Partner @a16z leading health technology investments. Reluctant tweeter. Alum: @Meta @YaleLawSch @StanfordGSB

Joined September 2009
1/ In the past few months, the founders of Instacart, Spotify, and Coinbase have all started new healthcare companies. This may seem odd to some – why are these seasoned tech founders jumping into tech-driven healthcare? A 🧵: a16z.com/2023/04/20/hey-tech…
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Clinical AI can be life or death, especially as busy doctors increasingly rely on it to inform their decisions. We shouldn't let AI companies grade their own homework. @withprotegeai is solving this, and today launched Independent Evaluations: double-blind evals built by healthcare experts on de-identified, real-world data that model builders have never seen. This is the kind of trust infrastructure healthcare AI needs before it reaches patients. Congrats @BobbySamuels, @engyziedan, and team!
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AI is making healthcare advice cheap and ubiquitous. But once you know what you need, there’s still no good way to actually get it. And knowing what it will cost you? Seemingly impossible! The AI doctor is here. Nobody’s built the store. That’s why we @a16z are proud to lead the $120M Series B of @GeneralMedicine, the first true healthcare store. Building this takes insanely detailed knowledge of the infrastructure and weeds of healthcare, pharmacy, & insurance. There are no people better equipped than @tjparker, @elliotcohen, and @ashwinkmurali, the team behind @PillPack (one of the largest exits in the space!) and @amazon Health & Pharmacy. cc @vintweeta @JorgeCondeBio @evajsteinman @EliLillyandCo @matrixvc @mercy_health @BoxGroup
General Medicine has raised $120M in Series B financing led by @a16z. We’re building the healthcare store: a place where customers can search, compare, and buy care, see prices before deciding, and get guidance from a licensed clinician. Today, the store includes more than 2,900 products and services across medications, labs, telehealth, specialist e-consults, and select in-person visits and procedures. This funding will help us expand the store into more categories of care for customers nationwide. Come shop for your healthcare: generalmedicine.co
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
Most of the discussion on tasks for AI in medicine has been focused on purely cognitive decision-making But most are underestimating the pace at which some (not all!) tasks in the world of surgery and other physical interventions may also be automated — it’s not “20 years away” as I often hear from folks Love that the Aleph team is focused on finding tasks where generalizable autonomy will be impactful in the OR
We’re taking a massive swing at generalizable autonomy in the OR. Solving it means tackling some of the hardest problems at the intersection of robotics and medicine. If that level of ambition excites you, reach out → alephsurgical.com/jobs
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We @a16z are proud to lead a $7.5M round into @alephsurgery, which is building an autonomous surgical robot. These robot surgeons will eventually be able to learn & perform any procedure, making critical care accessible to all. @dylanmcguir3 and @r_mcguire are visionaries and we're honored to partner with them on this journey, alongside @BoxGroup, Reveille VC, Constellation, @forward_deploy, @Valkyrie_vc, @DiscipulusVent, @maniacvc + more. @evajsteinman @oyhsu
Replying to @dylanmcguir3
@dylanmcguir3 and I just raised a $7.5M pre-seed led by @a16z to build a robotic surgeon @alephsurgery Much of the early investment in Physical AI has focused on industries where labor is relatively abundant and low-cost. We believe the biggest opportunities to change the world lie at the opposite end of the spectrum. Surgery is among the most valuable forms of labor on the planet, but it's far too scarce and expensive - due to an exceptionally long training pipeline and highly concentrated expertise. We’re building the first surgeon that scales: one system that can acquire, refine, and transfer surgical skills across millions of procedures. v1 is already learning to perform surgical tasks autonomously from demonstrations, and improve from its own experience. Lots of great folks behind us! @BoxGroup, Reveille VC, Constellation, @forward_deploy, @Valkyrie_vc, @DiscipulusVent, @maniacvc + more
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
"Who is making sure that AI answers in a doctor's clinical AI tool is safe and correct?" Frontier models care - but ChatGPT or Claude shouldn't grade itself when it's deployed in a health system Specialized healthcare AI model builders care - but they have the same grading concern Healthcare system and providers care - but they're actively looking for the source of truth for whether models are safe for their context and environment Academics care - and continue to debate health AI effectiveness while looking for representative real-world data The US government is starting to care - HHS just appointed a deputy commissioner for technology and artificial intelligence So everyone cares. But there hasn't been an incentives-aligned, expert healthcare organization that exists to help ensure AI alignment that is also able to help improve the models at their training source. This is something @engyziedan and @datalabresearch think about daily. With Protege's healthcare data, expertise, and scale, we're actively working with model builders to help solve this pressing issue. Engy, @daisydwolf, @evajsteinman on the @a16zbiohealth Raising Health podcast: youtube.com/watch?v=I-t5HdAF…
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
The data curation requests we get from frontier labs have changed shape. Our co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer @engyziedan joined Andreessen Horowitz's @daisydwolf and @evajsteinman on @a16zBioHealth's Raising Health Podcast to talk about what that shift looks like from where we sit. Early on, as Engy puts it, the asks were consumer-shaped. Can the model hold an intelligent conversation? Is it aligned? Is it safe? Is it reasonably sound when someone asks it a medical question? Very large foundation models became our early customers - the consumer was the market they wanted to win first. Then those same labs started to see how much revenue was sitting in enterprise settings. So now, requests we field today land somewhere between consumer needs and enterprise needs. Doing both is difficult. Our belief: you only get both from real-world data — the kind generated by people doing their actual work, in their actual context. Can't get this synthetically. More from Engy in the clip, and full episode in the thread
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
Moderna can now turn around individualized mRNA treatments in only 42 days. A miracle of modern medicine.
Last month Moderna reported the first individualized cancer vaccine to pass a Phase 3. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel and a16z's Jorge Conde on what that actually means: The treatment works by sequencing a patient’s tumor and healthy cells, identifying the mutations relevant to their cancer, and encoding up to 34 of them into an mRNA specific to the individual. Rather than simply unleashing the immune system, the goal is to teach it what to recognize and attack. In this conversation, they unpack the engineering challenge of manufacturing a different medicine for every patient, how Moderna has brought the process down to roughly 42 days from biopsy to treatment, and what it would take to manufacture personalized medicines at scale. 00:00 Intro 02:35 A Phase 3 that beat the standard of care 06:00 Why today's immunotherapy fails 40% of patients 09:35 A vaccine for cancer you already have 11:20 Why mRNA worked where 1,000 trials failed 13:15 90% of cancer antigens are unique to you 16:35 Why this vaccine only gets better from here 21:00 The only thing Moderna needs is your DNA sequence 22:20 Why the first robot was intentionally inefficient 27:10 How the FDA approves a drug that's different every time 33:05 A cancer treatment with the side effects of a flu shot 33:30 Why pancreatic cancer is worth a risk 36:30 Rare liver disease next, then autoimmune YouTube: youtu.be/yTNMEYeCgWw @moderna_tx @JorgeCondeBio
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
On the Lp(a)HORIZON pelacarsen results: 1. It is still prudent (and evidence-based imo) to obtain Lp(a) diagnostic testing once, ideally early in life. Knowing you are at high risk (~10% of general pop has Lp(a) > 70 mg/dL, which confers ~50% higher risk of ASCVD) should prompt TODAY what this trial called "risk-therapy optimization" in the months PRIOR to enrollment in the study. This means starting the full sweep of already approved CV risk modifying agents: statins, PCSK9i, antihypertensives, etc. This single trial result on Lp(a) perturbation does not negate the predictive value of Lp(a) dx testing 2. The HORIZON trial result definitely does NOT mean that human genetics defined targets 'don't work'. C'mon people, stop the hysteria. It just means that in a group of people with exceptionally well-controlled LDL, whose (very profound!) CV disease biology has already revealed itself as a heart attack / stroke / symptomatic PAD, lowering Lp(a) by 70-80% for a period of only 2.5-6 yrs, starting at an avg age of ~60, is not enough to significantly decrease the risk that the same biology rears its ugly head again. Many possible hypotheses remain 3. To all the investigators and pharma companies who have committed themselves to running CVOTs, applause and gratitude. These studies could potentially produce some of the most widely practice-changing and life-saving results most of us will ever see in a lifetime. Personally I remain optimistic about studies that will 'treat earlier and treat longer', especially for primary prevention. eg Lilly's lepodisiran (siRNA) trial ACCLAIM-Lp(a) includes a primary prevention arm
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A legend 💔
It was surreal to chat with Gloria Steinem in her living room!!!!! Thank you @karinklein for making a girl’s dream come true.
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
$1.1B for the Machine Age.
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
I'm lucky to have access to some of the best healthcare available. But running my genome through Claude changed how I think about my health more than anything else I've done. It surfaced a major genetic risk factor I had no idea about. I wrote about the entire process below.
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Amen
I'm a cardiologist. I've spent twenty years as the person patients trust to interpret their bodies. And I need to tell you something that most physicians won't say out loud: AI is about to change the power dynamic between you and your doctor. Forever. Four days ago, OpenAI's o3 model diagnosed 18 children with rare diseases that the best human specialists at Boston Children's Hospital couldn't solve — some after nearly twenty years of searching. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Two weeks ago, WashU researchers proved that nine routine blood markers can calculate your biological age — and predict cancer risk years before any tumor forms. A free calculator. Available to anyone. Last month, AI-enhanced coronary CT angiography detected inflamed arteries in patients whose standard stress tests said "normal." Patients who would have gone home reassured and wrong. The pattern is unmistakable. The tools that used to require a specialist, a referral, a three-month wait, and a $400 copay are migrating into your phone, your bloodwork portal, and your own hands. And I'm watching something in my practice I never expected. Patients are walking in more informed than some of the residents I trained. They've run their PhenoAge score. They know their ApoB. They've read the study about Lp(a) before I've had time to bring it up. They come with questions so specific that the conversation starts at a level it took me years of training to reach. This used to threaten physicians. It shouldn't. It should liberate us. Because here's the truth about the old model: a 15-minute appointment where your doctor runs a basic metabolic panel, glances at the numbers, says "looks fine," and sends you home — that model was never good enough. It was just all we had. It missed 75% of future heart attacks. It caught cancer late. It told women with microvascular disease they had anxiety. It filed children with rare diseases as "unsolvable." AI doesn't replace the physician. I've said this before and I mean it — the human moment, the clinical judgment, the hand on the shoulder when the diagnosis lands — that's irreplaceable. But AI does something the old model never could: it gives you the ability to see inside your own biology with a depth and speed that was impossible a decade ago. To track your own numbers. To calculate your own biological age. To bring data to your doctor that elevates the conversation from "am I sick?" to "where exactly am I heading, and what do we do about it?" The patient who walks in with their ApoB, their Lp(a), their hsCRP, their PhenoAge calculation, and a list of questions from the latest research — that patient doesn't threaten me. That patient is the easiest person in my practice to keep alive. Because they've already done the one thing most patients never do: they stopped waiting for permission to understand their own body. I went into medicine because I wanted to help people live longer. What I've learned is that the patients who live longest are the ones who took ownership — not of my job, but of their own data, their own questions, and their own decisions. The tools are here. The research is published. The calculators are free. The blood tests cost less than a dinner out. You don't need to wait for your annual physical to find out what's happening inside you. You don't need permission to understand your own biology. And you don't need to accept "looks fine" from anyone — including me — when the science offers a deeper answer. The revolution isn't coming. It's in your pocket. In your patient portal. In the published studies you can read yourself. The only question left is whether you'll use it — or keep waiting for someone to tell you it's time. Your body. Your data. Your life. Take ownership. Your future self is counting on it.
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America's greatest diplomatic achievement
If you’re visiting for a very large sporting event & you happen to discover RANCH while you’re here… pls pack it in your CHECKED BAG on the way home. Thank you.
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I’m excited to announce we @a16z are leading Telepatia’s Series A!
Telepatia has raised $42 million, including a $33 million Series A led by a16z. My father’s nickname was Telepatia. He was a doctor who passed away at 58 from a preventable cause. A few days after his death, ChatGPT launched. My first thought was that an AI Doctor would have saved his life as a patient, and that he would have loved using one as a doctor. So we built it: an AI Doctor for doctors, by doctors. Telepatia's AI Doctor is live in more than 25 public and private health institutions, home to more than 100,000 doctors and nurses throughout Latin America 🇧🇷🇨🇴🇲🇽🇨🇱🇦🇷 We're building an AI Doctor and our goal is to bring Latin America its first Nobel Prize in Medicine since 1984.
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It was surreal to chat with Gloria Steinem in her living room!!!!! Thank you @karinklein for making a girl’s dream come true.
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Daisy Wolf retweeted
In the end (at the beginning?), nestled in a den of AI agents thinking about our health, managing all our meds, and arguing with all the other agents… …we will all pray for easy vascular access and great surgical hands These feel like the final frontier in care delivery. May the robots be magnificent
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