My motivation in starting Tempus back in 2015 was personal. I set out to build a solution that could keep any one person with cancer alive. At the time, I thought that person might need to be my wife.  

It ended up being a 19-year-old friend of my daughter’s named Olivia.  

My initial hypothesis was that if you could amass large amounts of data, including deeply sequencing patients over and over again, and compare their results against the millions of other patients that came before using artificial intelligence, you could route any one patient to the right therapy.  

Like most patients, when someone is diagnosed with cancer they tend to follow their doctor’s advice and adhere to the standard of care. Many cancers have a reasonably high success rate upon initial treatment, and so this approach makes sense. You get treated, and then you get routine scans for monitoring.  

In the summer of 2021, one of those scans for Olivia showed a tumor had returned in her kidney. In second- or third-line therapy, everything changes. People often go from following their doctor’s advice, to seeking lots of opinions. And everything is magnified – more appointments, more tests, more results, more information.  

For many patients, there is a loved one that takes on the responsibility of managing this. They collect information and set up folders or make three-ring binders, in an effort to keep track of  everything that is coming at them like a barrage of incoming missiles. That was certainly the case with Olivia, who thankfully had a loving family (Mark, Cindy, and Ava) who each assumed a role in her care. 

Unfortunately, Olivia’s cancer was too aggressive and in the winter of 2021, she passed away.  I can’t explain why her passing had such a profound effect on me, but not being able to help her broke my heart, and it has yet to recover.  

At Tempus, our mission has always been to harness the power of data and artificial intelligence to personalize patient care. Until today, we didn’t have a tool that patients could use directly – only their doctors. I’m excited to share our AI-enabled personal health concierge designed to empower patients and their caregivers to holistically organize, manage, and proactively take control of their own health.  

Aptly, we’ve named the product Olivia.  

Olivia was born out of personal experience watching loved ones suffer from cancer and other debilitating diseases, as well as seeing their caretakers feel powerless in navigating the tangled web that is our healthcare system. With the continued advancement of AI, we believe now is the time to introduce a solution that can seamlessly support patients in managing their health.

The current landscape places a significant onus on patients to manage their own treatment. This can be overwhelming for patients dealing with serious and chronic illnesses. Imagine having a debilitating illness, spending your days visiting different doctors, managing symptoms, and receiving an endless array of therapies. In addition, you have the added responsibility of being the middleman between all of your treating physicians, coordinating your care across various specialists, evaluating the effectiveness of therapies, and sifting through the latest scientific and medical research to ensure you are getting the best care possible. This can be overwhelming for even the most astute and prepared advocates.  

Olivia aims to tackle this challenge by equipping patients and caregivers with the tools and information they need to seek the best possible treatment amidst the increasing complexity of clinical care. Currently available to a group of beta users, Olivia leverages generative AI to provide personal, concierge support for patients. The app aggregates and structures personal health information in one cohesive place and helps track symptoms, prepares for doctors’ appointments, and more. Our goal with Olivia is to alleviate the burden on patients so they can focus on healing.   

With Olivia, all of your healthcare data is in one place, seamlessly  integrated and accessible – not just by you, but anyone else you give access to. As a patient moves between hospitals, or physicians, with Olivia they can easily update doctors or get second opinions. Not to mention, they can query our AI assistant, asking questions to get better prepared or put their mind at ease. It’s a bit like having a doctor in your pocket.  

Cancer is a relentless enemy – it has no feelings and takes no prisoners. It’s going to take all of our collective energy (doctors, patients, researchers, drug companies, technology providers, etc.), to make progress. In this war, data is our ally. We need as much of it as possible, to make sure the decisions we make are right, and to help researchers find cures. 

It’s about time patients had the tools they need. 

Meet Olivia…