Vision
We see a world where cancer patients and caregivers are empowered with the knowledge and resources they need to access the right care at the right time. Where patients are confident in their decision making. Where employees with cancer feel supported by their employers. Where patients want to return to their clinics because expert guidance is routinely offered. And where your cancer treatment is not determined by your zip code.
Mission
Our mission is to give every cancer patient and caregiver a trusted clinical partner at their side to guide and support them throughout their cancer journey.
Our Story
Our co-founders, Nabeel and Vanessa, were united by a shared vision: to untangle the complexities of navigating cancer care. They each came to this goal through a personal experience with cancer. For Nabeel, it was watching a friend’s family struggle through the cancer process. For Vanessa, it was feeling overwhelmed by her mother’s cancer diagnosis despite a 20-year career in biotech oncology.
When Nabeel and Vanessa first connected, they each had prior experience starting healthcare companies. Nabeel co-founded Evera, an at-home medical testing service, and Vanessa founded My Health Concierge, an early incarnation of Navvisa. Buoyed by their shared belief in what technology could offer in delivering personalized cancer guidance, they assembled a team invested in the mission of providing personalized cancer navigation services to patients and caregivers.
What Does Navvisa Mean?
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is like waking up in a foreign land without maps, guidebooks, or knowledge of the language. We think of our guidance as providing the NAVigation and VISAs for this journey that unlocks access to care.
Our Team
Vanessa Johnson
Co-Founder, CEO
Experience: MPH, My Health Concierge Co-Founder, Genentech, Biogen/IDEC, Celgene
Joan Forte
Chief Clinical Officer
Experience: RN, MBA; Stanford Health Care, Director, Strategic Patient Care; Co-Founder, Tandem Health
Nabeel Quryshi
Co-Founder, CTO
Experience: Evera Co-Founder, 23andMe Research, Harvard CS/Molecular Biology Lorem Ipsumlo
Ken Stineman
Co-Founder, COO
Experience: Ginger, Genomic Health, Double-Helix, Incyte, Intel, Princeton Electrical Engineering
Kim Garlinghouse
VP Nursing
Experience: RN, MPH, Good Medicine, C2lt, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt
Lexi Bisbee
Sr. Project Manager
Experience: MBA, Krames / Staywell, Healthco Solutions, Stanford, UCLA
Omar Shareef
Sr. Platform Engineer
Experience: Mass General, Second Sight Founder, Harvard Computer Science
Lana Khavinson
Marketing Advisor
Experience: Facebook, LinkedIn, Intuit, Yahoo, American Express Lorem Ips
Our Team of Oncology Nurses
Affiliations: UCSF, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, UCLA, Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, University of Vermont, and more.
Our Advisors

David Kaplan, MD
Experience: Global Leader for Clinical Solutions, Mercer; Board Member / Senior Advisor / Consultant for companies in the Employee Healthcare marketplace

Elizabeth Thompson
Experience: Chairman / CEO Transcend 4Good; President, Susan G. Komen for the Cure; CEO, Lymphoma Research Foundation; President/CEO, C-Change

Jerrod Helms
Experience: Chief Commercial Officer at DarioHealth; Head of Sales, Ginger; VP of Sales, Humana; Sr. Executive, for various Employee Benefits companies

Maureen Achebe, MD
Experience: Clinical Director, Div. of Hematology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Medical Director, Ambulatory Infusion Center, BWH; Harvard Medical School

Valerie Darling
Experience: CEO, CBO, Board Member, SVP Global Commercial Operations; Healthcare / Oncology / Biotechnology / Diagnostics / Genomics / MedTech