Meet Pavi Dhiman, a Healthtech Researcher Who is Passionate about Healthcare Accessibility

Pavi is a 16-year-old healthtech researcher who is passionate about creating a positive impact in the healthcare industry. Currently, Pavi is dedicating her time to building a voice-based biomarker system that uses AI to detect Parkinson’s disease with a simple voice recording and has been backed by researchers and has received funding from 1517, a venture capital fund and community supporting renegade students, and deep tech scientists with investment at the earliest stages of their companies. Pavi is also part of a program called The Knowledge Society, where high school aged students learn how to apply emerging technologies to solve big problems in the world. To learn more, visit www.tks.world.

Pavi’s strong drive and dedication towards this cause has led her to collaborate with some of the world’s largest companies in the industry, including Walmart Blue Labs (Walmart Canada’s Innovation Incubator) and CAE Healthcare. Her projects have led her to speak at some of the world’s largest stages, including WebSummit in Portugal. Pavi has her sights set on working towards greater healthcare accessibility, all while fulfilling her goal of researching in the machine learning space while doing so.

When I was in grade school, I wanted to be… a pediatrician in the intensive care unit. Growing up and spending immense amounts of time in doctor’s offices and hospitals, I witnessed the impact these doctors had on patients first hand. I dreamed of one day having that instant impact on people, getting them from their hospital bed to their home was my goal for over 10 years.

Growing up, I was really interested in… math and sports, and would spend my time obtaining as much knowledge as I could through reading physics textbooks. I am often described as the perfect blend between a book-lover and a sports fanatic who is always full of energy. It’s amusing to think that not much has changed over the years.

Before I was working on my voice-based biomarker project for early Parkinson’s diagnosis, I was… building projects in nanotechnology, interning and consulting for some of the world’s largest companies, spending my days breaking down world problems and studying in high school!

I started my voice-based biomarker project for early Parkinson’s diagnosis because… I saw the inequalities in access to healthcare after trips I made to India when I was 10-years-old. Being someone who is consistently vulnerable to illnesses, I knew the care which was needed was very far from the care that was being given, and so, I kicked off a two-year journey researching and working on early diagnosis tools for Parkinson’s disease.

I’m passionate about what I do because… I witnessed firsthand the issue of limited access to healthcare, and this experience left me with a sense of frustration that still lingers today. However, I have also developed a passion for mathematics and a deep curiosity about emerging technologies, and I am committed to using these interests to help address this critical issue.

The person I look up to the most is… my mother. Ever since I was younger, she was the Woman of Influence I always appreciated and developed many of my traits from her. She has been, still is, and always will be the person I look up to most.

My proudest accomplishment so far is… being flown out to Lisbon, Portugal at 16-years-old to speak at the world’s largest technology conference, WebSummit.

I’m really inspired by… the company Zipline. This organization increases healthcare accessibility with drones and has scaled up rapidly, making an impact on thousands of lives. They’ve tackled one of the largest supply chain problems in healthcare accessibility, and I strive to create the impact that they have.

At this year’s Top 25 Women of Influence Awards Luncheon, we had the pleasure of having Pavi as one of our guest speakers. In her inspiring talk, she discussed how she is utilizing her skills and talents to make a meaningful impact. To learn more about her story, you can watch her talk by clicking here.

To keep up with Pavi and her work, connect with her via LinkedIn, email, or on her website.