Israeli startup Belong.Life, developer of social and professional networks for managing and navigating medical treatments, and the creator of the world’s largest social network for cancer patients, announced that the company’s Co-Founder and CEO Eliran Malki was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of this year’s Top 25 Innovators.
“It is a wonderful honor to be counted among these great innovators. I hope this award will help bring more recognition to the important work Belong is doing to advance research and help navigate difficult conditions and treatments,” said Malki.
Malki co-founded Belong in 2015 with Irad Deutsch and Ohad Rubin, after losing family members to cancer. He targeted making potential life-saving information accessible to those who need it most. Originally, the company focused on cancer, and its app “Belong- Beating Cancer Together” is now the world’s largest cancer social network and navigator app. The company has since expanded to develop “BelongMS” for MS patients, caregivers and medical professionals, Belong PEP, a specialized solution for providers, payers and pharmaceutical companies looking to engage with their patients, and “CoronApp,” a way for countries to update and guide their citizens regarding COVID-19.
“Throughout my life, I have looked for ways to improve the way things are done. When we founded Belong, we were caregivers who were frustrated with the cancer treatment journeys experienced by beloved relatives. We found that there were serious shortcomings that needed to be addressed. With Belong, patients, medical professionals, researchers, and pharmaceutical executives can better understand what is working and what is not when battling serious diseases. I’m excited to continue building upon our vision and using engagement, AI, and data to improve the quality of life and care for patients around the world,” Malki further added.
All of Belong’s apps are free and anonymous. They create personalized experiences by delivering custom information to users and allowing them to join groups with other patients experiencing similar journeys. Over 1,300 proprietary machine learning algorithms help Belong uncover previously unnoticed patterns in patient journeys, which can be used to advance medical research. The company collaborates with global research partners, and dozens of studies utilizing data gathered from the Belong community have been published by leading organizations including The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and others. Belong also developed a specialized algorithm to uncover relevant clinical trials around the world for each patient.
"While healthcare always looks for ways to transform, 2020 required more nimble, innovative adaptations than ever before. As communities hunkered down, providers and other industry members quickly found new ways to care for their patients, and they couldn't be afraid to try something new. This year's Top 25 Innovators exemplify the best of those transformations,' said Aurora Aguilar, editor of Modern Healthcare. "They put quality first and still looked for ways to improve their work during uncertain times. We congratulate the class of 2020."
The complete ranking is featured in the August 24 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine, and profiles of the winners are available here.
Just last week the UK government awarded 4 inspirational Israeli women of tech with recognition for excellence in their fields, and now once again an Israeli innovator scores a prestigious honoring from a globally recognized entity. This recognition further highlights the importance of not only Israeli tech solutions, but the great minds behind it.
