Raman Saggu, D.Phil.

With which digital project do you want to apply in this category?

Burnie Inc. presents a comprehensive integrated app solution that uses smart algorithms and functions to help medical residents understand their mental health and provides the support needed to assess, monitor and address pre-burnout and burnout stages. Medical resident burnout is a huge problem in the USA, Europe and across the world, and has been getting increasing media and professional attention over the past few years. Newly qualified medical residents often work long hours and suffer burnout from the pressure of high demands and expectations. To counter this, many residents use unhealthy coping methods including alcohol, smoking and medication. The gravity of the problem of medical resident burnout is further compounded by the current coronavirus pandemic that has put an unprecedented strain on the mental health of frontline healthcare professionals, making this an even more pertinent issue that needs to be addressed effectively.

How does digitization shape your/her career?

Raman Saggu is a British neuroscientist with a D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in Medical Sciences from the University of Oxford, specializing in ultra high-field (11.7, 9.4 and 7 Tesla) brain imaging of neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke, brain inflammation, cerebral malaria, vascular dementia, aging, Alzheimer’s Disease and mental health disorders.

She is Co-Founder and CEO of Burnie Inc., a mental health care startup company that provides a burnout solution for the medical community.

Digitization in brain MRI is relevant to the design and development of acquiring, processing, analyzing brain imaging data and also its application to other fields such as AI. Burnie Inc. provides an integrated app solution that uses smart algorithms to help medical residents understand their mental health and provides the support to assess, monitor and address burnout.

What makes you/her a digital female leader?

Raman was awarded a scholarship to undertake her doctorate at the University of Oxford on imaging cerebral inflammation, ischemia and stroke. She further developed her expertise in brain MRI technology and neurodegenerative diseases during subsequent professional opportunities in France and Germany.

In Germany, she independently set up the most powerful MRI scanner available and was the individual preclinical MRI expert for neuroimaging using a state-of-the-art 11.7 Tesla MR system in an organization of 1000 employees. She was responsible for the first preclinical MRI publication from the organization where her work established preclinical neuroimaging as a new research area. She develops her own neuroimaging and analysis methods and has identified novel bioimaging markers in search of targeted treatments for brain dysfunction and disease, which have been published. She is Chair of the forthcoming 2022 Gordon Research Seminars on Neurobiology of Cognition and Image Science. Raman is highly engaged in STEM outreach initiatives with schools and organizations working to highlight women and diversity in technology and science.

She is Co-Founder and CEO of Burnie Inc., a mental health care startup company that provides a burnout solution for the medical community. The Burnie app uses smart algorithms to help increase medical residents’ awareness of their mental health and provides the necessary support to assess, monitor and address pre-burnout and potential burnout stages.

What does leadership mean to you/her?

Disrupting the status quo in innovation with confidence and clarity.