RX5: Nisha Mehta, MD, Founder, Physician Side Gigs

This week's episode of Entrepreneur RX features a conversation between John Shufeldt and Dr. Nisha Mehta, a radiologist and the founder of Physician Side Gigs. Nisha is an international speaker and writer specializing in physician advocacy and addressing physician burnout. She is the founder of two online physician community groups reaching more than 100,000 physicians. Nisha discusses the inspiration for her popular Facebook group, how side gigs helps with physician burnout, and the long term impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers around the globe.

Barbara Wirostko

M.D. FARVO

Dr. Barbara Wirostko, a serial entrepreneur, is the Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Qlaris Bio. Dr. Wirostko is a board-certified practicing glaucoma specialist holding a Clinical Adjunct Professor position at the University of Utah, in Ophthalmology at Moran Eye Center and in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering. She was previously the Chief Medical Officer of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals following its acquisition of Jade Therapeutics where Dr. Wirostko was Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer spearheading the strategy and operations for the preclinical and clinical development of the unique hyaluronic acid, Ocular Bandage Gel (OBG), for human use. For Jade Therapeutics, Dr Wirostko received upwards of 3 M in SBIR funding as the Principle Investigator for the OBG polymer from the Dept of Defense and National Science Foundation. Prior to Jade, she served as the Chief Medical Officer of Altheos, a glaucoma startup company, and held leadership positions in medical and clinical development at Pfizer in Ophthalmology, overseeing the global medical responsibilities for the Xalatan franchise as Senior Medical Director. She sits on various editorial boards including the prestigious Ophthalmology Glaucoma and Journal of Glaucoma, has published and written hundreds of peer reviewed papers, books, serves on numerous advisory boards, grant review committees, and holds fellowship positions with The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

She has been invited globally to lecture on her area of clinical research expertise, exfoliation glaucoma. Dr. Wirostko received her MD from and completed her residency at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, NY, and holds a BA with distinction in Microbiology from Cornell University.

Following the death of their oldest son, Dr. Wirostko with her husband Dr. Joseph Morelli founded a nonprofit for young students with learning challenges. Started in 2014, under Dr. Wirostko’s directorship, the Joseph James Morelli Legacy Foundation is now a nationally recognized 501c3, having awarded 100s of students’ scholarships around the country, to help recognize and advocate for dyslexia. Her outreach and advocacy have included a TedX talk in April 2019 on the story of Joseph. Dr. Wirostko currently lives in Park City, Utah with her husband and children, enjoying skiing and the outdoors.

RX5: Nisha Mehta, MD, Founder, Physician Side Gigs

Barbara Wirostko

John Shufeldt

Chris Yoo