Today we’d like to introduce you to Maanvik Uppal.
Hi Maanvik, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in India and moved to the U.S. when I was five. We arrived with very little, and my parents worked day and night to provide for us. My love for STEM started early when my mom bought me a Lego set.
My drive for medicine is deeply personal. My grandpa was my role model. When he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, watching him slowly lose his mind and forget my name was devastating. It inspired me to become a neurosurgeon, and I joined Wake Early College of Health and Sciences to dedicate myself to the medical field.
After he passed away, I felt completely lost. But I remembered his words: ‘life keeps moving on.’ That pushed me to take action and build Asteri Neuro AI. I am developing machine learning tools for early dementia detection so other families don’t have to watch their loved ones suffer. Today, I balance my startup with clinical volunteering in the WakeMed operating room and UNC-Rex Emergency Department working to bridge the gap between technology and patient care.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Far from it. Moving to a new country with very little taught me early on that nothing comes easy. The biggest emotional struggle was losing my grandfather. Professionally, the challenge is balancing my workload and my age. Teaching myself cloud development and machine learning for Asteri Neuro AI while doing clinical shadowing in the WakeMed operating room is a massive learning curve. Being young in the tech and medical spaces means I constantly have to work hard to prove my ideas.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Asteri-NeuroAI, we build machine learning tools to detect dementia early. We specialize in training cloud-based AI models on clinical data to find signs of cognitive decline before it is too late. What sets us apart is our strong connection to real healthcare. I do not just code; I volunteer in operating rooms and emergency departments to truly understand patient needs. I am most proud that this company is built on a personal mission to honor my grandfather after losing him to Alzheimer’s. I want readers to know that our ultimate goal is real impact, using technology to give families the gift of time so they never have to watch their loved ones suffer from this atrocious disease.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like best: The collaborative spirit. People here are always eager to support young creators and entrepreneurs, whether you are working in healthcare, technology, or community service.
What I like least: With how fast the area is developing, construction delays and rising congestion can sometimes make getting around challenging.
Pricing:
- Asteri-NeuroAI is currently in the research and development phase, focusing on cloud-based modeling.
- We are actively seeking research partnerships and access to clinical datasets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Asteri-NeuroAI.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maanvik_uppal/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maanvik-uppal-873375239
- Other: https://github.com/Wasup1st
