Pelorus Health founder Anjali Prabhakaran pitches her startup idea to a panel of tech experts at Pitch Cypher in Cleveland, Ohio on June 8, 2023. Pelorus Health placed second in the competition.
Credit: Courtesy of Anjali Prabhakaran
Ohio State alum Anjali Prabhakaran is currently developing a health resource she felt was missing throughout her entire childhood.
Prabhakaran is a founder of Pelorus Health, a startup designing a comprehensive mobile app for individuals with metabolic diseases. Prabhakaran — along with 2022 Ohio State alum Chase Fensore and Angelina Atieh, a fourth-year in biomedical science — founded Pelorus Health in 2022, and the trio is set to put the initial version of their app in patients’ hands sometime in the next three months, Prabhakaran said.
Atieh said the app will include an extensive support network for patients that will enable them to receive practical tips for living life to the fullest from others in similar situations. The app will also incorporate a hybrid machine learning model, which will take the user’s data input and provide educational resources on how to maintain and improve one’s health based on the patient’s specific needs, she said.
For Prabhakaran, she said the passion behind the startup is personal. She was born with a rare liver condition called glycogen storage disease, which affects the way the body processes glycogen, a form of sugar.
Upon receiving the diagnosis, Prabhakaran and her parents quickly discovered one of the most taxing struggles was simply tackling the thousands of scenarios presented by everyday life. Doctors were able to provide Prabhakaran with technical information, but she said she did not feel like there was anyone she could turn to for help with the daily challenges she faced.
“There weren’t many tools for us to figure out how to manage my health on a day-to-day basis,” Prabhakaran said. “Doctors could tell me big picture things like it’s important for me to manage my blood sugar and to provide the support to make sure I am taking my medication on time, but when it came to applying it to my everyday life, it was like, ‘Okay, how do I change my strategy when I am traveling versus when I am at home?’ or just different variables that you face every day.”
Prabhakaran said she wished there had been a way for her to connect with others who had similar health conditions, as overcoming those daily barriers alone was frustrating.
“I wanted more resources to be able to understand my body better,” Prabhakaran said. “I also wanted to help find a community of people that understood what it was like to live with a chronic illness day to day.”
Prabhakaran said Pelorus Health was born out of her desire for guidance and connection.
Teaming up with her longtime friend Fensore — who has a computer science background and technical experience developing apps — and Atieh — who is well-versed in both the medical and design fields — Prabhakaran said she was ready to tackle the challenge.
With chronic health being an extensive medical field, the trio knew they needed to find a niche to set their initial focus on, Atieh said. After many interviews with pediatricians, endocrinologists and diabetes care educators, Atieh said the team decided to concentrate on providing support and navigation for pediatric Type 1 diabetes patients.
According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 37 million Americans have diabetes, but only between five to 10 percent of those are Type 1 diabetes cases. As a result, Type 1 diabetes often goes underserved and underrepresented in the health technology space, Atieh said.
“A lot of the technologies are geared towards Type 2 diabetes and don’t support the needs of those children with Type 1,” Atieh said. “We hope to be able to fill that gap.”
Presently, Pelorus Health posts advice on the blog section of its website, where people can find tips for succeeding in different situations, such as amusement parks and air travel, all while managing Type 1 diabetes.
Even the startup’s name alludes to its founders’ goals, Atieh said. The “Pelorus Health” moniker is inspired by the marine navigational device of the same name, as well as a dolphin known as Pelorus Jack that became famous in the late 1800s and early 1900s for escorting ships through a notoriously rough stretch of water off the coast of New Zealand, she said.
“That is extremely representative of what we as a company want for our users. We want to provide children with Type 1 diabetes and their parents with the navigational tools to help them take control of their health management and feel empowered in doing so,” Atieh said.
