With a bachelor’s degree in biomolecular science from the University of Michigan, Joshua DeAndria figured healthcare was where he could make the most difference. While training to be a doctor at Duke University, DeAndria decided to also pursue a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. He loved technology and became fascinated with how it could impact the healthcare industry
“I joined a Series A startup instead of going to residency and haven’t looked back,” said DeAndria. He brings that unique combination of medical knowledge and industry experience to Northwestern’s MBAi Program, a joint AI-focused MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering
DeAndria teaches two of the program’s core courses Data Intensive Systems and Computational Thinking for Business Leaders, as well as a new class on Health Tech. The courses prepare students to adopt deep computational understanding for business applications and strategy.
Having worked with several health tech companies between graduating with his medical degree and joining Northwestern full-time, he enjoys teaching the key courses, but Health Tech feels like a homecoming for him. His first role was in Silicon Valley, where he joined Atriomx Health as a machine learning engineer. Joshua supported the company’s efforts to develop non-invasive hardware, software and AI-powered algorithms to detect and characterize atrial fibrillation and other cardiac arrhythmias.
He transitioned to consulting firm Edge Analytics as a senior data scientist, and later a lead data scientist. At Edge, DeAndria led technical efforts with several Fortune 500 partners, including a broad spread of projects involving AI-accelerated drug design and algorithmic development for wearable health devices.
In each of his positions, DeAndria learned how important it is to stay curious and take every opportunity you can.
“Joshua is exactly the kind of professor we want to have teaching in the MBAi program,” said MBAi Director Andy Fano. “We were excited to find someone with the rare combination of deep industry healthcare expertise, training as a data scientist, applied business experience, and, as it turns out, a passion and gift for teaching.”
DeAndria works closely with his MBAi students, proudly serving as a bridge between the medical field and the technology industry. “Besides health tech being a broad and highly technical industry that has exposed me to a full range of engineering practices and statistical training, health tech applications require a very different perspective on data and modeling than your run-of-the-mill cat image generation software,” he said. “No one will die if your generated cat image has five legs.”
While analogy often gets a laugh, it is meant to get a reaction; the reality is one he hopes will inspire and influence his students.
“The stakes are much higher in healthcare, and so the regulations and personal responsibilities and the atmosphere of accountability are much higher,” said DeAndria. “I bring that level of detail and care to my classroom. My hope is that any of my students interested in working in highly regulated environments such as healthcare and finance adopt that attitude.”
Read next: Bringing AI Literacy to PayPal
