Google Health hires FDA vet for strategy position
Bakul Patel is Google Health's new senior director of global digital health strategy & regulatory affairs.
Patel served with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for nearly 14 years, most recently serving as chief digital health officer global strategy and innovation. He left the FDA in April. In a LinkedIn post, Patel announced his new role with Google Health, which will be leveraging his technology-first approach to develop leading-edge healthcare solutions.
“We are in the early stages of this journey, and there is a lot of work ahead. But the potential of applying technology to improve health at scale can mean better health for everyone in our lifetime,” Patel wrote in his post. “The power of technology, when coupled with a unified digital health and regulatory approach, promises to transform people’s lives. I want to continue to build a world in which we use technology to engage individuals, caregivers and communities globally in care delivery, enabling us to reach populations that have long been overlooked, marginalized and underserved.”
Google Health is a branch of Google that launched in 2006 with the mission “helping billions of people be healthier.” The business arm has partnered with clinical, public health and academic organizations to develop and deploy transformative healthcare solutions, including AI and machine learning solutions
Last year, a leaked memo reported Google Health was scattering its endeavors across departments as its chief, David Feinberg, MD, left for a position with Cerner. However, Google Health has continued to ramp up investments, and recently announced three AI projects that leverage smartphones for at-home disease screening and monitoring tools.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."