The digital health startup aims to improve the quality of life for those affected by stroke. Kandu Health delivers tech-enabled healthcare services, providing remote support to stroke survivors and care partners after hospital discharge. It has an ongoing program that just successfully enrolled its first 50 stroke survivors.
In addition to the appointment of Carroll to the corner office, Kandu Health named another duo of executives. The company picked Stefan Heuser as CFO and Clayton Duncan as its new SVP of commercialization.
About new Kandu Health CEO Kirsten Carroll
Carroll previously served as SVP and GM for Kandu Health, leading it from inception through to formation as an independent company. She has more than 20 years of experience in stroke product development, clinical research, marketing, strategy and business development.
Imperative Care Chair and CEO Fred Khosravi said Carroll championed Kandu Health’s vision since its early days. Her leadership and the leaders under hear stewardship embody the company’s mission to provide care to stroke survivors, he added.
“Once a person has a stroke, every aspect of their life can be affected, diminishing both their quality of life and health,” said Carroll. “Improving these outcomes for stroke survivors has been my passion for over 20 years now, and Kandu is the most important thing I have worked on in that time. The Kandu program is intended to address critical gaps in care and to provide personalized support to stroke survivors as they transition back home from the hospital. It is my greatest privilege to step into this new role and lead the company forward in delivering on our mission.”
About new CFO Stefan Heuser
Heuser offers decades of executive leadership experience as he comes in to head up Kandu Health’s financial operations. Previously, he served as VP and head of investments at Hyundai Motor Group’s corporate venture capital arm.
Before Hyundai, he had the position of VP of operations and innovation at Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center. He held global responsibilities for programs in digital health, IoT and autonomous driving. Other experience includes building and leading an early-stage venture investment team for Samsung Global Innovation Center.
Heuser also served as CFO and VP of finance for Siemens Smart Grid Applications.
About new SVP of commercialization Clayton Duncan
Duncan brings with him more than 20 years of leadership experience in strategic growth roles at early and growth-stage healthcare firms.
His responsibilities include leading Kandu Health’s commercialization efforts. He focuses on creating accretive strategic partnerships with payers, providers and other healthcare enterprises.
“We have seen very promising results in data collected from some of the first 50 stroke survivors enrolled in our program, and these survivors have uniformly endorsed the program, noting that it has strengthened their health, agency and quality of life,” Duncan said. “I am excited to continue scaling our program to have an impact on many more stroke survivors and their families.”
More on the enrollment of stroke survivors
Kandu Health plans to deploy its offerings to reduce hospital stays and readmissions, lower healthcare costs and improve patient satisfaction.
The company works closely with healthcare institutions to ensure well-integrated care coordinates with existing programming. This also enables hospital staff to ensure that patients remain safe and connected to the best available resources.
Kandu Health began piloting its program with its first hospital partners based in the greater Los Angeles and South New Jersey areas. It already enrolled more than 50 stroke survivors in the program. Early data highlight enrollment rates, engagement and outcomes that exceed expectations for the program.
