Early Successes in Remote Research: Enabling Enrollment in Clinical Trials
October 30, 2024
Meet Synapticure’s Chief Operating Officer, Joe Leinbach
We’re thrilled to introduce you to our newest member of the Synapticure leadership team, Joe Leinbach, who joined us last month and is leading our work to rapidly reach more patients, and partner with providers and payers to transform the lives of individuals and caregivers living with a neurodegenerative disease.
Read on to learn more about Joe, and why he joined the team.
Why did you join Synapticure?
My career for the past 10 years has been entirely focused on building and scaling tech-enabled healthcare companies (Evolent, Cityblock) focused on improving care for seniors, and people with complex physical and behavioral health needs.
I’m here because of first-hand experience dealing with the frustration and complexity of our healthcare system, especially for individuals with neurodegenerative diseases. For the past several years I’ve been helping to navigate doctors, insurers, home health and assisted living facilities for a close family member who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. I also have two other relatives who struggled with Parkinson’s disease and related dementia, and saw the burden it placed on their spouses and children.
After meeting Brian, Sandra, and the rest of the team, I was convinced that Synapticure is uniquely positioned to build a thriving business at the intersection of what motivates me personally and professionally. I’m here to help grow and scale the incredible model the team has built, and structure partnerships with health plans, health systems and provider groups to bring our model of care to as many individuals as possible.
What excites you most about the opportunity at Synapticure?
There are three things about Synapticure that make me excited to get out of bed every morning and dive into the work.
First, is the team. I’ve been fortunate to join mission-driven companies at their earliest stages, and through these journeys, see their visions become reality at scale. Behind all of this growth were remarkable individuals who were committed to the vision of what we were building. The entire team at Synapticure, from our physicians to our product engineers, has a personal connection to one of the diseases, and folks show up every day inspired by the privilege to serve our patients. It’s an incredible, motivating culture.
Second is how we lean into the science of these diseases. Many people living with NDs find their diagnosis comes with a crash course in neurology, genetics, clinical trials, FDA approval processes, and byzantine health plan policies. Our team is filled with super-nerds (I say this endearingly) who eagerly consume the latest research, engage constantly with our networks of advisors, academic partners and patients, drop medical journal articles into our company Slack with the enthusiasm of a new Taylor Swift album, and most importantly—distill all of this into personalized guidance for our patients.
And third is how we’re using technology to transform care for patients and caregivers. So many people living with these diseases experience long wait times for appointments and are forced to travel long distances for high quality care, which only gets harder as the diseases progress. The pandemic has led to massive innovation in the use and adoption of telehealth. We’re able to provide easy access to specialized care, within just a few weeks, to anyone in the country. That is remarkable!
What can we expect to see from you as you lead growth and operations at Synapticure?
There is an enormous and growing need for Synapticure’s services, and that the key to addressing the gap is through partnerships with innovative providers and health plans. I’m thrilled to already be in deep discussions with some of the most progressive leaders in the country on how we can compliment patients’ existing care teams. In particular, I’m eager to partner with primary care doctors who are typically the first to notice the potential symptoms of an ND, and are desperate for better solutions for their patients.
When you’re not talking value based care or neurology, what can we find you doing on a weekend?
My weekends involve my wife and I chasing around our toddler, who brings more joy (and humility) to my life than I thought was possible. Each day is a new opportunity to join her in discovering more cool new stuff about the world, whether it’s marveling in the endless diversity of dog breeds, our shared love of space and the stars at night, and surprising us when she knows all the words to “The Wheels on the Bus.”
