U of A startup aims to help prevent physician burnout with evidence-based wellness platform

LifeSpan Digital Health, a startup launched through the University of Arizona’s commercialization office Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), is rolling out a software platform designed to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today: healthcare professional burnout. The platform, called emPower+, offers a science-based, real-time solution to support physician and nurse wellness, starting with medical residents in high-intensity specialties like emergency medicine.

The tool is grounded in more than two decades of research by Dr. Samuel Keim, a professor of emergency medicine and department head at the College of Medicine - Tucson. Dr. Keim’s work began with a simple observation: while some residents adapt and even thrive in stressful environments, others struggle, sometimes with serious consequences. His research led to the creation of a wellness profile that could measure resilience and stress tolerance more effectively than previous methods. “Burnout and wellness assessment tools are typically administered once a year and are too cumbersome for busy professionals to sit down and take with any frequency,” Dr. Keim said. As a result, the data often goes unused and fails to provide the support healthcare workers need when they need it most. 

“More than half of physicians in the United States are burned out. Many others are on their way to that status. This is a personal crisis, a workplace crisis, and affects the entire healthcare system,” said Dr. Keim. “Our goal with LifeSpan is to make wellness tracking both meaningful and manageable, so we can actually do something with the data and help providers and administrators before they hit a breaking point.”

Unlike many of the previous workplace wellness tools, emPower+ is not just a once-a-year survey. Users take very short monthly assessments on their phones; they can also choose to upload data from devices like Apple watches or Oura rings. Based on the data gathered, the app then provides personalized feedback, curated wellness strategies, and ongoing support. At the same time, it anonymizes and aggregates data at the cohort level and provides it to directors and administrators, allowing them to track program-wide trends and respond with targeted workplace changes and programs.

The platform also includes an internal peer network that allows users to share feedback anonymously. “This helps surface things that often get missed, like when equipment is not working or staff shortages are affecting morale,” said Lynn Andrews, chief product officer at LifeSpan. “And it gives program leadership the information they need to respond thoughtfully.”

CEO and founder Jeff Cary started the company after years of working in mental and behavioral health. A personal experience in his family led him to pursue research on student wellness and eventually drew him to connect with Dr. Keim. Together, they decided to focus on healthcare and healthcare professionals, where the need was urgent and the research foundation for them to build on was already strong.

“We are not building a tool just to check a box,” Cary said. “We are creating something that gives people insight into how they are doing, helps them feel supported, and gives organizations the data they need to actually take action. It is built on science, not guesswork.”

So far, LifeSpan has hit several major milestones. After receiving an NSF STTR Phase I Grant in 2022, the company secured follow-on funding through the TLA Asset Development Program to build its initial minimum viable product. That version is now complete and will launch in five pilot institutions in July 2025, including one of the largest medical centers in the world. The company has been accepted into the university’s incubator, University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI), and the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund has agreed to provide pre-seed investment funding. UACI has worked directly with Cary and his team to provide business incubation support, including investment guidance, connections to community resources, and access to a network of fellow entrepreneurs. 

Looking ahead, the team plans to gather feedback from the pilots, expand into nursing and medical student populations, and continue building the platform using advanced data science and machine learning to detect early warning signs of burnout, even before symptoms appear.

“We are applying predictive modeling to something that has always been treated reactively,” said Dr. Keim. “If we can give individuals and organizations a heads up and say, this team is heading toward trouble and here is how to turn the ship, that is going to be a real breakthrough.”

While the product is launching first to address emergency medicine environments, the long-term vision is broader. “We are starting with one area where we know the need is high,” Cary said. “But the goal is to support healthcare workers across specialties and stages and eventually contribute to lasting culture change in the field.”

LifeSpan Digital Health joins a growing portfolio of startups launched to commercialize U of A innovation and reflects the university’s commitment to translating research into impactful, useful solutions. As healthcare continues to face mounting pressures, solutions like emPower+ will give people the support they need not only to address problems before systems break down, but also offer the information and insight needed to create programs for healthier, more resilient healthcare professionals and systems.

“LifeSpan represents the latest addition to the University of Arizona’s extensive portfolio of over 150 startups, each dedicated to advancing groundbreaking research into practical applications that benefit society,” said Bruce Burgess, TLA director of new ventures. “This continued growth underscores the university’s commitment to fostering innovation that addresses critical challenges and drives positive change.”