Meet One of Our
Health Board Advisors Expert
Alison Curfman, MD, MBA
Bio:
Alison Curfman, MD, MBA is a pediatric emergency physician who co-founded Imagine Pediatrics, a value-based care company serving 100,000 children that achieved a nine-figure valuation. She founded Startup Physicians, an international platform helping physicians build careers as advisors, consultants, and founders in health tech.
A Trusted Voice:
Where I Can Help
Top Keynote Talk Topics:
The Future of
Depression Care:
What Weʼre Learning
From 900+ DBS
Surgeries A talk that
breaks down how
deep brain stimulation
helps people with severe depression, what the newest NIH-funded research is showing, and how imaging helps predict who will benefit.
The Future of Depression Care: What Weʼre Learning From 900+ DBS Surgeries A talk that breaks down how deep brain stimulation helps people with severe depression, what the newest NIH-funded research is showing, and how imaging helps predict who will benefit.
When Treatment Fails: New Hope for Patients With Tremor, Parkinsonʼs, and Depression A practical look at what happens when medications stop working and how DBS and focused ultrasound offer strong, lasting results — with real data and clear explanations for clinicians and leaders.
Why Advanced Brain Treatments Are Underused — And How We Can Fix It A keynote for health systems, policymakers, and investors about the barriers that keep patients from life-changing treatments, how much this costs the system, and what solutions can improve access.
Building Better Brain Implants: What Doctors, Industry, and Patients Really Need Based on Dr. Fenoyʼs experience working with medical device companies and inventing new tools. Covers what makes technology adoptable, what the field is missing, and how to design devices people will actually use.
Using Brain Imaging to Guide Care: How fMRI and DTI Are Changing Neurosurgery A simple explanation of how imaging shows brain networks changing over time — and how this helps predict outcomes, improve device placement, and personalize care for movement and mood disorders.
Top Keynote Talk Topics:
From Bedside to Breakthroughs: How Clinicians Create One-to-Many Impact. How physicians can extend their influence beyond individual patient care by shaping healthcare innovation, startups, and policy.
Key ideas: The limits of one-to-one clinical care, Scaling care through technology and systems, Maintaining clinical identity while building companies.
The Missing Bridge in Healthcare Innovation: Why Startups Need Clinicians. A deep look at the gap between healthcare startups and real clinical practice.
Key ideas: Why many health tech solutions fail in clinical settings, The importance of clinical advisors and physician founders, How clinicians guide safer and more effective innovation.
The Physician Founder Mindset: Turning Frustration into Innovation
How the most powerful startups begin with a problem doctors see every day. Key ideas: Identifying problems worth solving, Overcoming the “I’m just a doctor” mindset, Translating clinical insight into venture opportunities
Building the Future of Pediatric Care: Through Value-Based Innovation
Lessons from scaling pediatric healthcare innovation.
Key ideas: Pediatric care gaps in modern healthcare systems, Value-based models that scale better outcomes, What founders and investors should know about pediatric health markets.
You Don’t Have to Know Everything: The Resourceful Founder
Why successful physician founders rely on networks, partnerships, and consultative leadership.
Key ideas:The power of asking for the right expertise, Building cross-disciplinary teams, How communities accelerate innovation.
Top Keynote Talk Topics:
From Bedside to Breakthroughs: How Clinicians Create One-to-Many Impact. How physicians can extend their influence beyond individual patient care by shaping healthcare innovation, startups, and policy.
Key ideas: The limits of one-to-one clinical care, Scaling care through technology and systems, Maintaining clinical identity while building companies.
The Missing Bridge in Healthcare Innovation: Why Startups Need Clinicians. A deep look at the gap between healthcare startups and real clinical practice.
Key ideas: Why many health tech solutions fail in clinical settings, The importance of clinical advisors and physician founders, How clinicians guide safer and more effective innovation.
The Physician Founder Mindset: Turning Frustration into Innovation
How the most powerful startups begin with a problem doctors see every day. Key ideas: Identifying problems worth solving, Overcoming the “I’m just a doctor” mindset, Translating clinical insight into venture opportunities
Building the Future of Pediatric Care: Through Value-Based Innovation
Lessons from scaling pediatric healthcare innovation.
Key ideas: Pediatric care gaps in modern healthcare systems, Value-based models that scale better outcomes, What founders and investors should know about pediatric health markets.
You Don’t Have to Know Everything: The Resourceful Founder
Why successful physician founders rely on networks, partnerships, and consultative leadership.
Key ideas:The power of asking for the right expertise, Building cross-disciplinary teams, How communities accelerate innovation.
Top Interview Questions:
What originally drew you to expand your work beyond clinical practice into healthcare innovation and startups, and how did that path shape the work you do today?
When you began collaborating with healthcare startups and founders, what gaps did you notice between clinical reality and how many health technologies are designed?
You’ve spoken about the importance of clinicians having a voice in healthcare innovation. Why do you believe physician insight is so critical when building new healthcare solutions?
Many physicians see problems in healthcare every day but never take the step toward entrepreneurship. What mindset shift helped you move from identifying problems to building solutions?
Healthcare innovation often brings together clinicians, operators, and investors. In your experience, what makes those collaborations successful, and where do they most commonly break down?
Looking ahead, what role do you believe physicians will play in shaping the future of healthcare innovation, and what opportunities should more clinicians be paying attention to right now?
Connect With Alison Curfman
