SCOTTSDALE, AZ, January 01, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Robert Yao has been inducted into Marquis Who's Who in America. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Mr. Yao earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loyola University of Chicago, graduating Magna Cum Laude with Golden Key, Alpha Sigma Nu, and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He subsequently attended medical school and built computers during his spare time. In the middle of his clinical training, he became very sick. Although he went to many doctors, they could not diagnose his illness. He went on medical leave when his condition worsened. While bedridden for 3 years, he spent his time combining clinical knowledge and technology to map out medicine as it related to his condition. With himself as the subject, Mr. Yao invented a personalized medicine system that had a functional medical map to understand his condition, found the root cause of his illness, and suggested potential treatments not usually considered by the expert. This all helped him to an epiphany moment. Once he knew the cause, he created a treatment protocol that led to his recovery.
Upon attempting to return to medical school, Mr. Yao subsequently mapped out over 3000 medical conditions and created a diagnostic system that generated a differential of those conditions when used to interview those patients. He subsequently transferred to a doctoral program in biomedical informatics at Arizona State University. With this formal education in the field, he learned that he created a translational biomedical ontology for complex diseases. This served as a computable knowledge representation for Artificial Intelligence algorithms he created. In 2014, Mr. Yao founded EpiFinder to create and commercialize a clinical decision support app based on his invention, helping both doctors and patients to find their epiphany moment just like he did.
For his work, Mr. Yao was awarded the GPSA Outstanding Researcher and HIMSS Scholar Awards. After publishing a study with Mayo Clinic showing that his system was on par with diagnostic experts, he received a Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics from Arizona State University. As a doctoral candidate, Mr. Yao was the founding chair of the student advisory council, co-founder of the ASU Society of Biomedical Informatics Students, and the Assembly Representative for the College of Health Solutions. For his research and leadership in the graduate program, Robert was given the GPSA Oustanding Research Award, the HIMSS Scholar Award, and the Outstanding Graduate Student Leader of the Year.
In his role as the chief executive officer at EpiFinder for the past six years, Mr. Yao was named Changemaker Entrepreneur of the Year and 40 Under 40 Leaders of Arizona. He additionally received the Arijit Guha Advocacy Award and the Outstanding Mentor Award, and the Spirit of Enterprise Award. He has served as co-chair of the Arizona State University Disability Advocacy and Awareness Committee, co-chair of the Arizona MedTech Council, and the Healthcare Technology Leader at the 867 Foundation. Under his leadership, Epifinder received the Spirit of Enterprise award, The Changemaker Entrepreneurial Team of the Year, and three startup of the year awards in technology, business services, and IT.
In accounting for his professional success, Mr. Yao credits his perspicacity and propensity for overcoming adversity. Presently, he maintains his professional and community affiliation with the 867 Foundation, the American Epilepsy Association, the Health Information and Management Systems Society, AZBio, the AZ Med Tech Council, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Sigma Nu, the Golden Key Honor Society, and Mensa. Looking toward the future, Mr. Yao recently started and is concurrently running EpiBuild, an initiative that helps entrepreneurs and businesses to build their epiphanies with graphic design, web and app development, and marketing and sales services.
About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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