In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos sits down with Michelle Zimmerman, CEO and cofounder of Previvor Edge, for a rare look at the future of cancer prevention, early detection, and personalized risk management.Michelle brings a uniquely human and deeply informed perspective. With a strong family history of cancer and years of experience building the cancer genetics program at Sema4, she has seen both sides of the problem: the emotional weight families carry and the structural gaps that prevent people from taking action early.Michelle shares two powerful truths in this episode:“All we do is talk about cancer. We never talk about what happens before cancer.”“We should do for cancer what we did for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”This conversation explores why most high-risk individuals never know they are at risk, why the prevention system remains fragmented, and why clarity before diagnosis matters more than most people realize. Michelle explains how family history, genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors all shape cancer risk—and why the current healthcare model has no specialist or coordinated pathway to address them.Previvor Edge is changing that by creating an integrated, clinically rigorous approach that brings internal medicine, genetics, oncology, and lifestyle medicine together in one place. The goal is simple: help people understand their risk, make informed decisions, and take action long before cancer develops.Key themes in this episode include:
- The origin story behind Previvor Edge
- The gaps in the current early detection landscape
- How genetics, oncology, internal medicine, and lifestyle medicine can work together
- The emotional and psychological side of cancer risk
- What proactive prevention truly looks like
- The human stories that shaped Michelle’s mission
- Leadership lessons from building a prevention-focused movement