Health IT Answers | FINN Voices Podcast | How We Are Rewriting Care for the Most Critical Conditions
Originally published on Health IT Answers and the FINN Voices podcast on July 19, 2026
When I first stepped into the intensive care unit at Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign, Illinois, about a decade ago, I wasn’t there as a physician. I was an engineer with a hunch.
For the better part of two years, I spent time interviewing doctors, nurses, technicians, and patients. What I witnessed in those hallways completely changed the trajectory of my career.
In this conversation with Beth Friedman on FINN Voices, I reflect on the realization that drove me back then: we simply do not understand the biology of the most serious conditions in the hospital. Oncology has benefited from massive, coordinated efforts like the Human Genome Project to decode the molecular nuances of cancer. However, no equivalent effort had ever been undertaken for acute care’s most costly, and most common diseases. Until now.