Anju Mathew had one driving goal in co-founding OncoLens: creating a world where every cancer patient has access to the best possible treatments and care innovations — in time to make a difference.
Mathew was inspired to create a new cancer care approach following her own father’s diagnosis with leukemia. While helping her dad navigate three different treatment recommendations from three different physicians, Mathew felt there must be a simpler way for families to navigate cancer care.
Moreover, she saw the value in breaking down silos between various medical specialties to enable a truly team-based approach to cancer treatment. With this focus in mind, Mathew partnered with oncologist Lijo Simpson in 2017 to launch OncoLens, a secure HIPAA-compliant platform that can support streamlined, multidisciplinary cancer care planning, tracking and treatment delivery.
The platform’s embedded, AI-driven clinical decision support tools help providers stay up-to-date on rapidly changing innovations and treatment options at the frontier of modern cancer medicine. It also offers a streamlined way for multiple care specialists — radiologists, oncologists, surgeons, dieticians — to interact and consult with one another in support of a single patient’s care.
“Ultimately, OncoLens is uniting the various entities important to the care of a cancer patient through technology,” Mathew said. “Through OncoLens, providers and patients in every community — especially in rural or less developed areas across the world — can now get access to cancer care experts as well as information on the latest diagnostic and treatment options.”
Already, more than 200 cancer centers across the U.S. and internationally rely on OncoLens to support their cancer care programs. The company hopes to expand its presence to include partnerships with 25% of U.S. cancer centers within the next three years. OncoLens has received numerous awards, including being named one of the Top 10 Innovative Companies in the state by the Technology Association of Georgia.
“Even with an innovative approach, healthcare is not an easy market to drive change. Anju was persistent and strategic in building a critical mass among her early customers. She also built a strong team that could take that dream forward. Her grit and ability to forge ahead has yielded great results,” Mathew’s team said.
Prior to launching OncoLens, Mathew was head of technology innovation and partnerships at McKesson Medical Surgical. She also previously co-founded LumaMed, a medical device company.
Named one of Northwestern University’s Top 100 Alumni in Technology, Mathew is a frequent guest lecturer at Emory, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and the Atlanta Technology Development Center. She volunteers at Wellspring Living, an Atlanta nonprofit that provides services to victims of sex trafficking, and is a previous ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s ResearcHERS program.
Mathew spent her youth in Nigeria and India before moving to the U.S. at age 24. She credits her family’s frequent moves with her ability to deal well with constant change. Conversational in five languages, Mathew remains an avid traveler — having visited more than 28 countries to date.
