23 Apr 2023

Matthew Fenech: Working at a Think Tank, Medical Safety Lead and Co-Founder

Matthew “Matt” Fenech is a doctor and now co-founder of a startup called Una Health which develops an app for diabetics to improve their nutrition and blood sugar management. Before co-founding Una Health in 2021, Matt worked at a think tank called Future Advocacy and as Medical Safety Lead at Ada Health.

I think Matt is a really interesting person to talk to because his career path is by no means “linear”, what he might have called it - I don’t know of any doctor who would have considered working at a think tank, simply because no doctor seems to be aware of these sort of job opportunities. And that’s not all - after that, Matt worked at Ada Health, a well-known healthcare startup developing a symptom checker app. And now Matt co-founded his own startup.

Looking back at Matt’s past activities, he says (and I think it’s a quite smart observation) that there’s been somewhat of a progression in his jobs: First, at the think tank, he worked on what sort of Healthcare policy might make sense. Then, at Ada Health, he worked in a company where he could actually be closer to real-world changes; and finally, now, in his own startup, he has even more degrees of freedom in building things and implementing the changes he envisions for the Healthcare system.

I ask Matt about how he got his first job. Also, as he worked in diabetes research before completely leaving the hospital behind, I asked him whether he thought that his research experience was beneficial for his later jobs - or was it all for nothing? After touching upon what the hell employees of think tanks actually do I ask him what his new company, Una Health, is about and how he plans to improve diabetes care through it.

Listen to the Episode

  • Matt on LinkedIn.
  • Una Health: Matt’s startup developing a diabetes app.
  • Ada Health: Well-known healthcare company in Berlin developing a symptom checker. Matt worked there as the Medical Safety Lead which was his second job. Also, the two of us met there as Ada was one of my first consulting clients when I became self-employed.
  • Future Advocacy: A think tank and Matt’s first job out of the hospital.