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Ro snags Buzzfeed's CTO, Dr. Andrew Trister moves from Apple to Gates Foundation and more digital health hires

CommonSpirit Health appoints its first chief information and digital officer; Zero's new CMO, chief business officer.
By Dave Muoio
04:02 pm
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Todd Levy has taken the CTO position at telehealth and mail-order health product company Ro, a representative of the company told MobiHealthNews today.

Levy comes off a nearly five-year stint as Buzzfeed’s CTO. Prior to this he served for four years as cofounder and CTO of bit.ly, and another half decade as senior software engineer at AOL.


Dr. Andrew Trister, an early member of Apple’s health team and coauthor of a recent digital health study, is leaving the consumer electronics company for a new job with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CNBC reports. He will be tasked with seeking and investing in entrepreneurs who are targeting developing countries for their digital health innovations, particularly in the areas of smartphone technologies, low-cost diagnostic tools, AI and other technologies.

“We’re looking to help both consumers and community health workers globally, as we see smartphones playing an increasingly important role,” he told CNBC.


CommonSpirit Health, a non-profit health system formed from the merger of Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health, has appointed its first senior EVP, chief information and digital officer. Suja Chandrasekaran will be heading efforts to modernize the system’s technology across its 142 hospitals and more than 700 other care sites, and in particular will be focused on achieving interoperability between the newly joined networks.

“Suja’s experience driving technology and digital transformations across major consumer-driven corporations will set the trend for how we integrate today’s emerging technologies into a health system,” Kevin E. Lofton, CEO of CommonSpirit Health, said in a statement. “To truly change health care in our country, we need the very best leaders at the table. Suja has a distinct vision to accelerate the development of innovative operating capabilities and new digital pathways to support our people as they deliver the highest quality of care to our patients.”


Fasting and dieting app Zero announced that Dr. Peter Attia has been named its chief medical officer, and will “continue to advise the development of Zero's product and education strategy by engaging and educating users on the benefits of fasting and offering them support as they embark on fasting protocols.” In addition, Nick Robinson, formerly the chief marketing officer of Quest Nutrition, will be joining the team as chief business officer.

"My work centers around the power that fasting, in all its various forms, can have on improving human health and longevity,” Attia said in a statement. “Zero created a tool, and more importantly a community, that makes it easy for anyone to learn about and adopt a fasting protocol that best fits their needs and lifestyle. As a longtime advisor and advocate for Zero, I'm excited to deepen my involvement and work with the team to evolve the product offering and drive the evolution of Zero alongside [CEO Mike Maser] and Nick."

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