Fathers as Pillars of Innovation and Well-being: Dr. Umbereen S. Nehal's Tribute to Paternal Influence in FemTech Success

When Dr. Nehal reminisces about her father's steadfast support, it's not just a story—it's a testament to the power of fatherhood and its enduring impact on our lives. As she sits down with us, she unfolds her narrative, beginning with the seeds of compassion and perseverance planted by her dad. Her journey from a culturally rich Islamic upbringing to the helm of an AI-driven FemTech company is as inspiring as it is unique. Nurtured by the virtues of emotional management and kindness, Dr. Nehal's path reflects a profound respect for education and the indomitable spirit of her father, an immigrant who embodied resilience.

Venturing into the realms of entrepreneurship and social good, this episode is a riveting encounter with Dr. Nehal's mission to intertwine profitability with purpose. Drawing from the legacy of her great aunt in Pakistan and her education at MIT Sloan, she spearheads a movement where women are not just participants but leaders of change. This conversation is an invitation to challenge entrenched biases surrounding women's roles and to reassess cultural norms on gender expectations. The ethos of social entrepreneurship Dr. Nehal embodies urges us to consider the potential of a business that serves the greater good while thriving within a capitalist framework.

Closing with an ode to the subtle, yet profound expressions of love in Asian fatherhood, Dr. Nehal shares the warmth of her experiences, emphasizing the significance of small gestures like cut fruit prepared by a father's hand. Through these stories, we're reminded to cherish and acknowledge the pivotal role fathers play in shaping who we become. This episode isn't just an exploration of social entrepreneurship and healthcare innovation; it's a celebration of family, a reflection on personal values, and a look into the future of healthcare, all seen through the eyes of a daughter profoundly influenced by her father's love and guidance.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to Dad Puzzles Everything Dad. If you're questioning yourself about dad functions, duties and life in general, you've come to the right place. Parenthood can be tough. Learning to juggle caring for your baby with your career and also keeping things fresh with your partner can be a struggle, but we're here to make things easier with helpful tips for making the most of your situation. Being a dad may seem like a puzzle, but it's one you can definitely solve. Now here's your host, dr Suleiman Ijani.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today we have a very special guest joining us on the Dad Puzzles podcast Dr Nihao. We invite her that's because of our impressive career in healthcare and innovation, but because of the remarkable relationship she has with her dad and also we believe that is the driving force behind her success. So today we have the privilege of exploring not only her professional accomplishments but also the impact of her dad support in her life and career. So welcome Dr Nihao to the Dad Puzzles podcast, and we're trying to celebrate the importance of fatherhood. So thank you again for coming on.

Speaker 3: 1:23

It's my pleasure and you know, since we're both Muslim. As-salamu Alaikum.

Speaker 2: 1:27

Wa alaikum, as-salam, wa Rahatullah wa Rahatullah. Yes, so normally I would like to, like I used to read you know your bio and they can be boring. I think it's best if, like, it's coming directly from yourself. Can you please tell us a little bit about you?

Speaker 3: 1:40

Yeah, I think whether somebody asked me about my career and, first of all, thank you for having me, it's really truly an honor but I think that whether somebody asked me about my career, where I'm from, I'm always okay. Which story do I tell? And I think it's one of the ways we connected was through LinkedIn, which is where I'm very active, and so I think that okay. So which story of me do I want to tell from a career perspective? I'm currently a founder of an AI driven FemTech or digital health for women's health company that I is founded out of MIT, and so I'm at mid-career after having already been a chief medical officer, having already co-authored a $1.8 billion reform for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the decade and a half as a clinician. Now I'm back in school and since, given the theme of this podcast, thanks to my parents unfortunately, my mom has passed away, yeah, thank you. So my dad says that he's both my mom and my dad, but so and I'm, you know, I'm really great Sorry.

Speaker 2: 2:45

Go ahead, please.

Speaker 3: 2:46

Know what we're going to say.

Speaker 2: 2:49

Because you do have a broad background. That's why I know it's a tough task really to do it and I'm glad that you summarized a little bit, but really there's really more to it and maybe we can touch some of those as we speak. So so far can you start maybe with your dad, because Absolutely.

Speaker 3: 3:06

Yeah, yeah, so I'm a youngest child, which is why my background is a little messy. That's my art table back there. Normally I have a Zoom background to make the extreme background look perfect, but yeah, so I figured part of this podcast is to make somebody who might come across as a influencer online with a quarter million followers right, to make somebody like that accessible and break it down into what. How do you? How it's a young person of any gender or ethnicity anywhere in the world who's looking to have an impact and live a purpose driven life, whether it's informed by their faith or not. Whatever drives you.

Speaker 3: 3:49

I think that's often what these podcasts are about, right? So for me, I'm a youngest child. I'm definitely daddy's little girl, for sure, and I'm really grateful that I have a dad who really believes in educating his daughters and I feel very blessed to have somebody who is so supportive. I'm not going to say we haven't ever disagreed, but I'm also grateful that I have a dad who is very accessible and who are both Muslim, that we there's in Islam.

Speaker 3: 4:22

Again, not everybody in the world who has a title of Muslim has the conduct that we would ideally want from them, but one of the one of the hallmarks generally, my understanding the way I was raised is good emotional management and being very kind, being very soft, being very forgiving, not raising your voice, managing your emotions and your anger, and so I'm grateful that I have a dad like, and I think when you have a dad who creates a safe space inside your home, he, to the best of his ability, create stability, provides for you financially, emotionally. I am a very like, affectionate person, so I used, even now at this age, like when I'm home, I get my dad like a good night kiss on his cheek, yeah, so I think that I'm grateful for that. And there's something in Islam called a hadith, which is guidance, and so there is one that says that if you have three daughters and I'm one of three sisters as a man and if he provides for them, he's guaranteed heaven, and so that makes my dad very happy.

Speaker 2: 5:31

That's fantastic, that's very beautiful and this is very inspiring because he's his background a little bit. I'm inspired how he was an immigrant like myself and he worked hard along to provide for the whole family and and he's still doing so, and this is inspiring for people that they're in issues at the moment. They're new here in the US or whatever they are. They should still be persistent and they can still be able to raise the family and just be happy Also one thing.

Speaker 3: 6:02

I'll add one thing to what you're saying.

Speaker 2: 6:05

I'm sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 3: 6:06

Sorry, yeah, I'll just say that actually my dad's been an immigrant many times over. When my parents were born there was the borders of India and Pakistan and Bangladesh and they did not exist. So he actually had to come to Pakistan, then from Pakistan come to the United States and then from the United States got a job in the Middle East and then came back to the United States. And when he grew up in a village where he walked six miles by foot to go to school, he did make something of himself so that he was able to marry like the daughter of, like a big city doctor. But he's to your point about the hustle, so to speak, that we associate with immigrants. That's very much my dad. He never expected us to have to hustle as hard. I think he's taken great pleasure as a father to provide at a level where we have more security than I think he had as a child.

Speaker 2: 7:05

Absolutely. This is nice because and trust me, I believe that that type of background it creates so much respect in the society. It's the same story. For instance, I don't have to compare like notes that remember even in terms of my dad. He was, he's coming from a very poor part of the village and he worked really hard and for him to pass the exams and to make it to the next level in terms of like primary school, to like the government schools in Africa, is a big accomplishment. So with all that stuff he was able to secure to find my mom, which was like a different kind of lifestyle. So I like what you're mentioning here. So thank you so much. So we do have like in terms of your experience with the digital health like ventures with the women's health.

Speaker 2: 7:49

What do you think so far is going to be the influence on us and the family generally? Absolutely.

Speaker 3: 7:55

Yeah, we live in communities. Whether you believe in one religion or you're more secular, whatever it is, we live where they say no man is an island, no woman's an island. All of until we have an artificial womb. Every single human is has a woman has been really critical to that that person's existence in this world. And so, by virtue of that, women are important to every man. Whether you are married or not, whether you have a daughter or not, you were born from a woman, you work around women, you live in communities with women. So, by virtue of just women, we're 50% of the population there has to be. And again, going back to Islam, we're told that heaven lies beneath your mother's feet.

Speaker 3: 8:42

So I do think that, personally, as a digital health founder, I do find that when I speak to men about issues related to fibroids and demetriosis, even menopause, which used to be taboo topics and again, they shouldn't be taboo In our faith you actually are supposed to talk about health. You are supposed to talk about family planning. These are unfortunate cultural reasons why people don't follow the faith, but regardless, just to be scientific and be able to identify these gaps, so what I find is that some people will assume that I should just talk to women. In fact I found opposite. I found that when I say to men did you know that until 1993 women were not included in clinical trials? And did you know that eight out of 10 drugs withdrawn from market for toxicity are toxic? And women eight out of 10? So those are shocking numbers. It doesn't matter who's being affected, those are shocking. And so it's not about gender, it's about human common humanity, it's about quality, safety, it's about humanism, it's about very important issues that anybody who has, I feel, like, a functioning brain and heart of to any degree would care.

Speaker 3: 10:03

And then I think men are shocked and they're like how is it so bad and what? It's funny because I think sometimes people get irritated at men for being two problem solvers. They hear a problem and they just want to solve the problem, and sometimes stereotypically. This is not always true, but sometimes a woman might want somebody to listen and understand and empathize before rushing to the problem, solving the problem. But in this case I find it really great. They're just like, okay, what can I do? What do you need? Who can I introduce you to? And maybe it's because they saw their mother suffer, they see their, their wives in in distress. They have daughters.

Speaker 2: 10:44

So I've really had a lot of positive experiences talking to men about women's issues, right Well this is fantastic and I really look forward to your products just being live and everything else and then also being used worldwide. I know we have a long way in terms of access to some of this like this resources, especially in the third world countries, but I think it's going to be. It's going to get there, because many people have families that have lost their loved ones because of the complications of all these things.

Speaker 2: 11:18

So thank you for really standing up for mamas and for, like, the whole community really.

Speaker 3: 11:25

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 11:26

It's an honor Awesome. Absolutely and also what you you as a physician, executive and advocate for public and private partnerships. So what do you believe are the key factors in creating these cross sector solutions that can benefit both women and family? Well, yeah.

Speaker 3: 11:49

So I think that that's great question. I I there's many different ways to go about it. Personally, I started my career in more the service side and public health. I, so my family roots are in Pakistan and I'll explain a little bit from my family roots and then answer the question through it.

Speaker 3: 12:07

I only recently started to unpack that the family, the doctors in my family, like one woman in my family, my great aunt, had founded and ran an entire hospital for women's health. She delivered, by the grace of God, so many babies and she was. I thought that was normal. It never occurred to me that women should feel less than or not imposter. So I didn't understand this and I didn't understand this concept. I just was like, where else would I be If not in this room? Where else would I be? And I, but looking back I realized that she was had her own hospital and I've come to realize that's why I've left sort of hospital employment. I've left even being employed by the government to be a startup founder and to be go the venture route and to have all these conversations I was saying with like venture capital to say, look, we're half the population, look at the market size, we're talking billions, and so I think I used to have more of the service servant leadership, and that's still my ethos. But I think how I go about it. As I said, you know what I live in the United States. It's a capitalist country, so I need to align with the system in which I exist and if I have so, there's something called social entrepreneurship where you can. The saying goes that you can do well by doing good or do good by doing well, so you need to both make profit and have the mission. But, as I say, no, no margin, no mission. You would do have to produce a margin. So I spent the last year while at MIT Sloan I've been at MIT Sloan a little bit longer and because I needed to go on medical leave for the health issues that inspired the startup and, by the grace of God, I'm extremely grateful that I'm back in health I've been able to go back to hiking. I'm really grateful for that and again, I could not do that without my parents. I could not do that without my dad.

Speaker 3: 14:07

I spent the last year looking for the right business case. There's so many issues to solve. So where can they call it? Having a beachhead market and having product market fit, meaning you put.

Speaker 3: 14:19

Too many founders are too in love with their idea or make the wrong assumption that their story is everybody's story. But in my case, I've spoken with over 150 women to figure out where's the problem, and so, to answer your question, I think that it's. The good thing is there are a lot of choices and the bad thing there's a lot of choices. So I'm choosing to go more the venture route, where I come up with an idea that I build some initial tech, I get initial traction, I get a secure team and then go for, like, big money from venture capital and promise them a big market.

Speaker 3: 14:58

You can't solve every problem that way. Some problems you need to maybe go to someplace like a big, respected nonprofit or grant and other things are going to need a lot more research before we have the data to know how to fix the problem and, depending on what problem you want to solve, for whom whether or not there you can find a business case behind it or whether it's truly more social good how you go about it. Whether you engage governments, whether you engage NGOs, whether you engage academia or venture capital it all depends. I don't know that's kind of a non-answer, but I think you have to stop and pause and think.

Speaker 2: 15:43

Absolutely. Thank you for that broad description. That's very useful. And also I noticed how, like going back to a very long CV I noticed that you're recognized in your community, organizing efforts in the marginalized communities with President Obama. That's awesome, and so how can we myself and other dads or other father figures play part in terms of just improving the well-being of our societies?

Speaker 3: 16:12

Oh, I love this question. Thank you, it's a beautiful question and actually also my dad was instrumental on when I got invited by President Obama to the White House. It's thanks to my dad. He went to every sort of Islamic center and must just saying my daughter's running this campaign. We're trying to help people get insurance. Can you have a place to speak, a time to speak? And so I ran a national campaign with zero budget and zero staff and basically my dad was my secret sauce and I think that, for instance, that is a little bit of a tangent, but just, we don't make assumptions about where women are oppressed or not oppressed, and I may not choose to wear a hijab, that doesn't, but many women do and I have tremendous respect for women of any faith for being observant openly.

Speaker 3: 17:02

I think it takes a lot of character and it's difficult. We don't think about the other side of the equation, where people who are African American, so-called ethnic, even though it just means being human have maybe have a certain hair texture and because of our Eurocentric beauty standards, we expect women. This is my natural hair, but for some women they have to straighten it to look like this, and we only just found out that hair straighteners that to make look more professional, so to speak, can cause uterine cancer, and we have laws saying, oh, to wear a hijab is to be oppressed and is harming you. But what about hair straighteners? And I don't mean this to do a what aboutism exactly, but I'm just inviting people to examine their assumptions and their biases. But so the reason I bring this up is that when some more observant centers, there were expectations that maybe whether men and women sit separately and again this can be from the Western perspective can be seen negatively.

Speaker 3: 18:06

I'm a pediatrician. I've, even though my administrative work has been multidisciplinary across all disciplines, but in Islam women breastfeed and if you are a breastfeeding mom, you may want a second. It seems there's pragmatic reasons behind sometimes having segregation. I'm not saying it's always right, but sometimes so. There were times when we had to get creative about how my dad could arrange for me to speak in a coed group. But this is an example where my dad was willing to have these conversations and not take no for an answer and really be confident that the mission that I was serving was a benefit to the community and to have a problem-solving approach, not get angry, not get offended, not take it personally, but just okay, this is the goal we need to achieve. These are your comfort zones. How do we get there?

Speaker 2: 19:04

Right.

Speaker 3: 19:05

And I'm grateful for that, for both my mom and my dad, for what they've taught me, but I do think that aspect of my dad is really critical to my being able to have gotten so far as an entrepreneur. But okay, more on the question about regarding my startup specifically, I we're hoping in a shortly, within a week or two, to be able to. So we have an app up right now which is more testing the level of engagement, but we're working very hard and raising money. We're definitely accepting angel investment checks, but to we're looking to advance what's on the app, eventually sell it to insurance in the United States so that insurance pays for it, and make it more accessible. But once we have that up, there'll be a QR code that can be scanned and share it with the women in the community so that they can sign up. We can improve our product so that it really serves the woman.

Speaker 3: 20:02

And then, I think, overall, learn more about the beauty. I just think that human biology is so beautiful, like it. Get curious, learn more about it, de-stigmatize these issues. If you're an employer, think about how can you create, how can you better understand what women need if they work for you? If you're a family member, be just considerate and kind and think about what are women going through? And maybe some of that is by showing more vulnerability. Right Before we started recording, I was like, oh my God, it's so messy. Then I'm like, okay, fine, it's just my art table, it's fine. We have a wrong assumption that being a man it means always being so strong, right, and maybe it's okay to share your humanity to create a space where other people can be more human too.

Speaker 2: 20:56

Right, absolutely, and also just to advocate for that improvement, or maybe because some people, maybe they're taking things too far, for instance how they like you think, oh, like, my desk is really scattered, and then you see a picture for instance I've seen recently, you know you commented on one of the attending. He showed a picture of the desk of, I believe, einstein. How was Messi and such?

Speaker 2: 21:20

And everybody was relating oh yeah, then I don't feel bad. So like it's okay to be human, it's okay to, let's say, some people, let's say they do not work out, and me as a father, as a dad, I can be like, oh, by the way, I haven't been working out. I need to. You know, I need to make this change so I'll inspire somebody that is in the same situation as myself. But if I am not open and just just portraying this, oh yeah, like I'm this, I'm that, is that really beneficial to the society? So you have a great point. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3: 21:51

Yeah, and then I'll just add one thing but it's always about growth mindset, right so, to acknowledge where you can improve, not say weakness. Use positive language, right so this is an area for improvement, and then model having that improvement mindset right so not beating yourself up, showing that humanity, showing that vulnerability, but always from an improvement mindset, which is, you know, I think that is what any faith, any belief system teach. That's, you know, taken from a positive angle, is just like. So for us there, it's a term that's gotten very politicized the word struggle, and in Arabic just simply is the word jihad said like the struggle to get up in the morning and exercise. That's a struggle.

Speaker 2: 22:37

Right and mostly say the biggest struggle is the struggle of the nafs, the soul, how you try to do good and bad or whatever, the laziness, et cetera. So, like you said, this is the toughest jihad. So so thank you for sharing that. That's important. So what role can we play as fathers in supporting and advocating for women's health? Besides, let's say like learning about it and be supportive, what else can we do?

Speaker 3: 23:06

There's so much, I think. I do think learning is a first step and switching from shame or stigma to curiosity, I think, understanding that, just understanding that part of I think a lot of times society teaches men that their only value is making money right. Their only value is a roof over the head and food on the table. And I'm not saying that's not important, it's extremely important. Women can provide that too, but oftentimes that assumed to be the man's job. But I can tell you that actually not everybody might be comfortable with this, but when I needed to have surgery or I needed to recover, I needed to figure out when am I returning to school.

Speaker 3: 23:44

I had very open conversations with my father and making it so that women's health issues are not taboo, they're not shameful, they're something that is just matter of fact and natural. Just like if you are at a restaurant and you say no, but it's certain bodily functions, or we do in private, but you can say I need to go to the restroom, please wait for me. So having women's health issues be just as matter of fact as oh, please, can we wait, I just need to go to the restroom really quickly. It doesn't have to be jumping up and down with big signs. Sometimes I do that, but, like you, you doesn't have to be dramatic, right, it can just be very pragmatic, destigmatizing women's health.

Speaker 3: 24:30

One of my favorite I don't get any whatever from it, but one of my personally one of my favorite foundations were at the end of the year for donations.

Speaker 3: 24:36

I donate to the Fistula Foundation because it's really sad that in some countries where there's lack of access, women don't have any choice but home birth and there's lack of access. The nature of birth causes such trauma to the pelvis that they develop a fistula and they can no longer control like leakage of certain fluids, and it just destroys their lives. Right and literally for just $500, you can donate and have a woman's pay for a woman's surgery. There's UN, there are UN agencies that pay for women's health. Edu get grants for women and I think, because so many women, men tend to assume that earning is a man's job. Sometimes there's an assumption that donating for women's empowerment is at the expense of men, but it doesn't have to be so. I'm a female founder, I'm creating jobs for men, I'm creating visas for men. Right, and it doesn't. I think we have to get out of this either or zero sum game and we need to think like a community.

Speaker 2: 25:40

Right, absolutely. Thank you, and if you don't mind, we can share those organizations so we can have people maybe contribute as well.

Speaker 3: 25:46

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 25:48

Please, thank you so much. So far you mentioned how the challenges that are faced by mothers just working mothers and such on, or stay home and such but from your perspective, what can we do to also further to create a balance? Because sometimes, like in terms of these health concerns, you see how people they do not understand. For instance, if you have delivery, they give you this much long break, but then if somebody else that, let's say, went through a procedure, they expect them to go right back to work. They don't consider much what you've been through and it's something very significant. What do you think about those situations?

Speaker 3: 26:27

Such a very important question, so many different ways to answer it. I think a few things. One is that I would say it also starts with yourself. We have to believe that our health is important. We have to believe that in long term sustainability. I'm very lucky, for instance, that I have just onboarded a co founder who is from the Scandinavian countries, where they do have very good supports. So he reminds me take care of yourself, which is good, and so I think it's coming first the internal, like that. You have to believe that you deserve it and that by doing it, you're not taking from anybody. So the energy you put out there makes a big difference. Then understand your rights and if you maybe you're not in the best situation to ask for it yourself find an advocate who can ask for it. Unfortunately, in the United States we don't have very good policies on this and some people genuinely don't have support. And if it's a small business, sometimes the business can't afford. I'm not justifying it, I'm just stating a reality.

Speaker 2: 27:35

Right, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 27:37

I think that's where we that's the longer game of changing policy, trying to restructure society, things like that but I do think that we have to as a society, as individuals, understand that rest even even your computer shuts down to upload updates like why do we think we say the term like you're not a machine, but even machines shut down, right, right. So I think that re shifting, reframing from hustle all the time, that rest is somehow laziness. It's not laziness, it is investing in your optimum functioning and your and that most people who would use the term lazy towards themselves in a negative way, if you ask them, do you want to end up? And again, if you end up with a disability, that that happens. But if there's a preventable disability you could have prevented, would you choose to go into that disability? And they, most people, say no.

Speaker 3: 28:35

Then that is where, if you have, if you have a sensible approach to rest, sometimes to take a little bit, even if you have to lose pay because a policy is not there, take a day, rest, reduce the information in your body, sleep better, spend time with your family. They deserve your time. Go, go participate in some community event or just stay at home and rest. It is not lazy to rest. It is needed. Your body needs it Awesome.

Speaker 2: 29:07

Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you Can you also share, let's say, about any insights or from initiatives that resonate with us as that that can help us navigate this, this, this modern family, that that we experience so can you repeat the question a bit? So far, so far from experience. Do you have any insights? Or from your, like you know, your initiatives? What can we do as dads, let's say, to help us with our in terms of the healthcare or the like the families? How can we?

Speaker 3: 29:38

learn from the experience.

Speaker 3: 29:40

Yeah, I think that there's evidence. That is a broad question, yeah, but I think that again, I would I probably repeat some of the things I said before. Part of it is your own internal voice. Have a kind, compassionate voice towards yourself. Understand that you're more than a money-making machine. Your kindness, your compassion, your presence in your family's life, your mother, your wife, your children, your sister, your brother, whoever it is Like you. You matter as a man, as a father, as more than just the money. So you have to like, truly believe that. In my case, for instance, my dad. He taught me how to ride a bike. Right, he could have been, he could have spent off on a second job making money, but he spent time with me, like watching me like fall down, helping me get back up, teaching me that not that life is 100% safe, but when you fall you can get back up and try again. And I think that is something that dads in particular can really teach their children and daughters. Okay, so spend time with your family.

Speaker 3: 30:45

I'd say model for others that health is important, so it shouldn't be only that women's health matters. Men's health matters, right, men actually die earlier than women, in part because society kind of, doesn't? It's a weird kind of like reverse sexism where, because society frowns on women's smoking or things like that, men are more likely to participate in these behaviors that might end their lives earlier. Right, prioritize your health. Encourage man to man what you can do to support it. Make being healthy masculine and a masculine virtue right.

Speaker 3: 31:27

It shouldn't be women nagging men to stop smoking, don't people who are not observant of Islam. Don't drink whatever. Whatever it is that is going to end your life earlier. This should be internalized to a man, and once you value yourself as a full human being, you will be in a much better position to then empower women and to empower your daughters, and for then women also to say you know what I matter. I am more than a baby making machine. I am more than a giver of care to others. I have a right to rest, and so both genders need this. Quite frankly, Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 32:09

Thank you, thank you, and so far, just like wrapping up, what do you see the future of in terms of the healthcare and the impact of it in families like, especially as for dads and such? What do you see the future of it?

Speaker 3: 32:23

Big. Yeah, I just attended like a week long conference at MIT, so I'll try to highlight a few things in a pithy way. So a lot of people are talking about the peril and the promise, and it's true, and so I think that from a data science perspective, ai is simply analysis of data sets and there's a term called GEICO garbage and garbage out. So before you get into AI, you first even have to think about the quality of the data, who is included, who is excluded, and so that's what I said about clinical trials not having women's data Also doesn't have diverse populations in it. So the EU just passed regulations of AI, which are both really great and also concerns me. So the good thing is that they're very protective of privacy and personal, like sensitive information. On the other hand, I think places like France do not allow collection of racial data, but then in the pandemic we found that the pulse oximeter that they used to like test oxygen that needs to look at your skin wasn't working on darker skin. So if you're race blind, you are ignoring that issue in data. That harms people, not intentionally. So we have to find a way to make sure that the data are complete and then further, when it comes to protected populations, we know that, when it comes to national security, protections can be violated, and so Tony Morrison said definitions belong to the definers, not to the defined.

Speaker 3: 34:00

Who is invoking that? Okay, now we can remove the protections. Which populations are affected? Who's policing the police, so to speak? Who has oversight of government? So the big questions, and I think what I would say is that we shouldn't assume that you have to be a data scientist to have the answers. I would highly encourage every citizen to read up on it, to when there are opportunities to engage on it. Engage, being an involved citizen is more than just voting. If you have the right to vote In between elections, so much happens. There's an opportunity to comment on regulation. You're elected officials. You can call them any time to them, show up in their office, talk to their staff, be very engaged. We should be very engaged citizens and if you have a problem with what your government is doing, then utilize, within rule of law and appropriate sort of mechanisms. Utilize every way to influence policy that matters in your community.

Speaker 2: 35:05

Oh, awesome, awesome. I think your dad rightfully said yes, this is my daughter, but however, she acts as a civil rights lawyer, this is perfect. I can see this coming out. This is very important. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. We will do that, and do you have any question that you have? Let's say for the next guest regarding fatherhood, that you think they should highlight. That will benefit fatherhood.

Speaker 3: 35:30

Yeah, I think I would just maybe ask somebody to what? Is there one moment for them that really encapsulates what fatherhood means to them? But I sometimes I think, like describing a specific experience or a moment can be very illustrative.

Speaker 2: 35:46

Okay, okay, thank you so much. Thank you, we'll do that, and so we have. As you wrap up this episode of Dad Puzzles Podcast, I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our extraordinary guest, dr Nihao. Her inspiring journey, fueled by the loving relationship she shares with her father, saves us a testament to the power of family support and encouragement.

Speaker 2: 36:09

Dr Nihao's remarkable achievement in the world of healthcare and innovation, from her groundbreaking digital health venture to her commitment to improving the women's health, is this is the testament of the impact, to the impact of fatherhood and also just being there, strongly present as a father. This is a great testament and there's no end. Look from the childhood all the way to now. And is still there with you making the impact. This is amazing and I think we should inspire. This is inspiring at the dads to keep going with the work. I remember one of my guests. She was sharing how her dad until to this day this day she's an older than she is like an attending and such and she's still working, whatever, but her dad is still following up with a car making sure there's all changed, there's all these things. He's still caring for the for the for sure.

Speaker 3: 37:03

Yeah, although I would also say, the other way is also to say my dad taught me how to do my own taxes. So the other way is not to do it and just teach the woman right, cause that is empowerment. And what my dad does do is every single day, when I'm home, before he wakes up early, there are cut strawberries sitting on my mat for me to eat, and then he, if it's mango season, he cuts me mango, and then in the evening there's cut orange. I'm very spoiled, a hundred percent, I don't, I will not deny it, and that's how Asian fathers show love through, through parents, through, through love, through cut fruit.

Speaker 2: 37:39

That's beautiful, yes, and so we hope this definitely not only shed light on the incredible story, but also it inspires and encourages our listeners to cherish and celebrate the significant role that our dads play in our lives. So thank you, dr Niha, for really sharing your insights and experiences with us, and also to all our listeners. Remember that the bonds we share with our dads, they are truly special and they, you know that we, as dads, we have the power to shape the lives of, you know, of our kids. So so thank you again.

Speaker 2: 38:12

Please join us again on the dad fathers podcast, as we continue to explore the multifaceted world of fatherhood and the remarkable stories that it brings to light. Until next time, take care and remember the value of family.

Speaker 1: 38:37

Thank you.