How does your research make a difference?
The theme of AUT’s Wiki Rangahau | Research Week 2025 — Research that Makes a Difference — left many of us reflecting on the impact of our own research, and how it can promote positive change in our world.
This was especially true at the Postgraduate Research Symposium, where keynote speaker Dr. Balakrishnan (Bala) Nair reflected on the difference his PhD research made (and continues to make) in his address, “Turning Ideas into Impact: A Stroke of Innovation.” Bala’s journey from student to CEO of a global stroke prevention tool is not only inspiring, but also a testament to the persistence and dedication required to get there. Here’s how that journey unfolded.
When Bala first studied medicine and public health in India, he became deeply interested in prevention as the most effective way to tackle health challenges across a global ecosystem. That passion carried him to New Zealand, where he pursued a PhD in Health Policy and Systems Analysis at AUT. His PhD became the foundation for PreventS-MD, the healthtech company he now leads as CEO. Developed out of AUT’s National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences (NISAN), PreventS-MD builds on the award-winning Stroke Riskometer app created by Professor Valery Feigin.
The web-based platform enables doctors to assess stroke risk and create personalised prevention plans. Nair and Feigin, long-time collaborators at NISAN, share a vision: to reduce global stroke rates by delivering simple yet effective prevention tools to the people who need them most.But for Bala, it was never just about building software – it was about proving that PreventS-MD could adapt to the realities of different healthcare systems, languages, and cultures. That vision took him far beyond the lab earlier this year, on a 40-day journey across five countries to see how the tool could work on the ground:
- Australia: Presented PreventS-MD to public health leaders in Sydney, learning the importance of navigating regulation early in highly structured health systems.
- India: At the World Hypertension Congress, Bala returned to the place where he first trained in medicine and public health. He explored trial partnerships while facing the challenge of scaling across 54 languages and scripts.
- Vietnam: Worked with national partners on adoption, refining onboarding processes to improve communication and build trust.
- Thailand: Launched Prevent Health Tech Limited Thailand, reducing setup costs from around $20K to just a few thousand, proving the power of local support.
- China: Adapted PreventS-MD to local platforms like Tencent and Alibaba, showcasing it at the country’s largest medical expo within just 20 days – proof that innovation is as much relational as it is technical.
Across these contexts, Bala’s motivation has been fuelled by something deeper: the personal stakes behind PreventS-MD. “In June 2022, my father had a stroke,” he recalls. “It reminded me why prevention matters – and how easily it can save a life.”
That lived experience has shaped his approach, reinforcing one lesson that continues to guide him: “Stroke prevention is not a product to be handed over, it’s a system to be co-created. That requires respect for context, time to listen, and courage to adapt.”
With ongoing expansion into Singapore and other Southeast Asian regions already underway, Bala remains clear about the through-line that connects his global work back to AUT. His years as a PhD candidate were where he learned to balance research with lived reality, and just as importantly, policy with practice. Looking back, he reflects: “AUT helped me understand implementation science and the policy implications of healthcare interventions – skills I use every day.”
For today’s AUT students, Bala’s story is both inspiration and invitation. It shows how a postgraduate journey, whether begun halfway across the world or right here in Aotearoa, can grow into a global success. His keynote at the Postgraduate Research Symposium was a reminder that research journeys don’t end at graduation; they can evolve into innovations that shape lives far beyond the university. As Bala puts it: “The technical foundations of PreventS-MD were built in New Zealand, but its future is being shaped by the people and partners I continue to meet on this journey.”
His path from student to CEO proves that AUT is not just a place to study, but a place to imagine, build, and share solutions with the world. And with AUT Ventures right by your side, you have the support to take your own research ideas and turn them into reality – just like Bala did.
