September 26, 2025 • 8 mins
The Virtue Foundation is a nonprofit organization with Special Consultative Status to the United Nations. Its mission is to increase awareness, inspire action and render assistance through initiatives on healthcare, education, and women and justice programs, as well as innovative work in research and analytics. Composed primarily of volunteers, Virtue Foundation is guided by the principle that true global change must begin within each of us—one person at a time, one act at a time.
Dr. Joan LaRovere, the Co-Founder and President of Virtue Foundation as well as the Interim Chief Medical Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, discusses the work being done by her NGO and how it is helping to create an efficient market for global health using data science and artificial intelligence to efficiently match need and resources in the low and low-middle income countries. Dr. LaRovere speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Tim Stenovek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It is time now for the Bloomberg Business Week Women's
Health segment, where we focus on key issues in developing technologies,
impacting the president and future of women's health around the world.
And I kind of say the world of women's health
was rocked a little bit this past week.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, President Trump created a potentially existential crisis for ken View,
the maker of tailanol, with just three words about the
company's most recognized product, he said, don't take it. The drum.
Administration is linking tailanol's active ingredient, acetamnifin, to autism and
urging pregnant women Carol to largely avoid the medication, although
decades of scientific research have yet to identify a single
(00:49):
case cause. Excuse me for autism.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
All right, let's get more though, into the bigger, broader
picture of women's health. Doctor Joan Larroverer is with US
Interim Chief Medical Officer at Boston Children's Hospital, Director of
Innovation and Outcomes. She's also co founder and president of
the NGO Virtue Foundation, which is delivering healthcare in over
twenty five countries, so she has a big global perspective here.
(01:12):
She joins us here in studio, doctor la Rover. So
nice to have you here with us.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
How are you. I'm great, Carol, Thank you so much
for having me today.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
There's a lot we want to talk to your in town.
With everything that's going on, we're looking at global health
with global leaders. I do need to ask you though,
about what we got from the administration this week, the
Trump administration, the president on pregnant women taking Thailand. I'm
just curious what it's been like. And I know you've
been in New York, but what you've been hearing from
your team back at Boston Children's when it comes to
(01:43):
this news and what they're hearing from patients and what
the guidance is that you're giving them.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Absolutely, Carol. Well, firstly, at Boston Children's we don't take
care of pregnant women. It's a children's hospital. But right
this obviously encomstances compasses women and children, and I myself
don't take care of autism patients. I'm a pediatric cardiac
intensive care specialist, but I am hearing from my clinical
colleagues that they are getting calls from families and creating
(02:10):
confusion around this is really a challenge, and we're really
sort of taking that head on in terms of addressing
the questions of families as they are coming to us.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
One thing that we've noticed about this moment in time
is and we spoke to a doctor from the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists earlier this week, and there's
this tension between what we're hearing from professional organizations as
far as recommendations go, and what we're hearing from the
American government and the HHS. And it doesn't seem like
(02:42):
that's happened in the past, where you don't necessarily have
the government aligned with these professional organizations. I'm just wondering
how you're thinking about this moment when it comes to healthcare.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It's a challenging time for healthcare, and I think we
just stick to our mission that we are trying to
provide the best, safe, most effective care to children that
we can.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I am also curious, like we said, you're in town
and we've had the benefit of talking to global leaders
about some of the big issues that are out there,
whether it's climate change. We've talked a lot about AI
this week, but looking at healthcare from a global perspective,
I want to bring you into this because you're very
involved when it comes to the applications of AI in medicine.
Talk to us about kind of where we are today
(03:24):
with it and kind of where it can go.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Absolutely, I think we're at one of the most exciting
times in healthcare. And I've been involved with AI with
Virtue Foundation for fifteen years and never has it been
like this moment in time because I think that the
tools that are now unlocked, particularly now with GENAI, cloud computing,
(03:47):
big data, we're seeing use cases that are much more
actionable than before and at an enterprise scale.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Break it down?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I can break it down in the content of
what we've done with Virtue Foundation. I'm happy to talk
about some of the hospital use cases too, but in
terms of Virtue Foundation, fifteen years ago, doctor Ebi Alahi,
my colleague was in Burundi and he was there caring
for patients and had this Rika moment where He's like,
we should have more granular data on the ground to
(04:21):
understand what my eyes see and I should be able
to see it here in New York to be able
to action on it. And at that time people are like,
what are you talking about? Right, it was very early
days and we started that journey of trying to first
get the granular data visualize it geospatially. But I think
(04:41):
we've grown up as the technology has grown up, and
I think key leverage points for us have been partnerships
with data bricks, Data robot, Karto and I can break
down one now if it's helpful, well.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And talk to us about it, because you know, especially
when it comes to develop the developing world, have data
and information, you can assess a situation and figure out
what to do. Yes, so talk to us a little
bit about that. You do have partnerships with data bricks.
As you said, Data Robot Cardo, what are you guys
building together?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
We are building the marketplace for global health philanthropy. What
does that mean so you can actually see what is
happening in healthcare facilities and what is the work of
healthcare engios on the ground in lower middle income countries.
And we've used AI in particularly, we've built an enterprise
grade pipeline with data bricks where we're extracting all the
(05:37):
data that exists and co locating it to a geospatial location.
So you're a hospital, a Kolubu hospital in Ghana, everything
that's out there information wise is co located a geospatially
to that organization, and you create this vector graph, this
knowledge graph, with all these mini knowledge graphs that tell
(05:59):
you what's happened in each of those facilities.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
At the end of the day, this is all about
improving outcomes and it's helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives.
Do we have the data yet that shows that this
moment in technology is leading to better outcomes?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I think that's what we're on the cusp of. Would
I say that we're there and it's all, you know,
completely functional and moving. No, but that is the direction
of travel and those are the tools that are enabling
us to do so. For now, I can see this
data in ways I couldn't see before. I can send
the right teams to the right locations.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
What are the better outcomes that you that you envision?
I mean, are we talking about longer life expectancy in
the developing and the developed world? Are we talking about
lower infant mortality?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
What are we talking about here?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I think we're talking about all of it. I think
eventually economic development will solve some of our problems. But
in that window and time, how can we shorten the
time it takes till we get really more developed healthcare
in these markets. And we feel that this VF match platform,
this actionable data initiative, will allow you to be able
(07:13):
to use this information, whether you're a healthcare in GEO,
whether you're a government in a country, whether you're even
a corporation, to determine what you can build to accelerate progress.
And we personally are using it to send medical and
surgical teams to locations where the medical deserts are the
(07:34):
large populations of patients who need that ophthalmologist or that
neurosurgeon or that gynecologist, and so that the people who
are doing it, like myself, there are many in global
health who are doing this work, know the place they
can go to be most useful to the patient and
most useful in passing on skill.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
In just ten seconds. So we didn't really it wasn't
so easy to do that before. No, no, And it
was probably not unless somebody brought your attention to it, yes,
or you got wind of it. And then but that's
not the most productive way of doing it.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Exactly. This is to create efficiency and scale.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
All right, Gotta leave it there, doctor lower there, thank
you so much. Thank you really appreciate it. Interim chief
Medical Officer at Boston Children's Hospital, Director of Innovation and Outcomes, and,
as we said, co founder and president of the Virtue Foundation,
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Tim Stenovek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It is time now for the Bloomberg Business Week Women's
Health segment, where we focus on key issues in developing technologies,
impacting the president and future of women's health around the world.
And I kind of say the world of women's health
was rocked a little bit this past week.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, President Trump created a potentially existential crisis for ken View,
the maker of tailanol, with just three words about the
company's most recognized product, he said, don't take it. The drum.
Administration is linking tailanol's active ingredient, acetamnifin, to autism and
urging pregnant women Carol to largely avoid the medication, although
decades of scientific research have yet to identify a single
(00:49):
case cause. Excuse me for autism.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
All right, let's get more though, into the bigger, broader
picture of women's health. Doctor Joan Larroverer is with US
Interim Chief Medical Officer at Boston Children's Hospital, Director of
Innovation and Outcomes. She's also co founder and president of
the NGO Virtue Foundation, which is delivering healthcare in over
twenty five countries, so she has a big global perspective here.
(01:12):
She joins us here in studio, doctor la Rover. So
nice to have you here with us.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
How are you. I'm great, Carol, Thank you so much
for having me today.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
There's a lot we want to talk to your in town.
With everything that's going on, we're looking at global health
with global leaders. I do need to ask you though,
about what we got from the administration this week, the
Trump administration, the president on pregnant women taking Thailand. I'm
just curious what it's been like. And I know you've
been in New York, but what you've been hearing from
your team back at Boston Children's when it comes to
(01:43):
this news and what they're hearing from patients and what
the guidance is that you're giving them.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Absolutely, Carol. Well, firstly, at Boston Children's we don't take
care of pregnant women. It's a children's hospital. But right
this obviously encomstances compasses women and children, and I myself
don't take care of autism patients. I'm a pediatric cardiac
intensive care specialist, but I am hearing from my clinical
colleagues that they are getting calls from families and creating
(02:10):
confusion around this is really a challenge, and we're really
sort of taking that head on in terms of addressing
the questions of families as they are coming to us.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
One thing that we've noticed about this moment in time
is and we spoke to a doctor from the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists earlier this week, and there's
this tension between what we're hearing from professional organizations as
far as recommendations go, and what we're hearing from the
American government and the HHS. And it doesn't seem like
(02:42):
that's happened in the past, where you don't necessarily have
the government aligned with these professional organizations. I'm just wondering
how you're thinking about this moment when it comes to healthcare.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It's a challenging time for healthcare, and I think we
just stick to our mission that we are trying to
provide the best, safe, most effective care to children that
we can.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I am also curious, like we said, you're in town
and we've had the benefit of talking to global leaders
about some of the big issues that are out there,
whether it's climate change. We've talked a lot about AI
this week, but looking at healthcare from a global perspective,
I want to bring you into this because you're very
involved when it comes to the applications of AI in medicine.
Talk to us about kind of where we are today
(03:24):
with it and kind of where it can go.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Absolutely, I think we're at one of the most exciting
times in healthcare. And I've been involved with AI with
Virtue Foundation for fifteen years and never has it been
like this moment in time because I think that the
tools that are now unlocked, particularly now with GENAI, cloud computing,
(03:47):
big data, we're seeing use cases that are much more
actionable than before and at an enterprise scale.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Break it down?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I can break it down in the content of
what we've done with Virtue Foundation. I'm happy to talk
about some of the hospital use cases too, but in
terms of Virtue Foundation, fifteen years ago, doctor Ebi Alahi,
my colleague was in Burundi and he was there caring
for patients and had this Rika moment where He's like,
we should have more granular data on the ground to
(04:21):
understand what my eyes see and I should be able
to see it here in New York to be able
to action on it. And at that time people are like,
what are you talking about? Right, it was very early
days and we started that journey of trying to first
get the granular data visualize it geospatially. But I think
(04:41):
we've grown up as the technology has grown up, and
I think key leverage points for us have been partnerships
with data bricks, Data robot, Karto and I can break
down one now if it's helpful, well.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And talk to us about it, because you know, especially
when it comes to develop the developing world, have data
and information, you can assess a situation and figure out
what to do. Yes, so talk to us a little
bit about that. You do have partnerships with data bricks.
As you said, Data Robot Cardo, what are you guys
building together?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
We are building the marketplace for global health philanthropy. What
does that mean so you can actually see what is
happening in healthcare facilities and what is the work of
healthcare engios on the ground in lower middle income countries.
And we've used AI in particularly, we've built an enterprise
grade pipeline with data bricks where we're extracting all the
(05:37):
data that exists and co locating it to a geospatial location.
So you're a hospital, a Kolubu hospital in Ghana, everything
that's out there information wise is co located a geospatially
to that organization, and you create this vector graph, this
knowledge graph, with all these mini knowledge graphs that tell
(05:59):
you what's happened in each of those facilities.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
At the end of the day, this is all about
improving outcomes and it's helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives.
Do we have the data yet that shows that this
moment in technology is leading to better outcomes?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I think that's what we're on the cusp of. Would
I say that we're there and it's all, you know,
completely functional and moving. No, but that is the direction
of travel and those are the tools that are enabling
us to do so. For now, I can see this
data in ways I couldn't see before. I can send
the right teams to the right locations.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
What are the better outcomes that you that you envision?
I mean, are we talking about longer life expectancy in
the developing and the developed world? Are we talking about
lower infant mortality?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
What are we talking about here?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I think we're talking about all of it. I think
eventually economic development will solve some of our problems. But
in that window and time, how can we shorten the
time it takes till we get really more developed healthcare
in these markets. And we feel that this VF match platform,
this actionable data initiative, will allow you to be able
(07:13):
to use this information, whether you're a healthcare in GEO,
whether you're a government in a country, whether you're even
a corporation, to determine what you can build to accelerate progress.
And we personally are using it to send medical and
surgical teams to locations where the medical deserts are the
(07:34):
large populations of patients who need that ophthalmologist or that
neurosurgeon or that gynecologist, and so that the people who
are doing it, like myself, there are many in global
health who are doing this work, know the place they
can go to be most useful to the patient and
most useful in passing on skill.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
In just ten seconds. So we didn't really it wasn't
so easy to do that before. No, no, And it
was probably not unless somebody brought your attention to it, yes,
or you got wind of it. And then but that's
not the most productive way of doing it.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Exactly. This is to create efficiency and scale.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
All right, Gotta leave it there, doctor lower there, thank
you so much. Thank you really appreciate it. Interim chief
Medical Officer at Boston Children's Hospital, Director of Innovation and Outcomes, and,
as we said, co founder and president of the Virtue Foundation,
Hosts And Creators
Tim Stenovec
Carol Massar
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