While many entrepreneurial ideas are devised in business incubators and accelerators, one transformative initiative was born bedside — by a patient in the midst of her own health battle.
Since her teens, Laurel Cipriani ’24 Sc.M. has battled a complex and debilitating autoimmune condition. Throughout her early life and into college, she faced frequent medical appointments, procedures and surgeries.
Despite these obstacles, Cipriani earned two degrees from Vanderbilt University and launched a successful career in healthcare. In her role as a vice president at Premise Health, the world’s leading direct healthcare provider, Cipriani continues her lifelong dedication to improving healthcare for others. However, she sensed a deeper calling to expand her impact.
Through Brown’s master’s in technology leadership program, Cipriani has embarked on a mission to revolutionize the treatment and care of individuals with autoimmune disease (AD), the largest class of illness in the United States.
Her pioneering efforts in this area have earned her the 2024 Master's Award for Professional Excellence, which honors a Brown University master’s student whose outstanding contributions have influenced or contributed to their field.
Cipriani’s capstone project — embodied in an entrepreneurial initiative she named “Lotus” — lays the foundation for a transformative approach to healthcare that prioritizes patient empowerment, education, and the integration of long-standing, effective therapies into modern treatment plans. Her vision addresses not only the immediate needs of the 50 million people living with AD in the United States, but also the systemic inequities in healthcare.
"Laurel innately understands the patient experience because she has lived it," said Larisa Leventon, academic director of the master’s in technology leadership program. "Her stereoscopic perspective allows her to identify transformative opportunities in a way few can."
At the heart of Lotus is a patient-centric methodology combining web-based community building, hands-on workshops, proven therapies like hydrotherapy and temperature contrast therapy, and a new breed of "patient advisors" integrated into healthcare systems. Small pilot studies have already demonstrated Lotus's ability to improve wellbeing and quality of life for autoimmune patients while realizing significant potential cost savings for the employer and payer.
“Throughout her time in the technology leadership program, Laurel has distinguished herself as a top student. Despite experiencing more health setbacks during her studies, she demonstrated unstoppable resilience and was the academic standout of her program’s cohort,” Leventon added.
Honored for her pioneering vision, strength of character and ability to create collaborative change, Laurel Cipriani embodies the ideals and professional contributions this award was created to celebrate.