The Record - Issue 21: Summer 2021

PUB L I C S E C TOR 139 cusp of the Covid-19 pandemic was her biggest challenge. “At times, it was hard to stay focused on building RxLightning, while the pandemic spiralled out of control and more responsibili- ties, like home-schooling, were thrusted upon working parents,” said Regan. Today, she marvels at the growth during this most challenging time and looks forward to reaching her goal of pos- itively impacting one million patients through accelerated access to speciality medication. Kitty Kolding and her team at Raisonance are focused on bringing AI and machine learning tools to market that address current challenges in health, safety and wellness, from the comfort of users’ own devices. The company received a grant in 2020 from the National Science Foundation to support its primary research and development that led to the creation of its first two products. The first, called SoundPass, is a trio of AI applica- tions that transforms forced cough vocalisations into biometric signal data signatures used to detect changes in a person’s sound signature. Its second product under development is an AI soft- ware-as-a-medical device (SaMD) diagnostic for a range of respiratory conditions. Kolding cites her biggest obstacle as developing the solutions themselves. “Producing AI-based medical diag- nostic and biometric safety products that scale and provide high-quality care to anyone who has a phone and two minutes has huge potential, and the market is responding,” said Kolding. “With interested customers from all over the world, I am excited about the potential of Raisonance.” While women only account for a small pro- portion of those leading healthcare innovation from the top, their numbers are flourishing and, at Microsoft, we look forward to continuing to support their efforts and create more opportuni- ties for success. Sally Frank is the worldwide lead for health and life sciences at Microsoft for Startups Clockwise from top left; Hila Friedmann, Rebecca Owens, Kitty Kolding, Dr Elizabeth O’Day and Julia Regan