Shikha Anand Joins Casana as Chief Medical Officer

Casana has appointed Shikha Anand, M.D., MPH, as chief medical officer.

Anand has more than 20 years of experience evaluating and launching tools to help people improve their health. Her leadership experience includes public health, research, consumer health technology, health equity, and clinical informatics. Before joining Casana, Anand was the chief medical officer at Well, the on-demand healthcare guidance platform, and Withings, a world leader in connected health technology. She has used her clinical, research, and data science expertise to lead initiatives to develop technology and algorithms to screen, diagnose, and monitor chronic medical and behavioral health conditions at these companies, as well as federally qualified health centers, Aetna/ CVS, and Walmart’s Care Clinics.
 
“Dr. Anand’s patient-centric approach not only aligns with our mission, but is exactly what we need in order to understand how this unique technology will resonate with our audience,” Casana CEO Austin McChord said. “Her dedication to empowering users from all backgrounds to take charge of their health using a data-driven approach will be instrumental here at Casana.”

Casana improves health through effortless home monitoring. The company’s Heart Seat helps people and their care teams capture U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared clinical values, including heart rate and blood oxygenation. Casana is pursuing future clinical measurements in development, such as blood pressure. The company has raised $46 million to date to accelerate the product’s development and go-to-market strategy.
 
As Casana plans to file future indications this year, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP),  Anand will focus on delivering clinical guidance to the business and establishing key commercial partnerships before an initial U.S. product launch. She will also support Casana’s rigorous scientific approach and strong research partnerships with institutions such as The Villages, UMass Chan Medical School’s Program in Digital Medicine, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and others.
 
“I’m eager to collaborate with Casana’s leadership, as well as their strong network of partners to bring effortless measurement into the home,” Anand stated. “Casana has an innovative team already, and I’m thrilled to complement this innovation with a strong medical strategy.”
 
Casana is innovating healthcare delivery with a smart toilet seat that enables effortless, integrated, and consistent in-home health monitoring. The FDA-cleared Heart Seat captures heart rate and blood oxygenation. The Heart Seat will become commercially available upon future clearance of non-invasive blood pressure.