Before starting EDISON BIO, I had always been grateful for and in awe of the medical industry’s ability to treat serious injuries and illnesses. However, I could never understand the lack of emphasis put on preventative care—care that focused on improving the patient’s life-long health and wellness. Watching breakthroughs in technology continue to develop eventually led me to wonder why my own doctors did not offer or utilize these incredible advancements but instead continued to give me the same 7 minute “checkup”? I knew there had to be something better, and from that, EDISON BIO was born.
When first reflecting upon my own health and how it could be improved, I discovered three big questions to which I did not have the answers.
1. What diseases do I have right now? Is there something growing inside of me undetected?
2. What am I at risk for?
3. What diet and exercises are best suited for my unique body?
Fortunately, I now have many of the personalized answers and guidance that I was searching for. Before explaining how you can have those answers, let me share some details from my own journey with health and medicine.
My Health Journey
Just like you, I’m also a patient. I’ve had to navigate the healthcare system throughout the entirety of my life as I’ve dealt with various health issues. Whether it was intense migraines that caused caused violent, pain-induced vomiting and burst blood vessels in my eyes, or mononucleosis that that forced me to miss months of school while fighting off an enlarged liver and spleen, I have experienced what it is like to struggle with your health from a young age. Even issues such as misdiagnosed asthma and Achilles tendonitis prevented me from performing in sports to my full potential. However, none of these obstacles could have prepared me for the day that my dad sat me down and told me the word that would forever change the trajectory of my life: cancer.
Cancer
When I was 20 years old, my parents called me to a family meeting, which was abnormal for us then. Knowing it would be serious, I braced myself before my dad in his typical cut-to-the-chase style, said, “Mom has cancer, breast cancer. She will be undergoing treatment in Victoria next week.”
It hit me like a ton of bricks. Over the course of that year, I watched my mother bravely battle cancer and endure her treatment. During this same period of time, a close family friend lost his own battle to liver cancer, and then shortly thereafter one of my best friends was killed in an industrial work accident. At such a young age, I felt and witnessed tragedy like never before.
Experiencing these three traumatic events in conjunction with my own health issues ultimately compelled me to explore the fragility of life. I developed an intense urge to experience as much of life as possible, and to feel great while doing it. I dreamed of living life with incredible health, surrounded by my wife and children for as long as I could and hopefully even meet my great-grandchildren one day. I just had to figure out how to make that dream a reality.
It should be clear by this point that I’m a big-thinker and big-plans kind of optimist. However, the reason I believe that these dreams are possible is because I’ve been on a journey for nearly two decades to discover how we can better optimize our health to the best of our abilities. My love for life and my love for those close to me ignited a passion inside of myself to understand what makes up our health, what boost my energy levels, and improve my performance for the long term.
In this quest for a better and healthier life, I’ve researched and experimented new health technologies, becoming my own human guinea pig with the sole purpose of dialing in my lifestyle, diet, and exercise. Currently, I maintain an 11% body fat level, I’m full of energy, I’m happy, and have (most days) a relatively stoic inner mental state. Most importantly, I am confident about the current state of diseases that may threaten me and the risks that might impact my and my families health. That previous nagging, anxious feeling of “is something growing inside me, undetected?” is gone.
The Search for More and Removing Traditional Constraints
In my typical type-A overachiever fashion, I’m always asking what’s next. What if I was not constrained by the healthcare system or by insurance plans or by budget? Are there evidence based ways that I can improve my health that I am unaware of? How can I discover what diseases I might have now or might be at risk for in the future? Can I further customize my diet and personalize my exercise to best suit my unique body?
The answer to all of these questions embody the heart and purpose of EDISON BIO. At EDISON BIO, we aggregate medical technology that is traditionally reserved for professional athletes and astronauts at NASA and often utilized after symptoms arrive—which is usually too late.
At EDISON BIO, our purpose is to expand human health potential. We believe that the future of healthcare should be personalized, preventive and driven by data. EDISON BIO’s aim is to provide a universal picture of an individual’s health. Members receive continuous and extensive advanced testing and guidance in order to allow them to live long and vibrant lives, confident about the current state of their health. EDISON BIO empowers members to live full, live strong, live healthy, and achieve their dreams.
Our Founding Principles:
- Data Is Power: The specific details and patterns in our bodies and minds can be broken down and analyzed in a variety of clinically relevant ways. We analyze data over time to detect problems early on in order to best improve overall health, performance, and longevity.
- Accelerate Access to Technology: Our health is too important to navigate a broken healthcare system that is not incentivised to provide better care. We continue to search for, evaluate, and apply the most advanced and evidence-based clinical technologies that science has to offer. Our priority is to accelerate access to this care so that you can benefit from it earlier.
- Beautiful Experience: Most health visits are underwhelming at best. We strive to craft a personalized experience that our members look forward to, that they value, and are excited to share with their families and teams.
- Empower Our Members: Understanding your health shouldn’t feel like reading a complex medical textbook or academic research paper. Our goal is for everyone, regardless of background, to confidently understand the current state of their health and feel supported with clear instruction toward reaching their goals.
- Empower the Industry: Modern healthcare is filled with overworked physicians who don’t have time to deliver a high level of care, much less keep up with all the latest research and technology. Through the EDISON BIO platform, we enable our partners to provide the level of care that originally inspired them to practice medicine, equipping them with the tools necessary to best care for their patients.
I am inspired by EDISON BIO’s medical technology, partners, and purpose driven team all over the world that demonstrate life saving and performance enhancing care. I am excited and grateful to be part of a mission that is expanding health potential for my family, friends, team, and communities around the world.
In health, wealth, and happiness,
James McDonough
Founder & CEO
www.edisonbio.com
About EDISON BIO
Most of us worry about our health. EDISON BIO advanced, comprehensive, and convenient health screening uncovers hidden disease and health challenges early. You’ll be confident about your health and primed to perform at your highest potential.