Dr. Azizi Seixas has an impressive bio, but the most extraordinary thing about him is his passion and his purpose.
Dr. Seixas (Say-shas) is an innovator, scientist, thought leader, and technologist. He was voted top 100 most inspiring Black Scientists in America by Cell Press. Currently, he acts as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and the Director of the Media and Innovation Lab at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director for the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences (TSCS) and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Psychiatry at NYU Langone. He studies artificial intelligence and technology with the intention of revolutionizing healthcare systems.
Growing up in inner-city Jamaica, Dr. Seixas got his driven attitude from his hard-working single mother who earned a college, then Master’s degree while working full-time. His passion came from his force-of-nature grandmother, who taught him to question the status quo. “The two things in life that level off human beings are death and education,” she told young Azizi. Motivated to create a more equitable future for all people, he decided to pursue medicine.
Where does your passion come from?
When it comes to the tension between faith and science, Dr. Seixas insists this is a false dichotomy. Steadfast in his faith and belief in people, he uses his pursuit of excellence in health and technology as a tool to help underserved communities get the healthcare they need.
Despite the common belief that faith and business are in competition with one another, Dr. Seixas encourages us to use one to serve the other. How can you use your entrepreneurial skills, innate talents and spiritual purpose to drive your mission forward?
When we think about innovation, we usually think about technology-What apps are trending, new ways to communicate or share files, and creative ways to work online. But Dr. Seixas reminds us that innovation is about so much more than that!
Innovation is more than just technology.
Innovative thinking is fresh and creative, making complex things simpler and more accessible. Dr. Seixas spends his career teaching young innovators to think about the communities they’re serving and how to most efficiently show up for them.
What systems can be developed to make healthcare available in their area? What difficulties are they facing that you can create solutions for? And what products or technologies can be produced to serve those needs? Dr. Seixas will inspire you to take an innovative look at your own business, ultimately helping you provide more value to your clients.
Quotes

“I have this burning desire to improve the lives of the have-nots, and to ensure that they can have better health outcomes and live a happy life.”
“We’re trying to reimagine academic medicine and health. We’re doing this by reimagining healthcare by considering education, ensuring research leads us to comprehensive causes of disease, making delivery systems work for people, and creating next-level solutions.”
“Find what you’re here to do. Be passionate about it and work unceasingly so that it’s not about you, it’s for the betterment of others. It so happens that science and medicine are the vehicles through which I can do that.”
“I believe that everyone is super talented, everyone is special and unique. There just aren’t enough people breathing happiness, joy and love into these individuals.”
“In order for you to have a purpose-driven life, it must be steeped in excellence so that people can reap the benefits of your work.”
“It’s a false tension, where science and faith are inadmissible. They go hand in hand. My purpose is driven by what I’m here to do.”
“We imagine a world where instead of going to your physician once or twice a year, we want to shift home as being the primary place where health is done. We want to create infrastructure to provide personalized treatments. We want more prevention, better prevention, and lower costs.”
“Instead of thinking about underserved communities last or not at all, we can roll out programs and studies to look immediately at people across different socioeconomic strata.”
“When we think about innovation, we think tech. But innovation can be many things! Innovation can mean an innovative practice to increase access to care, making complex things simple. That’s what we’re doing.”
Links mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Resources
Visit Dr. Seixas’ website: https://draziziseixas.com/
Hire Dr. Seixas to speak, giving your audience an inspiring vision of the future of health: https://draziziseixas.com/speaking/
See Dr. Seixas featured in the official 2020 Cell Press “100 inspiring Black scientists in America”: https://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/100-inspiring-black-scientists-in-america
Check out Dr. Seixas’ research timeline as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Psychiatry at NYU Langone: https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/azizi-a-seixas

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