Dr. U. Nehal

Today we’re getting under the hood of Dr. Umbereen Nehal a daughter, sister, friend, women’s advocate, MD, MPH an MIT Sloan Fellow MBA candidate, a former Medicaid medical director, and a former Chief Medical Officer for a $100 million, 14-center health agency in NYC. She is currently the CEO and founder of a digital health company HER Heard, incubated at MIT, utilizing generative AI and natural language processing (NLP) to center individual women’s needs with a data-driven, personalized woman-specific health journey. This venture was recognized as a "hot AI start-up" in Boston at the Generative AI World conference in 2023.

Dr. Nehal was the clinical lead for $1.8b in new funding for Medicaid reform to design value-based care with integration of mental health and social determinants of health. She was a co-chair for the PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) Advisory Panel on Healthcare Delivery and Disparities Research for oversight of more than $300 million in research grants. Dr. Nehal served as an elected district representative and board member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Massachusetts Chapter. She was recognized by President Obama for a grassroots healthcare enrollment campaign for the White House and has advised multiple federal and state agencies. 

Educated at Aga Khan University, Baylor College of Medicine, and Harvard School of Public Health, she has been named a “Top Voice” four times by LinkedIn and has over 220,000 followers. Dr. Nehal has been published in the area of business models for AI in healthcare, value-based care, mental health integration, refugee health, and medical education for patient-centered care.

She comes from a family of strong, empowered matriarchs and women’s health advocates who serve as her inspiration.

Listen to Dr. Nehal’s Story.