Vaaji: The Future of Trandsermal Therapies
At Vaaji, we create innovative and connected pharmaceutical solutions to help monitor the usage of transdermal patches in real-time and help prevent adverse events due to application errors.
Our initial focus is promoting healthy aging at home by enabling Alzheimer’s patients to safely use transdermal medical patches. Caregivers and clinicians benefit from critical insights into patch management and patient wellbeing.
Vaaji’s transdermal patch system is the first of its kind, ushering in a new era of connected, noninvasive transdermal therapies. Our patented system uses robust Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, AI, and machine learning to derive data and insights. Our intelligent alert system detects improper application and initiates preventative measures in the event of patch poisoning.
Our system is rapidly scalable and can be integrated with commercially available transdermal therapies. We intend to serve diverse patient populations and ensure that our technology is accessible to everyone who needs it.
Our Team
Sandeep Patil, MD, PhD
Cofounder
Sandeep founded Vaaji in 2022 to develop innovative digital health solutions to promote healthy aging at home or in the long-term care facility. He is CEO of Praxis Bioresearch (Praxis), an Alzheimer’s focused company, that he cofounded in 2014. At Praxis, he oversaw the discovery and early development of a major therapeutic asset for multiple indications and engineered the formation of a strong core team with renowned thinkers and drug developers. He holds multiple patents in diverse areas such as chemistry, computer method systems, and biomechanical devices. In his current position, Sandeep has successfully raised funds (including non-dilutive US $5M) to advance company assets. His work in drug development has resulted in first-authored publications in top-tier scientific journals, such as Nature Medicine and the Int. J. of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Sandeep completed his Master’s and PhD training in Physiology and Cell Biology from Albany Medical College, graduating with top academic and research awards. He performed his clinical residency in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania before entering pharmaceutical research and development.
Tushar Patil
Cofounder
Tushar Patil is a technology entrepreneur with a history of building businesses. As Senior Partner and Managing Director at ATCS, a global technology services firm, Tushar developed service offerings in new practice areas and across industries including Pharmaceuticals, Financial Services, CPG, and others. ATCS ultimately expanded to 10 offices worldwide, employing over 1,000 professionals across North America, Europe, China, and India and was successfully acquired in 2021.
Before his significant contributions at ATCS, Tushar honed his expertise as an advisory consultant, specializing in the deployment of enterprise software solutions. His foundational knowledge in technology is backed by a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Tushar’s journey from a hands-on technologist to a visionary leader in the tech industry showcases his exceptional skills in steering companies towards growth and innovation and in applying cutting edge technology to solve problems.
William (Bill) Potter, MD, PhD
Chief Scientific Advisor
Bill has more than four decades of experience in CNS drug development including novel biomarkers, and has served on numerous NIH and FDA advisory Boards. In 2010, he retired as VP of Translational Neuroscience at Merck where he oversaw incorporation of biomarkers into novel CNS drug development after having headed traditional clinical development. Before Merck, Bill led early clinical development of CNS compounds at Eli Lilly and was responsible for bringing forward compounds that have either been marketed or served as the foundation of current NDAs as well as serving as an early champion of biomarker incorporation. It was at Lilly that he became one of the founders of the ADNI effort recognizing the need for biomarkers to support development of compounds for Alzheimer’s Disesase. Following retirement from industry in 2010 he has served as a senior advisor at the NIMH until 2019 and continues to serve on precompetitive consortia as well as a Principal Investigator on a NIA funded small business grant focused on a novel therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Before working in industry, Bill entered a MD/PhD program at Indiana University with his pharmacology dissertation done during a Public Health Service (PHS) fellowship. He continued in the PHS completing a psychiatric residency then forming an intramural NIMH research group focused on mechanistic psychopharmacology until his retirement from the PHS in 1996. Bill was involved at multiple levels in national and international psychopharmacology efforts with former trainees from his lab holding senior positions both in academia and industry in the US, Europe, Asia and South America.
Theodore Zipoy
CDO
Theodore is the Chief Development Officer at Vaaji Medical, where he leverages his expertise in life sciences and advanced technologies such as blockchain and generative AI to innovate healthcare. Starting his career at Boston Scientific, he led the Innovation Center of Excellence, catalyzing new solutions and fostering transformative ideas.
He has held executive roles in the web3 sector where he pioneered decentralized philanthropy and integrated generative AI into self-custodial solutions.
As the founder of Vibrant Forge, a consultancy focusing on generative AI, digital marketing, and engineering, Theodore has worked with leading life science firms to drive innovation management and promote operational excellence. At Vaaji Medical, he aims to revolutionize transdermal therapuetics and technology, drawing on his extensive background in healthcare and digital tech.
His academic credentials include a BS in Industrial Engineering from North Dakota State University and a fellowship in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Stanford University.
Dr. Patrick Mercier
Chief Technical Advisor
Prof. Mercier serves as the Chief Technical Advisor at Vaaji and has deep expertise in the design of energy-efficient microsystems for biomedical applications.
Patrick P. Mercier (S’04–M’12–SM’17) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, in 2006, and the S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA, in 2008 and 2012, respectively. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego), where he is also the co-Director of the Center for Wearable Sensors and the Site Director of the Power Management Integration Center. His research interests include the design of energy-efficient microsystems, focusing on the design of RF circuits, power converters, and sensor interfaces for miniaturized systems and biomedical applications.
