Paula Gomez

Updated March 2018

Getting ready for the right entrepreneurial project

Paula Gomez never envisaged going into business with her 75 year old mother, but two and a half years ago, that’s exactly what she did.
Having always wanted to be an entrepreneur, Paula earned a degree in Electrical Engineering in São Paulo and an MBA from INSEAD in France, while waiting for the right business opportunity. Eventually, the entrepreneurial idea she was looking for had its genesis at home, in the form of her mother’s seven-year-long research project into Chaos Theory on electroencephalogram signals.

A retired physicist and professor at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in São Paulo, Paula’s mother, Prof. Hilda Cerdeira, dedicated seven years to the study of signals of incoming seizures in electroencephalograms of epileptic patients. Prof. Cerdeira and Paula knew that it would be life changing if they could find an anomaly that happened before a seizure. After two years of additional research, Prof. Hilda found the anomaly she had been searching for.

"My mother was obviously very excited with the research results, but I was excited with the possibility of transforming it into a product. Building a product by transforming research into a real functioning device was never in her scope, but it became mine.”

A device that predicts the onset of seizures can improve lives

According to the World Health Organization, there are 65 million people affected by epilepsy worldwide, 80% of whom live in low and middle-income countries. In Brazil, where Paula lives, there are four million people suffering from epilepsy alone.

There are currently devices on the market that can alert patients about a seizure only when the seizure is already active. Knowing that her mother’s research had the potential to change lives for the better, Paula developed a prototype device to predict the onset of the seizure altogether. The non-invasive device works with two electrodes placed on the user’s head and a box easily concealable under clothes, which when connected to an app is able to alert caregivers via a message, giving them the exact geo-location of the patient and immediately uploading the encephalogram on the cloud-storage system. Initially tested on two of the most important databases in the world (MIT ́s and EPILEPSIAE’s), the method had a 93% assertiveness rate, with first warnings occurring an average of 25 minutes in advance. “The opportunities to have a positive impact are immense with a device that can inform in advance when a seizure is going to strike”. Parents or caregivers can rely on being alerted by Epistemic when an epileptic seizure is imminent in order to take preventive measures accordingly during the day or night.

Whilst working to miniaturize the hardware, Paula is also planning clinical trials in Canada, as a result of strict ANVISA (National Agency of Sanitary Vigilance) regulations in place in Brazil. Divided into phases, feedback from these clinical trials following each phase will be critical to optimize the device further. The proven validity of her device and certification following the trials will enable sales and the growth of Epistemic in the North American market.

The importance of resilience

Finding support for a start-up to convert her mother’s research project into a functioning product was difficult at the beginning, as investors struggled to see the immediate returns. However, Paula’s sheer determination and resilience paid off, as the Epistemic prototype has been recognized by the Epilepsy Foundation of America, among other institutions. “My advice to anyone wanting to start a business is ‘if you feel that you must do it, be resilient.’”

Now, Paula sees Epistemic as a stepping-stone to creating an “intelligence company” invested in creating devices that predict the onset of other medical conditions. “We want to create new products and methodologies that can improve the lives of millions across the world – that is our goal.”