Our Vision

A world where every person affected by cancer is able to access their best care.

Our Mission

To give every cancer patient and caregiver a trusted clinical partner at their side to guide and support them throughout the cancer journey.

Our Story

Our co-founder Vanessa, experienced the challenges and uncertainties of caring for a family member with cancer firsthand – she was overwhelmed by her mother’s cancer diagnosis despite her 20-year career in biotech oncology.

Vanessa and the team believed that one-to-one guidance, augmented by technology, could transform cancer care. Vanessa and the Navvisa founders 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
Navgational map and Visa passport for the journey.

Our Team

“My Mother was diagnosed with cancer while I was working in oncology, and I still felt lost. Managing her care became a second full-time job.”

Vanessa Johnson

Co-Founder, CEO

MPH, My Health Concierge Co-Founder, Genentech, Biogen/IDEC, Celgene

“As a nurse, I often listened to cancer patients and caregivers struggle. Then I became one and experienced that pain myself. Now we have a way to really help.”

Joan Forte

Chief Clinical Officer

RN, MBA; Stanford Health Care, Director, Strategic Patient Care; Co-Founder, Tandem Health

"When a routine CT scan revealed 100s of tumors, my mom had to make difficult decisions about aggressive surgery and chemotherapy."

Ken Stineman

Co-Founder, COO

Headspace, Ginger, Genomic Health, Double-Helix, Incyte, Synteni, Intel, Princeton University BSEE

Brian Johnson

Engineering

Fairchild Imaging, RGB Networks; LSI Logic; C-Cube Microsystems; Philips Research; General Electric; Rensselaer Polytechnic, BSEE; Syracuse University MSEE;

“I have seen cancer from many vantage points, as a clinician, researcher, advocate and most impactful asa survivor of two types of cancer. I understand the importance of guiding others through the struggles and challenges.”

Kim Garlinghouse

Nursing Lead

RN, MPH, Good Medicine, C2lt, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt

Neil Kennish

Sales

Cariloop, Employer Direct, FreshBenies, MobyMax, Cigna, Houston Rockets. Harvard University

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

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

Elizabeth Thompson

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

Nabeel Quryshi

Khosla Ventures Associate, Evera Co-Founder, 23andMe Research, Harvard, CS/Molecular Biology

Jerrod Helms

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

Maureen Achebe, MD

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

Renee Albert

Marriot, Facebook, Senior Director Health Benefits; McKesson, Director, Symantec Corporation, Senior Director Global Benefits

Ron Fontanetta

Willis Towers Watson, Practice Leader; Columbia University MBA, MPH, SUNY Albany BA