connor shares how a gradual realization in a Berkeley classroom led him to challenge a centuries-old design paradigm. Why do we still rely on a hollow tube and human hearing alone to evaluate heart and lung disease? From building early prototypes (which doctors promptly rejected), to the long, patient work of developing data, algorithms, and trust, this is a story about respecting medicine’s traditions while carefully pushing it forward. If you’ve ever wondered how real medical innovation gets started, or how technology can augment human judgment without erasing it, this conversation offers a rare, thoughtful look at what it really takes to change medicine from the inside out. Subscribe to First in Human: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd Connect with Connor: - Connor's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connorlandgraf/ - Eko Health webpage: http://ekohealth.com/

How do you fight a disease that hides until it’s almost too late? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Maria Artunduaga, founder of Samay, whose work began with a moment she still remembers clearly: a conversation about air trapping, a flashback to high-school physics, and the realization that sound might reveal early changes inside the lungs before symptoms appear at all. That spark - in a problem inspired by the loss of her grandmother to a COPD exacerbation - sent her down a path to rethink how we detect danger in one of the world’s deadliest respiratory diseases.Maria shares the unlikely early days: late-night experiments in her living room, patients welcoming her into their homes, and the first hints that a simple wearable patch could capture some of the insights that previously required an $80,000, phone booth-sized machine. We explore why respiratory diseases have been neglected by med tech, what makes COPD so deadly, and how a founder from Colombia is building technology designed for the people most often left behind. This conversation is about invention, persistence, and what becomes possible when a eureka moment meets a problem the world can no longer ignore. Subscribe to First in Human: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd Connect with Maria: - Maria's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drartunduaga/ - Samay webpage: https://www.samayhealth.com/home

An innovator’s first step into the clinical environment - in this case, an ICU built for the world’s tiniest babies - can change everything. In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Eric Chehab, a Stanford-trained biomechanical engineer and founder of Novonate. We explore how a deadly but unaddressed risk in premature newborns became the focus of his life’s work. Eric shares the moment he realized that fragile infants were being protected with tape, improvisation, and sheer nursing ingenuity, and how that small, almost ordinary detail revealed a problem no one had truly solved. We follow his unusual path from a class assignment to years of crude prototypes, a slow spinout from Stanford, and the lonely stretch of building a pediatric device company in a market most investors dismiss. Eric opens up about the doubts, the early believers, and the winding strategic conversations that eventually led to Novonate’s acquisition by Laborie. If you’re curious how real needs are found, or how a simple idea can become life-changing for the smallest patients on earth, this conversation offers a rare look at the patient and determined work behind meaningful innovation. Subscribe to First in Human: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd Connect with Eric: - Eric's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/echehab/ - Laborie webpage: https://www.laborie.com/product/lifebubble/

Some problems in medicine see so many failed attempts that they start to feel untouchable. Teams learn to move on, investors grow wary, and the problem becomes its own warning label. Kate Garrett and Dr. Dan Azagury chose a different path. Kate and Dan, cofounders of Ciel (later acquired by Vyaire Medical), found themelves confronted with one of those notoriously unsolved, high-stakes problems - the kind that had stopped other companies cold. What happened next changed everything for them, their patients, and for medtech. In this episode, Kate and Dan share how confronting that kind of problem shaped their partnership, what the journey taught them about trust and perseverance, and why some of the most meaningful breakthroughs begin with the problems everyone else have learned to avoid. Subscribe to First in Human: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd Connect with Kate and Dr. Azagury: Kate Garrett's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-garrett-464920/ Dr. Dan Azagury's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-azagury-ba70733a/

What happens when a serial medtech founder takes on one of the most overlooked problems in public health: the simple act of finding a clean, safe place to go to the bathroom? In this episode, I sit down with Fletcher Wilson, founder and CEO of Throne Labs. His company is reimagining public bathrooms with the same precision and empathy you would expect from a medical device team. Fletcher shares how a personal struggle with GI issues, a series of raw conversations with mobile workers and city leaders, and a belief in human dignity pushed him toward an unexpected frontier. His goal is simple. Create a bathroom that feels like a hotel lobby but can sit in a Home Depot parking lot. We talk through the stories that shaped Throne. An Uber driver who carried a necktie so he could pretend to be a hotel guest. The tech stack behind their solar powered units. The design choices that have quietly saved multiple lives. Fletcher also opens up about culture, kindness, and why curiosity matters more than a perfect resume. If you have ever wondered how a basic human need becomes a systems problem, and how thoughtful design can reshape an entire city, this conversation will change the way you see public space, technology, and dignity itself. Subscribe to First in Human: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd Connect with Fletcher Fletcher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletcher-wilson-a216a16/ Visit Throne labs: https://thronelabs.co/