Think Big and Things Happen, with Dr. Rene Caissie

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Rene Caissie. Rene is a visionary in the realm of technology, Artificial Intelligence, and big data within the medical field. His journey took an unexpected turn when his daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease, CRPS. At that moment Rene found himself uniquely positioned, having built a platform for clinical research that intersected with his daughter’s condition. It was a fortuitous alignment of passion and purpose that led to his daughter’s treatment and recovery. The outcome was priceless, and Rene is now leveraging the platform he built to solve other medical mysteries. Rene’s philosophy is simple. Build something of value and the money will follow. There’s no limit.

With a distinguished 15-year career in healthcare, Rene is a surgeon, researcher, innovator, and entrepreneur. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Medeloop.ai, and an Adjunct Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, he teaches healthcare entrepreneurship while contributing to the development of the next healthcare prize as part of the XPRIZE Brain Trust Team.

In addition to serving as a Venture Partner at OVO Fund and a recent Sloan Fellow at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Rene has held prestigious positions at the University of Montreal and McGill University. As the former Chief of Maxillofacial Surgery at Montreal’s HSC, he is a National Board Examiner and a Fellow of the Royal College in his specialty. His research includes publications on nerve regeneration and clinical maxillofacial surgery.

Rene’s medical expertise has spurred the creation of several healthcare ventures, such as Medesync EMR, which was acquired by the $37 billion telecommunications giant, Telus. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, he played a crucial role in developing a powered Full Head Protective Hood with an air-purifying respirator and co-founding Dorma Filtration, which introduced Canada’s first reusable N95 mask.

Beyond his professional pursuits, Rene is an avid mountain climber, sailboat trans-oceanic racer, SR22 Turbo aircraft pilot, and Ironman World Championship qualifier. His dedication to humanitarian work is evident through his NGO, Volte-Face, which has provided over $1 million in free medical care for life-changing surgeries to underprivileged patients. As a board member for Sprouts, a California-based non-profit, Rene supports disadvantaged youths through skills coaching and internships.