Jane Chen and Rahul Panicker

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2008

Jane Chen and Rahul Panicker

Embrace

http://embraceglobal.org

Sunnyvale, California, United States

Health

The Bold Idea:

Developing and comprehensively distributing a low-cost infant incubator for use in developing countries.

Twenty million premature and low-birth-weight babies are born every year, primarily in developing countries. Due to a lack of resources, four million of them die, and those who do survive often grow up with severe health problems (Annals of Internal Medicine, 1999). Many deaths and long-term problems could be prevented with a device that regulates a baby's body temperature. However, traditional incubators cost thousands of dollars and are available only in urban hospitals. Most parents living in rural areas cannot afford to bring their child to one of these hospitals.

Embrace is creating a $25 incubator designed to work in primary healthcare centers or in homes. It uses an innovative phase-change material in a sleeping bag design to regulate a baby's temperature. The device uses no electricity, has no moving parts, and is portable. It bridges the gap in quality of healthcare available to urban and rural-born babies and will improve the lifelong health of low-birth-weight babies who would otherwise die or grow up sickly. Embrace plans to partner with the lowest rungs of the healthcare infrastructure to ensure that their incubators reach the widest population. They aim to save 135,000 babies in India after five years, and reduce the health problems of another 3.8 million.

Jane Chen and Rahul Panicker pitching at Echoing Green Selection Weekend (May 2, 2008)

Biography:

Jane Chen recently graduated from a joint MBA/MPP program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She formerly worked for the Chi Heng Foundation, and the Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative in Africa. Rahul Panicker recently completed a PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford. He is also an alumnus of Stanford's Institute of Design, and received his B.Tech from IIT Madras, India. Prior to his PhD, he worked at the particle accelerator at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
JANE: My journey in trying to make social impact started by reading a series of articles in the New York Times about the AIDS situation in China, in which millions of poor farmers contracted HIV through selling their blood. Reading about the situation made me realize how lucky I am to have been born into my life—and also that I could no longer go on without trying to help others. I left my management consulting job to work with a startup nonprofit that provides support to children orphaned by AIDS. In the time that I worked there, we increased our sponsorship from helping 200 to over 2,000 students. I realized during that time that I had the ability to make an impact—and that big change can come about by starting with small steps. Since then, I have been committed to social change, particularly in the health-care space. In my AIDS work, I saw countless cases of people who lost their lives, of children who lost their parents, because they could not access the right medication. It became a personal goal of mine to try to bridge the disparity in health-care between developing and developed countries—and Embrace is one way for me to do this.

RAHUL: My travels during my undergrad years took me to the Indian countryside, and I saw the extreme disparities that existed between urban and rural areas. The thought that many parents in these areas are left helpless as their newborn dies of something completely preventable is just tragic. The knowledge that we may have a means to save millions of lives every year spurs me on to make Embrace happen.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
JANE: My being at the Kennedy School at Harvard has helped inspire me to think bigger, especially after being exposed to people like Paul Farmer and Jim Kim (Partners in Health) and being surrounded by a group of inspirational, like-minded students who all want to change the world. Similarly, being at Stanford Business School has equipped me with the managerial skills, network and social support that I need to lead this organization.

RAHUL: Having spent the last six years in the heart of Silicon Valley, I have seen the power of entrepreneurial organizations, and the rapidity with which they can bring about impact. I wish to see that in the social sector, and I believe that technology and innovation can have a huge impact in bridging divides.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
Embrace's product represents a breakthrough technology in neonatal care. There is no other device that regulates a newborn baby's body temperature without the use of electricity. Unlike traditional incubators, Embrace allows close interaction between mother and baby. Embrace is also designed to work at the lowest rungs of the health-care infrastructure—rural health-care centers and homes. Most importantly, there are no other devices in this space in the same price range of $25. Embrace's approach to disseminate this product is also unique. By targeting the lowest rungs of the health-care infrastructure, we ensure that we reach the widest population. The product will be distributed through government health centers and community organizations, partners that will be critical in helping us to educate our target populations.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?
JANE: The ability to think out of the box and to take risks. Humility is also important, as is the willingness to say that you don't have all the answers and to surround yourself with advisors who can guide and support you.

RAHUL: At this point, I'd say willingness to learn, constantly.

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?
JANE: Anything by Brahms, Rimsky Korsakov or Elgar (especially the cello concerto). I also like Nas and The Roots.

RAHUL: Coldplay, Afro Celt Sound System, A.R. Rahman.

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?
JANE: The Alchemist, and The Life of Pi.

RAHUL: Old Man and the Sea, The Golden Gate.

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?
JANE:

• nytimes.com
• economist.com

RAHUL:

• news.bbc.co.uk

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
JANE: There are two quotes that come to mind:

"When you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I believe this is true when it comes to something that you deeply believe in and which you are doing to help others. I believe that because our team is so passionate about the social impact we are trying to make, the world will conspire to help us to achieve our mission.

"The death of a child is a tragedy, but the death of a child for a preventable cause is an injustice." - Paul Wise, Stanford Medical School

This is a belief that guides Embrace's mission—this is the injustice in the world that we are trying to prevent.

RAHUL: Over a cup of coffee at the Design School at Stanford, I'd asked Tim Prestero of Design that Matters about his experiences in the development space, and he told me something very interesting. He said that it is important to realize that the world does not depend on you. It will go on its own way, and you shouldn't expect anyone to be thankful for the work you're doing. If you decide to do something, it is because you want to do it, and nothing more. When I find that I am taking myself too seriously, I remind myself of this conversation.