{"id":11025,"date":"2025-09-30T14:14:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T01:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=11025"},"modified":"2025-09-30T14:23:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T01:23:40","slug":"catching-up-with-our-pg-symposium-keynote-speaker-dr-bala-nairs-journey-from-student-to-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=11025","title":{"rendered":"Catching Up with our PG Symposium Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bala Nair\u2019s Journey from Student to CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How does your research make a difference?
<\/strong>The theme of AUT\u2019s Wiki Rangahau | Research Week 2025<\/a> — Research that Makes a Difference<\/em> — left many of us reflecting on the impact of our own research, and how it can promote positive change in our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was especially true at the Postgraduate Research Symposium<\/a>, where keynote speaker Dr. Balakrishnan (Bala) Nair reflected on the difference his PhD research made (and continues to make) in his address, \u201cTurning Ideas into Impact: A Stroke of Innovation.\u201d<\/em> Bala\u2019s 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\u2019s how that journey unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>, the healthtech company he now leads as CEO. Developed out of AUT\u2019s National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences (NISAN<\/a>), PreventS-MD builds on the award-winning Stroke Riskometer app<\/a> created by Professor Valery Feigin. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr Balakrishnan Nair presenting on PreventS-MD at the AUT Innovation Showcase, 11 September 2025<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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 \u2013 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n