Expert Spotlight: Samir Zahine – Skunk Work Hours

Samir Zahine, seasoned technical executive and leader in connected medical devices, talks about the projects that reinforce his passion for working in the healthcare and medical device industry and and how to foster a culture of innovation in healthcare technology teams. Follow him on LinkedIn here.

1. How do you see the role of technology evolving in patient care over the next decade?

Technology is already omnipresent in patient care with medical devices flourishing. I think there are still many areas where technological advances can continue to improve the standard of care for patients.

COVID was really tough but it also highlighted some areas where improvements are needed like telemedicine/telehealth and remote monitoring. With new technologies, sensors and devices evolving, I believe there is an opportunity for patients to receive better care and results.  

We are in a stage where more and more companies see expanding opportunities to provide these services to an aging population.

2. Which emerging technologies do you believe will have the greatest impact on healthcare in the near future?

There are so many emerging technologies which can impact patient care:

• Telemedicine and remote monitoring: the COVID pandemic accelerated the adoption of telemedicine and this trend will continue and expand.  Advances in wearable technology make it possible to monitor patient health signs and provide proactive and personalized care. 
• Robotics and automation: Robotic-assisted surgeries can improve recovery time and outcomes (providing more precise and less invasive surgery) while automation in healthcare operations will streamline administrative tasks.
• VR and AR: These technologies can provide immersive, hands-on learning experience to increase training opportunities as well as offering patients new therapeutic options (PT etc…) and a better telehealth experience. 
• Genomics and personalized medicine: the cost of genome sequencing has vastly decreased over the last decades and will continue to do so, making more accessible.  Providers and companies will be able to use genomic data to predict disease risk, guide treatment and predict the response of the patient to various drugs.
• AI and ML: ML will enhance diagnostic accuracy through improved image analysis, pattern recognition and predictive analytics. 

In my opinion, the major result of these advances will be that health care will become more predictive rather than reactive.

3. What role does/will artificial intelligence play in your current and future projects?

I think application of learning algorithms to the personalized health data for patients will allow more predictive treatment by physicians as trends will become easier to detect and see.

There is a lot of data and lots of potential learning from it and every company out there wants to apply ML concepts to their solution to help the patient and physicians detect issues earlier and more accurately.   

4. Can you share an example of a major project or initiative in healthcare technology that inspired you?

I have been lucky in my career to be part of many projects which continue to re-enforce my passion for working in the healthcare and medical device industry. An event last year involved one of my 9-year old son’s best friends whose grand-father suffered a stroke and required an LVAD implant.

It happens that he received the LVAD I worked on for years and it literally saved his life and allowed him to continue his recovery. This  inspires me to continue my career in this field and help build more solutions which improve patient lives every day.

5. How do you foster a culture of innovation within your technology teams?

A culture of innovation is a continuous effort and process. I have used many tools in the past and one of the most effectives ones is actually conversations. Talking to team members and challenging them to learn new tools, new software languages, technologies and techniques which can accelerate product development, quality and speed to market.

I expect my teams to constantly learn and everyone learns differently so you need to provide a variety of tools for learning (conferences, books, classes, videos etc.). Learning expands your mind, your capabilities and ability to think of different way of solving problems which leads to innovation.

I also like to implement skunk work hours (Google is very good at this with Skunk Fridays which has produced several products for them like google maps) where you set a certain amount of time a week for your team to work on things that don’t necessarily align with the projects/products they working on the rest of the time.   

6. What are the key skills and qualities you believe are essential for a successful CTO in the healthcare tech sector?

All of them! I think you need passion for the industry, this helps you provide a vision that is not just about developing the thing but how the thing helps people. 

You need passion for technology so the thing you build works and is something the team can be proud of. 

You need to embrace the fact that healthcare is regulated and process is something you have to deal with.  You need to work with it, not against it.

Samir A. Zahine is a seasoned technical executive with a robust background in connected medical devices, specializing in building and leading technical teams to bring innovative solutions from inception to market. With a Master’s in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, Samir has extensive experience in regulated product development and FDA submissions, including Class 3 and cybersecurity. His career includes pivotal roles such as CTO at Casana Care, where he oversaw software development and cybersecurity for the Heart Seat System, and VP of Software and Informatics at Cantata Bio, where he optimized metagenomics solutions.

Samir has a proven track record in strategic planning, team building, and leading cross-functional teams across various prestigious organizations like Abbott, Medtronic, and Corellon Consulting. His expertise spans surgical robotics, software architecture, cybersecurity, and medical device product management. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.